Angkor Silk Farm | Siem Reap, Cambodia
On my last day of site seeing in Siem Reap, I decided to skip my original plans to go to floating villages, and instead head to the Angkor Silk Farm, one of the few FREE attractions in Siem Reap, (though in theory you are expected to buy silks at the end-I didn’t). It’s also a fair trade organization. I watched each step of the silk making process- something I knew nothing about previously. Silk is spun out of the saliva of the Bombyx mori, or silkworm and it’s a very intricate process. It is the by-product of silkworms gorging on the leaves of mulberry trees.They spin tiny cocoons which are harvested and boiled. In Cambodia, nothing is wasted. After the silk is removed from the cocoons, the silkworms provide a delicious snack, offering much needed protein and fat! I really enjoyed this tour and would highly reccomend it over some of the other tourist attractions in Siem Reap (namely the scammy floating villages, not only a tourist trap that sucks your money, but none of the money goes back into the community). To read more bout Cambodia’s silk industry check out this NY times article.
