Another Relaxing Day

Yesterday we did most of the things around the city that we thought were going to take 2 days (mostly thanks to being with Nath and having his car to take us directly to our various destinations around the city - thanks, Nath!) As such, we decided that we were owed another lazy day since our internal clocks have still barely adjusted to Asia time and since Jon wasn't feeling too well.

We woke up around 10, I wrote some blog posts/updated some online, we called some family members, took showers, and then headed out for lunch at the mall. We walked to the mall (located about a 15 minute walk from our hotel), ate some more delicious food and then tried to use the ATM machine. We have been having problems with our Wells Fargo card lately with not being able to take out money, so we have (reluctantly) been using our Barclaycard credit card to take out money. However, we decided to wait to take out money since Cambodia uses American dollars, so instead we headed back to the hotel where we packed up our things and waited for Nath to pick us up for our flights to Cambodia!

Nath arrived with his girlfriend, Pear, at about 4 pm. We arrived at the airport around 5:30, and then started the arduous process of looking for parking. We entered the parking structure and there were cars EVERYWHERE. In addition to the normal spaces where cars were parked horizontally, there were cars BEHIND those cars, parked vertically, blocking in all the cars that were parked in the properly designated spaces. I asked Nath,

"How are the cars that are parked in the spots supposed to get in and out?"

To which he responded,

"You push the other cars."

I laughed, thinking he was joking, until he continued:

"If you park vertically, you have to put your car in neutral, that way, if any cars need to get in or out, people can come over and push your car out of the way. If there are lots of cars in the line, someone might have to push 5 or 6 cars before they free their car to get out. It's kind of an unwritten customary respect that you put your car in neutral so that it can be moved."

Wow. Just wow. I thought people would be hesitant to allow strangers to move their cars like that, but ALL those spots were taken in addition to all the regular spots!! We climbed to the top of the parking structure before we finally found a space (in a regular spot). Whew!

We entered the airport, went through customs, checked our bags (MAN it felt good to only travel with small bags after that!), and grabbed dinner at the airport. We let Nath order everything again (because he picks the most delicious Thai food) and ended the meal with a traditional Thai dessert, mango and sticky rice.

Pear and Nath, excited to introduce us to mango and sticky rice!

From there we walked to our gate where we waited for approximately 20 minutes before boarding our flight. The uneventful flight was ONE HOUR long. I've never been on a shorter flight in my life! Jon and I began discussing our next travel plans as we ascended and were already descending and we'd only talked about maybe a week of our travel plans! It was crazy!

Upon arrival in Siem Reap, Cambodia, we waited to get our visas, completed customs, grabbed our bags, and met our taxi driver for the next few days who took us first to an ATM to take out cash, then to our hotel, the Blossoming Romduol Lodge. Along the way, we passed SOOOOOOOOOOO many luxury resorts and hotels. Our driver told us some of them cost upwards of $1,000 a night!!! To give you a bit of perspective, our lovely hotel with AC, an on-suite, private bathroom, and included breakfast costs $17 a night :-p.

We checked in, climbed the stairs to our room and it is definitely now time to pass out - early wake up call tomorrow!

Jess' highlight of the day: relaxing a bit and meeting Pear!
Jon's highlight of the day: arriving in Siem Reap