Kung Fu Massage!

Ive just come back from the most grueling/excellent (take your pick) massage ever! I had a guy doing the massage which makes a change but I would have never guessed that he is a Kung-Fu master and I was about to get the full Kung-Fu massage treatment!

He twisted my body in ways that I would never be able to do by myself unless I was in a horrific car crash. He also used several glass jars as suction instruments on various points of my back (which left remarkable bruises ... looked like Id just been in a fight on OConnell Street)... The jars were heated slightly to expand the air inside and then it was placed on the skin. As the jar cools it sucks up the skin beneath like a vacuum... It works in a similar way to accupunture since nerves on different parts of the back connect to other parts of the body. I should have taken a picture but I didnt have my camera! Darn it!!

Anyhoo... it did my shoulder a load of good (its been giving me hell recently!)

Didnt get much done today since I woke up around 12pm after the raucous time last night. I DID manage to get a visa extension though: 5 more days for 5 dollars. Its lucky I decided to do it cuz I didnt realise my visa actualy runs out today... doh! Time REALLY flies in Laos its unbelievable... I still have Luang Prabang and Van Vieng to do so its going to be a rush!

Im off to Van Vieng tommorrow and then the fun starts when I try to make my way to Luang Prabang without getting shot by CIA-trained Hmong hilltribes (there have been 2-3 buses shot up in the past two months... not to worry anybody!)