Cambodia Day 4 Part 3

We proceeded to Artisans D' Angkor at the silk farm about 15 km from Siem Reap after our lunch. The journey there is about half an hour and all of us fell asleep on the way there as we woke up very early at 4 am.

At the National Silk Centre, there were tour guides for free to show us around the silk centre.

Mulberry Plantation

Silkworms only eat mulberry leaves and there is a plantation within the National Silk Centre for the silkworms to feed.

Silkworms on display


Unwinding the silk from the cocoons

It was indeed an insightful trip to the silk farm and we learnt the process on how silk is being produced and the manufactured products. There were people weaving silk and dyeing the silk materials etc.

Next, we proceeded to the War Museum as we had a little time before sunset. The entrance fee is US$3 and there are very few tourists. After 5 minutes upon entering the place, we were starting to regret our decision to go there as the amount of mosquitoes inside were enormous. Thus we hurriedly took a number of photos inside before leaving the vicinity in 15 minutes.

An original tank after the war with Vietnam and Khmer Rouge


Derrick taking a comical pose


Landmines and mortars shells collected after the wars


A cute exit sign


An old helicopter on display outside the War Museum

After that, we proceeded to Phnom Bakheng for sunset. The large temple mountain is a popular place for tourists as the sunset is very beautiful when viewed on top. We sprinted our way to the top of the temple as we were running late and rushing to catch the sunset on top of the temple. We were all exhausted after reaching the top but the scenic view is totally worth it.

Bakheng flooded with tourists


Look how high we climbed


The incredibly beautiful sunset


Me and thousands of tourists enjoying the view


Nice shot taken by Meibin

We headed down the large temple mountain next as the sky was turning dark and there were people from the temple authorities chasing people down for safety purposes. Imagine walking down very steep steps with no railings in the dark. However, we were accustomed to climbing and descending the steep steps using 3 point contact to balance ourselves when climbing down. By the time we reached the bottom of the hill, it was already very dark and our driver drove us back to our guesthouse.

We rested for a while before walking to the Old Market Area for our dinner. We decided to try the local roadside stalls and we ordered mainly noodles and fried rice. It was cheap at only US$0.75 a dish but slightly expensive in local standards. Siem Reap is a town full of tourists so the prices are of course higher compared to other cities in Cambodia.

We then proceeded to The Red Piano for more food after a while as we still a little hungry after all the exercise we had done in the day. We all love dining in Cambodia coz restaurant prices are so cheap (mostly between US$3-$6) for a nice and tasty meal. We returned to our guesthouse after our hearty meal at around 10.30 pm. We had to wake up at 4.15 am the next day as we wanted to see sunrise at another temple.

End of Part 3 of Day 4