Day 38 - the weaving island

Not far out of Phnom Penh is the mighty Mekong within which are several islands. Koh Duch is traditionally and still 'the weaving island'. We took our usual tuk-tuk driven by Thai. Five of us aboard, to the ferry across the Mekong.  There was a cow and calf being brought across on the ferry on the way out.  It is a very pretty island and it would be pleasant to commute to Phnom Penh from here. the soil is always fertile says Sython. We saw sesame, ginger, maize, aubergine and bananas growing a plenty. Many lovely white cows, a bull and several small horses! We toured the island and stopped at a romantic run down pagoda. Apparently there are too many pagodas on the island per capita and indeed there was one about every 500m.  We then arrived at Sython's friend Clara's family home where we watched and then tried loom weaving, which was just fantastic.  

We were weaving cotton. The silk industry in Cambodia has not recovered, despite all attempts, from the Khmer Rouge and it is now mostly imported raw silk from China and India that is woven locally.  There is an article in Globe magazine, January edition, on the subject.

After a local lunch (rice and chicken soup, with bones) we were suckered into buying a lot and then went for a tour of the village. We came across, surprise surprise, a family steaming duck eggs.  These are boiled and then reheated via steaming and eaten with lime salt and garlic.  The thing is, they are fertilised eggs. I had been dreading this so am very glad to have got it over before Siem Reap. I don't think I will be attempting another show of bravery. Fried tarantula is nothing on this. I had to go out for a coke specifically in order to get the taste out of my mouth this evening.

 

Tomorrow we leave at 7am for Siem Reap. The attempt to go by boat has failed as apparently the waters of the Tonle Sap are only just high enough and the boat company is not up for it yet. I also have to decide whether to stay over the weekend locally or not. We're straight off to Kampong Chhang on Monday next. "Tonle" means large river. "Dstung" means medium sized river.