Our tour started this morning as we boarded Tuk-Tuks to visit a silk weaving village. A tuk-tuk is basically a four wheeled carriage that is pulled by a small motorcycle. It holds up to four people and is a great way to get around. Ouknhatey Village is located on a small island in the middle of the river and is made up of about 200 families.

In the village they harvest silk worms and the silk producing process begins. It takes about 47 days for the silk worms to mature and form cocoons. The cocoons are then boiled and the threads that make up the cocoons are pulled strand by strand and spun into silk threads. The threads are then colored by natural dyes before being woven into the silk fabric. Each part of the process is done by hand and the results are stunning.

Next we boarded the Tuk-Tuks and visited an elementary school. The school holds about 200 children with just the principal and two teachers. Most of the school supplies are donated as the community is quite poor. The students we visited ranged from 8 to 12 years old and were delightful. They were thrilled to have visitors and to show us what they were learning. They sang us some songs and practiced some of their basic English with us. After visiting the school we headed back to the ship so that we could set sail for Phnom Penh.