The last post I made was about how my parents had joined us and that we have visited Angkor Wat. While I am a little behind on my posts, there will be one on Battambang and one on Phnom Penh, much has changed in a short period of time. By the time I am writing this, my parents are back home in Germany and we are in Australia. The reason is, of cause in these days, Corona. While I think that we do not have it, since we have no symptoms and there are only a handful of confirmed cases making it very unlikely to be infected there. My parents are isolating themselves to avoid getting it now in Germany, but at least they are home.
The Corona virus had already been casting a shadow on our journey. The reports we were reading from around the world just made us so uneasy. Waking up in the morning I asked myself ‘Do I have a sore throat?’. Turns out, it was just dry due to the air conditioning and vanished after drinking some water… That’s the kind of paranoia you get.
We hit a dead end in Phnom Penh. From there we had planned (and booked) a bus to Ho Chi Min City. Once we boarded the bus though, we were told that with a German Passport you could not cross. We then called the German embassy in Cambodia. They told us they did not know of any official restriction by the Vietnamese government but had heard of problems at the border. We decided to go ahead and try it anyway. But then the air conditioning of the bus broke down just a few blocks from the station. While waiting for the repair we checked all kinds of sources to find out what’s going on. Reading some of the local papers our hopes of crossing faded and we decided not to get back on the bus. Since my parents flight home was booked from Hanoi, Vietnam, we needed to find a different way. So we went to the airport. There we were told that we could apply for an Express Visa to Vietnam. Up to then we had an e-Visa which only allowed access to Vietnam though one specific border crossing, so we needed a new one. So we went back into the city to the ‘Vietnam Visa Office’. We filled out the paper work, I had to get new photos taken, and presented it to a person behind a thick glass window. He only looked at our passport, immediately returned it and held up a sign saying, we need an ‘Authorization letter from the ministry of Immigration’ and that we should ‘contact a tourist office, they can help’. He would not say much more and what he said was not understandable due to the window, which was built to avoid any oral communication. We even went to a tour operator asking if they could help us get a visa, but after a few phone calls they just confirmed that there were just no visa for German citisens.
We were at a loss what to do now. We discussed a few options, we could try to get a refund for my parent’s flight and fly somewhere else. We discussed Laos, going back to Thailand or going to Australia. But in the end with the virus we didn’t feel safe anymore. Especially the possibility of being caught in some quarantine measure made us very uneasy. And we had just learned how quickly things can change and that the restrictions you have may not even be official.
So we went to the office of Vietnam airlines to see what could be done about the flight from Hanoi back to Frankfurt. They could not offer a refund only the vague possibility that we could request it online and then maybe. But we could rebook the flight and book an additional flight to Hanoi from Phnom Penh, so that no immigration to Vietnam would be necessary. Unlike many of the European airlines Vietnam Airlines does not offer these changes free of charge but for 50 $ per person, which lead to a discussion with the agent. But they are just very powerless in these offices now. We left without rebooking because we wanted to collect ourselves and make a decision after some sleep.
After we had discovered bed bugs in our room, we did not go back to our old hotel. (But we have not found any sign that we are carrying them with us until now, so I think we are safe.) We did find another one, very nice with a pool and many plants around it. Just a good place to calm down a bit.
The next day we went back to the Vietnam Airlines office having decided to rebook my parents to the next possible connection. Then we went back to the hotel because Chris and I did not want to give up our dream of traveling the world and wanted to go to Australia. We had developed a plan of what we wanted to do the night before. Within less than one our we booked a connection to Cairns, in the north-east of Australia, also for the next day. While we had planned to go to Australia anyway, this was quite the change to our itinerary. And costly. We had booked a flight from Hanoi to Bali, wanted to stay there for a week, and then from Bali to Adelaide. We had to throw away all of this with little hope of a refund. Well, nothing you can do, right?
Our new plan was to fly to Singapore, where we had to pass immigration to get our luggage and immediately check in again. Seven hours after landing we’d fly to Bali, but not stay but go to Cairns (without having to check in again). All of this with the knowledge that the US were closing their borders for Europeans and hoping that we’d face to problems going into Australia. Often it’s not clear if it’s the Nationality that counts, like in Vietnam, or where you have been. The latter one is more important in the case of Corona related restrictions, but as we have learned not every country acts rational… But we were hopeful that Australia would act rationally.
The four of us went to airport together, even though Chris and I flew a few hours later. But in the end, we didn’t care where we waited. It was a sad goodbye to my parents. We had expected to travel together for two more weeks and were now separated to quickly and unexpectedly.
Chris and I arrived at Singapur around midnight and after a very quick immigration, luggage collection and re-check in we were lucky to find a place in a ‘Snooze lounge’ so we could mostly rest and sleep a little bit. Still, during the next flight I constantly fell asleep resulting in a stiff neck. The last, and longest flight was then from Bali to Cairns. While the first two were very empty, this one was almost full. And what do you do, if you are paranoid concerned about Corona? You wear a mask. So that’s what we did.
After having passed immigration and customs we were happy. Now we want to stay in Cairns for a few days and then we have booked a small camper to travel to Sidney. We will try to avoid crowds of people and focus on Nature for now. Corona has not reached Australia as much as Europe but we fear this will not be the first time it forces us to change our plans. And our concern of everyone’s health will accompany us for some more time.
We just hope now that you all stay safe and healthy. Avoid close contact to others. We’ll think of you and we hope that it gets better soon!