After Ice Asian Trip 2008

Cambodia

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Cambodian rural countryside.

Cambodia

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Cambodian rural countryside.

Cambodia

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Cambodian rural countryside.

Cambodia

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No school busses here.

Cambodia

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Students on their way to school.

Cambodia-Artisans D'Angkor

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Artisans D'Angkor runs a silk farm and manufacturing facility about 20 minutes outside of town. A full tour and thorough explanation of work in English is given for free, with a tour guide for each visitor group, no matter how small. The facility is nice to see.

Cambodia-Artisans D'Angkor

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Cambodian silk is exquisite, so the pleasant tour here will give you an appreciation of the labour (from the silk worms as well as the skilled people!) that go into every thread. The store here has a fine, reasonably upmarket collection of silk goods including purses, clothing and bolts of silk in brilliant colours The quality of silk does not depend so much on the worm's origin ( Cambodia , Thailand , Vietnam , etc.), but more on the conditions (food, environment) in which it's raised.

Cambodia-Artisans D'Angkor

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Each worm produces two kinds of silk for its cocoon - a thin inner layer ("fine" silk) and a thicker outer layer ("raw" silk). It takes 1,000 cocoons to make a medium-sized sweater! - After the worm produces its silk, the weavers boil the cocoons (worms inside) and remove the silk by hand, using a spindle. The knots are then removed and the silk is dyed, dried and ready for weaving.

Cambodia-Artisans D

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Artisans D'Angkor has done a great job in laying out the silk process for curious visitors.

Cambodia-Artisans D

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The silk farm is located about 20 minutes from the center of Siem Reap. It is rather out of the way in the Puok district. No worries, though, because the company offers free shuttle pick ups and drop offs, from their store in Siem Reap. The, actual tour is free as well.

Cambodia-Artisans D

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The entrance to the silk farm, is where soon after you'll be met with a personal guide who will walk you through the whole process. The whole place looks really nice. It looks as if they built it solely to please Western visitors. Cambodia silk is big part of the Siem Reap tourism industry.

Cambodia-Artisans D

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The first stop was to look at the mulberry plants. They have a large field of it because the mulberry leaves will be used to feed the silk worms. In the wild, it's the silk worm's job to find the mulberry leaves, however here at the farm, the leaves come to them. All they need to do is eat and fatten them selves.

Cambodia-Artisans D

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The worms are thus protected from predators that in turn may eat them. Once they eat enough, the worms start making their cocoons and then rest inside. The worms think they’re going to have an undisturbed sleep and later metamorphose into beautiful butterflies.

Cambodia-Artisans D

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Sadly for them, it is not meant to be. Once the cocoon is at the right age, they are 'harvested' and sent to the factory. There, the cocoons are boiled in order to make it easier to pull the silk threads. Each silk cocoon can produce a rather lengthy thread.

Cambodia-Artisans D

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At this stage, the silk is still very rough and thick, unlike the ones we see at the market, but you can already see that shine that we all associate with silk materials. Once the raw silk is gathered, the next stage is to dye them into many different colors. Here they use natural dyes from herbs and plants.

Cambodia-Artisans D

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The silk threads are then dyed individually, submerged in these hot vessels. However, these threads are still raw silk. They will need to be thinned even more before they can be used. Technically, you can use rough silk, but you don't see many of those in the market.

Cambodia--Artisans D

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When it comes to weaving, the farm does it manually, and they make some gorgeous looking silk materials which will be sold later for top dollar.

Cambodia-Artisans D

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After you're finished seeing the silk making process, naturally you are led to the exhibition hall, and the gift shop area.

Cambodia-Artisans D

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It looks like silk is very much used for traditional Cambodian dresses, silk scarves, and also bed spreads (that would be a costly one!).

Cambodia-Artisans D

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You'll see some amazing silk items at the gift shop, everything from clothes, scarves, wallets, pillowcases, throws, and little trinkets. Prices are horrendous by Cambodian standards, with simple silk scarves starting at $30 and going up to $200 USD.

Cambodia-Artisans D

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However, you will not likely find better craftsmanship anywhere else, or prettier designs. So if you see something that you can't live without, just get it because you won't find it at other silk shops.