Avoiding Deportation in Cambodia

Day 10: Chiang Mai, Thailand to Siem Reap, Cambodia

Day 10 started out with a local breakfast and then getting a Grab to the airport for a flight to Siem Reap (via Bangkok). We couldn't check in right away for our flight so we got to Starbucks and Dairy Queen (my husband being a former Dairy Queen worker was thrilled to see you could get a blizzard for $2). I wasn't sure if our bags were going to be able to be taken on the plane for this Air Asia flight because I had booked this one on booking.com instead of the airline directly. Something I generally avoid, but I had some issues with the airline site. On the first flight (which I did book directly) from Hanoi to Chiang Mai they weighed our bags meticulously and we had bought an extra carry on which we had to show them proof of that. On Booking.com it was not as clear what we were allowed to bring on. To our surprise, no one weighed our bags or questioned anything. Ok, no problem! We had to go through passport control in Chiang Mai, even though we were connecting in Bangkok. That was super quick and painless, no one else in line. We hung out at the lounge in Chiang Mai for a little while. Our flight was delayed about 30 minutes but no biggie.

In Bangkok there was a 'CIQ path' we had to take since we were connected to an international flight. We had stickers on our shirts to indicate that was the case. I am not exactly sure what the whole purpose was but we went through some additional checks then got to continue on to our gate. We again found a lounge - there were multiple to choose from, we did the Coral Executive Lounge. It was very nice. Got an iced latte, some food and there was even a lady going around giving free massages. I flagged her down for my husband - he was a little hesitant but I think pretty grateful afterwards. Then I decided I wanted one too. It was fantastic. She didn't climb on us, either, just a chair massage!

Then we boarded our flight to Siem Reap and I realized I should re-read the instructions for the visa process, note probably do this BEFORE boarding the flight to a country. We could have gotten one online - I realized I should have done this for simplicity but it was too late, it takes 1-3 days for processing. Whoops. There is a visa on arrival option, which I did know that part and had in my notes that we would do that but I did NOT put in my notes that we needed $30 in USD on hand to pay for it on arrival. I'm already on the plane and we did not have $120 in USD on us, we had like $55. I'm frantically looking up information online about ATMs before passport control, however, Siem Reap just opened a new airport a month ago so all of the info is related to the old airport, which had ATMs but sometimes they were out of cash. And WHY USD? It's Cambodia! Then of course I found people posting helpful articles reminding people that Cambodia has the right to deport you if you don't show up with the right stuff - thank you, very helpful reminder. I was trying not to worry because what country would really get rid of tourists like that, but of course I was thinking of all the possible scenarios. Maybe I go through passport control and get cash and come back and get the rest of them. We had been separated a bit on the plane so I couldn't even tell my husband we had an issue, so he was flying blissfully without fear of deportation. Probably better that way! When we arrived, we got off the plane quickly as I explained the situation. Fortunately we were at the front of the plane so I figured if there was an ATM, we should try to get there first in case others need USD. I'm still surprised the Cambodian ATMs spit out USD. When we get to the passport control area it was pretty empty of tourists but lots of agents. We asked about an ATM, they said, "new airport, no ATMs." Great. But there was a currency exchange booth. We've never actually used these because we figured the rates wouldn't be good, but given the scenario, we were totally ok with any rate. We didn't even know if they'd take our bank cards, but they did. So we got some USD - mostly $100 bills (which we learned later would be difficult to use). Phew, we weren't going to get deported. Whoops. Lesson learned! We got our visa, passed through passport control and made ou r way into the country.

