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the people that rely upon it . Oddly , as recently as just 7,000 years ago it was all part of a great saltwater marsh fed by rising oceans levels . Today , many communities thrive along the lakes shore and upon its waters .
Rainfall from the annual monsoon can be as much as four metres , yes , 4000 millimetres of precipitation causing the lake to have an average depth of around ten metres , stark contrast to when we set sail , the depth was said to be around one metre as we neared the end of the dry season . It ’ s astonishing and yet not surprising that the people of the villages either drag there homes out into deeper water or allow for the greater depths by building on stilts .
Tonle Sap has a fascinating ecology that sees the flow reverse at various times of the year effectively controlling the flooding of the Mekong further down stream around Cambodia ’ s capital , Phnom Penh .
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