Well, its 4:45 on Thursday morning. I attempted to get a full night's sleep up on the rooftop of our house, but it didn't really work so well. The hammock Samouen bought us is great for lounging around on, but it's a little cramped for someone over five foot six. And the mosquito net she found us is great, but setting it up was considerably more complicated than I had first thought. But I finally got a little bit of sleep.

About an hour ago, I realized that I had to go to the bathroom. I went to open the door to the rest of the house, and no dice. The door locks from the inside. And someone, in the interest of security, had locked it. I knocked gently. Then I knocked loudly, which started the dogs of the neighborhood barking. Finally, I decided to lie back down. Before long, ALL of the dogs in the neighborhood were barking, and it sounded like a scene from 10,001 Dalmatians.

Obviously, I couldn't sleep. So I tried the door again. No luck. I didn't have a watch on me, but the increasing din of the city indicated that it had to be something near wake-up time. Unfortunately by now I REALLY needed to go to the bathroom. So, I followed the time honored tradition passed down on camping trips by generations of men since time immemorial, and I watered the plants in the yard below.

But now, I was restless. And a little annoyed. I was locked on the roof, and I really wanted to get down. I figured people would be up by now, and so I tried to shine a flashlight through the window onto the landing in the staircase. No dice.

I couldn't go back to sleep, so I did about a half hour of stretching, calisthenics and shadow boxing. I checked the door again. Ah! I thought I saw shadows moving. I knocked loudly. The woman who cleans the house for us was awake. Sort of. She shuffled up the stairs, unlocked the door, muttered something in Khmer and disappeared into the night.

When I reached the room with my bunk, I realized that everyone was still asleep. "Wow!" I thought. "It must be really early" No duh. It was about 4:30 in the morning.

So, now I'm awake. The typing is making me sleepy, but I don't think I'm destined to go back to sleep today. Which is really too bad, 'cause I could really use the rest. I'm also not sure I'm destined to get to an internet cafe that will let me upload this letter directly from my laptop, which means I'll have to retype it when I get there, or burn this 2k file to a CD-R, which seems kinda like hauling a Froot Loop in the bed of a pickup truck. But maybe I can burn some photos, too. You'd like to see photos, right? Okay. That's a plan.

Well, today is more dental stuff. I hope to get Carolyn and Molly out of the clinic for some sightseeing as well. Another reason I should try to go back to sleep. Much to do.

Well, I'm out. Bye for now.