Mammoth Mountain

Here I am, on top of the incredibly gorgeous Mammoth Mountain, at 11,053 feet! I was not planning to visit this mountain, and how I got up there was purely by accident.

A few weeks prior to this journey, I saw a newsletter from Cheryl Strayed, one of my favorite authors, in my email inbox. I scanned it and saw a sentence announcing a writer’s workshop at the Mammoth Yoga Festival. I did a quick check to see where Mammoth was and learned that it was about a four hour drive from Sacramento. I decided this was the chance of a lifetime so I registered for the seminar and booked two nights at the resort the yoga festival was being held at, thinking it would be easier to just stay where the seminar was so I wouldn’t have to stress out and drive and find it. More on that later. 

I left a couple of hours early from work on Friday and hit the road, trusting my GPS to do all the thinking for me. I got to the resort four-ish hours later. I thought it was odd that I had clearly been routed through Nevada, as I could see the “Welcome to Nevada” signs, but I was so exhausted I put that thought aside and limped up to the check-in desk. I felt like a zombie and my brain was fried, so I did my best to understand all the instructions, signed all the paperwork, and figured out where the heck my parking space was. They actually have a genius underground parking garage with parking areas for each section of the hotel. I got into my room, dumped all my stuff, rested for a bit, then set out to explore the resort. 

If you are ever in the area on the off season, definitely consider The Village Lodge Mammoth. It is brilliantly designed, with all the shops and restaurants right there in a village setting, so everything you need is within a few minutes’ walk. I had a look at the souvenirs, then got some groceries at the local grocery store; much cheaper than eating out. 

I went back to my room and settled down to figure out my strategy for the next morning, the morning of the seminar. This is where things got… interesting. 

The first thing I discovered was that despite all my planning and cleverness, my seminar was not going to be held at the resort. Great. My anxiety level shot up as I started strategizing for the next morning. I am completely paranoid when it comes to these type of events, and will go ridiculously early to ensure that there is no chance I might be late. So I decided to go a full hour early, (it was only a five minute drive to the venue), scope out the place and sit and read while I waited. 

The next morning I got up early, grabbed some snacks from the grocery store, and headed out. As I was getting closer to where it was supposed to be, I saw something incredible; skiers on the hill. Did I mention this was in the summer? Then I started to see something concerning; cars parked on the road for at least a mile. I kept driving, hoping that this was not going to affect my schedule. I got to the venue which turned out to be a ski lodge, and was told by the parking attendants that I had to go all the way back down the hill, park, and catch a shuttle bus back up the hill. Oh crap. Suddenly my extra hour was not so comforting. I was now in a race against the clock. I drove back down past the rows and rows of cars that seemed to go on forever and finally pulled into the first spot available. The parking attendant had said the shuttle signs were lettered A-E so I started my long walk up the hill. Mind you, I am not in great shape, my anxiety at this point was through the roof, my heart was pounding and my blood pressure was probably scary. But I was determined. I started walking. I had to stop frequently and rest because did I mention I was at 6000 feet elevation? I employed all the mind tricks I have learned from years of training martial arts to keep going, and after what seemed like forever, I saw a sign marked C. I leaned on a car and caught my breath and started to worry about whether the shuttle would really come or not. At this point, I had about 30 minutes before the seminar started and I knew that time would go quick. I stewed for a few minutes and a couple walked up and asked me if this was the shuttle stop and when it would come. I said I didn’t know so we stood there together and worried. Fortunately the shuttle did come after a few minutes and we rode up to the lodge. Whew! 

The lodge was a long building that was maybe three or four stories high. I hopped out of the shuttle and ran up to the attendant and said “I’m here for the writing seminar; where is the conference room?” He replied that it was at the far end of the building and up two floors. Ugh. I only had about 15 minutes to spare. So I started out. Up one staircase, walking as fast I could not knowing where I was going, hoping I wasn’t going the wrong way. I found the kitchen they mentioned, then up the second staircase (I was so exhausted by this point but I was going to make it if it killed me). I finally reached a nice lady sitting at a table and said “Is this the writing workshop?” She said “yes” and I let out a big sigh of relief and said “Oh my God!” She apologized and said none of them knew it was going to be this busy. Just then Cheryl walked by and I heard the facilitator explain to her that a lot of people might be late because they did not foresee all the crowds. Mind you, I had started a full hour early and only just made it. There were a few people already there. I found a good spot, more people filtered in and we started the seminar. It was everything I had hoped it would be and to hear one of my favorite authors speak was an incredible treat! 

