Serindipity: The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way: “a fortunate stroke of serendipity”.
On new years day we headed back to the mainland to meet up with the ladies for a final evening with them before they headed off to Vietnam, and we continued on our journey in Cambodia.
We stayed for one night at Serendipity beach and the following day we did indeed happen upon a fortunate stroke of serendipity.
'The boy' sits with one of the beach sellers
After researching where we should head to next, and after finding out that the only way to get to Kampot was on a shared local minibus, the type that we had been warned against using due to them frequently being involved in accidents, we decided to change our itinerary, save some time and book a direct flight from Sinhoukville to Siem Reap. This was an unusual decision for us as we try to opt for the cheapest travel option, normally choosing local buses/coaches, to keep our cost down. Spending £220 on a one-way flight was a hefty expenditure.
Serindipity road
The following day we arrived at the aiprot with only 35 minutes to spare after our pre booked taxi didn’t turn up and we had huge trouble getting hold of another one. We were flustered, a bit stressed, but luckily we’d made it on time. However, there was a hitch. The owner of the travel agent who we booked through was waiting for us in the departure hall. She looked very stressed, told us to sit down and then broke the news that the flight had been overbooked due to an error on the arilines booking system. With only one flight leaving everyday we were not going to be flying to Siem Reap after all.
At first we were cross and dissapointed. We hadn’t booked any onward accommodation, but we were looking forward to seeing the temples the following day and had made a rough plan of our journey henceforth. It was 15.30 and we were going to have to have a re-think. Luckily for us our lovely travel agent made it easy. She had come prepared. She gave us the cash back to cover our taxi to the airport, cash back for the cost of the flight and if we so wished she would pay for a private taxi to drive us the two hours to Kampot, a place we had originally wanted to visit. What a result.
Alice looks out over Serindipity beach
We concluded that although it threw our plans up in the air, the outcome was a positive one. Spending £220 on one flight to Siem Reap was a rash decision considering that we can get there for less that £15 on a coach. In fact the £220 will cover our coach trips for the remainder of our time in Asia.
And so that’s how we experienced Serindipity – an occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way
Top tip of the day:
If you’re staying somewhere that has no hot water and your baby doesn’t like being washed in cold water, ask the guest house if you can borrow a bucket or bowl (most places seem to have them). Fill it with water in the morning and by evening the water will have naturally warmed to a nice temperature.
