James and Jo’s south east Asia adventure

Having booked two weeks off at the start of September to avoid clashing with school holidays, we then considered where we would like to go. We agreed on Vietnam and Cambodia as they would be new destinations for both of us and we had heard good things, particularly regarding Vietnam. We gave little heed to what the weather would be like at this time other than it being at the tail end of the rainy season. When it came closer to the date of leaving and forecasts became available it became clear that the tail end still meant a lot of rain and daily thunderstorms! 

We went ahead and booked the long haul flights into Vietnam and then out of Cambodia, then subsequently short haul flights to take us from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City and Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh; as well as coaches to and from Heathrow.

We booked hotels too and everything seemed in place logistically in good time for a smooth holiday travel-wise. However a few weeks later our flight out of Phnom Penh was rearranged to ‘Kratie’ airport. A quick look at google maps revealed that Kratie province and indeed Kratie airport was about 6 hours from Phnom Penh, and a similar distance from Siem Reap. (After booking the flights we realised that Angkor Wat – the one major landmark in the country was not in fact anywhere near the capital and Siem Reap was the major city in close proximity. Very inconsiderate of their ancestors not to construct the huge temple complex near to the modern day capital!)

After spending hours online with the booking agencies and airlines BA said that there was a flight out of Phnom Penh the following day that we could switch our flight to, so we went ahead with this and booked an extra day off work. This was the first pebble dash in the perfect shitstorm between ourselves, Phnom Penh airport and the airlines. 

The rebooked flight was also rearranged and then cancelled. By this time it was only about 3 weeks until we were due to fly. Prices had gone up and we rebooked long haul flights that each had two connections, a couple of which were very tight. Our flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh was then rearranged, again for Kratie. Following a conversation with Experian and some googling on their part it became clear that the fiasco had come about because Phnom Penh international airport was closing on 8th September! Why the airlines still let you book flights to and from the airport after this date god knows, and why they were using the airport code for an airport hours away (which further googling established was actually now defunct) was also a mystery. My previous googling had only established that the skirmishes between Cambodia and Thailand had not affected international travel so we were still at a loss until now as to why there were so many cancellations. It transpired that there was a new airport being opened just south of Phnom Penh called Techo and the rearrangement would be coming from here, but this name had not previously been mentioned by any airline.

The new flights did not correspond to the coaches that we had booked from Bristol, but rather than take the financial hit we decided to get to the Heathrow 7 (!) hours before the outbound flight and hope that we could catch the bus that left from a different terminal 1 hour after the inbound flight was scheduled to land. 

A week before after discussing the scenario with friends we were encouraged to book an airport lounge considering how long we would be at Heathrow. Whilst it probably still would’ve made more sense financially to rebook another coach it felt like we were on a roll with injudicious decisions (having not looked into getting vaccinations for the myriad debilitating and potentially fatal diseases we could pick up on holiday) and so booked a lounge. Given that we could only arrive after checking in our hold luggage and had to leave in time to board the 3 hour window would be trimmed each end. We tried to gain some of the cost back by making the most of the free bar and indulged in a red wine, aperol spritz and pink Prosecco. Not necessarily my usual beverages of choice but I had to go higher end given they were complementary. There were warnings not to overindulge as you had to be ‘fit to fly’ but this did not extend to the buffet and I gorged myself on brownies accordingly.

Over 11 hours after we left the house we finally boarded the first of our flights, to Vienna. Given that we only had a one hour turnaround at Vienna airport we were hoping that there would be no delays, and when it started taxiiing a couple of minutes before the scheduled flight time it seemed as though Teutonic efficiency would ensure we would arrive on time, unfortunately we were still taxiing half an hour later… fortunately jos panic was short lived as due to the alcohol consumed earlier she was soon catching flies.

We were fortunate to be seated in the emergency exit row with a free seat next to us. Very nice on any journey, but would have been even better on the long-haul leg. Vienna airlines provided us with a free glass of water at a ball of hazelnut flavoured dark chocolate – silver service compared to Ryanair or easyJet.