As I think I mentioned in an earlier post, many of my friends and my kids had taken to calling this next chapter of my life my “mud hut fantasy.”  I have to confess that while I have certainly seen and now visited many such dwellings, life in the city of Siem Reap is quite a ways from that — and I feel a bit spoiled.  Tonight, for instance, I pedaled up the street to a local coffee shop that advertised gelato, and was quite pleased to discover not only good gelato, but good coffee, air conditioning and free WiFi.  So it is from there that I typed most of my blog entries this evening!

On top of that, when I came out, I saw that it had rained fairly hard while I was inside.  The parking lot attendant had turned my bicycle around so I could head straight out, and he had wiped off the seat so it was dry for me.  If it makes anyone feel better, the road home was really wet and muddy with lots of puddles, so I did get some mud splashed up on my feet and legs…..