Hanoi - To - Siem Reap
This morning we got to sleep in some as we were not meeting in the lobby until 9:45am. Today's schedule was a brief 90 minute tour of a museum here in Hanoi, then we traveled about 45 minutes to the airport to take off for Cambodia. The museum was partially outside, and a small indoor one. We spent most of our time walking around the outdoor portion as our Viking guide, Bob, described how these were how rural and/or original Vietnamese families lived. He also shared a lot of customs with us which seemed "odd" to us (for example in one Vietnamese culture a man could "kidnap" a girl and she was required to become his wife!). We had about fifteen minutes to see the inside displays - which was more than enough time. And as we left to the bus it began to rain - great timing!
We arrived at the airport and began to jump through all the hoops required to exit the country. The hotel staff had picked up our checked bags at 8am and they were waiting for us at the airport. When going through the check-in process you had to not only have your visa & passport, but also had to provide any battery pack or portable phone charger. A new law requires them to be in a sealed plastic bag. You could choose to sit window, aisle or middle and you could choose to sit with your spouse or friends. Next was the checkpoint to get to security where all the same documents and the passport needed to be shown. Then was the immigration/customs checkpoint, and here it got interesting. The two guests in front of us were a gentleman and his daughter. She sailed through after presenting all the paperwork. He was stopped, questioned and then a military guard came out and led him away! It was disconcerting to say the least and we were the ones to explain to the daughter (who'd gone ahead to the gate) that her Dad had been "taken away" but we were sure it would be alright....and we told her if not, we'd adopt her :) After about a half hour the Dad reappeared and we discovered that when he'd filled out his visa form and it asked for the date of arrival (Sept 11) he'd written " 11 - 09 - 2025 " but for Vietnam official purposes they require it to be written "MONTH - day - year" so they flagged him as having an invalid visa. Once he got Bob to help and the error was discovered he was permitted to go through security again BUT not without paying a $130 fine AND when we return to Saigon in a week he'll need to purchase (for about $350) another properly filled out visa!
The flight was a short 90 minute one but somehow the attendants had time to serve us a lunch with drinks! Once we arrived we picked up our bags and had to go through Cambodian immigration & customs. We were "required" to have an "e-arrival visa" and Bob had completed it for all of us individually and then we took a photo of it from his phone to ours. But when we got to the check point they didn't even ask for it. But we did have to show our passport & visa AND get "thumb-printed." Kim and I ALMOST had an issue :O When we were exiting the plane I almost left the boarding passes in the seat pocket since they were trash, but decided I'd just stick them in my pocket. When we got to the window and presented our paperwork the agent asked, "Where's your boarding pass??" UH OH, glad I didn't throw it away! Quickly got thru, got our bags and were greeted by our Cambodian host who Bob introduced us to on the bus. About 40 minutes to the resort where it was after dark. We'd been told it's the most luxurious resort & spa in Cambodia and from our arrival and brief walk through it certainly appears to be! At dinner we had special tables reserved at the front by the stage where a traditional Cambodian dance performance was put on. We were invited to come on stage to take a photo with the performers - I had told Kim I could go up and join the dance but she didn't think that was good idea.....go figure! Only four guests went for the photo op, but I was obviously one who wanted the experience.
Tomorrow we tour three of the most famous ancient temples, including one that was a setting for part of the film, "Laura Croft, Tomb Raider"
And just for the record......before we left Thursday I handicapped the weekend races at Churchill Downs. While in Hanoi, while I was sleeping (thanks to my son Brad placing my bets) I won four of six races including three big stakes events. Interesting that all my racing web sites are blocked here, but the Daily Racing Form - the newspaper of the thoroughbred racing world is NOT blocked! Go figure :)
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