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Today is our last day in Cambodia…and after spending a lot of time meandering through the temples, we decided to wander the streets and get some shopping done! While I was getting ready, Giff went next door to get his hair cut…he has done this a few times before in other countries and has come back with very short bad hair-cuts so he was a little hesitant. The barber actually did a fairly decent job and the price was the best part…it was only $3.00!!!
We hopped in a tuk-tuk and were dropped off in the center of town. There was a long alleyway full of restaurants…so many great choices, we went with a vegetarian place which had great reviews in the travel books. The place was called, Chamkar (www.chamkar-vegetarian.com) and it was delicious, fresh and healthy. We sat outside on the patio next to a couple other tables oohing and ahhhing over each dish as it was delivered to our table. The dipping sauces, the spicy curries and the fresh herbs really hit the spot for lunch.
After eating, we walked through the large market which had vendors, vendors and more vendors selling all kinds of goods from clothes to crafts to food. We had fun trying things on and bartering back and forth for great deals. There were also little boutique shops lining the streets leading up to the market so we took our time all day adding things to our shopping bags. One of the specialties seemed to be silver…both jewelry and decorative items hand designed. As we walked through the food part of the market we noticed a couple young children taking a nap amongst the crowd and the food on the tables, they were too cute. We also saw a little tiny store on the corner full to the rim of paintings created by various local artists, one specifically stood out to us. It was an abstract painting on canvas of one of the faces we had seen on so many of the temples…we decided to buy that one along with another in a different color by the same artist to put on our walls back home.
We had a very long day of shopping and had worked up an appetite. We found a place in town and ordered some local dishes to share with a beer as we rested our tired feet. Dinner was good…full of spice and herbs and we were back on the streets of Siem Reap on our way to the night market. The night market only runs at night and we hadn’t gotten to it yet so stopped briefly to see what they had before going back to our hotel. As we walked through…we saw many of the same things we had seen at the day market except one specific store…which specialized in crocodile. The price tags were very expensive considering we were in Cambodia but as we asked about various items…the prices all came down quickly. They also had sting-ray wallets which were different so we enjoyed looking at all of the super nice quality items which would be sold for a small fortune back in the US. They did inform us they actually farm the crocs to make the goods…they don’t use wild crocs which is a good thing. We treated ourselves to a couple of things there and then called it a day.
We rode our tuk-tuk back to our place and started getting things packed up since we leave for Bangkok tomorrow.
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Published by Giff Kabat
I grew up in Ohio as a kid, so of course I went to college at “THE” Ohio State University. I graduated in 2001 with a major in business finance. A month after graduation, I moved out to California with my college girlfriend (whom I married in 2005)…and started my career in sales (industrial sales for 5 years…then moved into medical laser sales for 4 years).
In 2009 I was 31 years old. I had a great job, a new house, and a beautiful wife. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better…my wife and I found out we were going to have a baby. Everything was going according to plan…and I couldn’t have scripted a better life for myself.
Then in the same year…everything changed. My wife, Brandey, called me when I was on my way to work and told me over the phone, something I never thought could be possible in a million years. My beautiful 30-year old pregnant wife was just told that she had breast cancer. At that moment, everything stopped all at once. I immediately went to her…and learned of our new plan…which began with her needing surgery immediately…and the rest we would find out later.
The day we returned from the hospital after Brandey’s surgery…my father died. He had been battling an aggressive cancer of his own…and although he was the one person I wanted to speak with about Brandey having cancer…I never told him. My sister, Brooke, had just gotten married a few months ago, and although he was weak, he was able to walk his little girl down the aisle of her wedding. On the night before my sister’s wedding, Brandey and I told him that we were pregnant and about to make him a grandfather. It made no sense to tell him that everything had changed for us…so he died in peace knowing everything was “the way it should be” for his only 2 children.
2010 was the worst year of my life. We had lost our baby…and for 12 months I watched my wife fight cancer with multiple surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation treatments, and drug therapy. It was a difficult year for us…but we made it. When you go through something like this in life, you learn a lot about yourself and the people around you. I was amazed at the strength and courage of my wife…and how many good people there are in this world. I will be forever grateful for the ones who never ceased to amaze me with their kindness during this hard time. Family, friends, and sometimes complete strangers…helped us make it through this. I am, and will always be especially grateful to my mother, who was with my dad at the very end, when I couldn’t be there, and when things were at their worst. She has been so supportive throughout all of this, and without her everything would have been so much harder for me.
It’s 2011 now…and the plan we have for our life this year…is to make it the best year of our lives. Brandey is officially in remission from breast cancer and she has a 95% chance the cancer will never come back. Besides the love that I have for my wife and family, the loves of my life are food, wine, and adventure travel. My wife and I love traveling to new places, seeing natural wonders, and meeting new people from different parts of the world. So for the next 400 days…we’ve decided to travel the world…and celebrate our lives. There are so many things I took for granted in life that I will never take for granted again. My father worked for over 30 years at the same job with the same company…rarely took time off…and died at 64 years old right after his retirement. For me, this trip is a combination of a tribute to him, along with wanting to spend the time of my life with the “love of my life.”
* The only thing I will miss while we are gone is our family and friends (who we hope will meet us somewhere throughout our trip) and especially our 3 little kitties we left with my mom in Ohio to catsit for the next 400 days. I will also miss watching “American Football” over the weekend…but I’ll do my best to check the scores in the middle of the night.
GIFF
View all posts by Giff Kabat
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