Cambodia: The First 24 Hours

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A three hour delay from scheduled take off time in Los Angeles, sitting on the tarmac (the 'plane, not me) and all wondering what the engineers were checking for. Finally air born after 3am and landed 15 hours later in Taipei, just in time to run from one end of the airport to the other, collapse in my seat and hope that during the brief 30 minutes lay over, my luggage had been sucessfully transferred between aircraft. Four hours later I was in the taxi headed for Dara Reangsey Hotel situated a short walk away from the Ton Le riverside.

It is now 9am and after a night of partial sleep, the taxi has arrived to drive us to Stung Treng, about 7hrs north from here, where we will make a surprise visit to our Khmer family who have no idea we're even in Cambodia. In a few day's we'll all return to Phnom Penh for S&M (son Sebastien and husband Matthew) to take a flight back home while I return to Ban lung. My hope is to update this site from Stung Treng and again from Ban lung, internet service permitting.

If the Ratanakiri airport ever opens up again, I highly recommend forking out the cash for the flight. The alternative is an 11 hour bus ride to ST (14 to Banlung), or the 7-8 hour taxi ride to. Bearable if privately rented as we have done, but not if shared between 7-8 people in a 4-5 seater Toyota Camry with poor suspension!

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