EC-Rider Travels

We woke this morning to news that the haze was sadly not just due to the heat but in fact, a forest fire in Laos. If anything it was thicker today which was such a shame. Tippy and Alex had a meeting at the new house, so I happily stayed with the dogs and caught up on a bit of admin. We then went down to the village to see the market which should have been buzzing at this time, but fear of the smoke had kept the locals away. Still we found more fruit and veg, I had never seen, and bought some amazing looking donuts for all the workers at the site. We went to have a quick and very delicious noodle lunch and then headed up to see the new house.

Oh my goodness! It is quite something or it will be soon. It is in the most stunning position overlooking the valley directly opposite Jason. It originally (well a small part of it) belonged to the rather amazing 80 year old owner (and builder) of the resort, who is also building this house for Alex and Tippy. They are adding a second storey and making an amazing four bedroom house which will become their home. So exciting.

Tippy had booked us a massage at the resort, but decided not to come so Alex and I went down and had the most incredible Thai aromatherapy massage. Amazing but quite ‘firm’ and now feeling a little bruised! No pain, no gain … I am sure. We raced back to pick up wine to go and see the sun set over the new house. With the ever increasing smoke, this was not as spectacular as it might be, but still good to practice. It really is going to be so lovely.

Home for a quick shower and then down to the resort for a Mongolian BBQ. Another first! A bit like a hot rock, but you have a totally impractical, hat shaped porcelain ‘brick’ heated from below, on to which you have to try and balance your meat or prawns. It is surrounded by a narrow moat filled with water and you add herbs and vegetables to make a delicious broth. Luckily Naruesha was very experienced and we had yet another delicious dinner, followed by the best banana fritters ever!