Goodbye Siem Reap

Early pre-dawn waking. Shuffling pannier bags to the van with sticky mango fingers while still glue eyed. We are leaving our near one month stay in Siem Reap. It is tempting to stay longer with its giant mamma and pappa trees along the broad river, Dignity of the ancient city gateway underlying in all the gatekeepers, and tempting creative and entrepreneurial potential of this vogue city to be. There was even a yoga teaching position coming up in May. But, it's time to explore again. So, we say goodbye to Siem Reap and alight the double decker longboat for Battambang.

Tonle Sap to Battambang

We piled our bikes on the top of the double decker long boat and squeezed downstairs among locals and tourists for the 6 hour river journey. I was on guard duty, holding a spare seat for Tom who was packing our 8 pannier bags in the bow. I NVC'ed my way out of an altercation with a stroppy French tourist, Who almost sat on me as I guarded my lover's seat with dog-like loyalty. It was all ok, cool was kept and in the end there was seating for all! Tom and I ditched for the roof of the boat and had a panoramic view of river life all the way at the risk of a technicolor tan. Shanty thrown up houses of sticks and plastic housing families, chickens, fishing nets and woven trap baskets, dotted all along the brown and marshy edge. These people look like they shift up and down the shore, seasonally fishing the waters. I remember reading somewhere that land can be bought in Cambodia but rivers will always be public.

Silk Farm

One hot midday, we rode outside of the city into the country side which surrounds Siem Reap rapidly and on all sides to visit a Silk Farm.

Here is both a large silk colecting and processing farm and effective exhibition. As we rode in Mulberry trees lined our entry.

After parking our bikes we were then greeted by our guide and taken through the stages.

It all starts here, with these tiny little eggs, laid by the moths that the silk worms will eventually do all their eating, and spinning to become!

Tom and our guide examine the hatching area closly. Inside the cabinet, flat wicker baskets play nursery to the young worms only as large the white sliver at the end of your nail as they begin their lives chomping on tender mulberry leaves.

Days and days go by, and the worms gorge themselves on mulberry leaves, getting bigger and fatter...

Eventually the worms are placed in these flat circular woven baskets. There is a spiral divider thinnly lining the basket where the worms are welcoed to make their new homes, their silk coccoons.

What a strange life this silk farming has these worms play out off the tree. This is the method used, source traditionally from China and spread tthrought India and Asia hundreds of years ago...

Eventually the worms spin and spin and spin themselves a silky shrouded home for their metamorphises.

The twigs collected and banded together to house the silk worms and their spinning were also used once upon a time.

The silk coccoons are boiled and with a wooden fork the outer layers of silk are rcollected in strands.

These outer layers are the raw silk. When the coccoon appears to become smooth and hard, the coccoons are removed to another boiling pot for the fine silk to be collected and spun.

The many delicate strands of fine silk are collected and spun together...

The beautiful raw silk, the yellow colour is the natural colour of the coccoon.

The silk is collected off the spool to be taken for dying.

The fine silk collected on a wooden spool.

The fine silk draped over PV plumbing pipes. Drying after dying.

Rich, lucious, earthy natural dyed raw silk.....

One of the many plant, root, seed, leaf and bark sources for bold colours...

The fine silk prepared in spools to be used in for the creation of a large spool of thousands of strands.

A handful of strands are collected and tied in bunched to the beginning of a large reel attached by lengths of material.

The large iron wheel is the mega spool that allows the thousands of strands to be kept in line and neatly attached and packed onto the reel which will used for the manual weaving machines. It looks magnificent as it spins around and around!

The many threads on the barge iron wheel....

It always amazed me how clean and careful these ladíes' exact and nimble fingers are. Below they smooth out and realign naughty threads.

Now, after the reels of many threaded silk are prepared the weaving begins...

These women are trained in the traditional art of silk weaving. Many of them are in the middle of their 3 year apprenticeship, when they complete this they have the statis of crafts woman, and in time be recognised as a traditional artisan.

They will be able to persue their own work or join other silk weaving workshops, with recognition of their skills and receiving a fair wage and fair working week.

They are taught traditional silk patterns representative of different regions and function.

The wooden 'needle' which is passed between the separated weft.

The different threads which will be sent through with the wooden 'needle' to create patterns and variation.

Some of the little bits and pieces left around the workshop, some needles and a letter.

The brightly coloured silks! These silks have been artificially dyed, compared with the earlier photos.

One example of the finished pieces.

Below one of the ladies is using a bicycle wheel rim and a pedal with chain attached to spin silk onto a spool. In many of the workshops bicycle parts were used as part of the equipment to spin silk!

Finally, a beautiful fashion creation. It's using the silk cocoons in the skirt and the big weaving needles to decorate the bottom of the silk bustier.