ciclyng aroudn the Mekong Island

A week in Cambodia -11/18/2023-11/24/2023

Phnom Penh -11/19/2023

Day 2- Cycling around the Mekong Island

Today we are going on a 6 hours guided tour and will be cycling around the Mekong Island.

We met up with the group at 7:30AM in the parking lot of the Post Office. Our tour guide assigned each of us a bike and we are trying it out. There are only 5 people taking the tour today.

Helmet on and we are ready to go.

First stop: we are taking the ferry to cross the Mekong.

Our bike is loaded in the ferry and we are ready.

Here is the view of our ferry docking on the bank of the Mekong with Phnom Penh in the back ground.

We are headed to Kok Dach

The ferry ride is fairly short and takes maybe 15 to 20 minutes.

View of the city from our ferry.

Hoa enjoying the ride.

We are getting further from the city center.

Our tour guide is a really nice young man.

We are almost reaching Koh Dach

Koh Dach is a rural community locally known as Silk Island located north of the City. It is named Silk Island due to its traditional silk-weaving communities. The whole island is about 30 square kilometers and the island is famed as an important silk weaving center.

We just got off the port and our guide is telling us where he is taking us.

First stop is the local market.

The market is fairly small because it is for locals only as not many tourists come here to buy food.

Vegetables for sale.

We just walked around a bit and see how local people are buying their food.

Along the way there are a lot of banana trees.

Bananas have a long history in Cambodia and believe to be introduced by early traders and explorers. Since then, they have become deeply embedded in Cambodian culture for their source of dietary. Bananas thrive in Cambodia’s tropical climate and the country’s fertile soil and abundant rainfall create favorable conditions for banana cultivation.

Our tour guide also explained that people are using the leaves to wrap food and it is also biodegradable and good for the environment.

A huge Papaya tree.

A field of lemon grass.

Lemon grass field on Silk island

We biked through dirt road and encountered a bunch of cows laying on the ground.

The cows are used to people and they don't even move as I was getting closer to them.

Cows represent wealth in Cambodia. The white cows are important livestock and offer a source of income and survival for Khmer families. Families who own livestock are usually better off than others. Their livestock can give milk and dairy for family use or to sell, and perhaps even a calf for sale over time. If they don’t have their own rice fields to plough, they can hire out their livestock to other farmers. Cow dung is not only used as fertilizer but also as fuel. At the end of its working life, cows or oxen can be fattened and sold for slaughter, the hide tanned and used for leather goods.

Most of the roads we biked through are made of dirt and some are quite difficult to maneuver because of the condition of the road and the mud.

We are getting off our bike and headed to a local silk weaver shop.

As soon as we arrived a beautiful basket of exotic fruits are set up for us.

We got an assortment of exotic fruits such as longan, mangosteen, bananas, and persimmons.

Homemade cake. They are really light and delicious.

Banana cake with coconut wrapped in banana leaves. All the cakes are made in house.

A lady weaving some threads

Traditional hand weaving machine.

All the scarfs are made here and the ladies continue to practice age-old techniques while also experimenting with contemporary designs, ensuring that this beautiful craft remains relevant in the modern world.