Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Lost luggage and a long day in Cambodia

Feb 27 2007
By Karen Longwell
Tribune Staff Writer
The Williams Lake Tribune (British Columbia, Canada)

Day one (Sunday) in Cambodia was a lesson in what not to forget to pack in your carry on luggage – just in case your checked bag does not arrive. And then there was how to find things you need in the busy streets of a strange city.

So I arrived full of excitement, thrilled to be here, but unfortunately my luggage decided to take a detour in San Francisco. The airport officials say it should be here tomorrow morning.

We arrived at about 9:30 a.m. Cambodia time on Sunday. Luckily I did pack my camera as a carry-on, so the day was not lost. Victoria A Channel TV broadcaster Shachi Kuri and I hired a tuk tuk, which is a motorbike with a trailer hooked on the back, for an afternoon of shooting. The city is busy and there was no shortage of photos.

Sunday afternoon had many people out at the market buying fruit, vegetables and meat hanging from stalls.

In another part of the city there was a wedding party going on under a tent. At first I thought it was a beauty pageant because the women were heavily decked out in silk dresses with gold trim and thickly applied makeup. They laughed as we took photos and video.

The Tonle Sap River seemed to be the place to hang out when the sun started to set around 5:30 p.m. Some people gathered to watch boats go by and other prayed at a small temple. There were stalls to buy snacks like hot corn on the cob and junk food.

Three hours in humid near 30 degree heat wore us out, but when I realized my luggage was not coming tonight (after a call to the airport), I rushed out to find the bare essentials to carry a girl over for an extra day.

I found the Pencil Supermarket – not unlike a Canadian grocery store but they had a selection of cheap clothes. Socks and underwear and I am good to go.

So it was a long day. I decided to end it with a cold beer and passed on the frog legs on the menu for dinner. Enough adventure for one day.

Tribune photographer Karen Longwell is in Cambodia and Vietnam for two weeks on a Jack Webster Fellowship sponsored by the Canadian International Development Agency.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

lucky, the bag is still oversea, if it in potchentonf airport, the fucking yuon shit and asshole will have no mercy.

khmer knong srok

Anonymous said...

I suggest CIDA find a better way to spend Canadian taxpayers' money.