Rain Rain Go Away

Rain Rain Go Away

Though monsoon season is still a month away, I think it's come early this year. Today was the third day of nonstop rain. It rains all day and all through the night. Yesterday and today it was torrential downpour-- rain that was just endless. As I lay in bed right now typing up this blog, the sound of the rain outside my window is deafening. There are moments when the buckets turn to a drizzle, but there hasn't been a dry moment for days and there doesn't appear to be one in sight. And it's cold....like FREEEEEEEZING cold. I'm layering clothes- two pants, several shirts, all my scarves. All the research I did told me that southeast is HOT this time of year, and very very dry. When you are living out of one small rucksack for months at a time, every inch of space counts. SO: I left out warm clothes (hoodies, longsleeves, etc.) and my rain coat. I debated packing it, but based on the information I had, it would be unnecessary and just take up room. Well I'll be damned. I've been soaking wet for 3 days, with mud splattered up the backs of my legs and pants from my flip flops. I've been chilled down to the bone (except when in the sauna) and I'm even getting a little sniffle. I've doubled up in vitamin c and I'm trying to change out of my wet clothes as often as possible. What is it that you want to do on a rainy day?? Linda and I both agreed- relax and watch a movie. Well lucky us, the bar up the street shows movies once a week and tonights movie was PULP FICTION. Pulp Fiction is an American classic, so I was glad to be able to share it with Linda. For 50,000kip you got a "ticket": a seat and a beer. Not a bad deal. The movie was better than I remember and it was great to relax and settle into some Cinema-it's been over 2 months. It's the small comforts from home like this that are really nice from time to time. Aside from the movie, we did alot of nothing today- and it was awesome. We woke up late and had a long breakfast on the Mekong. Linda hit up the Internet cafe while I went to deal with the whole bike fiasco. Me and a doZen Lao people negotiating a price for my "stolen" bike. They started at 250, and after some serious haggling I gave the woman $50usd. It was 50 bucks more than I wanted to part with, but shit happens and atleast I didnt have to pay what she was originally asking. Afterwards I decided I'd skip lunch and use that money to get my legs waxed. Ive been growing out the hair on my legs for over 2 weeks so I could get em done- and Linda was embarassed to be seen with me because they were so hairy. Well nearly two hours of torture later I finally said enough is enough. They only got the front of my legs, from the knee down. And nearly half of those hairs were plucked, not waxed. So now 1/4 of my legs are semi-waxed, the rest...very hairy. Atleast it only cost me $3. Scooped up Linda, filled her in about my painful experience, and we went for lunch. Enjoyed a lovely meal, shared a beer, and played some Shithead. Then, we went from lunch to coffee. Following coffee was the fabulous sauna, and then grilled fish for dinner at the market. Topped off with pulp fiction and now we're going to bed. Tomorrow we head to Vang Vieng. I've heard mixed reviews, so I'm hoping that it's a good time-- or atleast that theres no rain.....