Hi Gram,
After the past few days being a little same-same, we finally saw some change. Today was a little different in that we checked out of the hotel around 1pm and went in search of food. We hit up a place we had stopped at before for a late evening sweet, and it seemed pretty classy with a good menu. After an uneventful meal, we headed over to the local museum – the former palace – where I learned that lunch was going to be an anchor in my belly for the rest of the day. It felt just as heavy as an anchor and made me feel slow and lethargic. Nattiya took care of me, finding cafe to stop where I had water and tried napping in the booth.

Once some energy returned, we headed to the hotel. I took some charcoal pills that I had to try to soak up some of the food, and the proprietor let me borrow a room to lie down. I just couldn’t imagine a hotel in America doing that without charging us for an extra night. I rested for about an hour, then headed over to the lobby where our driver was waiting. We had reserved a tuk tuk the day before, which was an experience. My stomach wouldn’t have minded a car with suspension and enclosed sides, but it survived the bumps and tossing around.

We walked into the train station through security, which consisted of putting the bags through scanners, no need to take out any electronics or toiletries, and walking through the metal detector, no need to take anything out of pockets. On the other side, each and every person was wanded since we all set off the walk-through scanner, then we were free to find a seat and wait for the train to arrive. The station was very new and nice. The train was very new and nice. The other passengers were friendly and quiet. In fact, the two of us were originally seated in different rows and her seat mate switched with me so we could sit together!

A couple of hours later, we pulled into Vientiane and disembarked. Out front, we accepted the first taxi driver that approached us, bartered a little, then headed into town. The roads were bumpy, although not as bad as Luang Prabang. He deposited us in front of the hotel, where the doors were opened and a young man walked out to take our bags. I’ll never tire of that level of service! After the usual shuffle of papers, ID, and payment, we were shown to the elevator, then to our room. We were happily surprised when we found the room matched the pictures – a king sized bed, nice linens, an oversized shower, and a balcony would be ours for the next 12-14 hours. We wasted no time unpacking a little, showering, and heading to bed!