Pressure Points

I'm waiting for a motorbike "taxi" to come pick me up at 8am. It's exactly 8 now, but Lao time could mean anytime before 8:30 probably. :]

Yesterday morning, Christa & I went for a run and then met Kirsten & Heather at their hotel downtown around 9:15. We went to the same restaurant for breakfast that Christa & I went to two Friday's ago--with the mango sticky rice pancakes and sep lai Lao coffee. Then we hit up some of the main tourist attractions in Vientiane--another temple [see picture 1] and their national monument [see picture 2]. Our daily dose of ice cream was had at a cute little British/Lao place called Love Life. We had a late lunch at Kop Chai Deu (Thank You Very Much). Kirsten, Heather & I are all enjoying the food, but Christa said it just doesn't compare to homemade Lao food--which we'll be having tonight for supper here at home. We also stopped by the Morning Market for a few minutes and then we were going to go to the National Museum but it was still closed for New Years so we got massages instead. Which in my case, third time is not a charm. My goodness, my masseuse was amazingly strong for her size and for some reason thought I would enjoy having my pressure points pressured to near torturous [is that a word?] degrees. Just ask the other three girls--I had nail marks on my hands where she squeezed the pressure point between your thumb & forefinger. What's the word for OW...or maybe "Uncle!" in Lao?  Thankfully, there's only so many pressure points on one's body, so the rest of the massage was fairly enjoyable. :]
    After massages, we booked our bus tickets for Vang Vieng tomorrow and Kirsten & Heather booked some excursions for Luang Probang, which is another tourist place 12 hours north of here (but probably 3-4 hours on American roads) that they are going on to Thursday after Christa & I head back to Vientiane for me to leave on Friday. Then we went to the Night Market, which would be trip number 4 for me. I don't think I've gone shopping that many times all last year other than Wal-Mart. :] And final thing of the night was a nicer Lao restaurant which was also sep lai lai. 
   It is now 8:20 and the motor bike is still not here. Christa is at school, and I am going to meet Heather & Kirsten so we can go to Buddha Park for the morning and then head to Christa's afternoon class to talk with her students. It's been great having them here and getting to know them better. It makes me really thankful for all the Geels get-togethers and that us 2nd cousins are probably closer than a lot of other first cousins.