V-Flyer

Of all the places we were heading for I hadn’t particularly looked forward to visiting Phnom Penh but, as often happens, I ended up loving the place. This was due in no small measure to the hotel in which we were staying. It was small but very friendly and its best asset was an Australian guy in his 50s with an Italian name who was a friend of the owner and who, the moment we set foot in the place treated us like old friends who had come to visit. On our first night he organised trips for us to the Killing Fields and the Genocide Museum which was debated over a couple (or three) of G&Ts when I saw Tanqueray on offer. The next day I caught my foot in an unprotected drain and fell heavily gashing my knee and when I returned to the hotel the comment was “Too many G&Ts, then?” OK! ‘Fess up! Which of you shopped me?

Anyway, back to the flights. Our next destination was Siem Reap and the Angkor Wat temples. The only way to fly there was with Cambodian Angkor Airlines and there was a major problem in trying to book it as the website would not accept international bookings. It referred us to the Vietnam Airlines website which referred us back to Cambodian Angkor Airlines which in turn referred us to........ We were stuck in a loop. In desperation Chris, who is a moderator on an obscure travel site whose name I can’t remember, posted a query and was contacted by someone in Cambodia who put him in contact with a travel agent who booked the flights. The problem then was paying for them because the tickets would not be released until the money was received. In a huge act of faith Chris paid for them through the intermediary via Paypal and we both held our breath. The day for payment of the ticket to a travel agent came and went and the silence was deafening. Had we been sold a pup? Been conned? Ripped off? Been naive? Fingers and toes were crossed and prayers were offered up to the Almighty and whatever other deities were up there. Two days after the deadline there was a sudden “ping” and the e-tickets were in our Inboxes! Phew!

We arrived at the airport, had our checked bags screened and then checked in. The whole process was completely straightforward and unremarkable and we were quickly through to the gate area where we discovered that in part of the seating area were nice, squishy sofas with pillows and a small table alongside where we could recline at our leisure. Eventually we were called to the gate where our plane, an ATR72 was waiting for us. We were quickly on board to find that we probably could have waited until we got to Phnom Penh to book, except the fares would probably have been through the roof at that stage!

We took off on time and after the safety briefing which told us how to fasten our seat belts and where the exits were and that was that. Shortly afterwards we were each given a snack box
which contained a Danish pastry and some water
and later a wipe to freshen ourselves. The flight was just under 45 minutes and soon we were flying over the Tonle Sap lake with its floating village before touching down in Siem Reap. Our bags came out quickly and soon we were met by the tuk-tuk driver arranged by the hotel who became our self-appointed guide for our stay.

HL, thank you for the latest instalment and pics.

Wow - what a trip!

I'm still reading avidly - I'd love to know more about the destinations you visited as well if you get the chance to post...

Wow - great TR and a lovely inflight treat!