Cambodia e-Visa Blog

Read this interview with Barbara and Glenn Halliday, traveling to Cambodia on their recent trip!

1. Can you share with our readers more about you, etc?

We live in Salem, Oregon, USA. My husband, Glenn, and I have been retired since 1985, and we enjoy traveling both in and outside of the United States. I am 76 years old; my husband is 80. Our other main hobby is photography and on this trip we probably took 1200 digital photos!

2. How do you find out about e-Visa?

Our son found your website and told us about it. We used the Internet a lot to make arrangements for this trip and to learn more about Cambodia and the temples of Angkor. We were very impressed with the e-Visa website, and also went to many of the links from that website. Our son has been to Cambodia twice before, visiting Siem Reap and Angkor in 1996 and 1997. He traveled to many other parts of Cambodia on his earlier trips. This time, he was our guide and we only visited Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor Wat.

3. Is this your first trip to Cambodia? What attracts you most?

Yes, this was our first visit to Asia. We stayed in Singapore for two days, but our main purpose was to come to Cambodia to see the marvelous Archeological Park at Angkor. We are very interested in Archeology, and are members of the Archaeological Institute of America. Our son was very impressed with the temples at Angkor on his earlier visits, and he wanted us to see them too.

While the Angkor temples were what attracted us, we found that many other things we had heard about Cambodia were not true. Like many other people in the USA, we only have heard of the very sad events of the 1970’s and we did not expect to find beautiful hotels, excellent food, and most of all, people who were so kind and pleasant. This was a wonderful surprise, and we will certainly tell our friends that if they are lucky enough to go to Cambodia they will have a great experience and find that the country is very “tourist-friendly.” Our son, who first visited Cambodia 12 years ago said he could not believe all the changes, for the better.

4. Please rate your computer skills

I think our computer skills are above average. My husband was one of the first people trained to be a computer programmer in the USA–in 1952. Before I retired, I worked with the early forms of PC’s. We have owned PC’s since we retired and use them for keeping financial records, genealogy research, general writing, etc. We have broadband Internet service, and also use “Skype” –an Internet phone service to stay in touch with our family who often travel to other continents. I have a website where I post stories about our travels, my family history, etc. I have learned some basic website design skills and use “Dreamweaver” to make my web pages.

5. What makes e-Visa website easy for you?

Your instructions were VERY clear and easy to follow. The instruction for uploading our photographs for the visas was the best I’ve ever seen. Everything on your website worked smoothly. We were very impressed with the high level of technology used in your website. Also, the English text was very understandable.

6. Do you have any problems making payment by Paypal?

We are familiar with Paypal–my husband has used it frequently in connection with E-Bay transactions. However, we used a credit card, not our Paypal account. I think it was just handled by Paypal, but apparently it worked just fine.

7. What changes would you like to see on the system and procedures?

I can’t think of any improvements, but I wish more websites in the USA were as good–especially those of our governmental agencies.

8. How would you compare applying a travel visa with Cambodia e-Visa system with other countries’ travel visa you has applied?

I don’t believe I’ve ever personally applied for a visa before. I think perhaps a travel agent obtained a French visa for us once–and it took more than a month! Most of the places we have visited do not require visas. However, our son travels widely and he, too, was very impressed with your e-Visa system. He said it was the easiest visa he ever got.

9. Do you think that by having e-visa, it will attract more visitors to visit Cambodia?

Yes, it should make it very easy for visitors to obtain their visa ahead of time. And it tells visitors that your country is very capable in using Internet technology.

• e-Visa Friend from Korea
• Archaeological Tours to Cambodia
• What They Said About Cambodia e-Visa?

Posted under Interview, Latest e-Visa News, e-Visa Experience.