If you're short on time but you long to experience the scenic views of the Kingdom’s great outdoors – including a wide variety of its species of wildlife – then you’re in luck, because the wilds of Cambodia can actually be reached just by going on a day trip excursion from Phnom Penh.

A new tour focused on birdwatching around the wetlands, lakes and rivers not far from the capital’s outskirts is being planned and organised by an experienced guide.

Many Cambodians are unaware of the large bird habitat situated near the city, but with the assistance of a guide they will have the opportunity to become more familiar with the landscape of their country and see many different species of birds as well as Instagram-friendly views of nature with lakes, rivers and lotus ponds as the backdrop.

“Previously, Cambodian people have not been very interested in going on these trips. But foreign visitors tend to be very interested when they are here. Since November, 2021 – when the Royal Government announced the reopening of the country – we’ve gotten a few foreigners who have taken tours but it’s nowhere near the numbers we saw before the pandemic as yet.

“This is the first birdwatching trip near Phnom Penh for my company post-Covid,” says Chea Thong, founder of Vana Adventure Travel and the organiser of the birdwatching tour.

Thong says that before Covid-19, his company was the only one that organised birdwatching trips on the outskirts of the capital, along with other activities such as cycling and hiking.

The outskirts birdwatching tour is designed for visitors who are on a tight schedule and don’t want to waste time, but still want to see some water birds in their natural habitat of wetlands, lakes and rivers.

They start at 5:30am, travelling by car from the Arey Ksat ferry landing to Lvea Em, about 8 km away from the Svay Andet pagoda.

“Instead of meeting at a cafe in the city like we used to, now we meet at the ferry landing and head to the border area with 7NG in Lvea Em district, where one side is a river and the other side is a big lake,” Thong tells The Post.

“And that big lake is full of water birds like herons, wild ducks, water hens and gulls,” he says.

Arriving at the waterfront in the early morning, visitors can admire the beauty of the bright yellow sunrise. If it’s birdwatching they’re after, then they will be thrilled because there are hundreds of thousands of water birds in the area – more birds than any one person could train their binoculars on in an entire lifetime.