Cycle Tour, Water Festival, Shopping
We had to be up and ready for a 7:15am pick up from the cycle tour company. We managed to have some breakfast before rushing out the door and getting into the tuk tuk. We had our briefing and checked our bikes were okay before beginning the terrifying 5 minute ride to the first ferry.
The roads were chaotic with motorbikes weaving around us, tuk tuk obstacles, and cars beeping. We finally made it to the ferry and crossed over to the middle point of the river. Here we visited a Buddhist temple but unfortunately Robin and I had forgotten knee covers so could not go inside.
We had another cycle to a local market where we were immersed in the bustle of locals buying for the day. Despite seeming unsanitary, the markets are the best place for fresh produce as Cambodian farmers do not have fridges. This means they have to sell fresh on the day. Our guide bought some curry paste and we had to guess the ingredients used from smell and texture. After all of our cooking courses, Robin and I were pros and guessed 5/5!
We had another ferry to the other side of the Mekong. Then we cycled to a tofu skin farm. Today was a national holiday as it is the water festival. It lasts for 3 days and consists of long boats from each province racing on the Mekong. The tofu farm gave its workers the next 3 days off. We still got taught the process by our guide. Tofu skin is a crispy product made of the most starchy part of crushed and boiled soya bean. It gets dried out and then is used as a topping on ramen, hotpot, and stir fries.
After, we went to the weaving house. Here we leant the process of Cambodian silk from breeding the silk worms, raising them, having them cocoon in stick bundles, and repeating the process. The cocoon produces two types of silk and the Cambodian silk is always yellow/orange. We watched as the lady weaved a fabric roll ready for turning into clothes. The patter on the loom alone can take 12+ days on a 3 pedal loom to set up! That’s no weaving yet.
Our tour was over so we cycled to the port to get the ferry back. This was when we had some trouble. The water festival was in full swing and they were not letting us on the ferry with our bikes. We had to lock them up in a side shop before getting on a ferry back. We then had to fight our way through the crowds to walk the 20 Minutes in 35°C sunny heat back tot he cycle office. Once back, Robin and I had to walk a further 10 minutes out of the pedestrian zone to find a tuk tuk taxi.
Sweaty and overheating, we got back, had lunch, and had a shower. We then went to a shop called Dorsu which makes sustainable clothes. I bought some linen trousers ready for Robin’s surprise tomorrow.
-M
