July 13,

We woke up at 0530 to the drums and watched the monks line up for their daily ritual walk. We did this from inside at our window as it was sprinkling. Then I went back to sleep. Jeff could not. Finally, up and about, around 0720. We had our Javas; and breakfast of oatmeal with PB for me and Nutella for Jeff, yogurt, and mango juice out on our balcony.

The rain had been brief, but when it stopped it was humid and not a breath of air. Stifling, muggy, and miserable!🥵 At least the sun was under the clouds, so not oppressively hot. We went out around 1000 to another local grocery store – about a mile and a half walk. Thankfully, the store was semi air conditioned (unlike the first one we went to). We found some cheese as well. We checked out and went to a wine shop, then back home to unload. 

We cooled off and then went back out around 1300. We went to Nang Tao Restaurant. We had the Crispy Stir-fried rice noodles with Chicken and veggies; and Larb (or Laab), which is minced meat with herbs, with steamed rice. As we waited for our yummy food, I watched the fish aquariums and the individual Betta fish. I love Bettas, so did Jeff’s father. Our great crispy noodle dish came first. So good.😋 Then the Larb came, equally as good. We shared a large bottle of water. It thundered and rained while we were eating, but stopped just when we finished. We paid our tab of 135,000 LAK, which is only $6.27. 

We headed back to our place and the sun came out. Quickly we changed out of our shorts into pants and went to Wat Xieng Thong. There is an entry price of 30,000 LAK – $1.39 – each. This was the first time we’ve had to pay. This Temple “is one of the most important temples in Laos,” according to the brochure we have at our place. It’s also “formerly known as the Temple of the Golden City and was considered a gateway to the town. It was built around 1560…” originally, but has had numerous restorations. A placard on site mentions the last renovation was 2011-2016. The main temple has a very large water Buddha inside and outside on the back wall is a beautifully painted/tiled tree of life (maybe).🤔 With the sun out everything sparkled and glittered. In another building was a ceremonial float?… It was large and was on wheels. There were lesser chapels and buildings. We walked around, while the good skies lasted, but a dark cloud was moving in so we went back to our place.

We had a siesta and cooled down. We have decided to spend an extra five days here, but we will not be able to stay in this cute house. So Jeff researched some potential places to stay, and we can physically see them before we commit. Then we did a WhatsApp video with my mother and her husband. For supper we had cheese, crackers and wine. We played some of our music. For some reason we can’t get Worship 24/7 anymore… This started in Chiang Mai, a while back. And we don’t know why. Anyway, then we Zoomed with our church back home.