Wow I have got some catching up to do! So today would be our last day in Cambodia so technically a travel day. Luckily our flight to Bangkok was not till early afternoon so we still had some time in this beautiful country. After I went to breakfast I needed to get a little money for the day so I needed an ATM. Like I said before Cambodia uses the US dollar so it’s very easy to understand what you are paying for things…………but they do have this one habit which can lead to you needing money quicker than you would think. The locals will not accept bills that have a tear in it. I mean if it has the tiniest tear they will not accept it. So if you are not careful you will get change and all of a sudden you have a handful of money that is no good in Cambodia. So I had one twenty dollar bill left that would be plenty of money to get me through the day but it had a super small tear. After trying to get it changed at the hotel with no success (They actually told me I could take it to a money exchange station but they would give me less than $20 for it.) I decided to find an ATM and enjoy one last walk in Siem Reap. Well after about 20 minutes I was off the beaten path and could not figure out how to get back to the hotel. So here I am lost in Siem Reap with out cell service, one bad $20 bill and an ATM card that could only get me large bills that no Tuk Tuk driver would want to change. About this time another thing happened. It started to get super hot. So there I stood sweating like Frosty the snowman virtually penniless with no way to contact anyone. Luckily I did find an ATM next to a large supermarket. (The only one that I had seen in Siem Reap. I got out some very good-looking non torn 20’s went in and bought a snack to get change! Finally I had money for a Tuk Tuk. I knew I was close but just could not make it back on my own. The first Tuk Tuk driver did not understand me but sent me to another driver who offered me his phone to find the hotel on Google Maps. Wow finally problem solved. I arrived back at the hotel with some new $20 dollar bills and yet another appreciation for these kind people. Everyone here has been so kind and helpful. And when I say everyone I mean everyone! From the vendor that made sure we got the correct change back when we accidentally gave her $10 too much, to our driver Sophy who took such good care of us to the average person on the street that always met us with a smile and a helpful hand! We love you Cambodia. Hope to see you soon! អរគុណ​ច្រើន for everything!

We decided to head to lunch on Pub Street with our bags. I found a good seat at a place called the Red Piano while Lyn went and had her nails done for $4 and Julie did some last-minute shopping, I caught up on the blog and had a beer. Finally we all had lunch together and caught a $5 Tuk Tuk to the airport. This country and its people have really found a place in our heart and we all plan on coming back. After an uneventful flight back we were in a cab headed to the same hotel that we had stayed in the first night of our trip. Today would be Julie’s last day with us as she had a flight out at 1:30 AM and would be catching a cab around 11:30 PM to the airport. We had been trying to ignore this fact for the last two days. We ended up riding the Sky Train down a couple of stops and had a great dinner at a restaurant that literally down an alley with very few westerners. I think Anthony Bourdain would have been proud. After heading back to the hotel where we had one farewell drink by the pool.

I must say that Julie has really impressed me on this trip! We could not be more different and yet we still have the same love for travel. Julie was a great help planning this trip! She has a great eye for detail and even created a spreadsheet that had all of our flights, hotels, places of interest etc. (I do not even like to type the word spreadsheet. HA HA!) She even had a column for hotel amenities, and organized all of her pictures by day which made it easy to grab for the blog. I on the other hand am all over the place with my thinking and sometimes can change my mind with the drop of a hat! I like to call it “thinking outside the box” ha ha some people may just call it crazy thinking. Well somehow these two different personalities work well together and we pulled off a great trip! Thanks for everything Julie, we will have to start planning another one soon! (India?!?!?!?)

Tomorrow Lyn and I head to Singapore for a very quick weekend trip. As most of you know Lyn worked in Singapore for 16 years and still has family and friends that live there. We were hoping to meet with them and tour as much as possible of this magnificent city. So remember when I said how Julie was so organized. Well about three months ago I noticed that our ticket to Manila that I thought was leaving at 12:55 PM mid afternoon on Monday was actually leaving at 12:55 AM to Manila . Ha ha Julie has been gone less than a day and things are already falling apart. 🙂 It actually will not take away from our stay in Singapore but it would lead us to be tired when we land in Manila. The good news was that Lyn and I would not need a hotel as Scoot airlines would be our hotel for the night. Winning! Luckily Lyn is so easy-going and took the news all in stride. With any luck we will be in Singapore tomorrow just in time for lunch. We have about 36 hours there and we plan on making the most of it! Thanks for reading!

Random Pictiures