stimpy

Leaving Los Angeleeze, I checked in at the excellent UA 1st lounge and headed for London. We had the 1st suite and I pretty much slept the whole flight. Upon arrival, I was met by the UA concierge who tried to get a driver to take me to T1. It took about 10 minutes for the driver to get there. I should have taken the bus. Security was jammed so I missed catching the early flight to BRU. I went to the BD Diamond lounge to hang out for a couple of hours. After a while, I decided to go browse around the shops. But they have cut staffing at LHR and the little security check near the BD lounges was closed. So I had to go all the way around and stand in the main security cattle herd.

After a while, I went to the EC club to use their free Internet terminals. Later we finally boarded to BRU. I was in 5C which was OK and the BD food and service was good. Upon arrival I went to Avis. They gave me the choice of a Mitsubishi or a VW Beetle! I chose the Beetle and it was very nice. I'd like to see these in the U.S.

I drove through heavy rain to Grobbendonk and the Aldhem hotel. This is an excellent hotel out in the woods of Flanders with the quality of food that you would expect in Belgium.

After my meeting the next day I drove back to BRU and hung out in the Sabena Biz lounge. All flights were delayed due to storms so the lounge was packed. Eventually they called our flight and I boarded at seat 7C. While economy was packed, biz was nearly empty so I moved up a few rows and had 3 seats to myself. Sabena serves the best food on intra-euro flights in my experience.

Upon arrive in NCE, I found that they have removed the car rental facility from T1!!! This really, really sucks. NCE is no longer the small convenient airport it used to be. I was bussed to T2 where Avis upgraded me to a BMW 3-series. Then I drove to the nearby Novotel where I had a perfect room on the 9th floor for viewing the runway at NCE.

After my meeting the next morning, I went to Antibes to buy some books, get a haircut and hang out in a cafe drinking Rose and reading.

Later I went back to the Avis lot, rode the bus to T1 and snuck into the VIP lounge for a while. The flight to FRA on LH was packed. Some guy was trying to convince the staff to let him bring two largish boxes of glasses on board. They said no dice and I think he found a lot of broken glass when he got to FRA. The flight was pretty ordinary and at FRA I went to the Senator lounge. At each *A flight so far my UA number was not in the record. This time they couldn't update the record since the gate had closed access due to the flight being oversold. Later, a gate agent updated my record and I boarded in the 1st row of 1st class for the LH fight to BKK.

This flight had very good service and the best seats in the business so I slept most of the way. Before arrival I went into one of the large bathrooms and shucked out of my Euro clothes and put on shorts and a hawaiian shirt. It is 32 degrees in BKK.

This was my first time arriving at BKK during the day (2:45pm) and I noticed for the first time the golf course in between the runways! These guys must be wearing earplugs since the jets are taking off and landing about 100 meters away. But the craziest thing I saw was that they have to walk across a busy taxiway between some of the holes. There are 747's whizzing by and these old guys are carrying their clubs right in front of them. Amazing Thailand indeed!

A word of warning for those who get picked up at BKK. If you have no bags and proceed to the exit at T1, your driver may be waiting for you at T2 since that is where my flight's bags went. I asked one of the other hotel guys to call the Hyatt guy and he came by a few minutes later. The ride to the Grand Hyatt was fine and I was upgraded to the RC where I checked in.

More later...

[This message has been edited by stimpy (edited 11-09-2000).]

geo1004

stimpy, when I grow up, I want to be just like you!

naxos

I thought the point of playing golf was partly for the peace and quiet and pleasure of walking the countrified course! My kids were amazed to see the BKK golf course. I wonder if it is billed as one of the airport amenities.

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BizJet

Looking forward to more, stimpy!

wingless

I am so jealous.

stimpy

After my meeting, I left the Hyatt Erawan in a large black Mercedes headed for BKK. The driver asked me where I was going, and I told him Cambodia. He asked me if I had business there and I said I was just going for fun. He looked at me pretty funny then. I guess he couldn't imagine why I would leave Thailand and go to Cambodia for fun.

