The next morning, Emma took me to this darling little place for breakfast. I had a sticky rice pancake, which was way too sweet for me, so I also had soup and a baguette, because I'm a pig. It was an adorable place. I'd have never found it without Emma, so that's awesome. I love small, cosy, yummy places to eat. This was a great place!!
After that, we bummed around the town and went to the best place EVER to buy bootleg DVDs. What a back catalogue!! How fun! :) I could have bought more more more but worry about getting everything into Australia, since they are massive jerks.
We did a little shopping to see if we could find Emma a sofa for her house. Not much luck, but we did have fun zipping around Vientiane. We stopped by the French school’s arts fair and that was fun. I bought some gorgeous earrings and a calendar. It was bloody hot and I wish I had an IV drip of water...or beer. I saw Lara, who I met on my last trip to Lao. She is pregnant and seemingly happily hooked up with a guy now. So happy for her.
Then, Emma said the magic words, “Do you want to have sushi for lunch?” Do I want sushi? Is the Pope Catholic who shits in the woods?! I WANT SUSHI! We went to Fuji and OMG WE HAD SUSHI!!!!!!!! Sashimi, sushi rolls, Beer Laos. BRING IT ON! They sadly did not have edamame! SHOCKED! We had a great lunch and it was fabulous.
After that, we hung out for a bit before heading into town to meet with Grégoire and friends at Sticky Fingers. They were talking about Emma’s Epic Xmas Eve Party, which I was secretly so sad to be missing. They were going to spit roast an animal of some sorts!!! *jealous* Afterwards, we went to the Cope Concert, which was interesting.
http://www.copelaos.org/cope_news_stories.php?WEBYEP_DI=21
The music, in my opinion, was horrible and the MC was OMG annoying. Emma left me there with the promise that I talk to Grégoire before leaving. I should have gone with her because I left shortly after she did. Gwaw (Grégoire’s Lao nickname) showed me to the road and thankfully, we caught Mette and family leaving so they kindly gave me a ride home. On the way to Emma’s, we followed a VERY drunk Lao man on a scooter. It was frightening how much weaving he did in traffic and how hard it was for him to remain upright and on his bike. It was scary. I do hope he made it home ok.
Sat up chatting with Emma when I got home and then went to bed.
Day Four: I woke up fairly early and decided to get into town for eats and proper internet. After internetting (aka playing Angry Birds and properly checking Facebook), I went to Sticky Fingers for breakfast. And Beer Lao. WHAT? It’s 5 o’clock somewhere!!!! I had a yummy breakfast of laap, sticky rice and beer. MY LIFE IS COMPLETE!!!!!!! Beer Lao and laap…the food and beer of the gods. Emma texted me and said she would collect me to go to Kelley’s for the Baci, which was most gracious of her.
I also walked past the abandoned place I took pics of last time I was in Laos. It's still there, but you can't go inside as you used to be able to do. I still took pics.
We went to Kelley’s baci, which is a Lao baby naming ceremony. On the way there, we stopped for drinks and food. You know you're in Lao when you can cruise around on a scooter with baguettes. I'm cool, no?
It was incredibly interesting. They do this thing after the ceremony where you tie a white string on the baby’s wrist and make a wish for the baby’s future. I think it’s a cool idea. One of the old grannies there grabbed my wrist, said a few things to me in Laos and tied a string around my wrist. COOL! You can do this with other guests. I wished Emma all the luck with having a baby and I truly hope she is happy. She's so wonderful, she deserves all the happiness ever.
After that, we went out back to start the party. I’m already one beer in. BRING IT ON! Sadly, they were unable to get Beer Lao, but they did have Tiger Beer, which I also love. They also had two totally slutty Tiger Beer girls serving beer to all the guests. Nothing says baby celebration like slutty beer girls!!!!
The afternoon was awesome. Lots of people came and went. Lots of beer was served. Kelley served me an awesome sugar cane drink, which tasted much better when fortified with 2 fingers of very ice cold vodka. The food was delicious and the conversation was entertaining. Tucker, Kelley’s dad, is a freaking hoot. I love that guy. Loka, the baby, was super cute and had all those adorable baby rolls in all the right places. He reminded me of Sheri’s baby in Hong Kong, Matteo. No, fuck off, I am not clucky. Someone brought amazing tarts to eat. YUM!
We left late into the afternoon and then hung out at Emma’s and ate food and watched TV. We tried to watch Ted, which I had seen. There were no English subtitles, so Gregoire was not into it.
Day Five: My last day in Vientiane. Sigh.
Emma was most gracious, as always, and took me to Joma for breakky/lunch. I had a turkey dinner sandwich, which was turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce on bread served with a side of gravy. OMG I HAVE DIED AND GONE TO HEAVEN!!!!! It was totally yummy. While there, the guy from the Teamworkz website rang me. Teamworkz is an AWESOME website that you should all use if you ever go to Laos, Cambodia or Thailand. The guy who rang was double checking my arrival time and also a few issues with my room booking. Not major issues, just that I would need to move to a different room after the first night for slightly more money. No biggie. I was TRYING to be more chilled and not let travel bumps bother me this holiday. All things considered, I think I did pretty well, since I had NO flights to Luang Prabang booked when I arrived and no hotels booked. GO ME!
We went and did a few errands and then Emma had to go to work. I sat at hers, made sure I had all the things packed for my flight to Luang Prabang and just relaxed. I took a tuk tuk to the airport, which was interesting. TukTuks are always a fun ride!
Got to the airport in plenty of time, especially since the flight was delayed. I had a Beer Lao at the airport with a serve of some odd fried rice. Their menu was a great example of Engrish and I loved it.
I also made a new friend at the airport. He was pretty cute. See?
An hour later than we should have boarded, we boarded the plane to LPB. FINALLY!
When I landed in LPB, I was met by a guy from the guest house, which was great. I hate dealing with random taxis/tuktuks. The guest house was at the end of the main drag in the centre of town. It was a great guest house. I thought the room was one of the cutest things I have ever seen in a long time. The bed was rock hard, but that’s minor. It had a good aircon and a decent shower, so I am happy. Plus it had a little sitting out area out front of my room, so I could watch the monks walk past.
After getting settled, I wandered out to find food. I went to some random place along the Mekong and had a yummy dinner of grilled fish, sticky rice and….wait for it…Beer Lao. I also tried one of the house cocktails, but nothing beats Beer Lao when it’s sticky hot out and I’m in Lao. I’m sorry, but 10K-12K kip for a 660ml beer trumps all the cocktails ever (except for the ones at Ikon Bar, but that’s coming).
I went to the night market to find a Beer Lao hoodie. Are you sensing a theme? You should….. I bought a hoodie and a silk scarf for more than I should have paid, but meh. I now own a Beer Lao hoodie. I FUCKING WIN AT LIFE. I went back to the guest house and had a few Crown and Cokes and went to bed.
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