I nearly missed my flight because of the President!

It was all going so well.  I enjoyed a leisurely shower, packed up my belongings.  Well, those which I have.  Most of my clothes were inadvertently left in two drawers in the original hotel in Hong Kong, for no other reason other than that I am a numpty.  There were two drawers under my safe in the Hong Kong hotel.  The thought process on July 10th went like this:

- must remember to empty safe

- must remember those drawers of clothes under the safe

- empty safe

- pack everything

- check-out and fly to Vietnam

- unpack and wonder why I can't find most of my clothes

- remember those drawers under the safe. They are full of clothes, in Hong Kong and I am in Vietnam

- note that I am a numpty.   My travelling companion agrees.

But I've been in touch with the legendary Frances Yip who oversees the housekeeping and she is looking after my clothes.  Is she going to sort it all out? Yip!

Anyway, back to this morning.  I bid farewell to Top Banana Guest House.  It was great, but very much geared to Hedge Dwellers and party people.  At night, the music from the bar and neighbouring bars was deafening, but I can sleep through anything, so was blissfully unaffected.  I was in Japan once and slept through an earthquake.  I paid 16 USD for my own room, with en-suite bathroom and air conditioning.  Sublime.  Highly recommended if you don't mind loud music at night.  Friendly staff too.  They would have organised drivers etc, but I met Stone and he sorted everything out. I'm going to write a little guide to travelling soon, so I'll write more about trusting your instincts there.

As we approached the airport in Stone's tuk tuk, or his 'limo' as he prefers to call it, the traffic got heavier and heavier, to the extent that even the motorbikes couldn't get through.  He then explained that the President of Cambodia was today passing through.  I realised that most of the Cambodian people were lining the streets, both sides of the road.  What a great thing, for a nation to cherish its President; but not when I have a flight to catch! After what felt like a lifetime of catastrophising in the tuk tuk, Stone suggested that I should walk to the airport.  Can you imagine being in a cab to Heathrow, and the driver telling you that it would be quicker to walk?! 

There was no option - if the bikes couldn't get through, the tuk tuks certainly couldn't, so I paid Stone, warmly thanked him for his diligent service over the last few days, strapped my 60 litre rucksack onto my back, my small rucksack onto my front, and fled towards the airport. 

People crowded around, craning their necks for a glimpse of the President.   No-one took any notice of this hapless backpacker weaving in and out of stationary tuk tuks, motorbikes, cars, stalls, walls of people and who knows what else.  I walked about half a kilometre.  The traffic was still heavy, but there were a few more gaps.  It was just over an hour before my flight.  I hadn't checked-in - I had tried but failed.  A motorbike pulled up beside me, driven by a young man clad in jeans, t-shirt, flip-flops and a baseball cap.  'Madam - airport?' - 'Yes please! My flight is leaving soon'.  I jumped on, sandwiched between my massive rucksack, my small rucksack, and his tiny frame, and off we went.  I'm not sure if it was a display of brilliant and skilful driving, weaving in and out of the stationary traffic on both sides of the road, hooting at a policeman who was standing in the middle of the road, or a display of absolute stupidity, but he dropped me right outside the airport.  I ran like a thing possessed across the car-park; I found a board - my flight wasn't listed!! Oh no!

Then I realised that I was looking at the arrivals board.

I belted towards the other side of the airport - I bet Hilary's horse Helen runs more gracefully than me.

I found the right board and dashed to check-in.  I was soaked through, due to the 40 degree heat and 100% humidity.

'Please', I begged the man, as I stood, sweat pouring down my face; 'the traffic is so heavy because the President is there and I'm late because I had to run from my tuk tuk and...' 

'Passport?' the surly man said, showing less than no interest in my predicament.

Through I went, then boarded the flight to Hong Kong.  Thank God.