sorry kids

Watching the sunset over Luang Prabang, Laos was beautiful:

My favorite picture of Sylvan so far... he looks like a little old Greek fisherman or something. Look at that CRAZY beard!

Sylvan was sick for a few days so we took it easy and hung around Luang Prabang sampling the local food and eating more than our share of baked good from the delicious Scandinavian Bakery. Seriously amazing chocolate croissants. After a few days of lazing around, over-eating, and over-sleeping, Sylvan was feeling better and we were both feeling a bit ancy. During our walks around town, we had seen a number of relatively inexpensive massage and spa services. We were particularly interested in a local herbal steam treatment. It sounded relaxing and fun, but neither of us were sold on the idea. If we had time, and it worked out... great,but we decided that volunteering our time was more fulfilling. We decided to check out the "Big Brother Mouse" organization, which encourages local children to learn to read. Foreigners are welcome to donate money or volunteer time. Big Brother Mouse matches volunteers with children so the volunteers can read aloud to the children... kind of like story time at a local library. We wanted a bit more information and to check the place out. Luckilly, the office was close to our guesthouse. We walked over around noon to find a sign on the door that said "will return at 12:30" so we decided to have lunch and try again that afternoon. We came back around one and the sign was still on the door. It was hot and even though we were in the shade, we were both dripping with sweat.

I know, I'm horrible. Fifteen minutes later, when no one had showed and it was nearly 1:30, Sylvan and I headed into town for a milkshake and a massage. Two and a half hours of affordable amazing massage... awww... My two favorite parts: 1. the small Lao woman hopping up on the massage table and walking up and down my back and legs, 2. the amazing aroma from the hot herbal steam... sorry kids.