At the airport I went to Thai check-in and once again had to have them put in my UA number. I wonder when these alliances will ever be truly seamless? Thai has both biz and first class lounges, and like UA you can only use the First lounge when flying first. I was flying to PNH which didn't have F-class, but I had a trick. I showed them my First class ticket for Sunday to HKG and my 1K card and that was enough to get me in. It was pretty empty anyway. The First lounge is very nice, but the chairs are straight-back and all the same. The staff makes the drinks for you so I asked for Jim Beam and Coke…and got a JB and Coke. That happens every once in a while to me in Asia so I'm used to it. The mistake that is, not the JB.

On board the A330 I sat in 1K and made myself comfortable for the short flight. Biz was mostly empty, so I let my seat go way, way back down. Later I noticed a small Asian man behind me, but he was lying back asleep so I didn't worry. The meal and nice flower were good and they kept the Bordeaux and Champagne flowing. When does a U.S. airline do that for a 330 mile flight?

We landed at PNH and I'm guessing the airport looked much the same as it did 20 or 30 years ago. The only other planes there were Silk Air and Royal Air Cambodge. The little man behind me was desperate to be the first off the plane so everyone let him exit first and I followed him. Then I noticed that about 100 people, flowers and TV cameras were waiting for him. I have no idea why.

The airport isn't much here. They had signs saying "pardon our construction" but I didn't see any signs of construction. I walked across the tarmac to the small terminal and entered customs. The FA's had given us arrival and departure cards along with a customs and visa form. Before coming I read the U.S. State Dept website which said bring two passport photos and $20USD. But before I even got that far there was a guy with a Hotel Intercontinental sign with my name on it waving to me. He guided me through the visa process which was helpful. I handed over my passport, forms and the picture (they only needed one picture). I waited while a line of 8 seated officials reviewed and stamped my visa one by one. The last official was the most senior and he was in charge of collecting the $20 bills.

We waded through the crowds of people waiting for loved ones or perhaps the guy who was sitting behind me. My guide brought me to the car. No black Mercedes here, try a beat up old Hyundai. Welcome to Phnom Penh! The ride out of the airport showed a tremendous contrast to Bangkok. The streets are pretty beat up and there are hordes of scooters everywhere. I rarely saw a scooter with less than three people and some had 5 people. Most of the women rode side-saddle and as is usual in Asia, my driver kept weaving in and out missing the scooters by a few inches. So I looked out the side and saw pretty much desolation. The only structures that were from the 90's were the ubiquitous ultra-modern gas stations. Shell and Cal-Tex mostly. That was it for new construction. We kept winding our way through the streets of the city, sometimes having to inch our way through enormous potholes. I was beginnging to understand what my Hyatt driver in Bangkok was thinking. Why was I here when I could have been living it up in BKK?

Then I saw it. Rising out of the city was a skyscraper that only spoke of luxury. A massive edifice that towered above the squalor below. Was it the government house? Was it the Bank of Cambodia? No my friends, it was the Intercontinental Hotel! The only luxury hotel in the country, the tallest building in the country, and the only visible focus of wealth for many, many miles. Well at least I would sleep comfortably. But what else was there to do over the weekend? I was worried, but later found that thought misguided.

stimpy

First of all, check-in was fine and they had my Six Continents number already in the system. A few weeks ago I had called them to arrange a day trip to Siem Reap so I could visit Angor Wat. But I couldn't get anyone on the phone who knew travel well enough to understand my meaning. This luxury hotel is sorely missing a good concierge. So I decided to go to Angor Wat some other time and focused my attention on Phnom Penh. I'm often lucky when traveling without plans and this time was no exception. This weekend is when the whole country celebrates their independence (1953) from France. This was something I can honestly celebrate too.

