... fly high

Perth:

Four flights in mere six days is quite a high ratio. The first two transported me out of Queensland into Perth on the exact opposite side of Oz. I was book with Virgin for the approximately five hour flight across the country and it proved to be the worst of all 23 I have done. I was surrounded by screaming infants and by the end of the trip over tired I wanted to yell at the flight attendants wether they know that was the most uncomfortable plane anyone ever furnished! Horrible seats - and I am very good at curling up or situating myself sleepably in any plane seat!

However, a pleasant surprise awaited me at Perth airport. Brett and two of my favorite kids picked me up from the airport. Al and Katie were way past their bed time and babbled on happily in the back seat. James would have been with them but apparently he was in such a deep slumber that light, shaking and yelling wouldn't work. I trust Al tried his best.

The few days to follow were full of flash backs, familiarity, fun - lots of f's! I ventured into Perth city, where I felt at home and peaceful, paid visits to the school just like old times, walked the dog just like old times and almost felt as though I had never left. My kids were - to my delight - thrilled with the Trivial Pursuit family edition which i got although Alhadn't   reached the recommended age yet. As I knew all three of them were knowledgeable enough to quickly exceed me in collecting colorful wedges. I guess it says enough that I knew the kids' questions better than mine... They also fell in love with David and my phone which put together result in funny and especially silly conversations. Time went way too quickly and before I knew it I left with another addition on my ankle. A handcrafted love declaration of Katie that hasn't left my foot since.

Singapore:

The arrival in Singapore brought another anticipated reunion! After a lot of sky training, confusion and despair I finally reached the gate from which my dad emerged limping but with a huge smile. Although I had to keep myself from madly crying when my plane touched down two hours earlier at that point I could not shed a tear! I was too overwhelmed and excited by his arrival and the adventures to come. After settling in at our airbnb host's place we headed out for a very late dinner just around the corner and I was back in China where I absolutely love the food! We indulged in delicious street side dim sum and chatted away until our bed's were crying out for us.

While Papa slept in just a little longer than myself I planned our trip without receiving any contradicting snores.

Mainly following this we rode a train out to Chinatown and while I was rather unimpressed due to Chinese and Ozzie experiences he was amazed by smart rider cards and station designs. With all the stores and stalls around I truly felt comfortable as they reminded me so much of my experiences in Shanghai. Chinatown itself laughed at us with many tempting offers, not all of them we could resist. While we skipped the crab knowing it was a specialty in Kep (Cambodia), we had to give in at the Tintin store and the henna booth respectively. My foot and dad's belly both look a little more beautiful now.

As the day moved on so did we towards Marina Bay were we sat down and marbled at the architecture of Marina Bay Sands and neighboring likelihoods. Meanwhile we observed tourist and possibly local behavior. Before again it was time to advance to my most anticipated destination, the unique night safari. Even after the unbelievably long bus ride I was all fired up as soon as we had our tickets and a fire show started in front of the entrance. Over a cocktail and relaxed conversation with three Americans we rested our feet before taking on the trail. At first we wondered wether we would even be able to see but then we were intrigued by civets that smell like popcorn, fishing cats, something scaly similar to an armadillo, owls, sloths, hyenas and so on. And they were all active! Walking around, fighting, waiting to catch fish, in case of the otters doing rolls in the water and staring at us. It was a unique experience! In a flying fox enclosure one of the bats climbed closer and closer to me until it hung so closely to my face that I could have easily kissed it. In this way I even lived through my own personal vampire romance. Since we wanted to be back at the entrance for a Creatures of the night show, we boarded the tram safari half way. For parts of this trip no fences kept you feom the animals or the other way around. In this way we watched rhinoceros, water buffalos, tapirs, deer and more while we went past tigers, elephants and crocodiles. I was amazed by all the animals of whose existence I didn't even know and who were fluffily and merrily entertaining us. The creatures of the night show brought us closer to a few of them and supplied more information on a giant snake, trash separating, fluffy white badgers, a hyena and the fishing cat in a funny and personal way. I can only recommend it !

