My farewell to Viking Venus was scheduled for 0300 this morning (ugh) so I could catch a bus to Suvarnabhumi Airport (Bangkok). Despite setting my alarm for 0230, I was awake at 0140. Since I didn't trust myself to go back to sleep, I read and worked on puzzles and Duolingo exercises. With 30 minutes to go, I got out of bed and double checked that I had everything. I assembled with the rest of the Angkor Wat Extension passengers in The Atrium at 0245. Unfortunately, the only “breakfast” available was chocolate and a package of nuts from my stateroom mini bar (I'd also grabbed a few of the drinks, since I'd never taken any for the whole cruise and the "first ones are free"). Soon, we began the long process of getting off the ship, walking through the extensive "immigration" hall, collecting our luggage, triaging bags (I sent one to airport, to accompany me to Siem Reap, and one to a Bangkok Hotel, where I will be arriving on November 5). Around me, some passengers were very stressed out and bitching all the way through the process - I tried to distance myself from them. It was a bit sad to say farewell to Viking Venus, my home for two weeks... By 0310, though, I was on the bus and was immediately asked a series of questions by the onboard Viking Reps about the Cambodian Visa. By this point, I'd received so much guidance (all of it contradictory) that I basically ignored the people talking about completing it online. My rationale: I'd have to turn on my mobile service just to do anything and there was "Visa on Arrival" anyway... We departed the Port at 0320 and, almost immediately, got stuck at a train crossing. Once we got out of Laem Chabang, though, there was no traffic on the Expressway. I wanted to sleep but it was quickly evident that we did NOT have a good bus driver - added to that, the rough road made dozing difficult. Instead, I tried to figure out where we were and where we were headed - unfortunately, the ubiquitous Thai script was too much for my sleep deprived brain... Surprise, though: I saw my first church in Thailand - it's cross was lit up near Suvarnabhumi Airport when we arrived at at 0450. After retrieving my bag from the bus holding area, I walked (along with everyone else) through the terminal. By this time, the extremely early departure seemed to be a very good idea because we weren’t at the Thai Airlines check-in until 0500. Unfortunately, the gate agent told me she couldn’t issue me a ticket because my name was incorrect in their system. I'll admit that I panicked a bit because all the Viking Reps had disappeared - I even went searching but couldn’t find them. When I returned to the Thai Airlines counter (I'd accidentally left something there), there was a Viking Rep waiting on me. Whew! Even then, though, it took quite a while to resolve the issue and we eventually had to go to the Airline's headquarters inside the airport. After an hour of resolving the reservation/passport mix-up, I was finally able to enter the Immigration queue at 0615. With the additional security screenings, getting snacks (drink, Haribo gummy bears) to satisfy my increasing hunger and walking to reach the gate, I barely made it onboard my Thai Airways aircraft (A320) at 0730. I found myself sitting next to some Brits who told me they visit Siem Reap every year. We finally finally departed Bangkok at 0815 - it was quite a relief to find myself rolling down the runway! With only an hour before arrival in Cambodia, I was very surprised when the flight attendants managed to complete a full meal service of a chicken Caesar wrap, fruit (dragon fruit, papaya, apple and hot tea - amazing job! We (me and 59 other passengers from Viking Venus) were actually in our descent to Siem Reap by 0855 and landed a short time later. The taxi to the gate took a bit longer - fortunately, I was near the front of the aircraft and made good time to the Immigration area (0915). At first, I was given priority for the line after I showed my entry QR Code from the online website. However, I soon learned (once again) that the process recommended by Viking was incorrect. Like a zombie (because of lack of sleep), I backtracked to another line so I could get a Visa on Arrival. After everything that had happened, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this process was rather easy. It seemed to be all about paying cash ($30 US). Even better, the main line hadn’t gotten very long yet and I was soon talking to the original immigration official and through the queue. Next, I collected my checked bag and headed to Customs (nothing to declare). As a result, I found the Viking group very early (0950) and was assigned "Bus #1" when I couldn't recall the number of our bus at 0300. This ended up being a lucky