Phnom Penh Disaster

I am usually lucky on my travels. Things always seem to fall into place when I'm on the road.
It feels like a journey that I'm been destined to take. Well all my luck ended on March 14th of this year when I returned to Phnom Penh from Sihanoukville...

I had a 7am bus to catch the next morning from P.P. to Siem Reap so it was to be an early night for me. I went out and had some dinner at a place called Sharkeys not far from the hotel.

On the way back to the hotel I was walking down a rather dimly-lit street when two hookers appeared out of the shadows.

They accosted me but I was not interested. Then they left the scene rather too suddenly and I saw them hop on a motorbike, then off into the Phnom Penh night. Seconds later, I realized I had been robbed of my wallet. In the wallet was money credit cards and my driver's license.

The loss kept me awake all night worring about identity theft.

Decided it was best to return to Maui immediately to get things handled. My trip was in it's last week anyway. So I returned to Siem Reap to get my baggage then caught a flight to Bangkok. Early the next morning I was on a China Airlines jet bound for Taiwan, then Honolulu.

I must admit it was good to get on US soil once again!

Thank goodness they didn't get my passport or I'd still be there, probably at the US Embasy. Losing one's passport abroad is the total worst situation one can be in. Can't cash travelers checks, can't get on a plane, can't do anything.

My passport was the only identification I had at that time but it was enough to get me back to Maui and Jeff's house. Turns out Jeff had cancled most of my credit cards for me as I had e-mailed him the numbers and he knew of my situation.

Finally, I felt safe that I wouldn't return home to zero bank account balances with all my credit cards charged to the max.

Once that was handled, it was time to enjoy Maui and the refreshing aloha spirit...

Whew... what an adventure!