I get my feet sucked off by tons of little fish

A couple of days ago at the night market, we came across a massage shop and at the front of the shop were 3 big tanks of water with tons of little fish in them.  In one of the tanks some people had their feet  and it looked like all the fish were eating their feet.  The idea was that all the fish ate off all the dead skin cells on your feet.  I wanted to try it, but the rest of my family was not so enthusiastic about the idea.  Finally my dad agreed to do it with me.  We washed our feet before putting them in the tanks (probably so we didn't kill the fish) then we walked over to the tank.  I let my dad go first and all the fish rushed to his feet.  It looked like he was in pain so I was hesitant to put my feet in.  Once I did it felt like my feet were asleep, but only in little areas of my feet.  I never got used to the feeling.  Usually it didn't hurt, but once in a while a bigger fish would bite, which would feel like a small pinch. When we were nearing the end of our time Jenna wanted a turn to so she came up for a few minutes.  When we got out I didn't notice any difference in my feet, but my dad said that his felt a lot better.

my dads first reaction

My dads feet

Us three at the end

Dining by Trial and Error in Vangvieng Laos

When we arrived in Vangvieng (Seth's pronunciation is the best) we had no idea where to eat. It seemed like every restaurant had the same menu. Seriously, it looked like the same company printed the menu and made the signs. We thought they must all be about the same in quality and price. The first one we tried was pretty good. The second we tried wasn't as good as the first. We tried a third and it was so good we stopped looking. We went back for every meal after that. I think my favorite meal was the "Porridge with coconut milk, milk, sugar, and bananas." It is absolutely the best oatmeal I've ever had. Throw in a banana smoothy and was good to go at least until lunch. Every time we ate there it was around $20 for the six of us and we all came away satisfied.

The atmosphere at the restaurant was good too. It was open air and they offered "platform" seating and table/chair seating. We opted for the platform seating every time and it really is a very relaxing way to eat as long as the tall people have places to put their legs. Add the awesome view of the mountains and river and it really was an exotic (and affordable) dining experience.

9NOI'S PLACE NO BED BUGS OK

"9NOI'S PLACE NO BED BUGS OK"

At one of our stops we signed in to the hotel, paid, and went to our rooms. We were pretty proud of ourselves for getting a deal at a comfortable hotel. We agreed to forego air conditioning because it wasn't really that hot. Each room had a fan and we smugly saved a few bucks on each room.

All was well, until we tried to access the Internet. The network "9NOI'S PLACE NO BED BUGS OK" popped up on our computers. The first part, "9NOI'S PLACE" was the name of the hotel and made sense. The part that was a little disconcerting was "NO BED BUGS OK". Those four little words planted an ugly seed in our minds. Every little spec of dust or ant became a bed bug in our minds. With the help of the Internet and the passage of time we were able to calm ourselves a bit and some of us didn't sleep that well the first night in that hotel. Elaine's sleep sacks that she made for each of us came in handy.

In the end we decided that there were no bed bugs and that everything we thought was a bed bug was really an ant. We don't really know for sure if there were or weren't bed bugs.

"Me" Time on the River Boat Ride

I would highly recommend the two-day river boat ride we just took from Luang Prabang, Laos to Chiang Khong, Thailand. In all it was about 17 hours on a river boat. It doesn't sound fun but I really, really enjoyed it. It was a great time for pondering and reflection while taking in beautiful scenery.

At this point I'd like to make an observation about traveling around the world with my family. I love each person in my family a lot. However, every once in a while I need some "alone" time. I need to put myself in time out or something. No computer, no people. I'd recommend that any long-term family trip include some alone time for everyone. Even if you aren't traveling around the world with your family take some time out for yourself.

Back to the story, did I mention the scenery was amazing?!? We saw water buffalo and elephants. The elephants weren't wild but still, how cool is that? On both sides of the river there were what looked like jungles: palm trees, banana trees, and green stuff everywhere. It surprised me how little civilization there was along such a big river. There were people, little villages, and signs of life just about everywhere but not too much in the way of modern cities or towns. Some villages I wondered if the river was the only way to get there.

It seemed like every inch of the river bank had a garden/farm on it but I couldn't see any houses most of the time. I imagine that during the wet season all of these gardens are under water as the river rises. Life looked so simple: fishing and farming. Bathing in the river.

I was sad for our river trip to end.

It was a misty morning.

My Office - 2013-01-09 and 2013-01-10

This is my office on the river boat.

Accidental Food Donation

Yesterday we arrived at the river side before the boat was ready for us. We sat down, took our packs off, and cleaned up our food bag from the previous day (we try to put together a food bag for our long travel days). After cleaning out the food bag the boat was ready for us and so we boarded the boat.

12 days in Laos

We have spent the last 12 days in Laos, a country not even on our itinerary. We entered the country from Nang Khai, Thailand and arrived in Vientiane, the Capital City. Right away we could tell the country was not as developed as others we have visited. We spent New Years Eve and New Years Day there. We saw a few sights, while a  few others we wanted to see were closed for the holiday.