But it was about 8pm and I was jet lagged from my previous flight. So I went down to the hotel bar for a few drinks and a snack. First I explored the basement shopping arcade. This was no ordinary shopping arcade. There was a rare old wine shop with an inventory I would estimate at about 10 million dollars. There were thousands of bottles of classic French wines mostly between 1940 and 1975 but some even older. I was thinking of spending $200 or $300 on a bottle to see what it would taste like, but I expect it would get ruined on my trip home. Another shop was full of excellent reproductions of the statues and other artwork from Angor Wat. I talked to the French man who ran the place and gave me an interesting historical account of his wares. Another shop had some very good modern local art. It was a pretty neat arcade.

Upstairs at the bar a band was setting up with two male musicians, a synthesizer and two female singers. I was resigning myself to listening to high-pitched Asian music when they broke out with Christine Aguilara, Eric Clapton and Trisha Yearwood. And they sounded very good! It turns out that they were Fillipino and as I was told by the British man next to me at the bar, all the good ones are Fillipino.

I struck up a conversation with the bartender who spoke very good English. We talked about how the country is getting better now that Pol Pot is gone and the people are allowed to learn English and use the Internet. When he found out I was in technology he asked me whether I liked Linux or Windows NT better. I don't think I've ever had such a conversation with a bartender. He was very smart and experienced, but he unfortunately lives in a very depressed country. This made me depressed since the main reason that Cambodia has gone through hell this century is due to the U.S. and China battling over ideology. Hopefully both the U.S. and China will invest in this country to improve the basic infrastructure and these people can join the rest of the world. What gave me hope was that the average Cambodian in the city speaks better English that the Thai's in BKK, yet only in the last few years have Cambodians been allowed to study English.

The next day I was told that 1 million people are arriving here this weekend for the Independence festival. With all the scooters I saw on the street I believe it. However I wanted to see the official sights first. I hired a car (the same old Hyundai) and driver at the rate of $15 for 4 hours. He took me first to the Royal Palace. This is the old one as I think the king currently lives in the new one. This seemed to me a near copy of the golden temple in Bangkok. They even had a copy of the emerald Buddha. They also had a similar long wall mural telling the tale of the country. According to some old French maps, all of Cambodia and Thailand was the Empire of Khmer after the Angkor empire. But years ago the Khmer Rouge had put a thin layer of cement over the mural to deny the people their history. They are only now stripping it off and trying to restore it. I saw more relics at the nearby National Museum. That was all pleasant, but the next two spots were not.

We've all heard of the "killing fields" and the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge, but these people lived through it. So they have a killing fields museum where most of the executions took place. There is also Toul Sleng which was the security quarters where they had the torture chambers. It is now a museum and it's basically the same as it was during the Khmer Rouge years, but they've added a photo collection. I couldn't force myself to look at all the photos and depictions of what went on there. It was probably the most depressing place I've ever seen. Tens of thousands were tortured and killed here and many more at the killing fields. I still can't believe we live in a world where this place was still open and operating up til 1978.

Sorry to be a downer. Later we went to the amazing central market. This place puts the BKK night market to shame. There are literally millions of items from A to Z for sale. There are a number of beggars here as you might expect, most of them children. I have a rule against giving kids money since I've seen them give the money to their parents who use it for booze or whatever. So I bought Cokes for all the kids who were surrounding me and that seemed to make them very happy. The market was full of Japanese tourists, but some Cambodians were there shopping too which was nice to see. I bought a few Cambodia T-shirts for the folks at home and went back to the hotel to rest and get out of the oppressive heat.

After a nap, it started to get dark and I decided to visit the festival by the river. It was about 5 kilometers away so I asked the hotel for my driver and his Hyundai. They said that it was too dangerous to go. They were worried that I would be the only foreigner there. They were right about that, but I didn't care. They thought I should stay in the hotel where it was safe. How could I express to them that their hotel was bland or at least sterile and I wanted to be where the action was? I was persistent and got them to drive me as close to the festival as the police would allow cars to go. From there I walked.

