Day 88! Today was a much needed day of relaxing! But even so, I got up to some fun. Tomorrow I’ll be setting off on a boat ride to exit the country, but we’re not out of Laos yet, so it’s time for more adventures!

After a late night, I started my morning off at 8am where I enjoyed (yet again) another hostel breakfast!

I finished up and as I was walking back upstairs I ran into Max, who was about to set off on Kilby! I’m glad I caught him before he left and we chatted a bit about what his journey entailed and we shared some last minute advice to each other.

I then spent my morning writing my previous day’s blog post and diving back into my book! I’ve been putting off reading and was very happy to crack it back open.

For lunch, I met up with Sam and Dan! We walked to a nearby Indian restaurant that was insanely good!

I ate a dish called Aloo Baingan. It was filled with flavorful spices, fried eggplant, and fried potatoes! It was honestly one of the best Indian dishes I’ve had the pleasure of eating.

Dan and I split off from Sam for a bit and when we arrived back at our hostel, we were immediately invited into a lunch that our hostel staff was having.

During breakfast this morning, I was learning some new Laotian phrases from one of the staff. She recognized me and practically forced Dan and I to join them. It’s part of the lovely SE Asian hospitality that I’m enamored with!

We sat with them for quite some time and they even gave us some food… which we tried to say no to since we were full but they wouldn’t take no for an answer! It was very kind of them to invite us over!

We then walked over to Sam’s hostel where we sat and chilled. I read for a bit more, we played cards, and we just hung out and chatted for a while. We were sweating our butts off though sitting in the stagnant heat and humidity.

After a few hours, I went into town to find some groceries!

Tomorrow I’ll be embarking on a 2 day journey to Thailand! I’m not sure if the slow boat stops ever for food, so I thought it was a good idea to stock up before hand!

I ended up getting a nice haul… and one of the most expensive jars of peanut butter, but I haven’t had it in 3 months! So I’m excited to splurge!

Dan and I then walked to the night market to meet up with our friends Tia and Abi. We enjoyed some more smoothies and had a bowl of soup to go, which I thought was fun (also very tasty)!

After dinner, we headed back to the hostel to play cards and enjoy some Soju. And since Abi and Tia hadn’t been to the bowling alley yet, we made our way there again!

It ended up being a long, but relaxing day! I’ve really enjoyed my time in Luang Prabang and definitely see myself coming back here in the future!

I’ve also really enjoyed my time in Laos! This country blew me away and definitely exceeded my expectations. But I’m not out of the country yet, so can’t be too sentimental.

Tomorrow I’ll embark on a long boat ride (not sure exactly how long…) to a town called Pak Beng. The following day we’ll take another boat ride to the border and cross over by land!

Going to be an interesting experience!

– Elie