So, here’s where I accidentally end up on the top of Mammoth Mountain. After the seminar, I noticed signs for a gondola. I remembered that my booking had included a free gondola ride, so I went to the counter to check it out. I had no idea where this thing was headed, but I figured, free ride, might as well take advantage. I had everything the hotel had given me, but there was no pass. Given my zombie state at check in, this might have been completely my fault but the guy at the desk was very helpful and called the hotel to confirm. I was all set and headed over to the gondola building. I got in the gondola and was told I could get out as many times as I wanted to at stops one and two but once I got out at the station, my ride was over. I didn’t really know what that meant but I agreed and off we went. It was breathtakingly beautiful. As we pulled in to stop one, they asked if I wanted to get out, but I decided I would get out on the return trip if I wanted to. Then I looked forward. The line went straight up, so far I couldn’t see where it ended. This leg was even more incredible than the first. I had no idea where I was going, but I knew it was high. I marveled at my surroundings and thought that even though I am not a skier, after this experience I have a new understanding of why people do it. The views are spectacular! I got off at stop two and took the picture in this post. There was a nice little cafe and mini museum with facts about the mountain. It was there I learned where I was and that this was easily the highest elevation I have ever been to in my life. I took some pictures and bought a t-shirt and rode the gondola back down the mountain. It was a very cool, completely unexpected experience. Once I had my feet on the ground, I was faced with the task of finding my car and getting back to the resort. The shuttle came around and I was able to identify where I parked and got back with no incident. I bought some souvenirs and made a bad choice of restaurants and had cold tacos, but otherwise had a nice evening. 

Later that night, I called my friend Leila who was 94 and had been camping and backpacking for decades all over the West Coast. She listened to my story and quizzed me on my route and was insistent that my GPS took me too far out of my way. She implored me to use a map to get home and I promised I would look at it. When I did, I had to agree with her. I did some internet research and decided I wanted to come back via State Route108. I spent an hour painstakingly writing down my route with towns and markers to look out for in case I lost my signal, and went to bed. 

The next morning I checked out and headed for my first marker, a town on the edge of 108 where I planned to stop for breakfast. I had breakfast and entered a town on the other side of 108 into my GPS. The GPS was trying to get me to go all the way around, hours out of my way. I tried several more times, but the GPS would not route me through 108 no matter what I put in. I checked the internet, and all the notices said the route was open. So I decided to risk it. I turned onto 108 and saw all sorts of signs warning large vehicles not to take that route, and immediately got stuck behind an RV going at the pace of a sloth. After a frustrating few minutes, I decided to stop at a turn off and take a break. After that, it was much better. 

Once I got into the pass, I was rewarded with some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen! Unreal vistas, with mountains and valleys and views that blew my mind! I started stopping at almost every turnout to take pictures because with every turn there was a new incredible view. Pretty soon, even though I had been careful not to drink much, I had to go to the bathroom. It started to become very uncomfortable, so I started to look for a turnout that had a place that I could hide behind. I finally found one that had a rather large tree with a little ditch behind it. Certainly not completely hidden from the road, but I was hoping that by the time passersby saw me, they’d be driving past me before they could figure out what I was doing. Plus, there was hardly any traffic on the road. I pulled over and got behind the tree, and did the deed successfully, went back to my car and continued my journey, feeling much better. Fortunately, that was the only time I had to do that. I kept stopping for pictures until I finally said to myself “you’d better drive or you’re not going to get home!” So I did. I stopped at a tiny little town, went into an old style diner and had chocolate ice cream, which tasted like the best thing I had ever eaten. They suggested I go downstairs and have a look around. It was an antique/bookshop but as I walked around, I could hear water running. I discovered that this level had been carved out of the hill and there was a natural waterfall that went through it! Another accidental, pretty incredible discovery. After that, I drove the rest of the way home, exhausted but very satisfied with my adventure. 