You can tell by the name that the Night Safari got us home quite late and as we had to leave for the airport in the morning our explorations inside the city were at an end. Not yet the Singapore experience, however, as we had about an hour to roam around the most awesome airport in the world! I found myself back at terminal 1, back at the social tree, back where I was eight months ago with a different travel companion.

With all the domestic flights through Australia I completely forgot how strict and stressful airport procedures for international flights are! In Perth I stood in three queues and already started to believe I wasn't going to make it onto the plane while my backpack was actively mistreating my back. At least international flights themselves are highly more enjoyable than the domestic ones. Going to Singapore it took five hours as well just that I had way more space, food and drinks and an entertainment system. Oh and a blanket and an incredibly comfy seat.

Technically Singapore - Phnom Penh is an international flight, however, only of two hours duration and while the flight and plane itself were on domestic standards, the procedure was very different. Our passports were checked upon entering the departure area but the expected security scans were nowhere insight. A little confused we had lunch before we thought it wise to get to our gate in time considering how long it took me in Perth. Different from most airports the gates were enclosed by glass fronts and each gate had their own security scan lane, where passport and boarding pass were checked right away. The gate opened ten minutes after we arrived and with the described technique we didn't have to queue once as we just sat down until it was time to board and didnt have to undergo any more checks. Very enjoyable!

Cambodia - first impressions:

Very first impression: sudden, humid heat. Easiest immigration procedure. We were out of the airport in no time and our taxi driver Thol awaited us. I wonder how easy it is to find a taxi for a three hour trip in Germany. While I had laughed at Papa for keeping to try and enter the driver's side in Singapore, I found myself frantically searching for the wheel as I hadn't realized Cambodia was a right hand drive country! Not that this could really be enforced as a rule. The next very present impression was the road which was covered with motos. I have never seen so many motor bikes at once. They all drive how they like and the cars don't wait a blink to overtake them even though this means they are driving completely in the other lane. Even cars are overtaken by cars while the opposite traffic is visibly approaching. In some moments my heart must have missed a beat but soon I got more used to the fact of Thol driving in the middle of the road past four people on motorbikes and thirty people squashed into a van, partly standing at the back of it, partly sitting on top. And I thought I was hard core laying on top while on the beach. If you ever despair over having to carry an inconvenient item per motorbike like a suitcase, animal or closet just call your best Cambodian friend, he will advise you. My favorite sighting was a woman with a running room fan sitting behind the motorbike driver to profit from the cold air. A running fan! It was on. Blasting air!

Beside other traffic we passed wooden houses, all the ingredients for a building spread on the ground (eg piles of bricks), regular food, cap and pagoda stalls and in the "cities" an array of smushed stores sporting huge hung up slaps of raw meat and still wriggling dead fish. I put cities in quotation marks as there are houses scattered all along the street (one main street leading down south east and all life is situated around it) and a city being a higher concentration of those shabby looking cabins with piles of garbage everywhere on the grass and skinny cows roaming freely in for gardens and on those grassy fields everywhere without a house. The whole atmosphere was very rural and simple. I don't even remember what it looked like driving through Phnom Penh, the capitol, in the beginning because I was so concentrated on death wishing traffic participants, but I surely saw no high buildings.

After three hours the we turned onto a red dusty road which became slimmer as we went and lead through more fields to Champa Lodge, our home in Kampot. The wooden cabin/ bungalows are situated around a sort of farmlike courtyard to which the bar and terrace of it face. We are located close to many mango trees and the river and which the setting sun reflected off in a pink glimmer. Our room is rather modern considering furniture and mosquito nets are supplied (for Mama, although Malaria is barely ever caught outside of deep trekking jungle.

We have just been relaxing here for the evening where we are digesting our Khmer dinner as well as the sights and surprises of the day. The temperature has cooled down pleasantly and so we have been working on our itinerary for this region while sipping on our last drink and listening to the alien like loud speaker transfer of the speech held at the pagoda for the new year. (Literally, with the strange language and the distortion caused by the electronic transfer we could be listening to an inhabitant of Star Wars' space world.

This was written on the 13th of April. I hope I will be able to keep you posted on our adventures regularly. We are eager to see and learn more!

Skipper and tiger