A long wait
Today was the day we were leaving Cambodia, and embarking on a flight to Thailand. We chose a flight to Thailand, as opposed to land crossing, as we’d heard it was easier to get in. Apparently during the land crossing, the visa process can be a bit dodgy, and you’re more likely to get rejected/asked for monetary proof. Plus, this gave us the benefit of starting in Chiang Mai, in the north, and heading south to Malaysia.
I had a reasonable lie in this morning. However, this was disturbed by the dude below my bunk who seemed to have the loudest snore known to mankind. After I got out of bed, I went for a shower to freshen up, and met Mat downstairs in the café for breakfast. This place has very nice food, the dedicated kitchen staff really help out here. Our flight to Thailand was at 16:35, so we had to wait in the lobby for ages. We wanted to play it safe, so we stayed in the lobby to chill and look at a few things ahead of getting to Thailand. As we were there so long, we even had lunch too!
Heading to The Land of Smiles
In the early afternoon, we took a tuk tuk from our hostel to the Siem Reap airport. As my Riels (Cambodian currency) were not very significant, I decided to give the tuk tuk driver my remaining Riels. I also gave him my last banana as I wouldn’t be taking it on the plane. We checked into the flight easily enough, and explored our part of the airport. As we were waiting, we noticed an ice cream shop. It was called Dairy Queen and you can take a wide variety of chocolate bars/nuts and have them mixed into some delicious whippy ice cream. I had Kit Kat in mine, and it was beautiful! We couldn’t believe this was the first time we’d discovered this taste sensation.
After we were about half way through the ice cream, of course the plane is ready for boarding. Every time I have some food before a flight, they call us in! Once we’d shovelled the rest in, and began recovering from brain freeze, we boarded the plane. It was standard procedure, and only a short flight until we got to Bangkok airport. As we were going to Chiang Mai, we went straight through to the departure lounge because we were transferring.
We had around 3 hours to wait in the airport before our flight to Chiang Mai was to be called, at 21:10. So Mat and I explored the airport quite thoroughly, although most things were closed. We treated ourselves to a KFC whilst we waited, had to do something!
Arriving in Chiang Mai
Again, we boarded our plane without any problems, and it was only a short flight again. On the plane, the air hostess used my tray to put the demonstration kit on. When she went away, Mat and I picked the stuff up and fiddled with it. Mat broke the elastic strap on the face mask. So when the air hostess came to demonstrate, it was broken, and I saw the confusion/frustration show on her face. Of course, she would blame me (internally), but I didn’t even break it!
Once we arrived in Chiang Mai, we collected our luggage from the baggage claim. We also bought a SIM card for Thailand, the one that was open was truemove, and this was apparently pretty decent. Check this site out for all the info on Thai SIM cards. SIM cards may be cheaper if bought locally, but at airports, they install them for you and activate them. They are English speaking and will explain exactly what each plan entails. Plus, as we need data to leave the airport, it’s extremely convenient. I was also able to exchange my last few dollars to baht.
We took a Grab taxi to our hotel, which was situated next door to a McDonald’s…what a win! The pair of us checked into the hotel, and then took to our own beds as it was late. The hotel was called Imm Hotel, and it was pretty swanky! Our room’s furnishings were very nice, and the beds were so comfy. We thought we’d treat ourselves for Christmas.
