My head cold has modulated to more of a cough and severely blocked left ear than the splutter I had yesterday. Bob attempted to have an unairconditioned night with only the fan function . . . this, and keeping my head as high as possible certainly helped.

We were unable to view the national museum yesterday - a snap 'closed on Tuesday' policy, however workers were busily setting up lanterns and decorations to light the the old palace for an upcoming festival.

We thus turned, with little forethought, to plan B a massage at the Lao Red Cross. En route i popped by the very-Camus L'eterange book exchange and tea rooms (sorry the shift key doesn't work), to see if I could get some more English language reading matter. The prices were in baht, and suffering from currency conversion overload, we continued on. It's difficult dealing each day in thai baht, lao kip and US dollars for everything. So many zeros is confusing!

this was underlined when i found a 235g jar of Vegemite in a local version of a "continental deli" - 93,000 kip! B y any standards this is expensive! thankfully we still have an unopened tube of the black gold with us. Why do I so crave Vegemite when i am overseas?

the red cross rooms indicated that the herbal sauna was only operational from 4:0pm daily. bob and I enquired about the attire require for the sauna and massage, after finding that in the Thai hill tribe village local custom decreed that we should stay dressed with upper legs and shoulders covered for cultural reasons.. no such deal here, so bob went with a young bloke, whilst I headed off with a strong and experienced woman of 50 who spoke reasonable English. Under a high roof of shingles supported y dark, almost Japanese style stained teak beams and supports, I lay there while her hands and fingers worked the oil into my stiff muscles. A deep guttural clang of a gong from the Buddhist wat opposite resonated throughout the ethereal space. I wondered how men could do so well at thinking of nothing. This had been brought home to me when i was working in a (delightfully so!) male dominated environment 6 females to 150 guys at one stage. Whilst I feel more like on of the boys, than one of the girls when talk turns to shoes (heels, not support and traction control); clothes (silk, not coolmax); and makeup (eyeliner, not bodyglide and liniment), i felt like an outsider when a group of colleagues discussed how their partners where incredulous when their universal answer to the question 'what are you thinking" was - nothing. that man could just sit and be, and not think is alien to me.

Whilst lacking the Y-linked chromosome for girly girl shopping type stuff, the notion of the brain not constantly whirring is unfathomable. So whilst bob finds the massage soporific and dozes off, my mind is going non-stop and my state of relaxation is severely limited. i tried to empty my mind, but to no avail. The masseuse and I chatted more when I was on my back, once again finding finding in her a series of responses ranging from shock, disbelief and then sorrow when she found out that we hadn't had any children. This response has been universal in everyone we have talked to from Thailand and Laos.

After the massage we planned our next few hours. we wanted to buy a few of the beautiful items available and mail them back to Australia. A postage box from La poste was bought and the costs of seamail (3+ months) was explored. mail from here is incredibly expensive by any standard. The postage alone for a single postcard could buy a meal. however, one cannot later return for these items and we made a pragmatic, thoughtful and short list of what we most desired; a bed cover for Bob, a lush hand embroidered scarf for me (to match my orange sandals!) and an apron for Bob to chop up vegies. We did a little daylight research, then headed off to a local restaurant for dinner of local specialties of Lao soup and salad, and laap of turkey (for me) and duck (for cannibal Bob). Seasonal fruit to follow, and a bottle of the light and aromatic local red wine Lao for Bob - 660 ml and only 7% alcohol (14,000 kip or less than AUD $2). The meal was very good, even if in my blocked snoz state i was oblivious to the chilli bite or delicacy of flavours.

back to the markets to study the seemingly infinite array of choices. First the bed cover, seeking one in the blue grey colours we coveted (that is meant to be a bed coverlet pun!) and some fine hand work. it was difficult to choose, but eventually we settled on one. Then to the cute slippers, which were too impractical and uncomfortable when tried on that we crossed them off the list.

An apron for Bob was found with the local swirl pattern, and the search for the scarf commenced. So difficult to decide, but one stood out with it's two months of hand work evident not only in the wonderful lush detail, but alas, also in its cost, at USD $40 it was far more than I had bargained for. We3 ended up getting it, after some good spirited discussion between Bob and the vendor. A large packet of the fried sesame and garlic encrusted Mee kong seaweed we have enjoyed so much for lunch, and we headed back to the Rama hotel, tired, but happy with our purchases and a very good day.

I was uncertain about whether a run this morning would be feasible, after a disturbed night, punctuated by Bob's sudden nightmare that we had spent USD$530 at the scarf seller in handing over 2,000 baht. this resulted in me staying in bed resting somewhat longer than i would have liked. my nose isn't running so much , but it has settled on my chest resulting in a husky (does husky = sexy?) cough and a very sore and blocked left ear.

We have spent a lazy, languid, Laotian kind of day, putting in our laundry, finalising the box for posting and photographing the contents, and 'wasting' a couple of hours in the Scandinavian bakery where there is an exceptional toilet (the pleasures is such things!), free coffee refills and one much valued copy of the International Herald Tribune. I am concentrating on re-hydrating orally and dehydrating nasally, catching up on world affairs and recovering for our next stage.

my current state has resulted in us changing are immediate plans . instead of travelling to phonsavan tomorrow (8 hours by local chicken bus), to explore the plain of jars, and then another 9-10 hour local bus service to Vientiane, we shall probably stay another day in this delightful town (Yay, i can run tomorrow if I don't have to be at the bus station at 7 am) and travel directly to Vientiane. there is limited information about phonsavan, and although the Plain of Jars looks wonderful, that is all that is there, and most recent info states that motorbikes and cycles were not available to be hired to foreigners due to security concerns, thus necessitating joining some sort of tour or hiring a car and driver.

great lunch by the river in a local restaurant (no menu or English) of spicy papaya salad, noodle soups and fruit shakes for a tiny 21,000 kip (less than AUD $3 for the two of us).

Spole to a guy jogging well along the road, he had particupated in the thailand temple run in which we were interested, really enjoying it but doing nearly 4 hours and well oer an hour more than his normal time in the conditions. Still might consider this for future years. With proper shoes from The Runners Shop, of course!!