Bicycle day 3 Phnom Penh to Chau Doc 9 Feb 2016

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  Today we leave Cambodia for Vietnam. Here's what Cambodian currency (Riel) looks like. There are no coins which is nice. Today we start on the bicycle directly from th hotel, and ride from the hotel to a ferry. We're going to explore the islands here in the river. We're on the boat looking back at the mainland. Hanging out on the ferry.

 
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  As our ferry is still loading, another ferry pulls up and unloads. Captain of the ferry boat.

 
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  We're heading to ths island. Dan Lisa and Morten

 
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  Beatrice, Joelle, Sue A rare Christian church steeple (Cambodia is mostly Buddhist)

 
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  Scramble to unload. Grating over the ferry engine. Dan

 
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  Pause to admire the huge cows, worth about US $6k each because they're so much larger than normal.

 
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  Bob selfie Our awesome bike mechanic Jang and notice the semi-single track trail we're on.

 
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  Stop for a group photo, this is our last ride in Cambodia with the Cambodia crew, different tour guide and mechanic and van driver tonight. Win and Jang juggling everybody's cameras :-) Group photo! After another short ride, we stop at a silk worm factory.

 
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  The silk worms before they spin a coccoon. They must be kept warm in the heated area behind our guide. Little tiny silk worms, freshly hatched. Here are many silk coccoons, about ready to be harvested. Each coccoon has about 34 meters of silk thread. A spinning wheel is used to spin the silk into an even-thickness thread.

 
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  Low bench to sit on, wheel (bike rim) to turn on left, on right is the silk from many coccoons to be spun into thread. Lot sits down to demo winding the silk onto the spool. He wasn't very good though and broke the thread! Lot our tour guide demonstrates winding the spool from the loose. His right hand turns the bike rim which turns the small roll of thread, pulling from the large right roll of washed silk. Each silk thread is knotted to the next and is run through the fingers to ensure homogenous thickness and no fuzz. The raw silk is rough to the feel, it is boiled to make it softer before being spun and woven, though you can also find garments of raw silk.

 
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  One of several looms here. Complicated design from the number of vertical frames (heddles according to wikipedia), the heddles are raised or lowered to move the longitudual threads (weft) to separate them different ways for how the warp thread is passed through on the shuttle. Lots of heddles on this one, it'll be a complicated pattern. Sure enough, a complex pattern. The thread for the shuttle going left-right across the threads.

 
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  Lots of looms here. This is the showroom, the lady explaining everything mentioned her sister's place as being the larger factory. Their cookpots over a wood fire. The toilet. Looking forward through the weaving shop. smaller loom with a simpler pattern

 
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  In the ~15 minutes during our tour, the girl at the loom was working full-time and made maybe 2 inches of progress on this complicated design. Gorgeous but man it's a lot of work! For a design like this, can take them 4 days to set up the loom (set up the heddles). For a more complicated design can take 7-10 days. Another simpler design.

 
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  Just 4 colors on the finished design, so only a couple heddles. Looking at the finished scarves. Another fruit break here after the silk demo

 
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  Puppy snoozing. It was sleepy dog time and most of the many dogs around were all sleeping. Getting ready to hop back on the bikes. By the side of the road, often trash is being burned. George, you would die of the smoke :-( Waiting for the next ferry. Not much of a wait, they run continuously. It'll be a short hop to the next island. Smoke and antennas on the right.

 
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  Ferry arrives and unloads, then we hop on. Crammed on the ferry. Motor for the ferry is exposed.

 
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  Back of the boat. Everyone crammed on board. Very small motor for this boat. Fuel is the white jug. The string going up is attached to the throttle. Pull the string to make it go. about to unload.

 
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  Typical ferry boat. Heading uphill off the ferry as the next group of people wait to load. We ride some more :-) and cross a bridge instead of another ferry. We comment this steel we're riding on is the smoothest ride we've had in days.

 
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  Jang is laughing and giving me a thumbs up seeing me take this picture. More riding on these pretty islands, then another ferry. This ferry is mostly empty.

 
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  Manually raising the gangplank, the other side's docking ramp is steeper. Engine is below there, not exposed on this ferry. Still loud though.

 
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  Floating something here. Floating restaurant on the destination side, we're going to have lunch there. As usual, multiple ferries docking at the same time. We're getting off while a stream of cars get onto the other ferry. Done with the biking in Cambodia! Champagne time! Lisa opens one bottle.

 
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  Ole opens the other bottle. The icy cold washcloths are soooo welcome after a hot ride! Down the walkway to lunch.

 
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  Other ferries and boats coming and going. Lunch - great food! This truck waiting for the ferry parked sideways on the slope, we all wondered if it would roll.

 
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  Nope, made it safely onto the ferry. Food prep area at the restaurant. Fish and turtles etc waiting to be eaten. After a very quick shower at the hotel which was very nice to give us a late check-out, head to the boat for transfer to Chau Doc. Boatman takes our passports and verifies each one matches the pre-arranged list, and exit docs for Cambodia and entry visa for Vietnam are both correct. Sue and Ole.

 
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  Bob and Richard. Inside the cabin, cushy seats. In spite of the diesel fumes, we spend the 4 hour ride on the stern, much better views than in the cabin below. Leaving Phnom Penh. The boatman feeds us well - bananas and croissants several times, tea and coffee. Bob's exit document for Cambodia - we arrived on 2 Feb and are leaving on the 9th.

 
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  After about 3 hours on the boat, we pass the one and only bridge we'll see on this boat ride. Beautiful suspension bridge. We're still in Cambodia here. About 4 hours on the boat, we hit the border. First we dock to leave Cambodia. Then back on the boat for another 5 minutes to the Vietnam entry. This one takes longer... Our boat for the ride.

 
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  Very long and slender, fast boat. Beers to celebrate getting into Vietnam. Pop Tops on the beers - haven't seen those in the US in 20+ years! Here we leave the large Mekong river for a smaller tributary, another ~15 minutes to our hotel. Gorgeous sunset! Lots of smoke along the river contributes to the pretty sunset though - lots of trash and maybe plastic being burned.

 
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  Little frog welcomes us to the next hotel. Another Hotel Victoria - REALLY nice hotel! All the usual freebies in the hotel room like toothbrush and shampoo, plus here you get a condom! Place your shoes here in the cabinet to be shined by housekeeping. Custom welcome letter from the hotel. Lizards! They're very cute.

 
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  Another well stocked mini bar. Don't need it, Grasshopper Adventures feeds us very well! Dinner Fish in clay pot. Soup with lots of tasty veggies and fish. Wish the fish had been de-boned but tasty. Teeny tiny lizard on the wall in the bathroom - how cute!

 
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  Lots of boats at the Hotel Victoria dock. SPOT track from today of bicycle ride And then the boat ride down. Bob's MapMyRide showed 20 km bike ride today. Only 6 meters elevation gain over the entire ride. :-)

 
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  Our ride on the islands and ferries to lunch.

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