Lesson learned; GPS is fine for finding addresses around town, but for long trips into the country, plan your trip with a real map and make sure you know were you are going. 

The Expendable Spoon

When my friend Chris was leaving for his European backpacking trip, our friend Howard gave him a spoon to take with him.  I asked him why a spoon and here is what he said (as I understood it):

When we are young and just getting started in life we buy what supplies we can on our limited budget.  Cheap silverware, maybe mismatched plates from the thrift store, whatever we need.  As we get older, we are able to have more stability and maybe we graduate to a house, car, matching silverware.  So the old stuff gets thrown in the back of the drawer.  

But every once in awhile, we may have the opportunity to go on a trip or do something that requires packing a lunch and we need to take a spoon with us.  We don’t want to risk losing one of our nice pieces, so we grab the old forgotten spoon from the back of the drawer because it is expendable.  

We go on our trip, come home, wash the spoon and put it away, back in the forgotten recesses of the drawer.  Next time we need an expendable spoon, we grab that one again, and it comes with us on another trip, another adventure.  

Over the years, our nice silverware gets used, washed, and put away, but this old spoon gets to go on all the adventures with us, and after awhile, it starts to take on meaning.  We start to attach fond memories to it and it becomes more than the old expendable spoon, it becomes the adventure spoon.  

That’s why he gave our friend a spoon, to teach him that the ordinary can take on an extraordinary new life.  

As I reflected on that story, thinking what a great concept that was, he added: maybe some of us are like that, we are the oddballs, the expendable spoons, but we go on the greatest adventures.  

My friend is a genius.

(Clever spoon photo courtesy of Chris Domingo
Spoon story courtesy of Howard Martell)

Adventures in Air Conditioning

View from the window

My air conditioner at the first place I stayed in Chiang Mai, Thailand didn’t seem to work very well when I moved in.  At first, the temperature didn’t get below 85F.  I gave it a day or two and then I told reception that my a/c was not working.  They sent a guy up who looked like he was about 16 years old...

He stared at it for a few minutes...

Then looked at me and said “ok?”  

"Not okay!"  I showed him the thermometer. “See? it’s 30C, it should be 20C.”  

He stared at it some more...

and stood there, looked at me, looked back at it...

Finally he opened up the panel.  "Great," I thought, "we're finally getting somewhere."  

He finally took the filters out and washed them in my shower.  It seemed to work and that night it got so cold I had to turn it off!  Hallelujah!  

The next day it crapped out again.  I told the front desk.  They sent the tech up again.  

He stared at the unit for awhile...

Then he grabbed the remote, pushed the power button and "beep!" it magically came on.

I had no idea what he did, I swear I pushed every button on that remote, but it seemed to be working.  He handed me the remote and said "Ok?"  There wasn't much I could say, the unit was running so I said "ok, thank you" and he left.

That night, the air conditioner was still not working.  After fiddling with it, I finally figured out what was going on.  It would run for about 1/2 hour then turn itself off.  What that meant was I woke up every 2 hours sweating from the heat, turned the a/c on, cooled down enough to go to sleep, woke up two hours later sweating from the heat, etc etc.  By the third or fourth go around, I had a screaming headache.  

I went to reception the next morning.  I told them “you keep sending the tech, and he’s a nice guy, but he’s not fixing the problem.”  They said they will send a real tech from “outside” the next day.  Great, so that meant I was looking forward to another hot night.  I went to the mall to see a movie with a friend.  

When I got back to my room, from down the hall I could see multiple sandals outside my door.  I rushed in to see five workmen in my room, one standing on my chair working on the unit, the tech I had before, two sitting on the ground by the window from what I can tell providing moral support, and another walking around.  I said hi to everyone and sat on my bed and watched.  They showed me that there was a broken sensor that they replaced. That was finally the end of the a/c saga and I happy to say it has worked ever since!

