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We visited several smaller temples today which were all amazing! Each one impressed us…we took our time climbing our way through the various ruins and stopping to touch the old stone and take in every moment. One of our favorites was the Banteay Srei Temple (Fortress of the Women) from the 10th century…with its elaborate details imbedded in the red limestone walls. The buildings were much smaller than other temples forcing us to duck down just to walk through the doorways. The carvings were so intricate and told Hindu stories using mythological symbolism. The history here is almost unreal to be able to walk through…reading books and looking at pictures is one thing, but really walking through these temples and seeing the ancient carvings is surreal.
In between temples, we stopped for a fresh coconut cut by one of the local vendors before getting in the car and driving for a bit to the next temple area. As we drove through small towns, we enjoyed staring out the window watching the countryside pass by and the many little bamboo huts. At one point, we saw a little fruit stand where a women was selling milk fruit…round fruit which were purple and green on the outside and white with seeds on the inside. They were all hanging from strings, and since we had never tried milk fruit before, we bought a bunch to taste. We also couldn’t resist buying a super sweet extra cute tiny pineapple before continuing on our way to the next temple.
A little further down the road, we saw locals making palm sugar…stirring the hot liquid slowly in the huge silver pots on the ground until it became super thick. We pulled over to get a better look at the process. The liquid comes from the sugar palm tree, its sap is tapped and gathered by the local people who then boil it down until it looks like a thick caramel. Then it is poured into a moulding and sold for cooking…it is their version of brown sugar. Giff and I knew Palm sugar well as we had cooked with it with almost every course in Thailand, it is a staple in Thai cuisine. Palm Sugar is actually healthy…it has many vitamins, minerals and even protein, calcium and iron-who knew something so sweet could have health benefits! For lunch we stopped on the side of road where multiple vendors had their plastic tables set out on the dirt parking lot. We found a table and ordered a couple of things for lunch. They also cut up our milk fruit and pineapple for us…the milk fruit had a very sweet white flesh.
After lunch, we started our afternoon exploring more temples, one of which was Prasat Ta Sam, dedicated to the Kings ancestors. It was a small temple in the woods, and we recognized the architecture right away with the large smiling faces carved into the top of the temple. As we continued walking through the old entrance, what really stood out the most were the trees that had actually grown into the walls. The wall and tree have been intertwined for so many years…one probably could not stand without the other.
The last temple of the day was Ta Prohm (the temple where the movie Tomb Raider was filmed) which had huge thick tree trunks devouring the ancient temple walls…the roots of the trees were covering much of the temple. The trees weren’t your everyday large trees…these things were ginormous…when we took pictures next to them we looked miniature in size. We walked through the ruins taking pictures and noting the hidden carvings behind tree trunks.
Back on the tuk-tuk heading to the village of Siem Reap, we saw a typical motorcycle driving by us with more coconuts loaded onto it than one would think possible…it even had the machete stuck in one for cutting them open. You don’t exactly see motorcycles like this in the US!
Today is Christmas for us so we are wondering what we will be eating for our Christmas dinner in Cambodia! We found a place on a busy street of Siem Reap and ordered a few things. After just a few bites we knew it was not so good food…we have been eating enough Asian cuisine now to determine the great from the mediocre. We quickly paid our bill and then went searching for something else. We found a cute small winery restaurant with a table available outside on the sidewalk. We ordered a few different small plates including a tartar and a pasta made with snake, as well as a filet of white fish and a glass of wine…
After Christmas dinner, we walked around a bit engulfed in the buzz of the small town. We ran into a place called Dr. Fish…there was a huge aquarium filled with tiny little fish. Because we are crazy…we agreed to give it a try. We sat on the ledge of the aquarium, beer in hand and feet in the water…100’s of little fish came swarming over to our feet and started eating the dead skin off for us. It tickled like crazy!!! There were other people sitting on the ledge as well with their feet hanging in the water and we were all laughing as we let fish eat off of us…seriously who does that? It was certainly an experience we will not forget…probably the strangest thing we’ve ever participated in on Christmas day so far.
After our food and fish experience, we grabbed a tuk-tuk and went back to our hotel for a massage (of course) and bed.
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Published by Brandey Kabat
What I like: Dark chocolate, yoga, fresh squeezed juice, laughing, hiking, wine, travel, food, lush products, being warm, having long hair, the ritual of drinking something hot first thing in the morning…
What I don’t like: When people smell their fingers, pushing elevator buttons, confrontational situations, not being able to fall asleep quickly at bedtime…
Most random job ever: Plastic surgery consultant
As for my love life: I met my husband mid way through my junior year in college, as soon as I laid my eyes on him I was attracted to him. In fact, I made the first move which was a bit out of character but there was something about him…probably the fact that he was smokin’ hot!!