My first stop was at the first beer sign. I walked into an open air bar that was fairly quiet. As soon as the people saw me they jumped out of their seats and asked me what they could get me. I just asked for a beer and while they got it everyone stared and smiled. I had to get used to that as I was stared at all night. I walked down the street heading for the festival, drinking my beer. I stopped at some street vendors for some bread and meat. Each time I bought food, some kids came up near me and I bought some food for them too. One little girl was heartbreakingly adorable, tugging on my shirt and holding her hand out. I bought her a satay stick and made her share it with her little brother.

Soon I made it to the festival which had some carnival rides and a music stage. I watched the band for a while and had a couple of beers. It was sponsored by Angkor Beer which is the national beer of Cambodia and tastes worse than Budweiser albeit at 25 cents per can. Fortunately there was some Carlsburg and Tiger beer to be had. All the while thousands of people walked by me and stared first with open mouths, then big grins. The ones who could say hello did. Since most of them came from the countryside for the festival I have to believe I was the first Anglo the younger ones had seen. Especially the first 6 foot tall red-haired Anglo. But it was mostly smiles all around. Everyone was having fun and I was happy to be a freak attraction for them.

I sat at an empty table and had some food and soon I was joined by some curious youths. Their English was so-so, but they openly wondered how I felt being amongst all these people alone? I couldn't possibly explain how I felt so I just said it was good and I was happy. Later I started walking back. I walked a long way, with most people staring at me and saying "hello". I'd have given a lot of money to know what all the young girls were saying when they were staring at me and giggling. As my legs are longer, I was walking faster than most people. So I surprised a lot of them which was fun. One minute they were chattering away with their friends and as soon as they noticed me, you could see the astonishment on their faces. But it was gleeful astonishment which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I walked about half-way back and then accepted one of the many offers for a scooter ride back to the hotel. That was fun too. We joined the mass of humanity on their scooters and rickshaws, with kids screaming "hello" to me all the way. I think the main reason I had fun is that I was fearless. I don't mean brave, but I found the only way to have fun in such a situation is to neither show nor feel fear. Fear shows disrespect for the people around you. Since I showed no fear, the people around me knew that I respected them as fellow humans. I'm not good enough of a writer to explain in words, so I guess you just have to try it for yourself.

The next day, I got back into the Hyundai for the $5 ride to the airport. Security was very much in presence and I learned that China's President was visiting the next day. Hopefully he can help with some financial aid which might get the U.S. government to match it. In the departure lounge there was a scale model of the new airport. The model was built over a year ago so no telling when the real thing will be completed. No biz lounges here, so I hung out with a group of orange robed monks who were off to Singapore. A glance at their boarding passes looked like they were sitting up front. Silk Air is the regional wing of Singapore airlines so perhaps it was no-frills all coach flight?

Upon arrival at BKK I stored my bag and cabbed it to the city to hang out for a few hours. There was 4.5 hours between flights and I didn't want to stick around the airport that long. So I walked around and had some more street satay (after 4 visits to BKK I've only eaten in a restaurant twice).

Later back at the airport I checked in at the 1st class desk for my flight to HKG. Another great thing about Thai First Class is that they have a concierge walk you through customs to a special desk. This saved a lot of time since the lines are very long on Sunday. I went to the lounge and watched the girl make my drink this time.

The FC Concierge brought us to the 747 to HKG and I sat in a nice sleeper in 1K. The food and wine were excellent and they had Hennessy Paradis for after dinner drinks. This on a 2.5 hour flight! Since the ticket is cheaper than a similar flight in the U.S. it really makes you think that U.S. travelers are really getting ripped of by our airlines.

I took the new train to Central and cabbed it to the Island Shangri-La. The girl checking me in had to be the most professional and kind front desk person I've ever had. She took care of everything from my upgrade, to giving me directions to the Marriott, to asking me about the other hotels I've tried in Hong Kong.

My room is very, very nice. It's not a suite, but it's very large with a chandelier and power controls for the inner and outer curtain. Lots of fine wood paneling too. That's all for now...sleepy time.