break because the guide chose me for his group. The seats onboard the motor coach were luxurious - they almost looked like "Captain's Chairs"! During this time (for the second or third time recently), I accidentally moved the wireless button from airplane mode to "on". I hope I don't get charged by AT&T (I later learned that I wasn't). Once we had all our passengers, we got to meet our Guide, Reth ("Red"), a local man who told us he grew up on the grounds of Angkor Wat. Our driver's name was Mr. Long. We left the airport at 1000 and it soon became clear that our guide was wonderful - he had good language skills and good stories and was extremely personable. He told us a lot of history (hard to digest with so little sleep). One important comment I did like, though, was that we will be with him for the rest of the trip (I'm not sure, but I think there are two other buses). Reth told us he was adjusting the printed itinerary to improve the next few days of visiting Siem Reap. The first major change was that we made a stop at “Angkor Wat Enterprise” to get our temple passes (1050). Each passenger had to pose for a photo that would be added to their ticket (required to access the grounds). While waiting for the rest of our group, I noticed an Angkor Wat passport book and decided to get one (my first souvenir of the entire trip). We departed at 1110 and next visited the Angkor National Museum. After arriving at 1125, we watched a historical movie, visited the room of 1000 Buddhas, learned more about the history of the Khmer Empire, were shown engineering schematics (and a model) related to the building of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. We also got to see lots of examples of clothing (or lack thereof) of the ancient peoples. Meanwhile, it started raining. We departed the museum at 1250 and arrived at Park Hyatt Siem Reap (our home for the next few days) within 15 minutes. The hotel staff provided a gauntlet of umbrellas, which kept us mostly dry, and did much bowing. Before I realized it, we were sitting down to lunch in the hotel restaurant. It was a set menu, with a strawberry flavored aperitif, Grilled Chicken with Mango Salad & Khmer Dressing, River Fish Amok, Jasmine Rice and Steamed Rice Bun (dessert), washed down by some local beer. The food tasted so good! Next (1355), I checked into my room and was blown away by the five-star opulence. By 1405, I was peacefully napping - I didn't wake up again until 1730. Only then did I start to feel “normal” again after the strange morning schedule. Before we needed to meet up for dinner (!), I spent some time unpacking my bag. At 1830, I joined the other Viking Venus Extension passengers in the hotel lobby. I thought I knew most of them but then recognized a new (to me) couple - the turned out to be from Viking Orion (Pre-Cruise Extension). They raved about how great the tour of Siem Reap had been and that buoyed my spirits. At 1840, the Bus 1 group got into the motor coach with Mr. Long and we headed towards our dinner venue. The streets were very busy due to the upcoming Water Festival, but we reached "Korko 1979" by 1850. Our meal, with a "Western Set Menu”, was Garden Vegetable Salad with Italian Sauce, Potato Cream Soup, Grilled (Amok?) Fish with White Cream Sauce and Crème Brûlée. Again, everything was amazing! We stayed at the restaurant until 1955 (by then it had started raining again) and then drove back to the hotel. More traffic made the driving a little longer but we still arrived within 30 minutes. Almost everyone else called it a night afterwards but I (after my nap earlier) was ready to do some more exploring. I started by looking at all the hotel amenities (pools, etc.). It continued raining but I didn't want to miss out on additional experiences. So, at 2030, I borrowed umbrella from the hotel staff and walked down to the river. It took about 10 minutes to reach the water and the area was much busier than it had been near the Hyatt. I spent time exploring shops, vendor tents, boats that were assembled for this week’s Water Festival and the vibrant night life of the local people. At one point, a guy on a scooter started trying to set me up with some local girls (I ignored him). After the brief break I’d had in Thailand, it felt very nice to be back in Cambodia - I’ve truly grown to love the culture and people here. It was hard to choose to stop exploring but I forced myself to walk back towards the hotel. After this brief excursion, I was in my room again at 2100 - by then, I felt pretty ready for "regular" bedtime. I did some more unpacking and had fun with blogging, puzzles and audiobooks. Bedtime was at 2300. Tomorrow, I’ll be visiting one of the World’s “Grand-daddy Bucket List Items”: Angkor Wat!
