island biking

Yesterday, a couple friends and I went on a bike tour called "Islands of the Mekong," described on the tour company's website as follows:

Cross the river by boat and take in this relaxing 30km ride through Cham Muslim communities on quiet back roads to reach the Mekong Islands. On the islands, cycle through orchards and market gardens. Enjoy the peaceful farmland and learn about the lives of the people who live here.

On the map below, Phnom Penh is in the middle lowest portion, and the river on the right is the Mekong, which is more than 2700 miles long from the Tibetan Plateau in China to Vietnam.

I didn't want to risk taking my nice camera biking, so I settled for some lower quality photos. The picutre below was taken near the beginning of the bike tour, with the Tonle Sap (the river on the left above) in the background. The floating house likely belongs to Vietnamese fishermen, and the dragon that I'm awkwardly leaning on is part of a Chinese temple. The steps lead into the river, an unknown number covered by the water.


We took a ferry across to the islands, and biked right into a raucous group of young people going door to door to raise money to pay for a new pagoda. They wore brightly colored costumes, like the giants below and a Chinese dragon, and banged on a loud drum and cymbals. My friends below contributed - check out our stylish helmets!

Women on these islands weave beautiful silks, which are sold in the markets in Phnom Penh for around $70/each, according to our guide. It takes them about a week to make one. Garment workers in the city, on the other hand, make a similar amount of money in a month. The video below shows two women working at looms side by side on the bottom level of a traditional wooden house.

In the second picture below, our guide, Mean (pronounced me-ann), is picking the leaves of the rambutan plant, whose tea he says will help him sleep well.

This picture is taken in a garden with statues of the symbols of the Chinese years, like Year of the Rat, Year of the Tiger, etc. I'm technically a cow, but this donkey (I think?) was more fun to imitate.

This temple was all gilt. The buddhas below were smiling; their counterparts on the other side of the stairwell were frowning. Inside the temple, the walls were painted with Buddhist scenes. If you look closely, the panel in the middle row on the far right is pretty graphic, and our guide said it is meant to remind us that "everyone dies." It's hard to see, but I hope we don't all have our entrails pecked out by a bird though, like this poor guy!