We arrived in Phnom Penh after a very uneventful 2-hour flight. Phnom Penh International Airport was small, but new, clean and adequate. We were processed and got our baggage relatively quickly, perhaps because there were not many other visitors. In fact, the majority of arrivals appeared to be Cambodians returning home.
After picking up our baggage, we hopped into a tuk-tuk for the ride to the city. What was almost immediately noticeable was that Phnom Penh, despite being Cambodia’s largest city, possessed a very quaint, small-town air. As a matter of fact, large sections of the city looked incomplete; there were piles of sand and dirt by the roadside, likely waiting to be turned into whatever shining symbols of modernity. The roads were, fortunately, in fairly good condition and this was, I am very pleased to note, the slowest and most careful tuk-tuk driver I have yet encountered.
After dodging about a little more, we got a tuk-tuk driver who said he could send us to a guesthouse. We got his price down to our satisfaction and we’ll be there tonight.
And that was more or less our first day in Cambodia. Tomorrow promises to be quite a bit more thrilling.
(by Chun Wee)
