FOSSAP-II :: Part 1

I left my home at around 9.30 pm for Zia International Airport. My mom was with me. :) After reaching to the airport, the security officers did not let my mom to stay there - so she left for home and I got into airport alone. After Scanning my luggage I went to take my boarding pass from Singapore Airlines booth. The guy was curious about my visit to Cambodia asked some questions and gave my boarding pass - smiling.

I was waiting for one of my aunt who is an employee of GMG airlines. She has access to every place in the airport and she was suppose to guide me as it was my first visit to out side of Bangladesh by Air - alone. After 5/10 minutes she came and took me to the immigration section. The immigration officer was not happy by looking at my passport and the invitation - which was issued by NIDA [National Information communications technology Development Authority], Cambodia. There was no Cambodian visa stamped in my passport. He was asking me, if I was sure that I will get visa at Siem Reap airport. Anyway... after a while he put the departure seal in my passport. After that, My aunt took me to show the duty free shops, gave me some advice on how and when to board on the plane and she left.

After waiting for half an hour there was an announcement and I start walking to gate number 1 - from where I had to board on my plane - Singapore airlines. After security check I had to sit for 15 minutes, then passengers were called to board on the plane. Luckily I got a sit beside the window. Before the take off I called my spouse to say final good bye and turned off the cell phone. :)

I watched the movie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith and had sea food [yuk!] in the flight. There was a fantastic channel which showed the current flight status on a world map - there was a pointer on the map and it showed where were we flying at that moment - real time.

My plane landed in Singapore Airport at 5.50 am (their local time). The airport was almost empty, just our passengers. And after a while most of them left. Few were there as they were in transit. Me too.

I was feeling very nervous at the beginning! Anyway after some time I got some Bangladeshi people around me and did some chit-chat with them. I was searching for my next flight schedule on the monitors - which was showing list of upcoming flight schedules. But mine was not listed at that time. It was showing the details up to 10.00 am and mine was suppose to be at 2.25 pm.

In the airport I saw an advertisement that there will be a 2 hour City Tour - which was free and no visa was required. FYI, I did not get enough time to get Singapore Visa from Dhaka. So I was delighted to see such advertisement! I asked the information counter about it, and the lady told me that the counter will open at 8.30 am and if I want a ride then I have to be there at that time to get listed. I was very happy!

I walked and tried to explore the floor. But I was feeling tired and sat after some time. Around at 8.00 or 9.00 am I called Hasnain bhai. We talked for a while and he gave me some advise too. :) After that I went to a money exchange center to get some Singapore Dollar and started looking for a place, from where I can have my breakfast. There were some busy shops but I could not understand their menus at all. After analyzing for more then 30 minutes - I was able to have my breakfast - a chicken sandwich and apple juice! :-D

After having my breakfast, I went to the free city ride point. A lady was serving forms and giving directions to the passengers. I asked her that if I could get into the tour. She told me, why not? Then I asked her that if there will be any problem? Cause I don't have any visa. She replied that no visa is required for this and advised me to get into the queue and fill the form. That's it. I jumped into the queue - started to fill up the form. :) There were lots of people in the queue. There was a big Indian group too. Anyway, suddenly a man came to me and asked me if I have any Singapore visa - he noticed that I am carrying Bangladeshi (!) passport. I said, No. They refused to take me, because people from certain countries (!) require prior visa for this tour. They apologize for this unwanted situation. What to do? I stepped out from the queue with ... :(

After that, I was roaming around the floor which was Terminal-2. Took some snaps. BTW, there were some cool places in side the airport.

There were lots of corners having computer terminals to use Internet. I spent approximately 1 or 2 hours to check my emails and instant messaging.

There were lots of shops. I spent most of my time by window shopping. :)

I was feeling very sleepy at afternoon. There were lots of transit passengers at that time - most of them were lying on the floor and chairs. I was feeling uncomfortable to lie down... So I sat on a chair and tried to take some rest.

At 1.30 pm, I checked in to the door E6 - from where I had to fly for Siem Reap. While passing through the Metal Detector - it flashed red light with sharp alarm! So what was next? Every one got looked at me and couple of security officers came to me and start checking me cordially. Anyway they released me after a while - the culprit was my belt. :-/

They provide me a Cambodian visa form and a disembark card to fill up. There I met Sandeep - who was coming from India to attend FOSSAP-II. I was already late to fill up the forms and there was announcement to board on the plane. We were the last passengers to board on the plane - Silk Airlines. The food served in the plane was not that much good for me. I picked chicken dish. Aah the taste was just horrible! Anyway, I managed to take a snap of mine inside the plane - myself.

After 2.30 hours we landed to the airport of Siem Reap, Cambodia at around 3.15 pm. We went to the immigration section and queued for the Visa. Every one was passing smoothly, but it was a break when it was my turn. The immigration officer's mood changed just in a moment - looking at my passport. Aah BD Passport! And started questioning me. Why I want to get into Cambodia, what was my purpose, how long I wanted to stay... Etc. He was not convinced by my Invitation letter. He called some other security officials and handed me to them. :-/

After 15 minutes they stamped the Visa in my passport and asked me to step forward. I was standing in another queue which was passing by another security officer. My passport shocked that officer too. Then he was asking same type of questions as I was asked earlier. He called the chief security officer for the final clearance. That guy took my passport, ticket and my invitation letter and went to a room - told me to sit down and wait. Guess what was my situation. Sandeep was waiting for me - he was cleared to enter long time ago. It took 5-10 minutes altogether. He was waiting with some other attendants of FOSSAP. Everyone was giving me a strange look - including the passengers and the security officers.

After 10/15 minutes, that security officer returned my stuffs back and gave me a smile. I went to the desk again and that guy took a snap of mine with a digital cam. BTW, they were taking shots of every passengers. I was not the special one! ;-) After finishing other formalities he gave me a big smile and told me, "Welcome! Have a nice trip to Cambodia". Some how I managed to say him, Thank You! and got out of that place as soon as possible. I picked up my luggage and met Sandeep. Every one was asking what was wrong? I replied - the culprit was my passport.

Some people from our hotel were waiting outside of the airport to pick us up. They checked their list and take us to the City Angkor Hotel. Everyone of us got a twin/double room. I changed my cloths and got freshed soon. Then I got into the restaurant of the hotel at the evening - there I met all other participants. BTW, I was the only participant from Bangladesh - but every one was so friendly that I did not feel lonely. :)

To be continued...