You are taking a vacation in Phnom Penh, attracted by its beauty, but, somehow, you feel fatigued from the hustle and bustle of the city life? Then take a day out to the nearby tranquil Koh Dach Island.
The charming Koh Dach, known as Silk Island by foreigners, or Mekong Island is just about 15 kilometres to the northeast of Phnom Penh on Mekong River; however, it seems to be a separated world away from the capital city due to the difference in pace of life between them. If you are fond of Cambodia’s both nature and tradition, Koh Dach will decidedly meet your demand because the two most outstanding features of the island are its pristine beaches and the handicrafts that local artisans make. Read more: Cambodia tours
Ringed by a host of fertile paddy fields, large vegetable patches and fruit orchards, Koh Dach offers you not only a cozy atmosphere for a pleasurable trip, but also a chance of experiencing Cambodia’s real rural life.
To get to this charming 30-kilometre island, you can consider one of the following options, depending on your location, interest and budget. From the Tonle Sap, you can catch one of the tourist boats or cruises which include a stop here in their itinerary on Mekong River, but its cost will make you think twice before decide. Read more: Indochina travel
A better substitution for the above is to catch a ferry which usually departs to Koh Dach at a point on the Mekong River’s bank near Japanese Friendship Bridge in Phnom Penh, which you can easily find out. The second choice to reach Koh Dach is preferable to the first one with more reasonable cost – 500 riel each, 2,000 riel per person and a motorbike, and 8,000 riel for a car and its passengers.
If you travel by ferry, you will be welcomed by local women, with a smile, speaking a bit English, and invited to one of their houses to observe weavers in action. In response to their hospitality, you are advised to buy some silk products, say, kramas and sarongs.
In case you follow the guide to travel on boats from the Tonle Sap, no vehicles other than motorbikes, bicycles or ox carts will offer you a better experience in these villages to discover the spectacle of incredible silk production involving farming silks worms, making cocoons and weaving the silk. Observing their work, you will definitely be amazed by strange weaving contraptions and can’t help admiring their sophisticated, challenging and somewhat tedious technique. The final products they have just finished are so impressive that you will want them to be yours right away! Perhaps the name “Silk Island” is a way to honour their reputable silk.
During summer, nothing is more desirable than going for a swim on the beach which is lined with a number of thatched huts and food stalls, with untouched surroundings at the northern part of the island. On the way, you are required to go through a tollbooth that charges each foreigner 1 USD for entry.
The Indochina Voyages team.
Read more:
