Day 8: The Land Down Under

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Today I would start out in Phnom Penh and by the end of the day I would be in Australia. I left the hostel in the morning to look for some breakfast place. Specifically I was looking for a place that served Durian. Durian is a large spiky fruit with a very sweet, almost custard like seed inside. It is native to South east asia and is known as the King of Fruits. Part of the reason is because the size of the spike fruit and the very strong smell it gives off. It is one of my favourite foods and I wanted to eat it at the source.

I tried to politely decline the numerous tuk tuk drivers I past along the way. After wandering around for awhile I settled at a place that looked ok. For my last meal I opted for a western breakfast. So it was toast, eggs, and bacon. Unfortunately they did not have any durian so I got directions to the nearest market. I had to cross several streets to get to the market and I will admit it was scary dodging motorcycles and tuk tuks. Once I got to the market it was already crowded even thought it was early morning and I did a lot of wandering about because I always find markets/flea markets/garage sales interesting. I did find my Durian and the lady was nice enough to break it open for me and put the seeds into a takeaway container. I munched on the sweet fruit on my way back to the hostel and it was tasty but I honestly expected a bit more from the fresh kind. On another note if you wander around the food section of marketplace you will see a lot of animals being cut up and it is a pretty ripe smell.

I got back to the hostel around 8AM and I handed over my clothes to be laundered and so I was left in an old T-Shirt and gym shorts. My flight out to Sydney was leaving at 4PM so I wanted to be at the airport around 2PM. The hostel had arrange for the Tuk Tuk to drive me at 1PM and the hostel promised me my laundry would be done at 1PM. I had one last errand to run before my flight so I went out to the Tuk Tuk drivers to get a ride to the post office. I mentioned earlier that I can speak and understand Cambodian but I had not actually told this to the hostel or to the tuk tuk drivers that hang around outside. This caused a strange situation when I asked to get a ride to the post office. The Tuk Tuk drivers who all know each other had a conversation trying to decide how much they could get me to pay. Some of the things they said were "How much does he usually pay", "You can ask for $6 dollars and negotiate down to $5 dollars", "He usually pays extra so it will be fine". After listening to them I finally I just said in Khmer that I would just pay the $5 dollars and could we just go. They were fairly surprised but that got the Tuk Tuk going and I got to the post office and mailed my post cards. Mailing internationally from Cambodia cost $3 American and I hoped my postcards would make it to their destination.

Getting back to the hostel I didn't have a lot to do besides sitting in the Common Room/Dining Room/Bar. I took one last shower and had the bad luck of knocking over the mirror. I only damaged the plastic part holding it and not the mirror itself so I hope that doesn't count as 7 years bad luck. I let the hostel know what happen and they got someone to remove the plastic bits.

Well I had some time before my laundry was done and my flight left so I debated whether to go shoot a gun at the range or go to the Russian Market. I wasn't dressed in my best but I figured it would be ok. At some debate I opted not to do this because I didn't want to rush things and I always figure anything I miss I can go back to next time I am in Cambodia.

So I spent the next 3 hours or so chatting with other travelers and snacking on various foods the hostel had. Laundry was a bit late but it was done by 1:30PM and I was driven to the airport on the Tuk Tuk that brought me the hostel originally. Trip cost $7 and I gave him a $10 bill when he dropped me off at the front of the airport.

Phnom Penh Airport is nothing fancy but it had a few shops and restaurants. I bought a few souvenirs and candies for people I would be meeting over the next few weeks. Another strange incident occurred in the fancy ladies store in the duty free area. This store had various purses, shoes, clothes for women. I was dressed in a T-shirt and gym shorts so I was not really dressed properly for a fancy store. Some of the sale ladies had some remarks about my clothes and what I was picking up and looking at. I didn't say anything to them and opted to buy a silk change purse that they said was nice.

Airasia flight left on time and I made it to my first stop which was Kuala Lumpur. I had wanted to see the PETRONAS towers but was informed by immigration that I could not leave the airport because my next flight was 4 hours away and you cannot leave the airport unless you have a 8 hour layover. If you have never been to Kuala Lumpur airport I will say that it is one of the worse airports I have ever been to. The worse part is when you check in and instead of going to an area with bathrooms, stores and restaurants, you are put in a room with glass walls on all side and with nothing to do. If I had known this I would not have checked in so early. So Warning wait until as late as possible before checking in at Kuala Lumpur airport.

Shortly before midnight I boarded my AirAsia flight to Sydney. It would be an 8 hour flight and I remember it because it is the first long haul flight I had to buy food on. I didn't buy anything fancy just a snack so I could sleep a bit easier. Also I was glad I had full charged my smartphone because these budget airlines never have entertainment systems. Thankfully I hoped to sleep through most of the flight and wake up in Sydney and the land down under.

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Photos

Durian The King of Fruits
Sweet custard like fruit inside

Air Asia
If you look closely at the nose of the plane you will see the Malaysian Airline symbol