RadioRoryI did everything wrong on my trip to Cambodia, but it’s nothing a little cash couldn’t fix.
It never dawned on me that I would need a visa to get into Cambodia. It’s just a two-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur to Siem Reap and the Air Asia plane essentially pulls up to the Customs office at the terminal. When I saw other passengers pull out their paperwork, my stomach sank. Luckily, I found some fellow Americans who were also looking to buy visas on arrival so my stomach settled. Briefly.
The American tourists are carrying something I have, but don’t have near me. They are holding U.S. dollars and additional passport photos. I broke a cardinal rule of travel and stored cash in my checked bag. In my defense (OK, there is no defense) American cash was something I hadn’t used in a while. It’s also part of my strategic money-hiding plan. I keep sets of cash and a credit card in my pocket, another in the backpack that’s always with me, and another set in my checked bag. I even traveled with extra passport photos, which are also in my big checked bag.
Turning out my pockets, I found a few Malaysian ringgits, but not the $30 US to buy the visa, or the extra $7 they would charge for a photo. I make my way through the line and get to the front when a less-than-pleasant woman explains that they don’t take credit cards but there’s an ATM around the corner. Get this, the ATM only gives out U.S. $100 bills. In fact, I never saw any Cambodian money the whole time I was there! The economy runs on greenbacks.
I get the cash, get back in line, and turn over my passport and the crisp $100 to pay for it. It takes about 30-minutes of standing around making small talk with the other American travelers when my name is called. My passport is handed back to me and a full page is taken up by the Cambodian visa (I hate that). Oh, and despite paying the extra $7, no photo was ever taken. It’s fine. I’m in the country, reunited with my bag, and only out a few bucks. #LessonLearned.
On the plus side, I have a driver waiting for me in the airport terminal who will whisk me away to my five-star resort hotel for the week. The Mercedes is nice, because it’s all tuk-tuks for the next seven days!