Arrival into Cambodia

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I have just settled into my room in Siem Reap after a long journey to get here. It is around 11:30 pm and I am quite tired from the last day and a half of travelling just to get here. The good news is that I should be able to get a relatively good night sleep, relatively early start and I anticipate not feeling the effects of the time change too much, similarly to Bangkok last year.



Considering the extent of the journey, it was actually quite uneventful. My mom and dad dropped me off early at the airport on April 9 which led me to Chicago. I had the most stunning view of the skyline as we landed in the early morning. The wait there was a little longer than I had thought because I had not realized that there was a time change of an hour and the Korean Airline desk was not opened for me to get my boarding passes for the last two legs of my trip. I simply meandered about, finally was able to check in, go through security and meander about some more. There was an interesting poster exhibit and a number of painted benches done by teenagers that kept me entertained for a while, wandering down to terminals where it was literally completely deserted. I had never thought that I would actually see the Chicago Airport without a soul in sight.

















The next stretch was a bit longer but to be honest it actually went by relatively quickly. As with Thailand, you are constantly being fed and you have the list as long as your arm of movies, TV shows and music to listen too. I had to laugh at one of the meals where the choices were chicken or bibimbap. By the puzzled look on my face, the stewardess explained that it was a traditional Korean dish. Well sign me up for that! I had to laugh again when she brought me instructions because it was one of these dishes that you had to put together yourself; mixing bean sprouts, meat, rice with a Korean hot pepper paste (which on the instructions explained that it would be spicier the more of the little tube you put in … mmmm good thing they said that because I’m not sure I would have figured it out myself!!). It was actually very tasty and I may try to hunt it down in Ottawa. I was hoping that the side dish would be kimchi seeing that I eat industrial quantities of it at home but alas no; it was pickles!



So on that flight I did manage to watch Burn After Reading (I was a little disappointed), Frost Nixon (awesome!), Slumdog Millionaires (I made an ass of myself and cried!). Three is pretty much my quota for movies so I flaked out during Rachel Getting Married.



There was a bit of excitement on the flight in that a woman passed out and required medical attention; prompting the “is there a doctor in the house” over the announcement system in many a languages. She eventually returned to her seat but seemed rather shaken. Don’t really know what was wrong with her in the end.



In arriving at Seoul, I again meandered the airport. You have seen an airport, you have pretty much seen them all but I was intrigued by the area that allowed you the traditional Korean experience. I have a number of hours to waste on my way back so I may just go do a little arts and craft project and have my picture taken in the traditional dresses. It’s all free and I went in to see some of the small exhibits and products for sale but thought I should wait until I come back.













The last leg then took me from Seoul to Siem Reap. This was a five hour flight and I was ready to get off about three hours into it. I was starting to get a bit antsy.



So in all, I have travelled 9,367 miles lasting 21 hours of flight time (not counting waiting at the airport!) and had to change my watch three times (in the end I am 13 hours ahead of Ottawa time). I left on April 9 very early in the morning and made into Siem Reap very late on April 10. Nuts!



I had flashbacks of arriving into Cuba when I arrived here. The town is small so you barely see any lights from the plane. At a little past 10 pm, it was 30C with a tad of humidity. We deplaned on the tarmac and walked into the airport which looks like traditional salas, surrounded by palm trees and beautiful landscaping (twinkly lights included … they were big in Bangkok too!)



Having made arrangements for my travel visas already, I cleared customs very quickly and the driver from the hotel was dutifully waiting for me with a sign with my name on it. We immediately got into the car, he handed me a bottle of cold water, cranked up the AC and own our way we went. Again, it reminded me of Cuba because there were young people just milling about on the streets with delapitated houses with minimal lighting and such. I saw the large Angkor Balloon, a large yellow balloon that goes up so that you can view the Angkor Wats. Well that or they opened an Orange Julius! I saw a glimmer of the tops of one of the wats so that made it very real that I had actually and finally arrived.



As we made our way to the hotel, we turned onto this small dirt road. And we think we have a pothole problems … man alive that was quite the slow paced drive up to the hotel. I was greeted at the hotel by a couple of staff and a huge glass of water. The grounds were dark but they look simply amazing. I can’t wait to go and explore tomorrow. I have my own little bungalow, with bamboo walls and a small terrace where I can sit out (based on just tonight, there are bugs and critters galore so I may not lounge out too late … ).



So I have not unpacked; I will do that in the morning bright and early and I have already asked for a tuk tuk tomorrow at 8 am (a little later than I would have liked but this coming in so late is a little jarring …) to start exploring wats.

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