Cambodia - getting out, getting in and getting orientated.

After some family, friend, relax, decision and home time it was time for the big move. 
I forgot how much there is to do, from visas to vaccinations to flights, insurance, new clothes and getting ready for a new role! I was being pin pricked with Japanese Encephalitis in one arm and typhiod in the other and drinking cholera vaccine with my breakfast. 

"Vaccines are the tugboats of preventive health."- William Foege

Running round getting flights organised and sourcing a visa from the Cambodian office on a six hour time delay, all in about a month. There is also all the goodbyes to be said, which are always hard and you start to remember how much you miss people when you are away. 

"I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let's face it, friends make life a lot more fun." - Charles R. Swindoll

Having had a last visit to London and a great catch up with a few people I hadn't managed to see so far at a fab engagement do I was soon at Manchester airport.

Unfortunately as my visa was for three months and my flights returned in eight months (as I will extend the visa) the airline almost refused to let me fly. It took several attempts to contact Siem Reap / Phnom Penh to get permission to let me into the country. In the end I signed a waiver stating if I was turned away at Siem Reap I would stump up the costs to get myself home plus the airline fines ($10,000). The airline emailed me once I hit Singapore to let me know I had been cleared to land in Siem Reap.  

"The regulatory systems in place disincentive innovation. It's intense to fight the red tape." - Travis Kalanick

As an aside when I was flying to Namibia in 2014 and travelling on to SA, with no flight booked home or firm plans I was forced to buy my return before I was allowed to fly. However when I flew out to Namibia in 2012 with a three month visa and no return flight that was fine. So something seems to have changed - try not to get caught out at the airport due to plans for work overseas or having vague travel plans like me, airlines might not like it and it might cost you more on the day to rectify.

The flight time was long with a stop and disembarkation for refuelling in Germany before landing in Singapore. My travel consultant had told me I had a 6 hour wait here, he got the timings wrong and it was ten. I then flew on to Da Nang, my travel agent told me this was in China, I arrived at the airport to discover a lot of Vietnamese souvenirs....not China then. Finally we flew on to Siem Reap and enter the visa fun...

"For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return." - Leonardo da Vinci

My entry visa was a letter from the government giving me free entry so I could apply for a longer term visa. I handed the visa over at the desk and the official laughed - somewhat disconcerting when you have signed a waiver stating you'll pay $10,000 if you don't get into a country. She pointed at another desk and it turns out I had to convert this letter into an official visa - phew. As it was dinner time everyone was eating their rice and knitting. Eventually someone decided to give me the paperwork I needed. I went through customs and was supposed to hand a form in, but as no one was there I skipped this step, I later found out I was supposed to put the form in a shoe box. Are you kidding?! That puts the customs officers at Heathrow to shame - er not!

After really long flights and a lot of visa hassle I made it and am safe and well in Cambodia, the Kingdom of Wonder!

"Wisdom begins in wonder." - Socrates

I was met by two of the team, our Executive Director and my predecessor who took me to my hotel by tuktuk. We squeezed the three of us and two huge suitcases into the back of it - I now know this is nothing and see families of six on a motorbike everyday!

I got to the hotel, clean, nice big bed, close to work, and friendly staff. There was a poster in the hall that stated no guns, no grenades, and not intravenous drugs, its always best to be clear about these things! The poster was far more dramatic than anything that ever happened in the place, apart from the horrifically noisy Korean tourists who stayed for two weeks. I stay for a month on a good deal. It was a small way out of town, but close to work, which was great.

Photos courtesy of Nikkivinsivilla 

After I arrived I had a shower and our ED took me out for dinner in town at an NGO cafe called Joe to Go I tried the chicken amok, which is one of the traditional Khmer dishes and really tasty. 

Outside I got my first waft of durian - I have heard it likened to the small of rotting flesh or dog poo, to me it smells of very strong rotting fruit. I don't mind it too much unless its a hot day and you drive down a road full of durian sellers, then it can be fairly nauseating, I will try to eat a small piece at some point.

"You can be the ripest and sweetest Durian in the world but there's still going to be someone who hates it." - unknown

[source]

Within a couple of days I already had a couple of reliable tuk tuk drivers who helped me get around. Generally it seems tuktuk drivers are really nice and friendly. You have to know your way around town though as generally they will say yes they know where you want to go, but if its not central or you don't know one of the wats / temples nearby you stand no chance! Generally they are great and really friendly, only a couple of times have I felt uncomfortable or slight aggression, usually over money when they want to overcharge you and have had a day with no fares. 

As an alternate to getting in a tuk tuk you can always get on the back of someone's moto for half the price. 

I have had a few funny journeys when  I have tried to give directions to a driver and they insist they know where it is and wont follow my directions and we end up the other side of town,  only to drive all the way back - usually they laugh at themselves though.

(I once nearly ended up at the airport rather than the town centre)

"Not all those who wander are lost." - J. R. R. Tolkien

The next day a couple of my colleagues showed me round town - we got me a phone and I was shown all the important things, the chemist, supermarkets, bars, restaurants, the river, the markets and we met a couple of people who own places in town who were happy to be 'go to's' in case of an emergency. I took my first tuktuk home alone to relax and headed back into town that evening with a colleague. A really nice orientation day and lovely to have someone to go out with in the evening too.

"Since there is nothing so well worth having as friends, never lose a chance to make them." - Francesco Guicciardini

So, within about 72 hours I had got out of the UK (harder that you'd think). got into Cambodia (easier than they would have you believe) and got orientated (well I had started to get orientated - it took a few weeks!).

"I feel like I have a new life and I'm going to take full advantage of it." - William Green