January 24-25, 2019, Don Det, Laos
22.01.2019 - 25.01.2019
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Laos and Thailand, 2019
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I woke up way early and had a tuna omelette with sticky rice for breakfast. The owner owed me 5,000 kip from the first night. I wondered if this was his sneaky way of getting repeat customers.
I biked back to town with all my stuff and then checked in at my traditional style guesthouse for the night.
All the bungalows were full at the place I initially wanted, but no matter, it was cheaper and quieter at Mama Phouwan's where I ended up. I took a cold shower and rested up for a while, eating banana fritters and drinking black tea in a hammock. 
When I finally got the energy back up to go exploring, I came across two German guys who were also lost. I followed them to the other side of the island and then they followed me to the bike rental place. I had decided that the roads on Don Det were too awful an no fun for cycling, so I took it back a day early, whatever.
Then we found a swanky place to have a beer, and after they left, I grabbed a honey and Lao Lao cocktail on a lounger. 
I walked back with the sunset, which took longer than I thought.
January 25, 2019
I wanted to rent an inner tube and float down the river, but it was not to be. They only took people in groups it seemed, but also, I didn't search too hard for a way to do it independently.
At breakfast, I ordered an Indian rice pancake, called Dosai. Never heard of it before, but it was great.
I met the Korean couple sitting next to me and then they invited me to go walking. I thought I heard them say the word "wedding", but assumed I was wrong.
On the way there, Rannie the Korean had some sort of mental breakdown. She just stopped on the side of the road and started piling up small rocks. It was quite bizarre. Her boyfriend and I kept walking down the road as he was telling me about all their relationship troubles like I was their therapist. Very strange. Then suddenly, he seemed to realize that Rannie might be jealous of him wandering off with another woman. We had probably walked about a kilometer already, but it didn't matter, we had to go back and get her now. I was sharply reminded of the PTSD I had suffered with Masao and Reiko. What is it with Asian couples chasing each other around all over the place? Ugh. Just stay together, if you really have to be together that badly. Why abandon someone and then end up spending the rest of your day looking for them again? Makes zero sense to me. Either stay together or be apart. Choose.
Anyway, it actually was a wedding they were taking me to. Apparently, this was the second day of debauchery at the family event. They immediately recognized the strange Korean they were drunk with the night before and they immediatley brought us over some interesting food. I only liked the salad and sticky rice, so I stuck with that. 
Soon after, beer and Lao Lao was served, and the Koreans were dancing. Normally, I enjoy this kind of thing, but I felt ill at ease since I had my passport and all my money with me at the time. Who knows what kind of pickpocket wanted to take my stuff? A few people attempted to speak English to us, but soon my ears were bleeding from the noise, and soon Rannie wanted to go. I was happy to oblige.
All the way home on the walk though, there I was, the psychotherapist again. I don't know why, but I guess they both just really needed to spill their guts out that day. We got a couple of homemade ginger ales and played some cards. Then, I went to buy my ticket to the next island and Rannie went in serach of her boyfriend again. Is there a pattern you can notice yet? Ugh, Asian relationships...
At night I somehow saw this guy Joe, who I had met at Tat Fan with Gustav the week before. He was really disappointed in it because he couldn't feel the power of the cascading water. It was too far away for him. I told him he was a character before he went on his merry way. Do you remember?
Anyway, He didn't remember me at first, but he was easy for me to remember, he had crazy bouncing curls everywhere. We sat around for a while and I watched him gorge on a huge barbecued fish. Later, I talked way into the night with a Dutch school teacher and a winemaker from Seattle. The Dutch lady was very surprised that I knew and was obsessed with Blof for a few years in the early milennium, so we sang a few of his songs until we got kicked out of the bar.
