18.12 - Day 338 - Phnom Penh, KHM to Bangkok, THA
Wednesday 18th December - Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Bangkok, Thailand (Day 338)
Armed with our last 4,000 riel I take an early walk to the Central Market - whilst the tourist section is still shuttered up inside, the makeshift food market outside it is well underway, alive not just with people but marine life as fresh as it comes. Next door to my iceman of yesterday is a cigarette seller, definitely in the pack high, sell (very very) cheap.
Having successfully procured some banana crisps, back at Saravoan Royal Palace Hotel its a pair of English Breakfasts for Sienna and Seb and fried pork, rice and egg for Kate and I to set us up for the day ahead as we depart Cambodia.
A 30 minute Grab taxi in slow traffic brings us to the airport where, before checking in, Seb dials into his ‘End of Year Assembly’ with 11 other children who have either been travelling Australia or travelling the world. He’s very happy to win an award - for Achieving his Goal and Improved Handwriting (writing down the weeks results from the Premiership).
We had looked at an overnight bus for this trip from Phnom Penh to Bangkok, but dealing with border control in the middle of the night with two sleepy children in the end pushed us to flying. When you're in a city, talk of smog can sometimes be hard to see because the air seems clear enough. But its very obvious as you fly into Bangkok the layer of dirty air sat atop the city.
And the one hour hop aboard Air Angkor Airline is a breeze, even if perhaps the excitement wears out Sienna and Seb who fall asleep on my lap on the train from the airport to Makkasan, Bangkok.
We finish our travels with a flourish on the accommodation front, our final three nights at the 5 star Lancaster Hotel. The sort where doormen rush out to grab your bags and open doors for you. Iced tea welcome drinks served in a tin boat next to a 5 metre tall Christmas tree in the atrium that stretches up 12 floors.
The kids particularly happy to have their own bedroom and two single beds up on the 15th floor. Our eating habits didn’t change however, with a late lunch / early dinner under a bridge in a local restaurant next to a concrete lined waterway.
There’s time for a (very) refreshing dip in the outdoor 12th floor pool and some games of Phase 10. In a warning sign for tomorrow Kate has a dodgy tummy so I take the kids out when they declare they’re hungry - and when they spy a 7/11 across the road (well two actually within 50 metres of each other) it’s toasted cheese and ham sandwiches they want and they get.