Rainy Tea

From 10/12

We got breakfast at our favorite cafe and bookstore this morning. I got eggs and toast with some aeoli sauce - I'venever had that on toast before but it was pretty good. It was another fairly slow day. 

We walked around the less touristy part of town and saw a couple temples. It was clear that they were protecting the areas along the river to make sure the beauty is preserved. Aside from seeing Laotians on their day-to-day schedules, there weren't many spectacular things to see on the west side of town. We wandered along the Mekong to get find our free boat trip across the river. 

We crossed the Nam Khan River via a small canoe/raft with two guides. We knew we wanted to try out one of the restaurants across the river and the boat was free so why not. Since we are still visiting in the wet season they raft you over. In the dry season they have a bamboo bridge that goes across. I would be interested in seeing how the bridge is built since they put it up and down fairly sporadically throughout the year. 

Lunch wasn't bad, but it's tough when we compare it to the deluxe dinner we had the night before. The restaurant's ambiance was definitely what sold us on it. Most of the tables have a lounge type environment and a treehouse feel to it. This is a terrible picture but it shows what the seating was like. 

We crossed the river again and we were off to the spa. We walked past the Burasari Spa the other day and it looked nice so we headed back there for a foot massage (also called Reflexology massage) and a pedicure. It was a wonderful experience, as I've never been to a spa before. I have to say my mom gives better foot massages, but it was a relaxing environment. I'll stick with the shoulder or full body massages while I'm here just because you get more bang for your buck. 

Once we got out it had started raining so we decided to head to our favorite book/coffee shop. We played a little cribbage, wrote some letters, and read some books. 

It's really nice having these towns to relax in between the crowded and busy tourist cities. I think towns like Pai and Luang Prabang will allow us to survive this trip, mentally and physically. 

Later on we headed to the night market and dinner. Rosella Fusion was finally open (it was closed Sunday for dinner and today for lunch) so we sat down. The Laotian food is similar to Thai, but with different signature dishes. Some unique Laotian dishes are their BBQ, chicken/pork salad, the fish steamed in banana leaf, and lemongrass in everything. 

Since we're getting up tomorrow before 5am we strolled back to the hotel and prepped for the day. Why are we getting up at 5am tomorrow? I have to do something to keep you reading. More pictures tomorrow I promise. 

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson