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.