Oh, for want of a nail.

 

January 9 2023 Luang Prabang, Laos

Continued

To get into the station you need a ticket, of course, mask and identification. Then through the metal detector and hand wand while your luggage and if you still used camera film were exposed to x-rays.

The train leaves at 1228 with boarding at 1216. Not 15 and not 17, 16! I watched the gate guy hand on the gate until the digital clock go from 15 to 16. Assigned cars and assigned seats and still an every man, woman and child for themselves. I got a seat across from where I was assigned and called it good.

The train passes through some of the most picturesque landscape of the entire country. You won’t see it though, because the route is mostly tunnels (really). We clipped along at 158 kph (guessing around 90 mph) and in no time were at Luang Prabang. Again, dog eat dog getting off the train and another 6 or 7 mile minivan drive to town, but I did get dropped off at my hotel.

The hotel was booked with points and is really nice. Former French colonial building on the river. Big room with everything a $100+ a night hotel should have.

I got to my room and tossing each bags contents onto the floor to make sure I really did forget my pills on the boat. I found them in the pocket they should have been in, but I guess my brain was not working when I was looking for them last time. Well that saves me for going to a pharmacy and see if one US generic drug name translates to a Lao generic drug name. Tragedy averted.

Next on my list was specific shopping. One of my tribe members had a very nice hatband and gave me a picture of her receipt, that had the name of the store. The hotel said ‘Go that away’, or maybe they said ‘Go Away’. I hit a likely looking street and passed shops until I was out of shops. Okay, about face. I had passed a shop and decided they might know where the shop I wanted was.

She looked at the receipt and said “That’s my other shop! This is the ethnic style shop and the other is the French style shop”. She was the sales person for my tribe member and remembered her well. I followed her directions and there it was. I found the hat band I liked and for less the $10 had it hand sewn to my Indiana Jones hat that has been with me from Ethiopia to Syria and points in between. I got a few great images while I waited.

Then a roving around I went and around dinner time got back t my hotel. The hotel has a riverside restaurant across the street and I thought I’d give then a try. Meh! Their Lao food it too dumbed down to meet western taste buds. It was food, it didn’t break the bank and seemed good quality Meh!

Night, night.

Morning made coffee and just lay in bed sipping coffee. No set time to be anyplace. The first time in about 2 weeks that I haven’t had a schedule to meet. Back to riverside for breakfast and last night’s cat who sat near me the entire dinner, well he sat next to me the entire breakfast.

That fingernail I had repaired (improperly) in Vientiane had cracked again and was on the verge of breaking and taking skin with it. Maybe I could have lived with it, but let’s get it fixed. “Dear Google find me a nail salon”. The closest one was a 20 minute walk, so one foot in front of the other, following Google maps. Found it, with the door locked and the windows so dusty you could tell it hadn’t been open in quite a spell. Next on the list 15 minute walk. They had rolled metal shutter down and locked, with For Sale sign affixed to it. Next on the list, another 15 minute walk, mostly back the way I came and then off in a new direction. Flippin’ A ! It was open and doing business! I showed the lead woman my owie and she said sit down and we’ll get to you.

By now I was happy to sit down I’d gotten my ‘Steps’ in for the day, about 2 miles. When it was my turn the technician was exceptionally gentle taking little nibbles out of the broken nail careful not to hurt me. I typed into Google translate “Very gentle” to tell her she was doing a great job, and then said it as I handed it to her. She looked it and gave me the oddest look. I looked at me phone and G Translate had heard me say “very gentle” after I had already typed it, and added something on it’s own. I looked at what it was translating “Very Gentle. Very gentle virgin”. What the F ??! No wonder she thought I was wacko. I started laughing and so did she. At least Google translate is good for a laugh sometimes.

At one point she broke off a small piece of orange peel and spritzed the zest to her nose. I asked her if I was stinky, and she said no it was because she was pregnant. She did have a bit of a tummy, but we all know never to ask a question you might regret. When she was done, nice job, the bill was for $2 in Lao, I gave her a generous tip. She said no, I said for the baby and we were both happy.

Walking back, the restaurant I want to eat at was on the way. I only became almost roadkill once crossing a street to make reservations. Than back to the hotel. Over 4 miles just to get one fingernail fixed. There must be a moral in there somewhere.