Phnom Penh day one

Leaving Honk Kong was as uneventful as arriving. The queues were short and all the officials were efficient. We boarded the plane on time, we left on time, and we arrived in Phnom Penh on time.

But when we got to Phnom Penh, we knew we had entered the third world. We were the first off the plane, and we had our visa forms all filled out. Now, I had a photo (as required) but Doreen did not. So I said we did not have the necessary photos. The official muttered something about us needing to pay an extra $1 (which we knew. Thank you Jack!) and they passed us down the line.

You need to think about this line. Picture a cafeteria serving line except on the other side of the line there are eight officials dressed in uniforms. Some men, some women. All sitting down looking at something in front of them (which you cannot see). You proceed to the end of the line where you have to pay your $20 entry fee. The first person attached a visa to your passport and hands it to the next person in line. The next person stamps the visa and passes it to the next person in line. The next person writes something on the visa, perhaps the expiration date and passes it down. Well, you get the idea. By the time it reached the end of the line (about five minutes) it was completely processed. But they don’t come in order. Two people’s passports came before ours did. Then you pay your $20 (each)

You then take your duly authorized passport to the immigration line. There, then check to make sure you are not a bad fellow, and they take your photo! (remember the $1 fee?). But they take EVERYONE’S photo. It goes pretty fast and by that time your bags are already on the belt. You grab the bags, walk through customs (no problems there) and proceed to every third world airport in the world.

The airport is teeming with people. Some are holding signs, some are milling around. They are all behind a barrier. The official Airport Taxi people are on our side of the barrier. So we grab one ($7US into town) and proceed to some small Toyota taxi into which I get shoe horned. I cannot sit upright in the Taxi, but of course he wants to be our tour guide for the week. We say no thanks.

We get to the hotel and it is very nice. We are greeted with a welcome cocktail of some tropical fruit juice. John Spooner, the Guest Relationships Manager meets us as well and tells us a bit about Phnom Penh. Our friends Jack and Bruce had been to Cambodia this past summer and met John up in Siem Reap. He is now working out of Phnom Penh and gave us some nice hints about the city.

That night we grabbed a tuk tuk ($2US) and drove into the city. We started at The Metro Cafe and wandered down the riverfront. We ended up eating at the Foreign Correspondents Club. We started with a couple of beers on their great balcony overlooking the street and the river. Nothing ever stopped while we were watching. We had some treats and then tuk-tuked back and called it a night.