Buddha Park, Vientiane, Laos

Having the whole day to kill, last night I did some research and decided to go see Buddha Park, which is this park filled with giant sculptures of Buddha and assorted other deities.  It was a long ride out there, I wasn’t paying too close attention but I’d say at least 45 minutes.  It cost 5000kip to get in, thank God the mini mart had given me change in kip.  It was crowded and pretty hot and unfortunately the time of day meant the lighting really sucked.  Most of my pictures as first were just black, couldn’t see any detail.

After walking around for 5 or 10 minutes, my bowels decided to protest and I got a bad case of cramps and diarrhea (did I mention I’m also on my period?  Great time to be traveling).  I thought I was going to shit my pants so I frantically looked around for a toilet, almost doubled over in pain.  I asked the lady "toilet?" and she pointed to a sign way on the other side of the field.  I hobbled over there, and they charged 2000kip to get in, which luckily was the other denomination the mini mart had given me.  I hastily handed it to the little girl, who couldn’t have been more than 7 or 8 years old, and hurried into the toilet.  

First glance, nasty, wet, and squatty potty.  Great.  I tried to find the driest spot on the floor I could and placed my back pack carefully on it, and balanced my purse on that, and dug out my toilet kit.  This consists of extra pads and wet wipes, which come in handy more than I’d like to admit.  

I organized all my pants and shirts and money belt and did my best to squat in the right place, hoping I would have good aim.  By this time my bowels were screaming at me.  I finally got into position and let loose.  Relief was slow in coming, but eventually I did the deed and cleaned up without making a mess, amazingly.  

I got all my pieces and parts put back together and looked at the toilet to see what kind of damage I’d done.  Amazingly, my aim was perfect!  I gingerly took the scoop from the bucket next to the toilet (eeewww) and hand flushed (yuck).  I re-packed my kit, picked up my gear, sprayed my hands liberally with antibacterial spray and, feeling much better, headed out to try and get better pictures of the statues.  

It was much easier to concentrate when I wasn’t in pain, so I actually got some decent shots.  Out of about 100, I got 5 really great Instagram shots and about 20 more that I just saved for myself.  I also got nailed by what looked like a four year old with a giant water gun. 

Happy New Year. 

Bali Mail Shack

I went to a shack labeled Post Office earlier today to mail a package.  I had a few things I wanted to send home but I decided to just send one and see how it went.  There didn’t appear to be anyone in the shack at first but I figured they were somewhere.  

I walked up to have a look around and there was a lady laying on a blanket on the floor behind the desk.  She jumped up and said "hello."  I said "I would like to mail a package" and I took a wrapped gift that I had bought for my sister’s family and laid it on the desk.  The lady dug around in a pile of plastic bags and came up with a very well used gift box or maybe food container.  Hard to tell.  

She placed the gift in the box and it took up less than half the space.  She started to put the lid on; she was going to send it just like that.  I noticed a smaller box underneath the desk and asked her if we could use that.  She said yes so I took the box this time, placed the gift inside and asked her for some newspaper.  She took a piece and began to fold it flat.  I took it out of her hand and crumpled it and packed the gifts in the box and put the lid on.  

She then took a roll of shipping tape and tried to find the end but couldn’t so she gave it to me.  I found the end and handed it back to her and she wrapped the entire box in shipping tape.  Good luck opening that, Liz! 

Then she took the package and weighed it on a bathroom scale, not a mail scale.  It was a very light package so of course it didn’t even register.  She asked me to tell her how much it weighed. It was hard to tell, but I made a guess. 

She called someone on the phone and spent quite a while asking them what the prices were and finally got off the phone and handed me a shipping label book.  She said to fill out the top portion with my information and the bottom with the recipient’s.  I filled it out and then she examined it.  

She pointed to the box with the return address and pointed to the box and said “for?”  

