FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: Captivating Cambodia

Sunday, 11 February 2024

Captivating Cambodia

Following a jam packed start to the year, it was time for a minibreak with the ladies! This girls trip to Cambodia was planned just under a year ago and it was nice to finally go on the trip! Fiona had kindly volunteered to drive to the airport, and the respective husbands all did their duties for a 0545 wife drop off at Fiona's. Fortunately, early on a Sunday morning, there was no impact on drive time and we were spared from the horrendous traffic usually on the Warringah Freeway from its "upgrade" works. When we arrived for check in, the check in line was already long! Sigh...the realities of flying as an economy pleb with no status! A shout out to Shanky, a super friendly Singapore Airlines check in agent, is warranted. He made the check in process very pleasant, although it was a shame his friendliness didn't extend to an upgrade!

And we're off to Cambodia. Heather, Serena and Fiona in order from left to right. If you don't know what I look like by now, it is a worry

What is this flying economy rubbish?!

Alcohol will drown my sorrows

I won't bore you with too much today as it was a long day of travel and mostly uneventful. As Heather, Serena, Fiona and myself all had the platinum charge cards, we had a plethora of choice for lounge access. In Sydney, we opted for The House. The biggest thing going for it was that it was much less busy and hence quieter than the Amex Lounge. It loses points though for only having 2 toilet stalls! In Singapore, we chose the Ambassador Transit Lounge as it was the closest to our departing gate at T2. Again, it was quiet and was a pleasant space. There was plenty of comfortable seating with charging points galore. Bonus points for offering fishball noodle soup and teh tarik on the coffee machine!

Singapore Changi. Lots of Chinese New Year stuff. And thank you to Fiona who brought us our coordinating flower!

Fishball noodle soup, a childhood favourite

The robot that is quite common in Singapore

I had never seen the sunflower garden despite having been to Changi numerous times. They haven't either!

This is what it looks like

Finally. At Phnom Penh

Waiting for our driver

Other than Fiona being airsick on landing, our arrival at Phnom Penh International was unremarkable. There were no lines at immigration, but it did take the immigration officers a while to process each individual. I'd be worried if there was a line! The luggage had already started coming out by the time we all got through immigration. Our guide, Borei, was waiting for us outside. We organised our trip with Go Indochine, the same company who organised my trip to Vietnam last year. They crafted an itinerary for us, choosing hotels, activities and guides. Too easy! All we had to do was turn up. Borei gave a brief run down on our program for the next few days and gave us some basic information on Cambodia. It took our attention away from the busy and crazy traffic congestion typical of many South East Asian countries.

Before long, we had arrived at our home for the next few nights, the Palace Gate Hotel & Resort, so called because it was just outside of the Royal Palace. I The hotel had a lovely old world and almost colonial feel. We were seated while our guide took care of the check in process. I welcomed the tamarind based welcome drink eagerly as a relief from the heat and humidity! Malcolm and the kids would have loved the cold refresher towels! We were then escorted to our rooms and our luggage delivered. Although our rooms was the most basic category, it was plenty nice and spacious! The bathroom was massive. There was also an international power points with 2 USB chargers for each bed. 10 points!!! After a quick visit to the rooftop bar, we called it quits for the night. At this point, the body was screaming it is midnight at home!!! The aim is for a early morning gym visit tomorrow...