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Visit the Angkor Silk Farm and take their free tour to see just how all those silk scarves come to be. Then head to the Artisans d’Angkor workshop and store to see them making all the gorgeous products that are also for sale.
Guided tours through the eight hectare farm give a unique insight into the different stages involved in silk production, from the mulberry tree orchards, silkworm breeding, the spinning mills and the dying and weaving processes. A shop is there for visitors as well.
Of all the studios, social enterprises, co-ops and boutiques in Cambodia, Artisans Angkor stands in a league of its own. Founded in 1992 through a partnership between a European NGO and the Ministry of Education, Artisans operates vocational centres across the country to train rural Cambodians in Khmer craftsmanship. In Siem Reap – the traditional home of silk weaving – it’s all about the textiles.
The Angkor Silk Farm is such an outstanding place to visit. It offers free tours of its fabulous farm that explains the lifecycle of a silk worm and how this becomes silk thread to the finished product.
While Cambodia now imports up to 95% of its raw silk from Vietnam to satisfy a small weaving cottage industry, Artisans Angkor have set out to revive sericulture on a massive scale. And it’s a promising venture. Even though golden silk worms yield less raw silk than the white variety (300-400m versus 1400m per cocoon), golden worms are easier to cultivate because they’re adapted to the climate and immune to pests.
The tiny 12th-century Buddhist temple of Neak Pean (sometimes written Neak Poan or Neak Poun sits on a circular stone island in a square pool, framed by four more pools, all built on an island in the middle of a lake. The temple’s name means “entwined serpents.”
A favorite Angkor sunset spot, Pre Rup is a 3-tier mountain temple topped with five sanctuary towers. Built in 961 AD as a temple to the Hindu god Shiva, Pre Rup’s name means “turn the body,” and some believe it was used for cremations. Its warm brickwork and red laterite stone look beautiful at sunrise or sunset.
The sprawling temple complex of Angkor Thom, an ancient Khmer capital formerly ringed by a crocodile-infested moat, surpasses the world-famous Angkor Wat in both size and scale. Each of the site’s five gates are heralded by avenues lined with 108 deities that represent good and evil, which provide spectacular photo opportunities before you even step inside.
The Siem Reap Art Center Night Market is open from morning until late in the evening, but it is more of a night market than an art center. Close to the Old Market (Phsar Chaa or Phsar Chas), the site boasts a wealth of stalls selling crafts, souvenirs, the obligatory elephant pants, and snacks.
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Angkor Silk Farm
