Tour Of Laos, Day 3

We woke up at the hotel and Justin and I rented motorcycles from the nearby hotel (which didn't have room for us yesterday). Rick had Da's motorcycle (she lives in Vientienne). Pui and Da once again went off (this time with Raht) to do their thing, and Rick, Justin, and I went to the Swedish Bakery for breakfast.

Unfortunately, the motorcycles we rented were terrible. (This is a fact: Lao people turn down the brakes on their motorcycles to almost zero so as to save on wear and tear.) We returned the motorcycles for a refund (minus some money, of course), and found another motorcycle rental place where the bikes were slightly better (brakes notwithstanding). Dave rented a motorcycle there as well.

After that, Rick and Da on a motorcycle; Justin and Raht on a motorcycle; Pui, Pot and I on a motorcycle; and Dave on a motorcycle drove out to Da's house. Unfotunately, along the way, Justin and Raht decided to turn around after falling too far behind on the ride, and then we lost Dave when he went back to look for them. That left Rick and Da, Pui and I (and Pot) to travel onwards.

We got to Rick's new house which actually is a "temporary" house on the piece of land that he and Da bought together. It's really just a shed, a porch, and an outdoor toilet, but it's kind of pleasant in its own way. Rick and I sat on the porch and drank some beers. Pot immediately was in his element, as there was a bike there, and kids to play with. Pui and I had decided from the beginning that we would just drop Pot off here for the duration of the trip and let him play, since nothing that we would be doing over the next few days were anything that he would go crazy over.

So in the late afternoon, Rick and Da, Pui and I got back on our bikes and rode back to the hotel. We had quick showers, and then the same group as last night re-formed (minus Pot, natch), and returned to La Terasse for a second meal. (I forgot to mention that they have the best home made ice cream on earth.)

From there, we walked to a bar called Kopchaideux (or something like that), but couldn't find a decent place to sit, and so we wandered down the road and back to the Samlor Bar again. Once again, Pui and I turned in early.