Judith and Felix
March 16, 2024 – See photos below
Hello Asia, Jim, the Selkirk pack walkers, and all your pooches.
I send greetings from Cambodia. Felix and I are both doing well.
I have regained almost full mobility in my knee and was able to get up and down very tricky stone stairs at Angkor Wat where I visited while on a school break last month.
I continue with rehab physio and as a result, I am in better shape than I have been for a few years. Apparently full range of motion is 140 degrees; I am at 126 degrees.
Felix gets picked up for dog daycare on weekdays at 6 a.m. and has a good time all day with an assortment of other dogs before being dropped off between 5:00 and 5:30 each afternoon.
Once home, he has the zoomies and plays with his toys while he races around reclaiming the apartment.
That accomplished, he gives one short, sharp bark to mean that he needs to go out and check to make sure all is in order in our neighbourhood.
There is a great deal of street life in Phnom Penh and things are busy at that time of day (well, really, at almost any time of day) with many tuktuks and scooters and cars and street vendors moving around.
Felix is rarely alarmed by anything, other than the firecrackers that went off at the Lunar New Year.
On the weekends he likes to sleep in and rarely gets up before 7:30 or 8:00, the lazy bones.
As the weather gets hotter and hotter in the dry season (35 to 38 degrees every day) I try to get him out for a longer walk on weekends as soon as he gets up.
He loves a tuktuk ride so we go to one of 2 park areas where we can have a bit of a walk before the worst of the heat.
I have him groomed more often but am still trying to get his Airedale haircut closer to breed standard.
Needless to say, very few people here know he’s an Airedale, other than a few British expats.
He has become a bit of a darling in our building and when I ask if its okay to share the elevator everyone always says yes.
He still has lots of puppy in him, but as he nears his 3rd birthday he’s become very civilized and despite the time away from me while I was recuperating, his training kicked back in right away.
A friend from Victoria came to spend my school week off in February and we went to Siem Reap for 4 days.
This included our sunrise tour of Angkor Wat which was spectacular, along with a tour of the demining center where there was a presentation on how rats are trained and used to sniff out landmines and ordinances (of which there are still many in Cambodia, sadly).
Siem Reap was lovely and interesting – very much smaller than Phnom Penh and much quieter but with much to see and do.
And as usual everywhere in Cambodia, there is lots of great food.
I’ve attached some photos, mostly of Felix but included a couple of Angkor Wat. Our tour group size was small and very good company. Our tour guide was excellent.
I enjoy the newsletter of each weekly walk. And I envy your cooler weather just now …
All the best to you and your pups.
Kind regards,
Judith
