CAMBODIA: silk farm

Have you ever held a worm in your hand while it wiggled? The day we visited the Silk Farm Noah was the only one in our family brave enough to hold one. (Well...ok, Gage was fast asleep in the van and David stayed with him, so it was only me who wouldn't touch the little thing. Would you?)

The tour at the silk farm was fantastic. The Artisans d'Angkor show you the whole process. From silk worms munching on mulberry leaves,

to the spinning of cocoons,

to the harvesting and spinning of the thread, thinning and dyeing,

all the way to weaving gorgeous material. The women sitting at the looms were fast with their designs and generous with their smiles.

I was surprised at how much silk could come out of a single worm and how intricate the whole process was. Noah loved the worms and really really wanted to crank the wheel on one of the big looms. And guess what? He finally got to. Because Cambodians are awesome like that.

Even after watching a worm spin a cocoon of raw silk, or hiking through the Cambodian jungle and climbing over ancient ruins, if you asked any of these kids what their favorite part of the day was they just might tell you it was the golf cart ride back to their hotel rooms. We are so glad we traveled with good friends. The kids never got enough.