We’ve been cruising down Cambodia’s Tonlé Sap river, heading south towards Phnom Penh. At Phnom Penh, the Tonlé Sap and Mekong rivers meet. We’re going to visit Phnom Penh, then continue on down the Mekong towards Vietnam. But first, we’re going to make a stop at an island called “Koh Dach.”
River Boat Life
Since coming on board, we’ve settled into something like a routine. During the days, most of our time is spent on some type of excursion. At night, the boat moves on down the river. When morning comes, we’ve dropped anchor at a new destination. (More cruise details here).
On the boat, life is good. Our favorite thing, apart from how comfortable it is on board, is the staff. We’ve only been cruising for a few days, but we already feel like we’ve known some of the staff for years.
Many of them are Cambodians. For our benefit, they go by simplified names like “Harry” or “Sunny.” If they used their given names, we’d butcher them beyond recognition. We ask them to tell us their real names. They tell us. Then we all agree to stick with “Harry” or Sunny” or whatever.
Koh Dach island is only twelve miles from Phnom Penh. There are several villages on the island. We’re going to visit a village where silk production is a time-honored craft. To get to the village, we took Cambodian-style tuk-tuks. — Always fun.
Got Silk??
At the village, a guide took us through the silk-making process. Let’s say you want to make some silk. You’d start by planting some mulberry trees. Silkworms love to eat the leaves. (You can feed ’em other stuff, but if you want to end up with really good silk, they have to be on a mulberry diet).
Then get some silkworm moths – females, to be exact. Actually, it’s pregnant females that you want. Either that, or you’ll need some males. To be honest, I’m not sure about that. Our guide skipped over that part, (and no one ventured any questions).
Anyway, those females will lay eggs. If you maintain the eggs in the right conditions, they’ll hatch, and you’ll have yourself a bunch of baby silkworms, otherwise known as larvae. The babies – I mean “larvae” — eat and grow like crazy for about six weeks.
After all that eating and growing (by more than 10,000 times their birth weight!), those little guys need a break. They stop eating, attach themselves to whatever is handy, and start spinning a filament, i.e., silk. They keep spinning, turning round and round as they go, until they’re completely enclosed in a silk cocoon.
If you left that cocoon alone, eventually, as if by magic, a moth would pop out. Unfortunately for the moth, in making its exit, it would ruin the cocoon’s silk fiber, so you don’t want to let that happen. Instead, put the cocoon into boiling water, which kills the little guy inside. It also loosens up the silk fiber so it can be unraveled.
We watched as a lady did just that. I can tell you, one has to have patience to do that job. The amazing thing is that the silk fiber – that one silk thread from one unraveled cocoon – can be a half-mile long.
You’ve Got Silk — Now What?
If you’re smart, you’ve already decided that this is a job for the pros. The next thing they do is wash and dye the raw silk. Then they twist silk strands together to make silk yarn. Now the silk is ready for someone to make it into something beautiful. That’s what happens next.
At the place we visited, there were eight or ten ladies working at looms. There was no noise other than the “clack, clack, clack” coming from the looms as they worked. Those wooden looms looked so rickety and old, and yet, the silk fabrics that were taking shape on them were as beautiful and ornate as any fabric you can imagine.
The ladies doing the weaving were nice. They didn’t seem to mind as we walked in to watch them up close. I watched for a while, but I couldn’t quite wrap my head around how they were able to make such intricate designs with a few spools of colored silk and those rickety old looms. Simply amazing.
Class is in Session!
Our next stop on the island was at an elementary school. I think it was some sort of privately-funded operation, (at least in part), because they were teaching english, which isn’t part of the normal curriculum here.
After an introduction to the school, we were invited to go inside a classroom while it was in session. There were around thirty kids of various ages studying english. The instructor asked us to pair up with some kids so they could practice speaking english with some authentic gringos. (My words, not the instructor’s).
Talking with those kids was so much fun. They were full of questions, and so were we. (I’m glad none of the questions were in Khmer!) We could see them soaking up every word, trying to take advantage of the opportunity. I hope they got something out of the exchange. I know we did.
After visiting the school, we tuk-tukked back to the boat. It had been a good day. Everyone was pretty much in awe, seeing what these people could create from raw silk on those ancient-looking looms.
After leaving the school, everyone had a really good feeling. Those kids! They were awesome. I hope we made an OK impression on them. I know they made a great impression on us.
Next stop: Phnom Penh.
To be continued…
