July 28,

I awoke at 0700, having slept very well! I don’t know when Jeff woke up. We got around. Our shower was excellent – the best one so far in Laos! It’s full power and you feel wet, like, you’re supposed to be in a shower. The shower is enclosed (which should have made it a dry bath). The only issue I have is the toilet. It has an “eruption problem”… as in, it randomly bubbles and splashes water up and out onto the seat and floor. So we do have a wet bath, afterall! 😂

We had our Javas as we talked with my sister. There was a connection problem, so I had to cut our conversation a bit short. Then we went up to the rooftop where we got our included breakfast. It’s a buffet. A couple of ladies will cook an egg for you. So I ordered a sunny-side up egg and Jeff had an omelet with tomato. The lady did not understand sunny-side up though, so I had a hard cooked one. Humph! I also had some veggie noodles, a bit of veggie rice, and a piece of toast. Jeff had two pieces of toast. We each had a juice and shared a small plate of watermelon and a banana. It was not the best breakfast but was definitely sufficient.

We returned to our room and I blogged as Jeff read. Then we talked with Jeff’s sister and her husband. We had gone up onto the roof and had better reception. There were a few more paramotors out and the sun tried to come out as well. As we left we walked about and it started raining. So we went for lunch. We stopped at Luang Prabang Restaurant and Bakery – we are still in Vang Vieng.🤣 I had an iced sweet orange latte coffee, and Fish & Chips. Jeff had a French-bread Pizza with ham, and a BeerLao. It cost us 419,000- Jeff gave 430,000 LAK, which is a penny over 20 bucks. The portions were huge and we had way too much food! After we finished we went out to explore. We went over to see the river in this town. It is called the Nam Song River. It seems quite swollen and full. In fact a hotel called River View… well now, should be called River Front or just The River as it was in the river! There is a temporary “bridgeway” to walk to it… Anyway, we were looking at it and Jeff went to take pictures crossing the “bridge,” when four of five guys with luggage came down. This was their hotel and they were in disbelief, to say in the least. It was funny, but only because I’m not staying here.

It stopped raining so we walked about more, going to the post office. Our package was not there, but should be tomorrow they said… not holding my breath. We saw a hot air balloon place and Jeff tentatively booked us a ride tonight… again not holding my breath with the iffy weather, but more hopeful on this one. Then we went to an ATM… it kept our card! Uh-oh, that is not good. So Jeff is going to have to deal with that now!

We went back to our hotel and I blogged some. Jeff went back out to deal with the card. It poured while he was out. I was hoping he was inside. At 1600 he returned, it stopped raining, and then he got a text saying the balloon ride was a go. We went down, walked the few feet to where we booked – paid, and were picked up by a rideshare truck. We were first on. The truck stopped at two more places, making our group equal ten people. We then went to the balloon site… right behind our hotel, literally!🤯  We watched the balloon laid out, and inflated – it was the pretty rainbow one! YIPEE – skippy!! The basket was attached, and the ten of us loaded up and started ascending!!

What fun! We went up and circled about. The skies were blue with some dappling sunshine. There were at least five other balloons up after us and a few para-gliders. It was a grand adventure which lasted just over 30 minutes. It seemed a lot shorter than that! Our balloon did not travel far in length, but I was okay with this! What a blast! The landing was in a backyard… literally. But it was safe and professional. Jeff said they probably do this everyday, and he thought we landed just about 200 yards from where we started. But oh, the sky we covered!

We were let out, and escorted back to the truck, as the family of whose yard we landed in came out to watch. We were first let out at our hotel and went directly up to our roof to see the other balloons land. There was another couple up on the roof and we talked some with them… they had gone up at five this morning. I recognized them as the family that came in with us Sunday. They’re from Holland, on vacation with their kids.

We went back to our room, had some chocolate with coffee rum – celebrating life!