This tastes familiar...

In SE Asia, travellers often rave about one beer more than the others, and that is Beerlao. So, being in Laos, I did as the locals do, and had one. It was indeed very good, but it also had an eerily similar taste, like I had drank something similar to it beforehand.

That's when it hit me--if you want to know what Beerlao tastes like, go drink a Shiner Bock. To the casual beer drinker, the two aren't distinguishable.

Meanwhile, onto discussing my hygienic practices. Relative to other people travelling the same route, I've been relatively clean. I try to do laundry once every ten days, if not two weeks max, and rarely wear boxers more than once. My mother would probably be appalled to know that the same doesn't necessarily apply to tshirts, and it definitely doesn't apply to shorts or socks. I shower and brush my teeth at least once a day, and have not been growing out a beard. Not because of any particular health reason, but because after about three days of not shaving, I start to get itchy. I probably do need a haircut, though, but that will have to wait until I'm back in the states.

I even, *gasp,* used moisturizing lotion for the first time on my own volition--skin was starting to get dried out by the sun. How do I know what I used is moisturizing lotion and not some scam product? Because of where I bought it. At a chain pharmacy (SE Asia's CVS). In Singapore. In the Singaporean equivalent to the financial district.

Meanwhile, I'm off to take a bus to Vang Vieng tmw., a stop that will either be shorter than anticipated or longer than anticipated, depending on whether or not I like it. I would normally skip a place like it--backpacker haven, boozing (and other stuff...) 24/7, etc.--but it is on the road from Vientiane to Luang Prabang, Laos' premier tourist attraction, and helps break up what would otherwise be a nearly 10 hour bus ride into two shorter segments. Its also known for being a very pretty place.

Be advised, as I leave Vientiane, internet access will probably become less reliable in other parts of Laos.