Pommes Frites

Yesterday we went to the U.S. Embassy to get pages added to Laura’s passport. When Jim did it in January, 2010, in Chaing Mai, Thailand, it was free. Now, it costs $82.00. We gagged over the price to tape a few new pages into the passport but it was cheaper than getting a new passport. So, we did it. You can no longer drop in on the U.S. Embassy, you have to go online and schedule an appointment to have them see you.

After the embassy we went to the National Museum, which extolled the fight for freedom in Lao, from the communist perspective.

Here, we bought some woven fabric to hang on the wall from around Xam Neua in Hua Phan province, and Laura bought a silk Laotian skirt. We went to the market after going to the U.S. Embassy to look for Fabric to get a skirt made, actually Laura did, while Jim stood around. But, at the museum, Laura determined that it was a better deal to buy the skirt already made. She bought a very nice silk skirt.

The market is next to the local bus station and there we saw these glorified golf carts that are used for city buses, complete with the route number on front. Jim really liked the open air version.

Last night we went to Dao Fa bar for happy hour. Wine during happy hour is only $1.25 per glass. The bar is owned by a Frenchman, and is quite nice. We sat in the open air bar, drinking our wine, eating fried potatoes, and staring at the Western Union sign across the street.

The red wine was served slightly chilled, like it is supposed to be served, and at which it is rarely served. Maybe the French do know something about wine. After the first glass of wine Laura ordered pommes freits thinking the french fries might be listed in French, but when she asked for pommes freits, the waiter replied ”You want an order of french-fries?”. So much for our foreign language skills.