Day 5...or the day I received a massage from a Thai ex-convict before going on my first dinner date in another country

Today, my time in Thailand was coming to an end, but not until the afternoon. Since I wake up early pretty much all the time, I decided to do a spa day!  I asked at the front desk of my hostel for a recommendation and he sent me to a location right around the corner.

When I got there, I found out it was a place that employs former female convicts. Much like in the U.S. recidivism is driven by financial need so a philanthropist started this organization that teaches former prisoners how to give traditional Thai massages and a wide range of other spa services.  Their prices were kind of high though so I only got a massage here.

I still had three hours until I needed to leave for my flight, so I headed down the main street to get a pedicure and manicure. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that with the high humidity and heat, the pedicure would literally melt into my socks a few days later. BUT at least I looked super duper cute when I met up with Jeff!

The descent into Lao

The flight to Lao was uneventful...mostly. It is the smallest plane I've ever been on.  They made people move to the back of the plane because all of our luggage was loaded in the front and they wanted to even out the weight. That made me feel SUPER confident!  When I landed, I was bouncing off the walls with excitement! Between both of our graduations and Jeff's work trip to Korea, it was over a month since we had seen each other. Lo and behold, my ATM card doesn't work in SE Asia and that I could use it in Thailand was a fluke of nature.  That's fun. Luckily, I have back up USD to exchange. I was the first one off the plane and through customs and one of the last to leave the airport!

When I got to the hotel (yah, Jeff spoiled me and I didn't sleep in an 8 person dorm this trip), he was
waiting for me in the lobby!  Lao was HOT and the people's English wasn't very good. I shared a taxi with an Indian woman who recommended a swanky restaurant down the

Inflation is crazy...

street. We were both hot, tired, and hungry so we decided to take her suggestion.  For like $30 we had what would've been a $150 meal easily in the U.S.  It rivaled the quality and presentation of Coach Insignia!
Afterwards, we walked through the night market.  It was pretty low key compared to the markets in Thailand.  I was really surprised how not busy the market was. We got about half way and it started to thunder and lightening. It was SUPER cool to watch them pack everything up in just a few minutes. Everything from scarves and dresses to postcards and trinkets were gone in less than 10 minutes.  It was crazy how organized the whole thing is.  Jeff "helped" me pick out a table runner as my souvenir from the night market. I say helped because his job was just to tell me it was pretty because I had to explain what a table runner is at first.

Jeff chilling at our restaurant 

Two options for beer: Beer Lao or Beer Dark...