[This message has been edited by stimpy (edited 11-13-2000).]

stimpy

I forgot to mention that there is no AT&T or any other foreign carrier access in the hotel rooms in Cambodia. You can get AT&T through public payphones though. Cambodia has regulated things so they can keep very high phone rates and it is difficult if not impossible to bypass them. However I can't really complain. They have to build a national phone network pretty much from scratch and they need a lot of phone revenue to do that.

But that kept me off the Internet for the weekend which isn't really such a bad thing. However, my GSM phone worked fine so I used it to call home a few times. Thank God my mobile phone bill goes straight to accounts payable. I don't want to know what all my roaming charges are.


[This message has been edited by stimpy (edited 11-12-2000).]

naxos

Matt, What a great report. It made me sad that we missed Cambodia last summer. Despite what you may think, your articulte report captured a great experience.

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the scribbler

What a great report! Thanks for taking the time, it's both informative and entertaining.

johna

Thanks for a fascinating report on Cambodia, which I enjoyed all the more since it's one of the places I really shouldn't visit (I figure any place that's a risk for healthy people isn't a good bet for me!).

As for Thailand restaurants vs. street food, try some of the Mom & Pop places next time. I found them similar to U.S. Thai restaurants, but much more subtle. Street food looked good, but I didn't want to risk it (see above); one fellow I talked to said that 1/3 of his sport team got sick at some point or others. But in any event, the restaurants seemed to afford a greater range of choices than the street venders, and given how cheap eating out is in BKK they couldn't have been much more expensive either.

stimpy

johna, I've heard lots of horror stories, but I've never had a problem with street vendors. And I much prefer eating on the streets and mixing with the people.

Anyhow, on with the trip report. According to UA, it was looking like my flight to SFO would be with the old FC seats. So I thought I'd try Singapore since they are in the * Alliance and I was on a RTW. That would also get me in 14 hours earlier which my boss would appreciate. But they said that FC was full. I had them put me on the waiting list. The next day I walked over to the SQ CTO at the United Center and tried to get things done in person, but they were full of misinformation there. They told me that Cathay had to re-write my ticket.

The day of my flight I called the SQ CTO in HKG and they finally confirmed me on the flight. I asked for and received seat 1B. That night I went to the Airport Express train station in Central and tried to check-in with Singapore there. But they were pretty clueless about what to do with my ticket. So I took the train to HKG and tried to check-in at the SQ desk. They played with my UA ticket for a while, then said I had to go to the UA desk. A SQ girl walked over with me and chatted in Cantonese to the UA girl who then processed the change (very quickly I might add) and collected $75USD from me for her efforts. Back at the SQ desk I got my boarding pass. Unlike TG, they couldn't escort me through customs, but they at least pointed me in the right direction to the lounge.

The SQ FC lounge at HKG is not very impressive. No Champagne or comfy chairs, but at least they had desks with free phone calls so I could do some emailing and Flyertalking.

But the fun really started when I boarded. SQ seat 1B on a 744 is the best seat on any commercial airline flight. No seat in front of me, no seat to the left, no seat to the right. It's good to be the king.

The Krisworld entertainment system is great and the service is perfect. I watched a movie, slept, watched another movie and was still watching TV til the wheels went down and they shut the system off.

After exiting the plane at SFO I went to the INSPASS machine and it told me to see Inspector 1. She told me that the machine was telling everyone that today and she was sick of it.

I went to Avis, got into a LeSabre and drove down the 101 to the sold-out Westin Santa Clara where I got an ordinary room and no amenity. And here I am, back to ordinary dull American travel. <sigh>

Rudi

thank you stimpy for your trip infos - and especially to (unknown to me so far) Cambodia.

BizJet

I believe that on oneworld explorer fares (all classes of service), any and all changes made after the first transoceanic segment are free, assuming that space is available. No $75 or such charge. Is that not so with Star RTWs?

Thanks! BizJet

stimpy

I asked a few people at UA and they all told me I had to pay a $75 fee whenever I made a change that required issuing new tickets.