Friday, December 24, 2010

Luang Prabang. Part of our group rose early to watch the monk procession. I slept in and skipped the monks. Minivan to Joma Bakery Cafe where I picked up 2 bagels with cream cheese and we met the rest of our group. Minivan to a drop-off point. Just before we got there, our minivan accidentally ran over a dog. We hiked for about 3 hours to Kuang Sii Falls, stopped for photos and a dip in the beautiful, milky-light-blue waters. Lunch at one of the restaurants at the falls parking lot. I also got a mango-pineapple smoothie—yum! One-hour drive back to the hotel. Rested, showered, cleaned my shoes somewhat from all the mud that had caked onto them. Took some ibuprofen to alleviate a headache. Sore throat today is no worse than yesterday. Yoga: standing warmup practice. Wandered down the street. Encountered a scene that brought a wide smile to my face. A dozen young local boys were breakdancing on hard mats laid out next to a house. Old-school breakbeats played and they took turns or danced in pairs—they were really good. I watched a few minutes before returning to the hotel. The tour group gathered and we booked our elephant tour then walked to a restaurant overlooking the Nam Khan River, ate Lao-style bbq hotpot. Secret Santa gift exchange. La and a friend of La and Richard's joined us for the meal. We wore Santa hats that Manuela had found for about 50 cents USD each. Jan and Dave returned to the hotel. The rest of us went to Utopia for drinks. The space is great—tropical setting with a sand courtyard and fire pits. The DJ tonight is from Berlin. He played lounge and techno. We and others requested other kinds of music but that was all he played so we left for The Hive. The dance floor was empty but the music was good (Firework by Katy Perry as we entered) and immediately after Manuela and I started dancing the dance floor filled. I met Hector and Ramin from Bangkok. The mixing was non-existent—the DJ was clearly a novice. But we were able to request songs and hear them immediately—it was like having a personal dance floor. We danced for about an hour and then Manuela negotiated a tuk tuk for the short ride back to the hotel. Others I met today: Andreas (dark hair), Christian (blond).