A long day one continues at Phnom Penh

Ming Tai Hotel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

It had been a long day. We found our Chinese tour guide waiting at 6:25am at the baggage check-in. Within a few minutes of speaking to him we knew that it was going to be an all Chinese event. He doesn’t speak a single word of English. Sachin should have expected it. But with the lack of sleep his patience was running out.

At that point I would say that our adventure did not start off very smoothly. We realized that our flight to Cambodia will land and depart from Phnom Penh, not Siem Reap!! That gave me a heart attack because our flight to Hanoi flies from Siem Reap. Let me say our flight to Phnom Penh was not a happy one. Both of us were worried how we are going to work out the mistake. Dragon Air was not exactly a top-of-the-line airlines and the difference felt even greater when had just come off from an ANA business class experience

My first impression of Phnom Penh was that it was like what India would be 15 years ago, or before all the development started. Air smelled clean even under the immense heat. And not once did we have one local coming to us to ask us to buy something from them.

After lunch and nap, with new found energy we visited the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. There was a strong link to Hinduism in the symbolisms depicted in the architecture, even though the temples are Buddhist ones.

We had a cruise along the Mekong river bank where we saw the floating fishing villages and the rural life-style there, and watched the sunset. With the sun coming down, the air became cooler. Everywhere our cruise went villagers from their boat-houses waved at us. People here looked happy and content. Everywhere we see people are smiling, from tuk tuk drivers waiting for the next client to the children bathing at the river banks. It was difficult not to like this place.

Our local tour guide was Cambodian-Chinese with a business edge to him. Why did he drop us off to a Casino for 45 minutes after the cruise was questionable. But we made $USD 20 and Sachin used it for his 2 hour full body massage.