The morning was refreshingly cool and we both managed to sleep throughout the night. It was cloudy this morning and I could hear the rumbling of thunder in the distance. Out on the balcony overlooking the river I could be small boats with fisherman beating the water with large sticks. There was also the occasional motorboat cruising past causing a large bow wave which which severely unbalance the fisherman to their annoyance. I managed to get some Lao coffee from the owners. It was very strong as usual but was sweetened with the condensed sweet milk Lao people put in everything. The coffee is so strong no matter how much milk you mix in, it always stays black and has a thick chocolate texture.

After the caffeine kick we sat on the balcony and admired the view which made hours seem like minutes. Laura was busy setting up a new blog page as she was unhappy with the layout of our present one and I was still engrossed in my book which keeps getting better and better. Around mid morning the heavens opened and a heavy downpour lasted roughly thirty minutes. The wind was surprisingly strong with the thin trees being curled right over. It was so refreshing though as the humidity levels recently had been so uncomfortable. After the rain passed we walked into town and found a little restaurant called 'Alex's' which was highly rated. It was small open restaurant with a lady owner who had taken up catering lessons in Germany. She now used her new knowledge to fuse German and Lao dishes together. I opted for the 'Lao farmer's breakfast' which turned out to be an omelet, aubergine dip, fried vegetables and sticky rice. The portion was huge and would absolutely set you up for a week, never mind a day. Laura opted for the noodle soup but was a little put out when the lady was trying to remove something from it before serving it. Laura is quite sensitive at the moment when it comes to these things so unfortunately she did not enjoy the meal fearing what she might find.... Normally she doesn't care. In my meal there one or two little rogue hairs that obviously found their way in and a few ants in my rice... Yummy.

After the somewhat indifferent meal we headed back to the guesthouse to cool off under the fan. Our room was cool luckily and we enjoyed reading whilst overlooking the tranquil river. As evening came I still felt quite full after our late lunch and Laura was feeling squiffy from the memory. Wr decided just to get some pot noodles from the shop, similar to what you get in Thailand. It does say something when the instant noodles is one of the tastiest meals you have had in a while.

We decided tomorrow to take the boat up river to the sleepy riverside village of Muang Ngoi. They say the scenery is breathtaking and the village walks offer a great insight into the Lao culture. I guess we shall wait and see for ourselves.