Endurance journey to PhNom Penh

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What an epic journey - After waking at our home in Cyprus 4am and being unable to get back to sleep, it was shower, tea and on the road by 5.10am. After various modes of transport I.e. Truck/shuttle coach/aeroplane and finally taxi, we reached our hotel exactly 31 hours later. Only 13 hours of this was on airline transportation.

Arriving at Pnom Penh tired and a little Jet Lagged we were disappointed to find that the "Give a small man a uniform syndrome", is alive and thriving here. Having pre arranged our E-Visas we presented them at immigration only to be shouted at and told off for not filling in additional Landing cards/visas on arrival - our fault, but the abuse was galling. To add insult to injury when we re presented ourselves, Leo was also and exceptionally fully finger printed Whilst many others, including Paula, breezed through. Oh well, these are some of the trials faced by intrepid would-be travellers to faraway places, and challenges worth overcoming. The rewards, of course, outweighing the setbacks.

Our pre-booked Taxi driver 'Sock' met us at Arrival Lounge at PhNom Penh International Airport, seemingly not much bigger than Paphos Airport, and an interesting 40 minute drive later we reach our Hotel, chosen for it's riverside location and value for money facilities. We have a fairly strict budget, and it fits the bill nicely.

First impressions: Instant liking for this Capitol City, abuzz with humble Tuk Tuks, vying for limited road space alongside luxury 4x4 vehicles, coaches and all the transportation spectrum in between. Feels wonderful to be back in South East Asia though, Cambodia being a new and exciting destination for us both. As usual, there's a kind of manic semblance to everywhere and we certainly wouldn't dream of driving here ourselves, particularly driving on the right on these roads. A blindfold would be nice right now.

We tried and succeeded in staying awake in our new time zone in Cambodia's Capital City of PhNom Penh, making sure we had an early evening meal and a little exploration of our neighborhood in fashionable Sisowarth Quay before crashing in our comfortable room overlooking the Tonle Sap river, which includes balcony with fabulous views the length of Sisowath Quay - more details later.

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Photos

Leo ready for the trip
Wherever I lay my hat.......

Balcony view by night
Sleep time.

Comments

[Alan]

Documets
Very surprised that you forgot to fill in landing cards. Very fortunate that it was only finger pointing and shouting if that was in some other countries it may have resulted in body search and lengthy questioning . Hopefully when you are rested the enjoyment will start just be very careful where you go . Alan

[leokelly]

I know, pity the airline staff who came through the cabin with 'forms' didn't explain what they were, we thought it was for visa on arrival! Doh.

[leokelly]

I know, pity the airline staff who came through the cabin with 'forms' didn't explain what they were, we thought it was for visa on arrival! Doh.