Angkor Wat 2025 Part 1: My first solo trip in 20 years started with an unexpected cancellation

Hello.
I am a man in my late 40s working at a university in Osaka.

This time, I am writing about my visit to the Angkor ruins in the Kingdom of Cambodia in August 2025.

A solo trip to return to my roots

August 2025.

It had been 20 years... no, to be precise, it had been 26 years since I traveled to Yunnan Province, China, in 2000, that I set off on an overseas solo trip. In the meantime, I have traveled with family and friends, but it had been a really long time since I traveled alone. After all, a solo trip is something completely different.

Deciding on the destination, dealing with trouble, and enjoying the journey are all up to me.
I believe the charm of a solo trip is that while you cannot rely on anyone, you can plan and enjoy it exactly as you wish.
For me, having traveled as a backpacker since my student days, a solo trip is truly my starting point. I felt like I could return to those feelings for the first time in a while.

My destination was the Angkor ruins in Cambodia, which I had long admired.

I had visited the capital, Phnom Penh, for work before, but I had never been able to extend my trip to Angkor. Access from Japan is relatively good, and airfare and hotel costs are reasonable.
Since it was a short trip of 5 days and 4 nights (including one night on the plane), it was also easy to explain to my wife.

A phone call before departure

I used an LCC called VietJet Air.
In addition to the affordable price of around 90,000 yen round trip (including meals and seat selection), another reason I chose it was that it had the shortest travel time from Osaka with a connection in Hanoi. I had hardly ever used an LCC, but since I was traveling alone, I thought, "It should be fine," and took it lightly.

However, two weeks before departure.
Right in the middle of enjoying the Osaka-Kansai Expo venue, I received a call from an unknown overseas phone number.
When I nervously answered the phone, it was a call from Vietnam.
It was hard to hear because I was outdoors, but the person on the other end was a representative from VietJet Air.

They repeated the same words twice.

"Wait, what?"
I started to panic a little.
They told me they would send the details by email, so they asked for my email address.
Thinking, "They should have it registered from when I made the reservation..." I gave them my email address verbally and hung up.

However, no email arrived after that.
Eventually, I myselfhad completely forgotten about that incident.

The reality I was told at Kansai Airport

And then, the day of departure arrived.
I headed to the airport on an early morning train to catch the 9:20 AM flight from Kansai International Airport.

I was filled with the excitement of starting my trip, but at the check-in counter, I was told something I never expected.

“Your booked flight has been cancelled.”

For a moment, I couldn't understand what I had just been told.
Come to think of it... was it that...

“I received a phone call, but no email.”
I told them that, but they said there was nothing they could do at the airport counter.

What they proposed instead was,
“There is a flight to Hanoi in the afternoon. However, you will not be able to connect to Siem Reap (Angkor) today. It will be on tomorrow morning's flight.”
That was what they said.

Deciding to stay one night in Hanoi

For now, I thought about it while eating breakfast at an airport cafe.
I had come all the way to Kansai Airport, so I didn't feel like going back home.
In that case, I decided to head to Hanoi on the afternoon flight and enjoy Vietnam for at least one night.
That's what I decided.
I hurriedly searched for a hotel in Hanoi on my smartphone and booked it on the spot. I also arranged a transfer from the airport to the hotel and contacted my hotel in Siem Reap to let them know I would be arriving a day late.
In just about 30 minutes, an unplanned “one-night stay in Hanoi” was decided.

Things not going as planned is also the real thrill of travel

My first solo trip abroad in 20 years did not have a promising start.
I was left dissatisfied with VietJet Air's response in particular, but I learned firsthand that you have to be prepared to accept certain things when flying with an LCC.
However, looking at it another way, I didn't think it was all that bad. I ended up stopping by Hanoi, which wasn't in my plans.
By the time I booked the hotel in Hanoi, I was actually getting a little excited.

My long-awaited solo trip had trouble before I even boarded the plane.
Travel often doesn't go as planned. But even that leaves an impression when you look back on it later.
Thinking that this too is the real thrill of travel, I climbed the boarding stairs to the plane bound for Hanoi.

Thank you for reading until the end.
If you'd like, please support me by liking or following, as it encourages me.
Next time, I will continue with the Hanoi chapter, which I ended up visiting unexpectedly.