At long last, and after several requests, we have started a blog. It should be full of exciting adventures, humorous stories, cultural insights, and grammatical errors. If any of these items are not found here, then the blog shall at least keep you updated on the goings on of the Bakers. We hope you enjoy our posts!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Babymoon part 3: Cambodia again!
The last temple that we went to was Angkor Thom. There was another temple that we were going to try to see, but my pregnant body could only do so much in two days! Angkor Thom was spread out over a huge area and had several different structures throughout the complex. These are the ruins of the old palace compound, if my memory is correct.
The monastery. Same basic structure as the temple at Angkor Wat
The face carvings here are really well preserved
Some ruins that we walked past on our way between main structures
I don't know why, but I really like this picture
One of the main entrances to the palace compound
Of course there was a lot more to it than what I have shown, but since it was fairly similar to Angkor Wat, I tried to stick to more unique pictures. After all the walking around we did that day, we were ready for a break and some relaxation! Mom, dad, Trip and I headed for the pool while Steve took a nap and we just let the water wash away some of the stress of the day. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera with me so no pictures of that. But I did take pictures of dinner that night! We ate Cambodian BBQ, which is kind of like a grill and soup combination. You boil the veggies in a ring of water that surrounds the grill in the center. All the juices from the meat run into this ring, so your veggies get some flavor too. It was pretty good. We also decided to be daring and sample some of the local meats that they had available.
Trip pointing out the snake and crocodile meat. We also had kangaroo, beef, and chicken
Our favorites turned out to be kangaroo and ostrich. Mom, Dad, and Steve all had ostrich and let us taste it
They also had goat meat available, but that just didn't sound like it would be good, so we didn't end up getting any. The next day, we went out to a floating village. The people live along a river and lake. The houses are built on stilts and during the rainy season the water comes right up to their doors. It was dry season while we were there, so we had to boat out to the lake to see some of them actually floating. On our way, a bunch of the children in the villages and boats would come out to wave to us. So cute!
Fishing is how the locals eat out here so they have to fish daily
Part of the floating village from a distance
One of the floating houses up close. It's not an easy looking lifestyle, but it is pretty chill
Ladies coming to sell clothes to the village
Random pigs...and probably someone's dinner
Traditional boat, that is also selling fruit door to door
On our way back from the floating village, we had Di stop at some roadside stands. He was kind enough to introduce us to some local "treats".
It's hard to tell what I am holding because the car was bouncing too much for a clear picture, but that is a fried cricket. And yes, I ate it :)
You can see the cricket better in this picture. Trip really liked them and ate several. They kind of tasted like french fries
How to eat a cricket, by Trip Baker
We also tried a snack that is rice, coconut milk, sugar and beans cooked in a bamboo stick. It was pretty tasty.
Trip with his spoils
That night we went to a dinner and dance show. The dancing was pretty cool and definitely different than other cultural dances I have seen.
The dancing is fairly slow paced and more about hand and feet movements
This video is of the traditional dance that is depicted in most carvings in the temples. The singing was done live as was the music.
Ah! I can't believe you ate crickets. Hearing they taste like french fries makes it a little better but I don't know if I can get past the fact that its a cricket. Whenever we watch Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman, Evan is always like "I'll eat that" or "I'd try it". I know that he would eat a cricket.
Those temples are so fascinating! What does it mean that there are complete ruins of an ancient civilization? Are there any viable theories of how these cultures abandoned these villages, or died out? Can you imagine if someday New York City were just completely abandoned and left to crumble? So fascinating.
Leslie - It sounds crazy, but I figure you have to try everything once :)
Metta - Actually most of these ruins can still be traced back to specific rulers in Cambodian history. I guess the kings would build temples and that would become their capital, but as they gained and lost territory they would change locations and the temples would be abandoned. That is why there are so many temples that look almost the same throughout the country. It is a pretty fascinating history!
Ah! I can't believe you ate crickets. Hearing they taste like french fries makes it a little better but I don't know if I can get past the fact that its a cricket. Whenever we watch Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman, Evan is always like "I'll eat that" or "I'd try it". I know that he would eat a cricket.
ReplyDeleteThose temples are so fascinating! What does it mean that there are complete ruins of an ancient civilization? Are there any viable theories of how these cultures abandoned these villages, or died out? Can you imagine if someday New York City were just completely abandoned and left to crumble? So fascinating.
ReplyDeleteLeslie - It sounds crazy, but I figure you have to try everything once :)
ReplyDeleteMetta - Actually most of these ruins can still be traced back to specific rulers in Cambodian history. I guess the kings would build temples and that would become their capital, but as they gained and lost territory they would change locations and the temples would be abandoned. That is why there are so many temples that look almost the same throughout the country. It is a pretty fascinating history!