Traveling to and arriving in Cambodia

“Flight MH017 to Kuala Lumpur is ready for take-off”. After all the necessary preparations during the last couple of months, my Cambodian adventure, volunteering for Passerelles numériques, has now actually begun. After saying goodbye to my family and friends, I first travelled in approximately 12 hours to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, which was recently renewed and is now one of the biggest airports of the world. After that I flew for another 2 hours straight to Phnom Penh in Cambodia. Both flights with Malaysia Airlines were good, they served tasteful food, the crew was dedicated and my seats were comfortable. Their large choice of video entertainment on board helped me through time.

After my arrival on Phnom Penh International Airport, I was warmly welcomed by Mr. Pierre de Roquefeuil, who is general manager of the Passerelles numériques organization in Cambodia. He personally transferred me to my hotel where I unpacked and accommodated for a little while. Flying first ahead and then backwards in time caused a bit of disoriented feeling with time in general and my bio-rhythm, but I’m sure this will pass in a few days.

In the afternoon I went for a tour in the city center of Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia with over 1.3 million citizens. Besides the warmth (which of course is a huge change from the somewhat disappointing temperatures of the current Dutch summer), I noticed that the streets are very crowded. It’s almost impossible to cross the main boulevard of Phnom Penh as a pedestrian; there are motorbikes and cars everywhere. I also immediately noticed the big difference in life standards; a brand new big Range Rover is driving just beside a very old Tuk Tuk.


I took some pictures and created a short video to share with you my first impressions of a regular Sunday afternoon in Phnom Penh; the  traffic, the Royal Palace, a group of Buddhist monks and the ferry crossing the “Tonlé Sap” river.


Click here to view my photo-album.

The Cambodian people are indeed, like I was told upfront,  very friendly, cheerful and open for conversation. They smile easily and are making me feel welcome right from the start.