On our way to Siem Reap, Cambodia

Goodbye Thailand, Hello Cambodia!

We were told numerous times to be on time and to be seated in the bus exactly at 8:30 in the morning for the transfer to Airport. But there is always one joker who will be late and late by a lot. Sure enough there was. This chap came in at 9! Our tour manager was pissed. She looked more worried that pissed because it was her responsibility to get us to the airport on time. If we were to miss our flight it would be on her and would ruin her day. She then went into a mini-speech about how important it was to be on time and how this would become a serious matter when we get to Vietnam because the traffic there is atrocious. Being late would result in a good chance of missing the flight.

She also gave us a few tips about Cambodia. The most important thing I remember is her mentioning that the immigration guys will sometimes ask for a ‘tip’. The signs would be that the guy would delay for some reason, ask you to fill up missing paper work, or some such excuse.  It sounded like an interesting story and promptly forgot about it.

Bangkok International, known as SuvarnaBhumi International Airport, is a fabulous airport. In fact, we found the city of Bangkok also very clean. The same theme continued here in the airport. Some pictures posted below. The obligatory I-am-having-a-drink-to-show-I-am-having-fun photo is also presented for your viewing pleasure.

Suvernabhumi International Airport

Welcoming ourselves to Cambodia

The flight was uneventful. My plan was to continue my blogging work. But then I struck up a conversation with my neighbor.  I learnt his entire store starting with him moving from Chandigarh to Kharagpur (both in India—did I mention he was Indian?) to get a degree in Naval Architecture and his long trek to the U.S. via several European countries. This would be considered an unusual way to get to the US, but when he did this, he told me it was pretty much standard.

We landed at Siem Reap International. This is easily the tiniest International Airport I have seen in my international airport. Some of you who read this have travelled to India and seen many small airports. Siem Reap is as small as Jaipur airport in India. The landscape seemed very different from Thailand. The soil is reddish. Everything looks barren. Of course this is the dry season all over Asia, but this looked particularly dry and one got the feel of a desert. The airport is so small that we walked down the steps from the aircraft and walked to the terminal.

Things got interesting when we got to immigration and passport control. I already had the visa, so called e-visa. I expected everything to go smoothly. But then I didn’t have an entry/exit card filled in. The agent gestured at a sample entry/exit card and asked me for it (all in gestures and grunts). He then made a pretense of going to great lengths to get an entry/exit card. He yelled at the agent at the next station and then one after. Then someone else scurried towards our agent and the agent handed in the card, pointed me to a desk and gestured me to fill it out. I thought nothing of it, filled the card for both Sandhya and me, brought them back. We had to stand at the back of the line. We were the last in the line. We got to the counter, he gestured Sandhya to move past the counter so that he could interact with me alone. He made a great show of using stamp a number of times. He then used a stapler to staple our visas and exit cards to the passport. He also showed them to me for approval!  I am thinking this is great customer service. Then be mumbled something. I didn’t understand. He repeated. I understood him this time. He said, “You have tip for me?” I was speechless. I then remembered what our tour manager said that morning. I pulled out and handed 4 US Dollars. This was a really bad introduction to Cambodia. Do they really want tourists? What a shakedown. 4 dollars is not that much, but the experience left a bad taste. I was now hoping that the customs guy wouldn’t ask us to open our suitcases in anticipation of further bribes. Thankfully passage through customs was uneventful.

Eventually we got out of the airport and there was the Gate 1 guy waiting for us. He checked us off on his list and walked over to the bus for the transfer to the hotel. But on the way we made a stop over for lunch at a nice little sit down place that had a rundown-Chic to it. We walked up to the second floor and were seated at wooden tables. The plates were already laid out. To add to the authenticity there was no air conditioning. Did I mention that it was hot and humid?

The Authentic Cambodian Restaurant for Lunch

We were all sweating like pigs. The fans were of great help. Also, the wet hand towels that they handed out—a tradition it seems all over tropical Asia—was wonderful. This was our first taste of a Cambodian meal. It was very tasty. The sauces were not spicy but tasty. As for meat, there was a very small amount. The rest was all raw vegetables mixed into a salad.

We then made our way to the hotel. My first impression of Cambodia was that it was not a clean place. There was garbage strewn all over on the roadside. It didn’t help that the soil had a red tinge that added to the sense of things being dirty. Also, there are very few people unlike other Asian counties that are really jam packed. I remember that millions died during the Pol Pot regime as well as when the Khmer Rouge was running the country.

Dinner was served at a restaurant where Apsara shows are held every evening at 7:30. The show lasts an hour after which a set-meal is served. Again the meal was fabulous. The quantities were just right. We were full without feeling stuffed. Back to the hotel to hit the sack.

Apsara Dancers during the Evening Show