Silk, Temples & Paradise

On the morning of the third day of the tour, we were greeted with more lovely (although hot) weather and another good breakfast at Mr. T's, where we had breakfast and dinner yesterday.  Stung Treng didn't have a lot to offer in the way of cuisine plus the place was called Mr. T's.  How do you pass that up?

Morning view from the hotel

After our morning refueling of nutella-banana pancakes and iced coffee, we piled into our minibus to go to our first stop of the day, a local NGO called Mekong Blue.  A few minutes outside of town, the facility offers local, disadvantaged women the chance to learn a trade and earn a living.  One of the administrators showed us the complex and explained the process of harvesting, spinning, dying and producing silk.  Also on the property were a dormitory and clinic for the women and their children plus a kindergarten.

One of the kindergarten students visiting
her mom in the quality control room.  

We were amazed by the whole process from the silkworms to the weaving.  The women make incredibly beautiful and intricate pieces.  After seeing just how long and tedious everything is, it's easy to see why quality silk is expensive!

Fully grown silk worms.

After nine days, the worms build their cocoons.
The outer layer is used to make raw silk, and the inner layer is used for fine silk. 

Workers spinning individual fibers into threads.

Batches of threads are boiled for three hours to make them soft.

Boiled threads are left out to dry before dying. 

After dying, the threads are left out to dry again before weaving. 

A worker at her loom making a traditional patterned scarf.

The final stop at Mekong Blue took us to the gift shop where we did out part to support the operation, through the purchase of several pieces.  After filling our bags and emptying our wallets, we got back in the minibus.  We headed to a simple but yummy lunch overlooking the Mekong and across the street from our next location for the day, the 100 Pillars Pagoda.

Nyp leading us to our next location.

Nyp gave us the history of the pagoda along with lessons on its architecture.  He taught us that it symbolized heaven on earth because of the raised foundation and garudas (half man, half bird figures) lifting the pagoda to the sky.  Nyp also told us a legend that took place at the pagoda about a young monk who turned himself into a crocodile and the princess who he fell in love with.

Pagoda-lifting garudas

Next we were off to the oldest, exclusively Buddhist temple in Cambodia.  While there are much older temples in the country, all of the others were Hindu at some point in their history.  This temple was only from the 19th century, so it wasn't the most exciting we saw.  It was built by the French and until its recent history, it was being maintained by an international NGO.  Unfortunately, the NGO lost its funding, so now the temple is falling into disrepair.  A small family holds the keys to the building, and Nyp showed them some magic tricks for entertainment.

Our final stop of the day was to the local market.  Unlike more tourist-focused markets, this one was exclusively for the locals, which was completely evident in the food stalls.  Nyp offered to buy produce so that we could learn to cook Cambodian dishes for tomorrow's lunch.  After seeing the state of the meats and veggies (including a lack of ice but an abundance of bugs), we politely declined.  If you had seen an item called Fish Cheese and received the explanation of how it's made (think fermented fish goo, not delightful dairy product), you would have passed too!

Once we had gotten a good eyeful of the market, we hopped onto a personal ferry boat provided by our next hotel on Koh Trong island in the Mekong River across from Kratie.  A 15-minute ride and a short, muddy climb up a set of wooden steps dug into the bank took us to the beautiful Rajabori Villas, where we spent the next two nights.  The evening was completed with dinner at the attached restaurant.  Neil and I both ate Fish Amok, a national specialty in Cambodia, and we weren't disappointed.  After dinner, we fell asleep to the sound of rain.

The reception and restaurant building

Barb and Holly's villa