Soap AND Toilet Paper

Today in the city of Battambang: I walked happily for hours, did not even touch the bicycle, was not stared at incessantly, ate things that I knew what they were, used toilet facilities with BOTH toilet paper AND soap, ate fresh vegetables from trust-worthy restaurants (usually I must rely on cooked greens, if there are any), admired shade-giving trees and colorful flowers, and drank a bowl of dark hot chocolate.

All of these were supremely rare during the past days of bicycling rural Cambodia. Especially the chocolate.

Oh, the absolutely delectable pleasures of development and a city.


Being in Cambodia has utterly made me see my safe-water, clean-conscious United States life with new eyes and stunned gratitude.