| As happens on most trips to the US, the departure day was a whirlwind of meetings and other activities. I had mass this morning and then taught a training session for Eucharistic Ministers. On the way home I stopped by the Deaf Development Programme office to pick up an LCD projector to take with me (It had been used over the weekend in Kampot Province) but it wasn't there. Back at home I started packing both my suitcases (one is full of stuff to give away at various meetings and other events) and the computer. Packing the computer correctly, with the files and data I will need for the next month, is more critical than bringing along the right clothes, etc. I can always buy those in the US if I need clothes I left at home. Finally I got a tuk-tuk and headed for the airport at 5:30 PM. |
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| An innovation I encountered at the Phnom Penh airport this evening was the elimination of paying a departure tax (euphemistically called a Passenger Service Charge) after checking in. Most of the world has already included any departure tax in the price of the ticket, and it looks like Cambodia has finally caught up with that practice, obviating one of the steps in the former departure process. Apparently it is not a uniform practice yet because the departure tax counter is still operative and some people had to pay, but my Bangkok Airways ticket allowed me to bypass the tax counter. |
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| The check-in counter for Bangkok Airways at Phnom Penh was unusually uncrowded this evening. The Thai Airways flight that departs at the same time seemed to have all the business. When I got to Bangkok,the line there at passport control was wonderfully short, too, the first time I think I have ever gone through immigration in just two or three minutes. After claiming my luggage I took a taxi to the Bangkok Maryknoll office where I was the only person spending the night. |
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