"Ew Andrea, that kitten is gross"

Alright so here's the Laos update. Yesterday was rainy and we chilled at this place overlooking the Mekong river called Utopia for the better part of the day. Before you write us off as lazy, let me just say you would have too. They have mats laying out with pillow backrests and the view is gorgeous so it's hard to leave. We had gone to a bookstore beforehand and I traded in one of my old books for a danish one and the other girls are really into journaling (yes, it's a verb) so they wrote their deep thoughts while I read. After that we went to the night market and met some really cool artists. There was a guy who does traditional Buddhist stencils for the wats here (temples) and we talked with him for a bit. I also talked with his friend who is studying law right now and trying to get a scholarship to America to study there. He asked me what I was studying and I said health and he told me to come back to Laos to help them. I might just do that. The people here are great. Today we got up early, rented bikes and hit the road. We went to the Luang Prabang national museum which was closed and then to a beautiful wat. There were about 6 different buildings in a courtyard all covered in intricate mosaics. They must have taken forever to make so I made sure to try to check out as many details as I could. There was also the cutest kitten laying out so I played with him for a bit even though pieces of his ears were flaking off in my lap. I can't resist kittens though (who can). We rode along the river for a bit and then headed back to Utopia to pick up Ashley's umbrella that she left there yesterday. Well they didn't have the umbrella and we ended up staying there again for like five hours. I'm telling you once you get in that place you can't get out. It's paradise. We chilled there until the sun started setting and we realized there was supposed to be this epic place to watch the sunset so we hopped on our bikes and....got lost. So we saw the sunset from our bikes (still beautiful) and went back to the night market. I met even more cool artists today. Today there was a guy who did etchings and they were so detailed and beautiful that I had to get one even though I wasn't planning on getting anything. I'm a sucker though. Now we're back at the hostel gearing up for tomorrow's journey to...VIETNAM!! Stoked.