First hours in Phnom Penh

Today I arrived to Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital.

After a long connection via Paris and Bangkok and some nice turbulences I got here a little bit dizzy but still excited to discover this country. During the last 2 months I’ve read and discover a lot of things about this exciting place but actually nothing can’t be compared to actually be here, to realize some of the big differences and challenges we will come across the next month.  

Flying to Bangkok I realized the power of attraction that Thailand has for tourism. The plane was full of couples, friends and organize groups going directly to spent a nice time of holidays in the beaches of Thailand. It was curious to see how the people looked at me when the visa forms where given in the plane and I was one of the only ones asking for Phnom Penh.

Among those few who continued to Phnom Penh, I still keep the picture in my head when I first saw a monk getting into the plane with me. The orange is so characteristic you can see it from miles. Just looking how they walk you can understand what they mean with harmony. At first glance they look peaceful and relax.

When I arrived at Phnom Penh, personal from the hotel was waiting there with my name but I realized they saw my photo before, as they recognized me before I even looked at them. Driving style remembered me to Manila and can be summarize in the word “crazy”. You can see bicycles, motorcycles, tuk tuk´s and cars in all possible directions in a meter square. For this reason it didn’t surprise me when they told me that here in Cambodia one of the top causes of dead is traffic accidents. While in the car, we talked about several things, like the assignment, Cambodian typical food, some guides on the surroundings, Real Madrid as the driver was fan of Cristiano Ronaldo and of course the weather (today 34 degrees!).

I got to the hotel and in 15 minutes we were starting the first get together meeting of all the team with the ABV in country team. Bruce was giving us some advices on security and some general useful tips together with Bom and Gabriel. After the introductions we had a welcome dinner with really good food where we had the chance to talk a little bit and start to know each other. It is good to see so many different people from all over the world sharing the same table and I look forward to work and have lot of fun with them during this month.

For now the travel day is over and I’m getting prepare to hit the bed to get energy for tomorrow under a very cool mosquito net!!

diegosanz#ibmcsc cambodia