A week in Cambodia (16-24 Feb 2007)

We (Abhishek & I) went on a week-long trip to cambodia this year during chinese new year. It was our first long vacation together since our honeymoon a year ago. Needless to say, we were really excited :)

Where is Cambodia? Located in the Heart of South-East Asia

Cambodia Facts & Figures


Area: 181,035 sq km
Population: 13 million
Capital city: Phnom Penh
People: Khmer 90%, Vietnamese 5%, Chinese 1%, other 4%
Religion: Theravada Buddhism (95%), Cham Muslim, Roman Catholic
Languages: Khmer, English, French
Currency: Cambodian Riel, US Dollar

Day 1 - 16 Feb (From Singapore to Phnom Penh)
On friday, there was a general holiday atmosphere all around, not surprising since everyone had travel plans for the long weekend. Chinese New Year is a good time for long vacations. Last year we got married during this time.

We waited at the taxi stand with our luggage, all set for the big vacation. We waited. We waited....(the wait was that long!) and just couldnt seem to find a cab. With every passing minute, I got more stressed. Finally when we did find a cab there was a huge traffic jam all the way to the airport, like everyone was going to the airport (which they were). The 30 minute drive to the airport was pure agony with me imaging that I could run to beat the traffic and make it on time. Almost immediately I did a reality check and concluded that it was all the luggage that prevented from doing so or I would (and could!) have. Abi seemed least concerned about any of this - traffic, time, my mental state - all the while busily calling up people whom he hadnt chatted with in a long time !!

On reaching the airport (which we did after all the drama in my mind & blog), we checked in with 30 minutes to go for the flight. I sighed with relief. But it wasnt over yet. Abi decided we couldnt possibly board the flight without having eaten first. And he couldnt just eat anything, so we ran around the airport looking for an Indian food stall! Miraculously, we found one..and pretty quickly. But to my dismay, they served huge portions of food which meant longer time to finish eating (of course it didnt strike me that we could stop eating half-way since I am a foodie at heart). With 20 minutes to go and a full stomach we ran again. This time towards the gate. During this run, Abi also made me aware of the fact that I couldnt really run (!!!). He also has a hypothesis (like he always does :)) on why I couldnt...since I was short and my body weight wasnt properly distributed, I couldnt keep pace with him...oh and we did make it to the plane despite all of that.

On the flight I began reading the book I had got along for our leisurely holiday - Orhan Pamuk's The Black Book. Soon enough I realized that it wasnt going to be the light reading I planned for. It was going to be a huge effort to finish it but I decided I was up to it. Abi slept through the flight since he had a pretty rough week at work.

I was quite surprised when pilot announced that we were landing. I couldnt see any city lights below, but turns out that Phnom Penh is not a very well-lit city. Abi thinks how well-lit a city looks from air is an indication of how developed and/or big it is. I agree.

Visa/immigration done, we looked for a placard with our names since our hotel had arranged for a pick up. We didnt have to look for it, since the driver found us immediately. We were quite tired and had a silent ride to the hotel.

I had planned our trip (since it was my gift to abi for our anniversary) and hoped that everything had been planned/arranged for. We had chosen to stay in the riverside area in Phnom Penh at Hotel Paragon. Ours was a "super Deluxe" room with a view of the riverside from the balcony. But we were in for the shock ! The room was on the 5th floor with no elevator and extremely steep steps. Good exercise Abi said since he was trying his best to be positive about it. The room was dingy with 2 single beds. The hotel guys spent the next 30 mins trying to join the beds to make it a king-size bed that I had "arranged" for. I was quite upset by now. Abi (being supportive) said "Hey! there is a balcony. Lets get some fresh air". We went out to see 2 shady looking women enjoying the river-view. We shared a long awkward pause and quickly ran inside. Fresh air would have to wait. I was pretty upset and extremely grateful that Abi didnt seem to mind that the hotel was awful ! I hoped that tomorrow would be a better day. But little did I know that today wasnt over yet...

Abi had plans of dinner (yes, Indian dinner). So, armed with the lonely planet, we went about looking for a tuktuk and explaining the address to him. The long ride on the tuktuk instantly made me feel better. But we didnt find the dinner place and ended up eating at some random place. Day 1 is most certainly not how the rest of our holiday was :))