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| Home > Channels > Travel > Journey Through Cambodia - Part I of III
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Page 1: First ImpressionsBy Darina Hul
Sunday, June 24th, 2001
After a few quick stops at Tokyo and Singapore in the discomfort of a packed Boeing 747, I was finally on my way to Cambodia in a smaller, more heavily loaded airplane. I took a few meager naps along the way and subsisted on a ration of hard food and tainted water, but I made it. I was awakened by one of the flight attendants as she spoke through the intercom informing us that we would be arriving shortly. I opened my window shutter and looked down into the open fields of Cambodia. There she was.
The rain had let up a little as Siem Riap came into view. The fields were a brownish shade of gray colored with little patches of greenery. The land looked old and exhausted from historys torments. Small rice paddies, farmlands, huts, and houses littered the countryside separated by rivers, lakes, and ponds. The rain had already flooded most rural parts of Siem Riap.
My flight landed in Siem Riap Angkor International Airport for a pit stop before finding its way to Pochentong Airport in Phnom Penh. The airport was a small and well-groomed brown dirt roadthe pinnacle of early 20th century air travel. Colorful flowers and young trees lined the walkways of the bland off-white airport building as old passengers shuffled out and new passengers in for their flight to Phnom Penh.
 I arrived at Pochentong Airport after a few brushes with turbulence through the massive clouds that covered most of Cambodia. My flight touched down on the tarmac runway and slowed to a stop near one of the terminals. I teetered down the aisle with all of my baggage towards the exit and stepped out of the plane into a broth of heat and humidityHOT.
The words Welcome to the Kingdom of Cambodia, greeted me in big white English text on a grand blue banner as I strode towards the terminal. Pochentong Airport is much bigger than Siem Riap Airport. As I made my way into the clean and air-conditioned airport terminal, I noticed that parts of the airport remained under construction. Chaos presented itself in the form of dozens of people rushing through the terminal, others shouting, while even more waited impatiently in lines for their visas, eager to get to their baggage.
I left the busy Pochentong Airport for the teeming motorcycle traffic on the streets of Phnom Penh. There seemed to be no end to the madness. And then read a sign, Long Live the Kingdom of Cambodia. |
Disclaimer: KC articles are pubished for the information and entertainment of members of KC. The material published is selected for its interest and the views expressed therein are not necessarily those of KC nor its staff. |
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