One of our favorite parts about World traveling is the opportunity to explore historical sites and call it “school”. We probably wish our kids were as excited about this great opportunity as we are, but for now, we’re banking on the idea that one day (when they’re older and much wiser) they will appreciate this great privilege of seeing the amazing “Wonders of the World”.

SILK ISLAND

We hired our favorite tuk tuk driver for half a day and boarded a ferry to cross the waters to what is known as, Silk Island. Just a short drive off the ferry boat, we arrived at an outdoor silk farm where they guided us through the steps of harvesting or “rearing” silkworms to collect threads of silk. It was quite fascinating.

The silkworm starts as a very small egg then hatches into what looks like a gray caterpillar. At this point it spends most of its life eating mulberry leaves until it turns an orange-yellow color. That’s how you know it’s ready to spin a cocoon around itself. (Fun and slightly gross fact, if you drink herbal tea that states it contains “mulberry leaves”, it’s not actually mulberry leaves, but silkworm poop). The worm stays in the cocoon for two weeks, then hatches into a “bombyx mori” moth. Because of the shape of wings and proportion size of its body, the moth can’t fly. The female is larger than the male and their sole purpose is to mate for several hours, then the male dies off and the female will lay her eggs six to eight weeks after mating. The eggs hatch after ten days and the lifecycle continues.

The silk comes from the soft fabrics of the cocoon, this is why the silkworm lifecycle is reared carefully. The collection of abandoned cocoons are placed into a pot of boiling water, then one by one, they are pulled and spun together on a large spool to be collected, dyed, and spun again into smaller spools of thread. Then the real work begins!

Several threads are thoughtfully placed onto the loom machine, where each silk thread is woven one thread at a time to create intricate designs. The women work all day threading silks into fabrics, each pattern can take up to several weeks to several months, depending on the complexity of the fabric. Most of the fabrics created are then used for scarfs, skirts, and bandanas, to help the natives keep covered and cool in the hot sun.

SIEM REAP

Another favorite trip we took was a six-hour bus ride, north to Siem Reap. This is where several ancient Hindu & Buddhist Temples remain, including Angkor Wat which is known as the eighth wonder of the world and largest religious site. Other temples included, the Bayon, where faces are carved into the stones, and the Ta Prohm (any Tomb Raider fans out there?) these are ruins taken over by trees.

Because of the distance, we made a weekend of it and included other cultural events into our schedule, like a children’s coconut dance, the Khmer Circus and an Apsara performance with a traditional Khmer feast.

Phil surprised us with a morning sunrise hot air balloon ride! This has been on my bucket list for quite some time and with everything being cheaper in Cambodia, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I was under the impression that we were going to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat, as that was the “must see” event. Because it was still dark out when we were picked up at our hotel, I couldn’t see that we were headed the opposite direction of the Temples. It wasn’t until we get out of the van, at a vacant field with only a few people there, that was I really confused. We walked right past an oversized balloon shaped fabric and that’s when I realized what was going on. It was legit the BEST surprise!! (I’m still impressed he pulled it off so well!) Waiting for us was a sweet Khmer lady with a table full of fruit, water, and a plate full of la pain chocolate croissants! We were all pretty thrilled and Claire’s high-pitched squills equally matched my enthusiasm. Hallie was a bit concerned about our safety going up, but we were able to reassure her we would all be safe.

The bad news, the morning of the surprise, the wind was too boisterous for the balloon to take flight, and it got cancelled. We walked away with hopes for another chance the following morning, the day we were leaving back to Phenom Phen. I kept hearing in my head, “have faith, have hope”.

Instead of ballooning, we let the kids swim while Phil and worked out the plans for taking the kids hiking. We couldn’t leave without taking advantage of being in the country, so we found a nature hike with thankfully, a variety of natural discoveries to keep the kids minds off of complaining about walking in the heat. They may have protested to go hiking, but once we were there, we had a hard time getting them to leave!

Our faith and hope paid off because our last morning arrived, a bit too early due to a late show the previous night, but the weather was in our favor! We piled into a wicker basket after another delicious feast of la pain chocolates and floated into the air. It was an enjoyable experience worth waiting for and I highly recommend it!