So… I cut my hair. Chopped it down to college length. Between the low water pressure, unusual SE Asia showering techniques, and my snarls, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I’m trying to get my pictures uploaded, so anyone who’s interested will be able to see the new do soon. I went to a very expensive Salon: Hair a la Abby. It’s all on video.

Luang Phabang has been incredible. It’s a very charming old colonial town where huge old mansions have been converted to wine bars, restaurants, and jazz bars, and all the sidewalks are made of brick. There are two main roads right between a fork in the Mekong River that are lined with stores, internet and travel cafes, and places to eat and drink. Abby and I have visited a few Wats and the Royal Museum, and have been checking out as many stores and restaurants along the Mekong as we can. Food continues to be amazing at every meal. The most bizarre thing I’ve had here is french fries with fried eggs and soy sauce on top. It was actually quite delicious.

We checked out a fancy jazz bar in a hotel and was able to catch some traditional Lao music being played for the rich white men and their Lao girlfriends by sneaking in undetected to the dining room. Last night we ran into some travelers at a book store and had a nice conversation about where to go in Vietnam and China, but the conversation quickly descended into a bizarre discussion on red state/blue state differences and the election, so we took off for the night market. As Lonely Planet puts it quite rightly, it was “bewildering”. Six to seven blocks of sidewalk shopping full of clothes, masks, jewelry, fruit, anything you can think of. Our heads were spinning by the end of it, and our wallets were empty.

We’ve tried the Lao Lao, or Lao Whiskey, along with sticky rice red wine. Both were pretty unusual but fairly good. Last night we were extremely naughty and sought out a wine bar that happened to be selling Johnny Walker Blue. For any of you who don’t know about Johnny Walker Blue, it is roughly $250 per bottle, and rarely sold in bars. After much hmm’ing and ha’ing, Abby decided she couldn’t pass up the opportunity, and got a glass at a price incomprehensible in the States. I left to get the video camera in the room and came back to a cheese plate and a “I don’t care, we’re doing this, and I’m paying.” Although the cheese was amazing (along with the glass of port I had), the JWB wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. It was GOOD, just not $250 good. But definitely worth the experience.

We’re now headed to Vientienne, unfortunately by air. After that, we’re also flying to Cambodia. We thought we could do this via ground, but there were a few obstacles. One being that the drive down to Vientienne is 10 hours, 6 through the mountains, and because it’s rainy season there is a possibility of mud slides and no assurances that the trip wouldn’t take 2 days. Since we’re on a tight timeline because Abby has to get back to teaching, we didn’t want to take the chance of being stranded. Second is the trip through the North East side of Cambodia (from Laos) is down a road where we’ve read that “Robberies from bandits is still a regular occurence”. No thanks.

So off we go to Vientienne. A long 40 minute flight.