Hello from the other side of the world!

I think we last posted on Sunday evening. It’s Wednesday evening as I post this, but only Wednesday morning in Minnesota. This is our first venture across the international date line, so it’s a bit confusing trying to keep a mental timeline. I’m going to try anyways!

Monday morning, we got to the airport around 7:15 in an attempt to check-in, and hopefully resolve the confusion over the boarding passes. We were not allowed to check-in online, and were not entirely sure that anybody would even be at the Japan Airlines counter. In some rare stroke of luck, Japan Airlines turns out to exist, and only an hour later, we were able to check in and print our boarding passes to Singapore.

Because we checked in four hours before our flight, we then kept ourselves busy at the airport, while I nursed my upset stomach, self inflicted from the previous night’s deceptively spicy foods.

The tickets that we initially bought were found at a steep discount, but were not the most direct or shortest route. Chicago, Dallas / Fort Wirth, Tokyo Narita, and Singapore Changi. With getting from Minneapolis to Chicago being tacked on to the front, that made it a four flight trip.

The first leg of the rest of our trip would be our longest; Dallas to Tokyo was a thirteen hour flight that progressed at a snails pace. There was plenty of in-flight entertainment, and interesting meals served bento style. Our plane was a Boeing 787, which is a newer model known to be a more luxurious and fuel efficient jet, with progressive colored window tints instead of drawn plastic shades, and lighting designed to coax people to sleep.

We arrived at Tokyo Narita just long enough to get to our gate, but no time for much else. Our flight to Singapore was also long (another 7 hours), and got us there without any problems. Since that was the last leg of our original flight, there was a question of what happens next.

We had decided to go straight to Phnom Penh (5 flights, if you’re keeping track), but didn’t have our boarding passes printed. Luckily for us, we were able to find a transfer desk that would check us in, on the condition that we were able to show her an exit ticket from Cambodia, so we hastily decided that Vietnam was our next stop, and bought another ticket.

It’s a good thing we did, too. A roaming band of armed airport police were checking passports and boarding passes where we were trying to get some sleep. I’m not entirely certain what would’ve happened if we were unable to print our boarding pass, but my guess would be that we would’ve been kicked out of the airport or detained.

Our flight to Phnom Penh was a much smaller plane, with much less leg-room. We made good time, but were told we couldn’t land for another forty minutes, because of a VIP landing at the airport. So we just flew around in circles until we could land.

After quickly getting our Visa, going through immigration, then customs, and getting a quick coffee to break some bills, we were quickly en route to our hostel. We took a tuk tuk, which is essentially a motorcycle drawn carriage, driven by a maniac. Seemingly everybody on the road has some kind of death wish, as scooter after scooter split lanes, drive up the curb, or change lanes without any stop signs or any concept of right of way.

Which brings us to tonight, where we finally have a bed to fall asleep in. We spent an hour or so at the nearby night market, browsing goods and eating tasty food stuffs. After dinner, we wandered home, showered, and are about to get a full night sleep in preparation for tomorrow.