I pointed to the return address and pointed to me.  This is kind of hard to describe in writing but it was hilarious.  We had a conversation that went something like this: 

(point to return address) “FOR”

(point to mailing address) "FROM"  

Me: “no (point to return address, point to self) ME, (point to mailing address, point to box) SEND.”  

She pointed to the boxes on the page and said “FOR, FROM,” which was the opposite of what she told me to do.  

So I said “I’ll rewrite it.” She said “no, it’s okay!” I took the book from her, drew a big X through the box I had just filled out and re-wrote it the opposite way.  We went through it again (point) “FOR,” (point) “FROM.”  

At this point I started giggling and she did too. “Sorry, sorry, so confused!” she said.  I said “it’s ok” because really, what else could I say?  Then she gave me a sharpie and pointed to the box.  I wrote the address on the box, grateful that at least I had a better chance of it getting sent to the correct address.  I paid her and we smiled and said “thank you” and I went on my way.   

So Liz, I hope you get your package.  She said it would take about three weeks.  I saw a different “post office” on the way back to my lodge.  I think I will try them next time. 

Eek! A Spider! (another story from Bali)

True confessions: After my run in with the spider, I went walking down the street and saw that every other building is an accommodation of some sort.  So I started inquiring.  I found a place called TunJung Mas Bungalows that is the same price and the rooms are clean and the doors close properly, no huge gaps.  So I packed up my stuff and moved. 

This flower was blooming in a pot right on the busy street where my first hotel was.

Quick recap for those of you that weren't there for the epic Facebook conversation.  I checked into my beautiful but tiny little room in Ubud, Bali.  I was a little surprised because I had this picture in my head of what Bali would be like and I thought I was going to be in a quieter part of town but it turns out the place I booked is right on the main street and the town is super busy!  So I was a little thrown off by that.  But such is the life of a wanderer so I was determined to keep an open mind and explore where I landed.  Even though I felt very exposed, the grounds were absolutely gorgeous!  So after doing some walking around, I settled in for the night.  I woke up at 3:30am (as I often do - touch of insomnia) to find a huge spider on my door!  Not tarantula size, but about the size of my palm, quite big enough to scare the bejeezus out of me!  I grabbed my laptop and started writing status updates about it.  The nice thing about the time difference is that when it’s 4am here, it’s the middle of the day for Sacramento where I come from so all my friends were up and commenting.  (Status updates in red)

“OMG you guys it is 4am and I just found a giant spider in my room! Eeeeeekkkkk!!!!!”

After I wrote my first status update, I looked at the door and it was gone!

“Ok, so I looked up from my computer and he's not on the door any more. What's worse, seeing a spider or not seeing a spider? Oh Sh*t, he's on my desk now!”

“I called the reception guy and he came in but now we can't find it. All I can think of is it's behind the bed. Aack!”

The reception guy tried his best to find it but in the end he failed.  

“So I've got at least two hours to hang out with my arachnid friend until sunrise... There's no way I'm going back to sleep. I'm sure I'll get used to it but it's only my first day so I'm freaked out!”

I sat in the center of my bed in the middle of the room until sunrise.  Finally a bird started singing and I felt better, knowing the worst was over.  I still shuddered to think that spider could be anywhere!  So after breakfast I wandered down the street and decided to find another place to stay.  

This sweet little gecko took up residence in my second hotel and kept me company.  I loved having him there!

It wasn’t just the spider that made me decide to move.  It was a number of things that all added up.  First, the location,  imagine buying a cheap storage shed at Home Depot that hasn’t been put together properly and so has big spaces in between the doors.  Now put it on Howe Avenue (for non-Sacramentans, a very busy street) and try to live there.  That’s what this place felt like.  Even though they have done their best to create a beautiful oasis, the fact remains that you are sitting right on the street.  I read the reviews and I think I just lucked into getting the worst room.  There are other rooms further back with better features.  But when I asked to change rooms they said there was no availability.  The spider was just the cherry on top and with the way that room was constructed I knew there was no stopping a hundred other critters from coming right in.  The staff was really nice about trying to help me out but in the end they could not solve my problem, so I tried to be as gracious as possible when canceling my reservation.  I paid a small cancellation fee - uderstandable - and packed up my things and moved to my new place.  

