Silk Island

This morning we crawled out of bed a bit later than usual (nothing to do with last nights beer of course) and having had a coffee we were ready for our 10.00 start to go off to Mekong Island or Silk Island as it also appears to be known. A bit of a drive out of town to catch a local ferry across The Mekong River, how do I know it was a local ferry, well we were the only westerners there and I think the photos make it fairly clear. Interesting to see that there are still some stilt houses along the river and that new ones are still being built. Then once we were across it was off to a locally run silk farm. I get the impression that our driver is very much into local businesses and projects run by local people for the benefit of local people, which suits us down to the ground and means we get to see things the average tourist doesn’t.
The silk farm was really interesting, did you know for example that you can get a thread of between 700 - 1000 metres in length from a single cocoon and that the threads from 20 cocoons are picked up using egg plant leaves and then spun together to make a single strand of silk thread, or that the colour of the raw silk varies according to the temperature. I was also surprised at just how complicated some of the weaving processes were and that it is still not possible to duplicate the process accurately by machine. And as all good tours should it ended in a shop where Tanya bought a silk scarf, nice to know exactly where it was made and that it really was hand made.
Time then for a spot of lunch sat next to The Mekong before visiting a local Wat and then heading back to the hotel. On the way back Tanya asked if I knew what she could really do with now, no not a coffee, a short nap or perhaps a toilet stop as I thought, what Tanya really wanted was a couple of cold beers. Fortunately there is a small convenience store next to the hotel so that was no problem.
A bit later on fully rested and refreshed with a couple of cold tinnies each we ventured out to the night market, which was actually quite disappointing compared to many of the markets we have visited elsewhere. So we went for a bit of a stroll alongside the Mekong before finding a restaurant to have a bit of dinner. Needless to say Tanya ordered beer again and although I suggested a glass of beer each she opted for the jug of beer option again and we had a very pleasant meal and beers as the sun went down, no sunset to speak of as it was too cloudy but lovely as it started to get a bit cooler.
Tomorrow is an early start, off to visit Oudong, the old capital of Cambodia, where we have been told that some walking up hills may be required (much to Tanya’s disgust) so its time for an early night.Read more