Food & Massage

They have been the highlights of my stay in Luang Prabang.

Every night before I head back to the hotel, I go for an hour massage. Luxury : ) But it only costs $5-6 here. I've been going to different places each night, and I have to say that tonight's was the best. STRONG.

As for food...well, there's a ton of it! The food stalls are amazing, as well as the standard restaurants. I had a whole day cooking course today. YUMMY. Very similar to Thai food, with lots of lemongrass, basil, garlic, and fish sauce : ) I have pics but cannot post them here... Before the cooking started, we headed off to the main market to get the ingredients. Although I'm sure everything is organic and fresh, the meats were rather gross... They sell every single part of the pig from what I could tell.

Oh oh oh! There's a really cool organization in Laos called Big Brother Mouse (http://www.laobooks.com/), which sponsors publication and distribution of children's' books throughout local villages. Due to the lack of time, I could only help by buying and donating some books. But I hope to be able to do a bit more when I get to Vientiane.

Don't worry. I have done some sightseeing as well. Yesterday was an entire day of tours. followed by a massive headache:
Part I - I don't exactly remember the name of the place, but I know it started with a "P" and an "O". Hence, I will refer to it as the P.O. Caves. It's about 2 hours upstream from the town. I didn't expect the boat ride to take so long, but cruising (very slowly) along the Mekong was nice. Spent the time chatting with some Aussies and Japs. The P.O. Caves are so over-rated. Seriously. It's like a flea market of Buddha relics taking place in a cave by the river. If you ever get the chance, don't go.
Part II - Again, I don't recall the name, but it's a beautiful waterfall! Emerald waters. Too bad it started pouring when we got there. The minivan ride was awful though. The driver (who I had to sit next to) was constantly talking to one of the Lao guys in the 2nd row (I have no clue why a local Lao guy would join the "tour" minivan). And the driver had the MOST annoyingly loud voice, I almost had to smack him.

Random comment: The reason why there are SO MANY bugs in this town is because of the lack of birds. I've only seen a couple myself (birds, not bugs). Because the country is extremely poor, all the birds get eaten......

I'm finally moving out of here tomorrow. Headed a bit southeast to my next destination, requiring a 10 hour local bus ride : (