Farewell Cambodia!

What is there to relate about my last day in Cambodia, you ask? The answer: not much. You see, Zenia and I had a plan of attack for our final morning in Phnom Penh, but as that plan of attack (and execution of attack) primarily featured shopping, I don’t think it can be of particular interest to many of you. I could relay fantastic tales about bargains for cardigans and t-shirts, the amazingly cheap bathing suit I bought, or my new toe ring, but I know your attention would soon wander. You would say to yourself, “wow, the quality of Lauren’s blog sure has gone down lately. Who wants to hear about shopping at the Russian Market?” My ego could not stand for that! It must not be borne! No. I will not lower myself to writing about shopping (unless it is a Night Market). Instead, we will move past the shopping, directly to my departure from this amazing country, a much more interesting topic.

If you recall, when we started this journey some days ago, I asked you to remember one fact. Do you remember? No? I will remind you then. I asked you to remember that upon my arrival in Cambodia I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the visa cost for this country was only $20, the cheapest of any SE Asian countries (except Thailand, which is free). Keep this $20 in mind…

We left the riverside for the airport around 1 pm and traveled through the streets of Phnom Penh one final time via tuk-tuk. We watched the city of Phnom Penh fly by us and I in turn flew through a gamut of emotions. I was excited to be heading “home” to Laos after such a long trip and sad to be leaving Cambodia after just discovering this amazing country. It wasn’t long before we arrived at the airport and checked in for our flight at the front counter. With a huge pang of sadness I grabbed my carry ons, turned toward the escalators to head up to customs, and was met with a wall; a wall of security personnel. At their request I handed over my ticket, which was glanced over, handed back, and then, with a finger pointing behind me I heard, “Departure Tax.” Me: “Um…excuse me?” Security Guard: “Departure tax.” Obviously our ability to communicate was not working out so well. I turned around, and found myself facing a wall (a real wall) with two windows and a man sitting patiently behind. Ok, I thought, let’s see what this is all about. I walked up to the window and said, “Departure Tax?” Man behind the Counter: “Ticket.” I handed my ticket over and waited. Man behind the Counter: “$25 departure tax.” Me: “Um…what?!”

Yes, my friends. I am sure you have all now guessed it. It may only cost you $20 to enter Cambodia, but it will cost you $25 to leave. (Hotel California anyone?) It costs more to get out of this country than it does to enter! And not only that, everyone has to pay this tax to leave (even locals)! No one can escape forking over another twenty-five US dollars in order to escape Cambodia! I was shocked, appalled, but I paid. What else could I do? I paid my $25, got a stamp on the back of my ticket and left. I must say, if Cambodia was hoping to kill my sadness at leaving, forcing me to pay that much money to leave was a good way to do it. :) I sat in the departure terminal to await my plane to Vientiane and felt good about leaving Cambodia behind. $25 to leave, indeed!

Flying into Vientiane felt like coming home. It was amazing to see our small and sleepy town set out below us, awaiting our return. Our trip to Cambodia was amazing. Not only did we get to see another amazing country, but our long trip made us happy to return to Laos and even more thankful that Laos is our home for this summer. While visiting Phnom Penh was amazing, it would have been hard for me to live there for two months, seeing the poverty, being constantly inundated by tuk-tuks, and living without a single moment of peace. All-in-all, it’s good to be home.