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Low Expectations for a Visa Run to Phnom Penh

Posted by Stuart at 08:02 PM on July 12, 2008

On Thursday, one of my staff came into my office to talk to me. "Have you looked at your passport lately?" she asked me.

"No, should I?" I replied, as I dug out the thick book from my desk drawer.

And guess what I discovered? My visa expires on Monday! Opps. I had completely forgotten about my visa. That means I had to make a quick trip somewhere outside Thailand ASAP. So I consulted the Air Asia website, looking for the cheapest flight to somewhere I have never been, and now, on Saturday, I am typing from an Internet cafe in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Phnom Penh has never really been high on the list of places I wanted to go. I have heard that it is a bit unsafe, and that there was nothing to see and do here, and so my expectations were very low. I was expecting Siem Reap, without the amazing Angkor ruins. In other words, hot and dusty with tons of child beggars and being asked if I want to buy something or take a motorcycle ride ever two minutes. I find Siem Reap to be very depressing for the most part.

Well, I am happy to say that this city is much better than I expected. It is actually quite charming, I think, being one of the most colonial cities I have seen in Asia. Every now and then I see something that reminds me of Vientiene or Luang Prabang or Hanoi or other French-influenced cities in this part of the world. People have been very friendly, the parks are numerous and well landscaped, the roads and sidewalks are wide and smooth, and I am only asked if I want a moto ride every five minutes instead of every two.

Seriously though, I am very pleasantly surprised. In fact, I wish that I was not returning to Bangkok so quickly. I guess I will just have to come back some day.