Organising

First order of business: get that iced egg coffee!

It was fine. But way too much coffee. And damn, the caffeine hit hard. I was so hyperactive suddenly with nowhere to put it. I was thrilled when the effects wore off. Slooooowly.

I was still waiting for the tour company to contact me via WhatsApp, as promised - but then I just did it myself. Luckily, I found their WhatsApp contact online.

I finally got some information. To be fair, I kept asking questions. That’s not the way this is supposed to work. They’re supposed to supply you with all the necessary info unasked.
I’m hoping this was a snafu - considering they’ve already got a deposit…

I enquired about the number of people who had signed up for the tour.

I am the only one…

That made me rather uneasy and I asked if there was a chance to get a female tour guide.
Well. While they have a female driver, I was told she’s not a tour guide and doesn’t speak English. Well, ok.

But then they followed it up by saying that males are better drivers than females anyway.
Whoa. Interesting thing to say.

I called them out and said, yeah, that’s sexist, isn’t it?

They called it a misunderstanding and apologized.

They doubled down and said, well, the nature of the road requires a male driver.

I left it at that…

Apart from my familiar hunt for postcards and stamps, I didn’t do too much today. I’m amazed again and again how inefficient the process of acquiring and sending postcards is. Arbitrary opening times of post offices that don’t match the info on Google Maps, the utterly scarce presence of mailboxes, and finding a decent enough postcard in the first place. It’s a science. Or maybe I’m just making it really complicated. Though those of you getting a postcard from Laos IF they ever arrive - they are nothing to write home about. I’ll leave you with this wonderful paradox.

Noteworthy mention: I did come across a place that creates stamps with your face and name. Intrigued, I went for it.

Let me say this: They got my name right. My face very much not. I look like a Chinese man! I’m outraged. 😁Read more