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Jan 30th, 2014 Comments: 0

First day in Cambodia

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As I sit and eat my $1 breakfast, I reflect on the time it took me to get where i am now, and my experience with rural Cambodia to this point.

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$1 for a plate of scramble eggs and a footlong bun, cannot beat that.

The roll was even warmly toasted. The kitchen is downstairs, in a building away from the lounge. Communication is via a two way radio, and food is brought up from the kitchen via and electric motor, hooked to an old gearbox, that drives an intricate cable system. The gearbox allows them to choose the speed that things are hoisted up. To get things down, they simply take the gearbox out of gear, and let the basket freewheel down.

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20140130-072631.jpgView of dining area.
In total, after getting up at 5am in Phoenix, it took me 42 hours to reach Cambodia immigration, then from there it only took me 3 hours to reach my backpacker lodge. With all this flying, and countless packets of airline food and peanuts, I have become a expert in silent, airline farting. 🙂 The trick is in controlling your cheeks, so that the rate of gas you release, is not greater than the airflow from the overhead vent in the airplane. This takes some training, as you need to be able to adjust for different types of aircraft.

Upon reaching Siem Reap airport, I entered customs and found the building basically empty. There are a few tables where you can fill out your customs forms, then you stand inline to have your visa approved. There are a number of officials and your passport is handed from one person to the next, each giving a stamp or a signature. I decided to go to the toilet first, then fill out my form, mistake. While i was about half way trough, two airplanes landed and about 400 people stormed the little place, looking for visas. So, I quickly rushed over to the forming lines, and filled my papers in on the go. The line moves quickly forward, as the 4 officers that handle the lines, pre screen the documents, then hand them in piles to different other officials. when the official asked me what i do, as i asked for a business visa, and i responded that i am an author and write books, he gave me a funny look. Then asked, what are you coming to write about? I told him the ruins, which is true. And then with that my passport was immediately handed to some high ranking official who immediately gave me my business visa.

After that, i went to collect my luggage, and was honestly surprised to see my big backpack, that i last saw in Phoenix. Somehow, it made it here, without anything even taken out of the side pockets that had no locks.

As i exited the airport, there were 4 cellphone companies selling SIM cards. I went with the company that i red had better service. $1 for the SIM card, then $5 for 3.5G data at 3G. The girl even set my iPhone up for me. Then i asked to have my iPad mini done as well. And this is where the misunderstanding came. I wanted a $50 credit on my card, and then wanted to subscribe to the $5 per month plan, as i read that it is automatic. That means that i would not need to worry for the next 10 months with internet. What i did not know, was that the plans are not automatic, and that recharge cards are only valid for 1 month. The girl did not properly understand, and put $50 on the iPad, as i asked. She proudly showed me that i had 50G of data for the month. This is where I realized the mistake and it took 5 min to explain to her that it was not correct. In the mean time, she tried to set the iPad up so that it can create a personal hotspot, but it just did not want to work. When the girl finally understood that she made a mistake, she was so afraid that she trembled and accidentally broke the sim card. She then told me I had to go to town to get a new card, which I said i aint. Thus she had to phone a supervisor to come from town and bring a new card, and also help set the iPad up. It turned out there was additional settings that she did not know about. However, there was still the issue of i now had $50 that is going to expire in a month and not 10 months, and the girl was visibly shaken, apologizing for the misunderstanding and me having to wait.

After 42 hours of travel, I was strangely at piece, and reassured her it is okay. The total for both my iPad and iPhone cards came to $62, so i gave her $80, and told her to keep the change. Realizing that the girl only makes about $50 to $80 a month, if i refused to pay, it would have been her moths salary, and possibly her job.

I decided to take a car taxi, for $7 to my place. Considering that it is an official airport taxi, that is cheap. At this point i did not care to save $5 by going on a motorbike. Considering that customs, baggage, and setting my internet up all took the better part of almost 3 hours.

At my resort, well, $5 a day for a single room with its own bathroom, it is a room. We opened the door and o my, was i glad i brought my mosquito net. I paid for 10 days for the room, and just wanted to crash. Quickly put the net up, pulled out some bug spray i brought along, that funny enough is bed bug spray. Then took out my sleep-sack and fell asleep. Woke up 4 hours later, hungry. Got up and noticed dead bed bugs around me on the bed. Jup, the place has bed bugs.

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Now before you go all up in arms about Cambodia and cheap backpacker room, realize that even Manhattan has a problem with them, and i did expect it, thus the bed-sack and the bug repellent. I went for dinner, then decided that i did not want to use up the small bottle of bug repellent i had yet. So i slept the remainder of the night in the plastic chair in the room.

Next morning i went to the market 5 min from me, and got insecticide. Amazingly, all prices are marked in US dollars, and you can get just about anything. Even gatorade and Gillette shave cream. Came back and fumigated my bed, and then my bed-sack. Then climbed in for a little rest. Woke up later, and watched a bed bug crawl from the far side of the bed where i did not spray to me, stop, then turn around as it got to the treated area. Satisfied that it would go and die somewhere else, i went back to sleep.

Later woke up and checked Facebook for Cambodia. Saw a room for $80 a month, but it is already taken. There is one opening in half of next month, will go and have a look this afternoon.

Day one, almost done. And for those in the know. As I sit and watch the other backpackers play pool, cards and drink, I cannot help but think that I am surrounded by a bunch of honeybadgers.

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