Siem Reap, Cambodia, Asia

I got up this morning, packed up my bags and set off in a tuk-tuk at 8:30am for Luang Prabang Airport. It is the smallest airport I’ve even been in, but again it was dead easy to check in and get through security. The flight was supposed to leave at 10:40am, but we found out at 10:30am that our plane was coming from Hanoi and was running late. My ticket was booked on Laos Airlines, so when I saw a little propeller plane pull up with a big Laos Airlines marking on the side, I assumed it was my plane. Wrong. We all sat by the gate wondering why no one would let us on the plane, and no one was telling us anything. About 15 minutes later another plane arrived, but this was a jet plane and for Vietnam Airlines. I’m not sure why, but that was my plane.

It was a very nice flight with great views when we were under the clouds. The flight was only about an hour and was very smooth, no problems at all. I got off in Siem Reap, Cambodia and jumped in the queue for a visa application. About 15 minutes and $20 later I had my visa and my backpack. I got outside customs to find our guest house’s driver, Sok, waiting for me with a big sign so he was easy to find. We jumped in his tuk-tuk and headed over to the guest house. About five minutes from the airport we ran into some flooded roads and people were wading through water up to their knees. Sok said this is quite common in rainy season and it had been a lot worse over the last few days. The tuk-tuk floor filled with water a couple of times, but at least it didn’t break down.

We got to the Golden Mango Inn and it is definitely the nicest guest house I’ve stayed in. It is basically a hotel. Nice big lobby, free wifi, A/C, TV, bar, restaurant, the works! Not bad for $7 per person. I relaxed in the room for a bit and then went out for a walk to get some lunch. I found a little restaurant on the main street near the hotel and had stir fried chicken with pineapple and rice, and a coke for $3. Awesome!

I came back to the hotel and met up with Sofia and Emma, the two English girls I rode from Vang Vieng up to Luang Prabang with. I had a couple of beers with them and then headed off at about 9:45pm to go back to the airport. It’s really nice that our hotel offers free airport transfers, so I was able to go with Sok to pick my Dad up from the airport. His flight was only three minutes late coming in and within 15 minutes he was through immigration and customs and he was walking out with his backpack. I’m so proud, my Dad starts backpacking around southeast Asia at 59 years old. Brilliant!

Amazingly Dad was still awake and he was able to soak up some of the local culture straight away. We hopped in a tuk-tuk for his first ride and drove through flooded streets while whole families flew by us on scooters. We’re back at the guest house now and we’re going to get some sleep and hope to be ready for some temple viewing in the morning. We’ll see how long it takes for that 24 hour trip to hit Dad…