Chilling out....

Today is a bit of a relaxing day due to our trekking effort yesterday and the fact that the weather is making us feel like we are in Tamworth during the winter time. We ventured out at about 11am for a late breakfast at the Italian restaurant we had dinner at last night. Alvo had what she described as the best french toast she had ever tasted. It came with a side of bacon, grilled tomato and cheese. She also took a chance on a cappuccino and said that it was pretty good. I had a delicious tea of fresh ginger, lemon, honey and cinnamon along with my left over banana from last nights feast. I tried the french toast and agreed that is was really good and the tomatoes here taste home grown, not like the ones we get in the supermarket back home. We walked around the town to burn a bit of breakfast off, again being followed and hassled by the Hmong people. They always ask where you are from and seeing as though I had been asked so many times I decided that Australia was way too recognisable so I told one lady that I was from the Arctic Circle and another that I was from some other random country. They also always ask you what your name is, I told one lady that I had no name......it is getting so predictable that I thought I had better make a game of it. We stumbled across the restaurant I have read about that does cooking classes so we investigated. We have all day to fill in tomorrow before getting on the bus back to Hanoi (I know.....the terror bus route) so we decided to book in and spend some time learning. It was raining on and off so stopped in to have a drink and sit down for a while in a place where they had happy hour that allows you to buy 2 and get one free. I warmed my little cotton socks with some mulled wine while Alvo sipped on a Long Island Ice Tea. With no plans we headed back to our room for a rest where we organised some banking and photos while snuggled up in the doona. I'm telling you, I am not a cold climate holidayer......I want hot people. Before we knew it, it was time to find some dinner and I really need some spicy food to warm my inards so we opt for Indian remembering how good it was in Hue last week. We struggled to order due to the language barrier with the waitress but were sure we had not ordered dog or anything. I need a good curry so vindaloo was in my sights and she assured us that it was spicy. Our meals came out pretty quickly but digging in resulted in a little disappointment, my vindaloo certainly was not spicy.....argh, I can't wait to hit Thailand in a few days. With nothing better to do after dinner we strolled back to our room and packed for tomorrow, we will check out at 10am and head to the cooking class. I will now snuggle in and watch either the cartoon network or another re-run of river monsters or adventures in the arctic before drifting off to dreamland. Here's hoping I don't get woken again in the morning by hoiking and spitting, I think the lady next door has checked out so I might be lucky. Tanya xx.