Saray Water Hyacinth
The excellent Saray Water Hyacinth project is a community project in Prek Toal village, Battambang Province, Cambodia organized and funded by the NGO Osmose and the Australian Government Prek Toal, a large village – or small town – situated at the point where the Sangkar River meets the Tonle Sap Lake is entirely constructed on rafts, floating on the water. Schools, shops, karaoke bar, a church – everything is built on rafts with only the village wat and a couple of the largest houses situated on the rare patches of dry land. All very picturesque and highly photogenic but a tough life for the inhabitants who traditionally have to rely on fishing, more fishing and further fishing for their livelihoods. As we said, for much of the year, there’s no dry land to plant a crop or graze a cow.
The workshop and souvenir store in Prek Toal floating village This particular scheme – also set up in a floating workshop – involves village families in fabricating and selling handicrafts made from dried water-hyacinth stems in order to supplement their incomes. It’s killing two birds with one stone, since the non-indigenous water hyacinths have become a serious problem in the area, proliferating to such an extent that they now clog up a lot of Cambodian waterways, including rivers around Prek Toal itself. Of course, the quantity of hyacinth stalks used for weaving is a drop in the ocean, but every little helps. (The plants are originally native to Central and South America but are now a problem throughout Southeast Asia.)
Kid on a hot tin roof, drying water hyacinth stems The hyacinth stalks are dried and then woven into mats, hats, baskets and so-on for sale to rare passers-by or shipped to souvenir stores in Siem Reap. (They also receive commissions for large mats for hotel receptions etc.) Not only attractive, but the dried stems are also particularly soft compared to other types of dried reeds, etc, so they make for great mats. (Unfortunately, my dog also appreciated the edible hyacinth stems and ate the last mat I brought home, so I’ll be buying another one next time we pass through Prek Toal.)
Weaving the dried hyacinth stems Prek Toal village and the Saray Water Hyacinth community project are a regular stop during the spectacular boat trip along the Sangkar River from Siem Reap to Battambang on our Cambodia Overland and Vietnam and Cambodia Overland tours as well as the Cambodia and Vietnam Overland tour and Laos and Cambodia Indochina Adventure.
