Koh Dach

Koh Dach, often called Silk Island, is a long low island in the Mekong just upstream of Phnom Penh, reached by a short vehicle ferry, and it is farmland and villages: banana, vegetables, and silk weaving on wooden handlooms set up in the shade under stilted houses, worked mostly by women. Visitors can watch the process from spooling to weaving, and the ikat technique in which the threads are tie-dyed before weaving so the pattern emerges in the cloth is the local speciality. Some raw silk is now imported rather than reared locally, which weavers will explain. Cycling the flat lanes between villages is the pleasant way to spend a morning, and a sandy river beach fills with Phnom Penh families at weekends.

What you actually see

• Handloom weaving - looms working in the shade under the houses.
• Ikat dyeing - threads tie-dyed before weaving to form the pattern.
• Village lanes - flat tracks between farms, easily cycled.
• The river beach - a sandbank busy with weekend visitors.

When to go

November to March for comfortable cycling. Weekdays are quiet; the beach is crowded at weekends. The river beach is exposed and largely gone in the high-water months.

Honest expectations

Weaving demonstrations end in a shop and pressure to buy is real. Some silk sold is imported and not woven on the island. Ferries run frequently but the crossing point is a long way from central Phnom Penh. There is little shade on the lanes.

Nearby

Phnom Penh lies downstream; the Mekong runs north.