Phnom Penh (part 2) – April 1st, 2017
Apr 3rd, 2017 by rallyadmin
It’s the 29th and I haven’t heard anything from the visa agency. I’m leaving tomorrow and I really need some assurance from them that I will have my passport and be able to leave. Otherwise, it’s plan B, whatever the hell that is. I don’t have a plan B yet. Leave a voicemail requesting an update.
Just before noon, I get a call back from the visa agency. They have contacted the Chinese consulate and my passport will be ready on the 30th and I’ll have it on the 29th. WHAT!!!! “You are well aware that my flight departs on the 30th and returning the passport on the 31st will not do. Even is I could change my flight to the 31st there are no flights that will get me to Phnom Penh on April 1st.” (I’ve already checked.) “I’m very sorry, Mr. Dubinsky. The Chinese are adamant that we will get the passport on the 30th and not the 29th.” “Don’t do anything. I’ll get back to you.”
At this point, I’m down to Plan D, maybe Plan E. The plan that finally emerges is to have the visa agency hold the passport. I’ll fly to Washington on the morning of the 30th, rent a car, get the passport and then fly out of Washington Dulles. I’ve found the flight to Washington and then, miraculously, I find a flight to Phnom Penh with Cathay Pacific.
I book the flights and cancel the original Charlotte to Phnom Penh flight. The original Charlotte Phnom Penh flight had been a points flight but the cancellation just puts the points back into my Delta FF account. The flight to Washington Reagan is a Delta flight and I book that flight on points. Unfortunately, I can’t get a points flight to PP from Dulles but so it goes. Book a rental car. Finish packing.
I hope that this all works.
Obiwan