Advertisement
Published: September 26th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Once again I find myself in the Singapore airport. This time it is 1:00am, we've let our bags go on to unclaimed luggage in-order to avoid going through immigration. This way we can spend the night in the airport (since we got our flight out of Bali this morning and don't have a hotel booked) and buy our onward tickets first thing in the morning. This place is an oasis. They hand out blankets, provide you with "snooze chairs" and alarm clocks. I am sure the rule book says you need on onward ticket to sleep here, but once again I find myself without one. We see a lounge area with a group of 40 woman sleeping and think, "perfect, we will blend right in." I curl up on an oval shaped booth while my 55 year old mother makes a bed for herself on the floor using chair cushions. Rock a bye Bab..."Everyone up! Get out your passports and onward tickets!" It is 4:00am and three armed guards are getting everyone up. I look over at Bonnie, she is not getting up to get into line so I pull my blanket over my head and "fake sleep" for the next
two hours. Luckily they didn't see me in the booth and Bonnie happened to be out of sight behind some couches.
"Wow, that was close, I was really nervous," I say to Bonnie as we wash up in the bathroom.
"Why, what do you mean?"
Apparently she was not "fake sleeping" but was wearing earplugs and had slept through the whole thing.
We spent the next night at Sleepy Sam's and the following night in the airport again. This time we had an onward ticket for a flight leaving at 6:00am. We lounged in a living room like setting at a 24 hour coffee shop with free internet...much more relaxing! As we boarded the plane heading for Siem Reap I was unaware that the scare I got in the airport was nothing compared to what I was about to experience on the flight to Cambodia.
"Flight attendants prepare for landing."
Landing, my least favorite part of flying, I hold my breath and tighten my grip on the armrests. I think about the lack of emergency healthcare in Cambodia along with the lack of any sort of alcohol in my blood. We are about three stories from the ground when
the plane suddenly accelerates, shooting back up into the air.
"What the f*ck! Did we forget the Nescafe?"
Apparently because of the fog the pilot couldn't see the runway and missed it. We circled in the air for about 15 minutes and then he went for round two. "Great!" Fortunately we landed safely. Thinking back now, I should have known Jetstar wasn't the safest airline. After giving the safety demo in the beginning of the flight, the attendant continued to wear the demo lifevest throughout the remainder of the flight. I thought it was a little strange when I looked to see if the bathroom was open and saw two of them fighting over it in the back. Or maybe I should of been tipped off by the quarter slots in the armrests for the oxygen masks. 50 cents for the first minute, 25 cents each additional minute. Use correct change only. (ok, so it wasn't that bad, but a bit scary).
Instead of visiting three cities, we ended up spending all 5 nights in Siem Reap; due to the lack of transportation and paved roads in Cambodia. We spent a full 12 hours visiting the Temples of Angkor
Wat and stopping by the landmine museum. (Brief History) "President Nixon ordered the launching of a top-secret bombing campaign along Cambodia's eastern border. The massive B-52 strikes conducted over 14 months were the beginning of a deluge that delivered approximately 2,756,941 tons of bombs on Cambodia over the next five years. This was more than the total tonnage that the Allies dropped during all of the Second World War." Some of these bombs are still active today; the death count still rises. Cambodia has so many programs to help its people; it is amazing. Restaurants, book stores, craft stores, volunteers all seem to be raising money for orphans, sick children, and people with disabilities or handicaps caused by explosions. Cambodia by far has been the poorest country I have visited, but hands down, the most generous.
Not every kid gets a bike.
Bikes are the main sorce of transportation in Cambodia. People use them not only to get around, but also to transport large amounts of food, building supplies, anything. I noticed many children pedaling bikes packed with supplies down pothole ridden streets. They would have to stand while pedaling since they were not big enough to sit down
Water Crossing to Temple
Because of flooding we had to use these make-shift water crossings...of course the tourists were complaining that they didn't have enough boards down. on the seats. I was sitting there wondering why they didn't just ride kid bikes...then I realized, not every kid gets a bike. Growing up in the US every kid I knew had a kid sized bike. It doesn't make sense for people in Cambodia to waste money on a child's "toy", it's just not practical.
I would love to come back to Cambodia in the future. Hopefully the road condtions will improve and make it easier to travel to more cities. On to Laos, and yet again, another unique plane ride...
Travel Info
We stayed at Prince Mekong GH, they had free laundry, bike rental and internet if you have your own computer. It seemed like there were better options out there with all the same extras.
Go to the other side of the river to find the Singing Tree and Butterfly Garden restaurants. Both organic and relaxing. Use US dollars to pay for your visa and also US dollars the entire stay in Cambodia. We rented a tuktuk to take us to see the temples for $20/12 hours. We started at sunrise and missed the crowds. The driver can take you to the very popular
tourist restaurant, it has great food. Heard bad things about massages here. Went to the silk farm one morning, that was interesting. The police will take your bike so make sure a shop owner or security guard watches it while you eat. Pay airport departure tax when you leave.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.075s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 10; qc: 47; dbt: 0.0388s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb