I continue to discover new, colorful and charming parts of this town that are making me love it even more. Beyond the main drag of guesthouses, restaurants and internet cafes, there is a market that sets up in the mid-afternoon full of locals selling and trading fresh caught or grown food to other locals for the evening's meals. Among the usual vegetables, fruits, grains and meats, available for perusal were a variety of Lao staples such as squirrels, rats, cockroaches and bunches of still-live bats strung together by their feet. Some of it was appalling but I did my best to supress any contorted expressions of disgust and instead smiled and nodded if a local caught me checking out their wares.

Last night I had an authentic Lao meal of cheese, basil, chili and pineapple pizza with apple crumble ala mode for dessert.

Yesterday's tubing trip was much fun but got underway a bit too late after a morning trip to a nearby cave, and as a result we were quite cold by the end after the sun disappeared behind the mountains. We stopped along the way and shared Beerlao with other tubers at make-shift bars set up by locals trying to make a few thousand kip. (Aside: the Lao currency, the kip, needs a couple zeros lopped off. I am regularly carrying inch-thick wads of 5000 kip notes, their largest bill that is worth about $0.50) I'd love to try the tubing another day, but we leave tomorrow. Off to Luang Prabang.