Where from and where to: I grew up in NY, went to college at The Ohio State University and then headed to CA after graduation. My boyfriend (Giff) and I had a map, a borrowed van and used stuff from his mom’s basement aka a vacuum, silverware, old Christmas ornaments etc., and about $1000 each. We thought it would be a good idea to head straight to CA since neither of us had been. Being we didn’t know anyone there nor did we have a job or job interviews set up or a place to live…I would say we did it the hard way! However with a bit of help from Giff’s mom who flew out to put us up in a hotel, bought me a suit for interviewing and co-signed a lease to get us a place to live we eventually found jobs and an apartment and have been in CA for 10 years.
Our story: After moving out to CA and living together for about 3 years we got engaged. He popped the question while down on one knee on the beach at sunset after we finished our picnic he had packed of bread, cheese, shrimp cocktail and wine. He even had the ring in a box that had a light shining down on it when opened so as it was getting dark, this amazing man was asking me to be his wife as he handed me a huge rock…Yes! Yes! Yes!
In 2005 we were married (I am biased but our wedding was absolutely amazing). By the end of 2005 we were new home owners. 2006-2009- we were both happily married, attached to our 3 cats and were focused on building our careers.
Giff and I got pregnant mid year 2009 with our first baby but what should have been one of the highlights of our life was soon distracted by the news I received at the doctor’s office.
The lump in my breast that had been dismissed the year before as nothing was now being diagnosed by a different doctor as breast cancer. Thankfully Giff is a persistent person and when we went in for our ultrasound (to hear our baby’s heartbeat) he brought up the request for testing to be done on the lump rather than dismissing it based on feeling it.
The going gets rough: Things began to move so quickly at that point, it was hard to breathe. I was 30, pregnant with my first child and going into surgery to remove breast cancer. I was about to go through what would be the worst year of my life. The plan had been discussed, we were going with the most aggressive regimen possible- double mastectomy, port surgically placed in my chest, chemotherapy, drug therapy and radiation. We also had to terminate the pregnancy. This cancer was estrogen positive and the hormones were actually feeding the cancer. That little angel whom was the cause of our going into the doctor saved my life.
Giff was my rock through every step…interviewing a team of the best doctors, memorizing which medicines I needed to take and when, driving me to chemotherapy and sitting next to me while I was so scared, telling me I was beautiful when I was bald, and so many other things…words cannot express. When you say your vows, in sickness and in health…you would never guess sickness of this magnitude at this age would be in the near future. In addition to this hardship, Giff’s dad died of a complicated prostate cancer the day we came home from my surgery. I could not hold my husband as he mourned for his dad because of the pain I was in from the mastectomy. How did Giff handle all of this pain at one time? How was he so strong for me? He is amazing. Giff’s dad was one of those people whom you naturally wanted to be around…his smile was contagious, his love for life was invigorating and he listened so intently when you talked in a conversation with him. He made you feel special. We think about him often and will miss him so much.
My family and friends were also by my side…my mom flying out from NY several times to help us with cooking and cleaning and holding my hand. It must be one of the most awful things in the world to watch your baby girl be diagnosed with breast cancer. My girlfriends also flew out to take care of me and help with anything they could. Other friends living closer would come by just to sit and talk or watch movies. There were so many cards, letters, flowers, cookies, and other gifts that came from all over the country. It’s amazing to have such great people in my life. In addition to my amazing circle of friends and family, there were the strangers with whom crossed our path. Whether it was a letter in the mail from a breast cancer survivor, the anesthesiologist who called Giff during my surgery crying happy tears that the cancer had not spread to my lymph nodes, or our fertility doctor who promised to watch over our frozen embryos as if they were her own. There were so many small gestures that made such a big impact on our lives.
Looking at the bright side: Thankfully this was caught in stage 1, had it been caught a year prior by the first doctor I had gone into about the lump, it may have been caught at stage 0. Please learn from my lesson…insist the lump be tested – a lump cannot be diagnosed by touch. They were able to cut all the cancer out and after I finish the entire regimen including a pill I take over the next 5 years, they said there is a 95% chance the cancer will never come back.
Our exciting future: We’ve decided to re-prioritize, we are taking 400 days starting February 7th of 2011 to travel the world! We will travel to new places, eat new foods, taste new wines and meet new people. We will focus on healing ourselves both physically and mentally. This will be one of the best years of our lives.
View all posts by Brandey Kabat
Spinning Around The World 
OMG that video was hilarious! Giff was laughing like a giddy school gril! That is probably the weirdest thing I’ve seen!