The Mekong river is one of the world’s greatest rivers. It’s the 10th most longest river in the world. It has a length of 4909km, it drains an area of 795.000km2 and it’s discharging 475km3 of water annually. It encloses the areas of six countries. From the Tibetan Plateau, the river runs through China’s Yunnan province, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

The Mekong River passes Cambodia about 480km from the border with Laos in the North and Vietnam in the South. It has an average wide of about 1,5km in the territory of Cambodia. It crosses Stung Treng and Kratie Provinces in the upper part of Cambodia, Kampong Charm Province, Phnom Penh capital and flows down towards Kandal province to the South China Sea. The Mekong’s biodiversity can be compared to the Amazon.

The name ‘Mekong’ consists of 2 parts. The first part is ‘Me’, that means leader, header or mother. The second part is ‘Kanga’, that means river or pond. So actually it means ‘Great River’, the biggest river in Cambodia.

This river system passes the alluvial plain, the centre of the major cultivated land for paddy rice and upland crops in Cambodia.The river plays a major role in the agriculture, because it keeps the soil
moisturized. The river is the habitat of a variety of fish and other water species. It also supports domestic drinking water and irrigation water supplies and is an important transport medium.  

So the flowing of the Mekong River has a very important influence on the health and lives of the country. The river is also woven through the histories and cultures of the countries it flows through. The governments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam have made an Agreement about the river. The governments are equally desirous of continuing to cooperate in a constructive and mutually beneficial manner for sustainable development, utilization, conservation and management of the Mekong River. Each member should be caring for the river system. It’s the responsibility of the people and the government that benefit from it’s resources. River developments must be carefully and cooperatively planned to ensure they do not damage the river’s health and biodiversity.

Your holiday will be a part of the Mekong River life in Cambodia. Your carefully selected holiday will help to improve the sustainable livelihood of local community and biodiversity of the river, especially on the upper part of the Mekong River of Cambodia. Along the trail, you will have the opportunity to see critically endangered Mekong River dolphins, while minimizing your impact on them and their habitats. During this trip, you will also be assisting river communities. These communities are some of the poorest, but most welcoming communities in Cambodia.

External link:

www.en.wikipedia.org

http://untreaty.un.org/English/UNEP/mekong_english.pdf