Arrival in Cambodia

Well, I made it! The trip took 24 hours and we lost a day going west over the International Date Line, but I made it to Cambodia shortly before midnight on Friday January 11.

Flying on Korean Air Lines was a real treat and I recommend them highly. They are an efficient organization and the cabin service is elegant and gracious. I can't say enough good about the elegant, graceful cabin staff, who really understand what it means to serve people.

My overseas flight left out of Seattle, and we went up along the coast of Canada, the panandle of Alaska, across the Bering Straight, down along the coast of Siberia and Russia, over Shanghai and then across the Korean peninsula. Incheon Airport, which serves Seoul, is actually about an hour's train ride out of Seoul, located on an island off the coast, which certainly saves Seoul the extra noise and pollution of an airport in a metropolitan area. We had to circle a long time before landing. The pilot said that they had closed two runways. When we finally landed, I noticed that there was snow on the ground, which would explain that. The airport is new and modern with every possible amenity. We had to go through security before going to the next flight, and my flight to Phnom Penh left from the gate furthest from where we landed. Fortunately, they held the plane for passengers from delayed flights. A special treat on that flight was my seat partners, who are Cambodians who live in Boston, who announced, "We are Christians." What a special gift from the Lord!

It was cold in Korea, but here in Cambodia, it's hot. Ken Rudy and a couple of friends met me at the airport. They had taken the team of students from Liberty University who had been here for two weeks to the airport to catch the return flight of the plane on which I arrived, so that worked out beatifuly. As I stepped outside the airport, the first thing I noticed was a delightful fragrance of night blooming jasmine. What a great welcome that was.


I'm staying at the Friendship Club. Jenn, who used to teach English with ELIC rented this house as a hospitality center for students and I have a room on the third floor. It's very reminiscent of Italy in that everything is done in ceramic tile, both floors and walls, so you can imagine the noise factor.

I got in after midnight local time (we are 12 hours ahead of Philadelphia) and was awakened at 5:00 a.m. with incredibly loud ululating music. I thought at first that we were in a Muslim neighborhood and this was the first call to prayer, so I thought it was best to get up and pray, but actually it was just a wedding celebration at the end of the block. They close off the street, build a kind of pavillion and start celebrating early. Wedding celebrations can go on for 3 or 4 days and they are loud and long. The certainly know how to celebrate here!

My biggest surprise so far? I told Ken Rudy that I needed to change some money since I had no Cambodian currency. He said the easiest way to do this is to go to an ATM so we did and I was shocked when it dispensed American dollars. They are legal tender here. The local currency is so badly inflated that everyone spends US dollars, (prices are given in dollars) with Cambodian rial given as small change. (There about 4000 rial or so to the dollar!)

So many sights, smells, tastes, experiences, how to get them all into words? Stay tuned.