I slept terribly last night. While I was lying in bed at midnight, starting at the ceiling, I realized it was because the big pot of tea I had at 5pm was probably caffeinated. Oops.

So needless to say, when Nick’s alarm went off at 5am so that we could go and watch the local monks take their daily alms, I chose to sleep. He snuck out by himself into the darkness of the morning and sat on the side of the road with sticky rice to hand to them. This is something they do every morning and it provides their food for the day. As with so many things, it was once a hyperlocal tradition that has transitioned into a tourist attraction. He said it was interesting but also a bit strange, with lines of tourists set up to take photos of the monks going about their day. Then again, we can never judge this, being tourists ourselves.

At around 8, Millie and I woke up and we had breakfast at the hotel while FaceTiming my parents. We packed up our bags and made our way through the bustling morning market to a taxi.

The taxi drove us about 20 minutes out of town to the large, new train station. China built a high speed railway that connects China through to the bottom of Laos. It opened in 2021 and made what was once an 8 hour drive through windy mountain roads into a 50 minute train ride. China, what do I gotta do to get you to do this for America?

All tickets other than two seats in the VIP car were sold out, so we rode in these absurd lay flat space ship seats.

We arrived in Vang Vieng and got a taxi to our hotel, which is a resort on the edge of town. It is hotter here than it was in Luang Prabang, and Millie requested the pool the moment she saw it. We ended up spending all afternoon and into the evening playing at the pool. It is surrounded by lush mountains and feels like Hawaii.

Due to the new train, other visitors to Laos are primarily Chinese tourists. Millie befriended a group of old Chinese men and I had a front row seat to a show in which a 6 year old boy pushed his grandma into the pool, and then she had to be “rescued” by the dad. She was fine but put on a big show of being drowned by a child, and for some reason took all her clothes off and spat out water for 30 minutes. Who needs HBO when you have a dramatic and naked Chinese granny?

During magic hour, hot air balloons suddenly started appearing above our heads. Some were so low we worried they would hit the hotel.

Millie ran around on the grass talking to her Chinese fans.

She understandably did not want to leave so we ordered poolside dinner. Once it was dark we came back to the room and attempted to watch Elf. She didn’t really get it so she switched to Studio Ghibli until it was time to sleep.