To wake up with the birds, one has to wake up early. We leave the hotel at around 5.30 am by your guide and driver (joint transfer) and travel as the sun rises to Chong Khneas, where you board the boat on the great Tonle Sap Lake to Prek Toal floating village with breakfast and a full briefing from the guide on the way. Arrival at the starting point of this feather-themed exploration will be approximately 7:30 am, where a ranger from the centre itself heads with us deep into the core of the birds’ breeding grounds inside the flooded forest.

From here, to get a panoramic view over the area, we head up to a treetop observation platform, constructed opposite the bird colonies. The panorama in the early morning is simply breathtaking from this viewpoint. The Prek Toal bird sanctuary has gained global recognition for eight particular species of bird; the Spot-billed Pelican, the Greater Adjutant, the Lesser Adjutant, the Milky Stork, the Painted Stork, the Black-headed Ibis, the Oriental Darter and Grey-headed Fish-Eagle. Thousands of common water-birds also breed here, where over 150 species have been recorded in total, in and around the Tonle Sap Lake.