The best laid plans do not always work out. I’m not really interested in revisiting those few days at SeaTac airport. Maybe another time. Suffice to say that instead of arriving Saturday morning I arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia Sunday morning, October 27, 2025.
Once on the ground my plans pretty much worked out. Immigration was easy as I had my eVisa already. All I had to do was fill in the digital arrival card and go through immigration. They did want to see my boarding pass from LAX to Singapore to see how long I was in Singapore (enough time to get from one gate to the next and going through security at the departing gate.) Otherwise it was a breeze. However, my luggage did not make the connection. Lost Luggage at Siem Reap airport said it would arrive in a few hours and the airline would deliver it to my hotel. I chose to believe them.
The good news is that when I walked out immigration there was a driver with my name on a placard ready to make the one hour drive from the airport to my hotel.
The new airport has been open two years and is located a long ways from the city center. There are a lot of cashew trees between the airport and the main highway, National Road 6.
I arrived at the hotel and I let them know that with luck my luggage would be delivered. After a quick shower I went out to explore Siem Reap. My plan was to get an eSIM so I could get a Cambodian phone number and then head to Tevy’s Place for lunch. The wonders of studying Google Maps for 18 months meant I did not get lost. (Over the course of 4 weeks I have yet to be lost when walking around or taking a tuk tuk.) I did stop by the ABA bank ATM machines to get some Riel currency.
Tevy’s Place was right where it was supposed to be. All went well. After lunch I walked along the river. When I got back to the hotel my luggage was actually delivered. The hotel staff even carried it up the 2 floors to my room.
Afterwards, I went to beging the process of extending my visa. I entered Cambodia on a Business or E visa. For Americans over 55 years of age, this visa can be extended 3, 6, 9, or 12 months. I wanted a 12 month extension. I could accomplish this by going to Phnom Penh (6 hours by bus) and working through the bureaucracy or by going to a local travel agent who will handle it all for me.
Thank you to the For Riel YouTube channel for the recommendation of a travel agent who is just minutes from my hotel. And for all of the invaluable advice for how to re-locate to Siem Reap.
It took 15 minutes or so to fill in the paperwork and pay the $300 for the visa extension ($295) and the travel agent ($5). Then giving my passport to the travel agent which I knew I had to do. She counted out the days to when to expect it back. There is holiday to commemorate the King’s Father’s coronation on October 29th and the 3-day Water Festival holiday November 3-5, to account for so I shouldn’t expect it until mid-November. I asked about the holiday on the 29th – if there are any celebrations or parades or anything as that’s my birthday. I wondered if the whole country was going to celebrate my birthday. She laughed and laughed, actual genuine laughter, and said no, it’s more of a sacred holiday than a celebration. The front desk clerk at my hotel didn’t even know it was a holiday. So much for a parade in my honor.
By the way, my passport with my 12-month extension came back in a week, the day before the Water Festival started. Someone in Phnom Penh hurried to clear their desk before the holiday!
I’m not really going to give a minute-by-minute account of what I done and seen. There will be picture and video once I figure out how to do that. That’s all for now.