As I mentioned, Siem Reap opened a new airport. This came as a surprise. The old airport was in the city and super easy to get a tuk tuk to a hotel. The new, Chinese built, airport is an hour outside the city. Now getting rides was more questionable. Our hotel offered a $50 airport transfer. I knew that was a bit high so I figured I'd like for alternatives. A little unconventional, but I found a forum post on TripAdvisor of people talking about this new issue and a couple of Americans had posted the WhatsApp contact info for some drivers that they used while in Siem Reap with glowing reviews. So I messaged one of the drivers the day before to ask if he could pick us up. He said he couldn't, but his brother in law could for $35. Not exactly huge savings but ok, let's do it. So after the Visa debacle, we step out of the airport and I'm crossing my fingers that my WhatsApp guy is going to show up. There was a whole line of people, I didn't see my name on a card and I start to get nervous. Within a couple minutes though, he was there. And he was super friendly, had a nice clean car, offered us cold bottled water and very safely drove us to our hotel in Siem Reap. I then booked him for our return trip to the airport.

I had changed my mind on hotel options a few times with Siem Reap. There were a ton of options. I had no idea where in town we should stay and had more challenges than usual figuring out where would be our best spot. I figured after having a smaller, normal hotel room in Chiang Mai that it would be nice to spread out a bit so I booked a villa with a couple of rooms in it and a private jacuzzi. Driving up to the resort we could tell we were in more of a standard neighborhood, not touristy at all. But that also means there was some more obvious poverty-like condition. Trash on the edge of the street, more dogs roaming, street food options that are very questionable, housing that looks pretty dilapidated. In the US, this type of environment generally also comes with increased crime rates hence in increase in fear walking around. I don't know that this is necessarily true in other parts of the world when this environment is also more like a 'middle class' for the country. I mean, mixed in the neighborhood were were a couple of international private schools. So we try not to let poverty itself drive fear in our surroundings.

Upon arrival at the 'Authentic Khmer Resort' they welcomed us with a sugar cane drink and cold towel. As we walked to our room, on a lovely board walk as we were on water, it was surrounded by jungle like fauna and pools. We didn't see many other people there. It's not a big place but it was pretty desolate. No one at the restaurant or the pool area. They had upgraded us to larger villa with a private pool. It didn't quite feel necessary with no one else at the pool but we'll take it! (Of course then the kids complained it was cold and wished they had a hot jacuzzi - can't win!)

The kids always prefer just to stay put at the hotel but with no one else around and looking at some of the prices and reviews of the hotel restaurant, we realized this was going to be an overpriced, not super great experience so we forced the issue and made them go along with us to explore the food scene in Siem Reap. There is one major tourist like street so we figured we would head there, not really knowing what to expect. We used the Grab app and ordered a tuk tuk (or as we learned, a 4 person tuk tuk is called a remorque). I had been a bit disappointed in the lack of tuk tuks in Vietnam and Thailand - they seemed available as a very touristy thing to do but not a normal part of every day life in the areas we were in. But Cambodia did not disappointed, they were every where and very commonly used still. They were clearly the mode of transportation most commonly available. As we rolled up to the area everything got a little progressively nicer and as we arrived we were welcomed with a sea of lights. Everything was lit up. The bridges, boats in the water, the trees. It was such a stark difference from where we were staying. Pub Street had grown to a few blocks of tourist friendly shops and restaurants which honestly just is a bit more comforting and welcoming.

We were instantly welcomed with offers for fish pedicures where you put your feet in a tank of little fish who eat the dead skin cells off your feet. I had seen these on tv and although I was sure there is some sort of safety/cleanly concern which makes them not available in the US, I definitely wanted to try them. We decided to do it after we grabbed some dinner. We found a pizza/burger place (picked battles) and then the whole family got some fish pedicures. It was a rather fun family experience. They were $3 and it included a beer/drink. It was made even more entertaining by the kid who was working with his family at the stand. He had such a sense of humor playing jokes with on the kids. His job was to recruit people in and then also dry their feet at the end, my kids definitely were not about to have a kid dry their feet off by the kid they were just playing with. Interesting moment. The kids really enjoyed the fish pedicure! Again, my daughters blonde hair attracted a decent amount of attention from women here, which surprised me since there were lots of tourists around. My sons assessment is that Siem Reap is his favorite city so far in SE Asia.

Next up: Exploring the Temples of Angkor Wat!