SOUTH ASIA BLOG October 13th, 2024 - SIEM REAP to JAIPUR

 

10/13/24– Officially two weeks into the trip with one week remaining. Time has definitely flown as we enter the home stretch. Great weather so far, considering no rain, and feel very fortunate that all of our flights have been on time.

Breakfast this morning is interesting as the staff don’t greet us as promptly as before. There’s also quite a bit of chattering between them and we figure perhaps it’s Sunday, and the head honcho is away at church or something. Either way, we enjoy the waffles, chicken and rice and pastries.

At noon, we settle our hotel charges and book a GRAB to the airport. This reminds me of the driver we had a few days ago from the airport. Over the course of our stay he contacted me daily to ask if we will book him again for the return ride. I have no plans to book anyone directly as that’s how Americans don’t come home, but also the fact that he said, “Have a sweet dream” to me in the text makes me feel extremely uncomfortable.

SIA Airport in Siem Reap looks very new and clean. After going through security we’re treated with a cool view of a statue, but weirdly the entire place seems deserted. It’s hard to get over how quiet it is as you can hear a literal pin drop. Strangely, the check-in counter spent quite a bit of time going over our passport information and visas to make sure everything matched. I guess we look like people who are trying to sneak into their country.

Our first flight boards on time, however, they split Sharece and I up on our seats (even though we purchased together). At first this seems like a scam as they want to charge to have us move, but once we board the plane we find some empty seats and got the entire row to myself, thank you very much.

The flight is a decent hour as it lands in Bangkok, Thailand. Here, we have to go back through security (dumping our water again) but this place looks more like a mini strip mall with Starbucks, McDonalds, Subway and even Dairy Queen restaurants lined up on the way to our gate.

As we board, the flight attendant asks us for our visas again, which never happens at a gate, but we board without a problem. Can’t say the same for the flight attendants as they practically wrestle with the heard of people not following directions. It’s like everyone on board is a child and they have to explain over and over again how to properly board the plane and find your seat.

During the flight, the three guys across the aisle from me are chatting in their Indian language the entire time, so it’s bittersweet when we hit some turbulence that shuts them up for maybe five minutes. This goes on for over four hours straight. I kid you not.

Finally, we land in Jaipur, India after 10pm local time (weirdly is an hour and a half time difference from Cambodia. I mean why the half hour?)  During immigration, there’s a delay in getting through due to their finger printing machine not working properly, and after getting our bags we set out to find an ATM. Guess what, the ATM machine doesn’t like my CapitalOne card. Of course.

I was thinking of going with a taxi to our hotel, but since the ATM is being a jerk we just order an UBER. Funnily enough it’s actually cheaper at only $6 USD. Loving that exchange rate.

Ride takes twenty minutes and arrive at Jaipur Hotel New around midnight. The front of the hotel is located down an alley (doesn’t look inviting) and through a small door that leads to a not so pleasant looking courtyard. The room doesn’t provide much comfort either as its pretty small, looks dirty and doesn’t look like the photos when we originally booked. And I don't even want to know what the buckets in the shower are about.

Very tired from the long journey to get there, we settle into bed and will reconcile everything in the morning.