During our trip we have met people from all over the world. While in Phnom Penh we caught up with a couple from Canada that we originally met in Da Lat, Vietnam. They were on their last night in Phnom Penh so we headed out for some food and drinks. After a bit of a wild goose chase looking for a restaurant that didn't exist yet, we finally found a nice bar and spent the night chatting, sharing experiences about different places and getting to know each other. Sometimes this is the best bit about this trip. Meeting people you would never usually cross paths with and hearing about things they have done.
After a lovely night and a few drinks at the rooftop bar we headed for bed. The hubby said he wasn't feeling too good... oh no!
The next day we had planned to be up, out and exploring. We also wanted to visit the Thai embassy to apply for our 60 day visa. Non of this happened. The hubby was sick. The day was a right off. I went to the shop for water and bits for us to have a day in the room. He slept most of the day. Except when I went for a shower and opened the bathroom door to find the biggest cockroach EVER staring at me. It took all my efforts not to scream. I planned to leave it, hoping it would disappear back to where it had come from, but it didn't. It charged at me in the doorway so I had to wake the hubby up. I had no other option, honestly! He wasn't too impressed when he dragged himself out of bed, but when he spotted the cockroach his reaction said it all, "Sh*# its massive." See, I wasn't over reacting, I wasn't being a wimpy girl.
By the evening he was feeling a little better so we ventured to a cafe across the road for local food. It was gorgeous but he was still exhausted so we ate, chatted for a little bit, took in the surroundings then headed back.
Next morning we headed to the Thai embassy in a tuk tuk. In previous places we used the Grab app a lot, but they don't have it here, and we've noticed we haven't actually seen taxis. Everything is tuk tuk. Wherever you go you will hear "tuk tuk.." "Where you want to go?" "Lady, Mister, I take you there." Constantly. I remind myself a lot that it's their livelihood, they are just trying to make a living, but when you've been asked 179 times in 10 minutes and the next one follows you along the street shouting at you, it's easy to loose your cool a little.
Anyway, back to the embassy. We got there and started filling in the forms, they were pretty straight forward but we repeatedly asked the lady behind the counter to check it for us. Her English was good and thankfully she didn't mind. She checked the forms, attached our pictures, checked our passports and took our money. She gave us a receipt and told us to come back 3 days later to collect. The office wasn't too busy when we arrived but we found out that the norm for people who want a visa and live in South East Asia, is to pay an agent to do the work for you. Men were arriving with jam packed rucksacks full of passports. I mean hundreds of them. They lined them all up on the counter and passed them through the little hatch, to come back for them in 3 days. It made me nervous looking at one person with so many passports, imagine loosing them all!!
When we had researched the visa online it seemed to be really strict. You have to have a list of things to give to them, including the obvious like passports and money, they request passport pictures and proof of onward travel. The form is like a larger version of an Arrivals card you fill in at the airport for immigration but in reality this particular embassy wasn't too rigid (I can't comment on others obviously). The woman was really helpful, with some sections I queried she said "it's fine just leave it blank," and when we explained that we didn't have proof of onward travel because we had 4 more months she just said it was "not a problem." Great!
Because our plans had been pushed back a day the visa processing fell over a weekend so we had to stay a little longer to wait for them. The guest house we were in hadn't rented our bathroom out to any more cockroaches so we asked to extend... they were full! We did a little searching and found a little place around the corner that seemed ok. We walked in and bartered a price. It was perfect. A huge window out onto the street, a silent air con unit, a lovely strong shower and a really really comfy bed. Now to fill the days while we wait for our visas.