This was a common sight in the area I was staying.  You really had to watch where you walked or you could seriously injure yourself!

I felt better in this place knowing the door was pretty airtight.  It had this fantastic shower which was on rocks, kind of like an outdoor shower but totally screened in so I was confident no spiders could get in.  I unpacked and went out to explore the city.  I came back later that afternoon and took a shower, which was an interesting and fun experience!  I went out again to find some dinner and when I came back, to my horror, there were giant ants making their way en masse from the shower into the bathroom!  Seriously, they were easily 20mm long and fat!  We used to have red ants like that in Carmichael so I knew those suckers wouldn’t die easily.  I killed all the ones in the bathroom but five minutes later there were just as many!  I looked online for natural remedies and made an ant-killing concoction of water, tea tree oil, peppermint oil, and clove oil and sprayed the heck out of everything!  My room smelled amazing but it didn’t seem to deter the ants.  I dumped a bunch more clove oil in but it destroyed my spray bottle.  So I finally went down to reception and told them the situation and said I’d like to change rooms to one with an inside shower.  They asked me if I would let them clean it first and see if that solved the problem.  I said ok and minutes later had three staff guys in there looking for ants. They said “there aren’t that many” and I said “that’s because I already killed them all!”  They came in with some kind of pesticide and sprayed all over the shower which killed most of the ants but made the whole bathroom smell like pesticide which couldn’t have been healthy for me to breathe!  I told them I would stick it out for the night but would probably still want to change rooms in the morning.  

I did love all the statues and creative creatures there!

I spent a very nervous night not knowing what I would find every time I opened that bathroom door!  I did make it through the night and woke up with a fresh bite mark on my foot.  At 8am I went down and requested a room change.  This time I have a room with an inside shower and a good fitting door.  I dumped the rest of my concoction on a towel and pushed it up against the gap at the bottom of the door and saturated cotton balls with tea tree oil and clove oil and placed them by the door and in the bathroom.  I was a nervous wreck as night fell, hoping I wouldn’t have another freaky bug battle!  I didn’t get much sleep but by about 2am I hadn’t seen any more bugs I finally started to relax.  I do have the cutest baby gecko which makes me feel more comfortable.  Why do I love lizards and hate spiders and ants?  I don’t know, but it’s how I am.  As of this writing it is 6:30am the next morning and as far as I can tell, I am still bug free.  It’s not that I expect to be completely bug free all the time; there were plenty of bugs at the first place I stayed (the Elephant Safari lodge) but they made sense.  A couple of ants which came out of the fruit tray they brought in, the occasional spider.  This was not a man-eating spider chasing me around a tiny room or an army of determined ants forging their way toward me.  I have learned a few valuable lessons from this experience.  I definitely look for clean rooms with tight fitting doors when I book lodgings.  I am much more interested in learning about essential oils now and plan on expanding my collection.  At 2am all alone in a room in a foreign country it helps to have some essentials oils to concoct remedies for problems.  I am optimistic about this new room; third time’s a charm I guess, and I am looking into my next move to hopefully something less bustling and more like the Bali I was hoping to find.

Fun Times at the Airport

So, today was the day to fly to Vientiane, Laos to apply for an education visa.  I got up at 6am and got breakfast from my sweet breakfast lady at 6:30.  

I did my last minute checks and went down to the lobby about 7:45am.  The taxi driver was a bit late, but no big deal.  My flight was not until 3pm but I had heard horror stories about it taking up to four hours to get to the airport during Songkran so I figured I’d be better off waiting at the airport than sitting in my room worrying.  We got there in 15 minutes!  Everyone that processed my ticket looked at me and said “wow!” I know, I’m early.  I said "Songkran" and they understood, although I think they all thought I was a crazy farang (foreigner).  I guess I am.  I don’t like missing flights, even if it means I have to wait in airports longer. 

Saw this in the Chiang Mai airport. I wonder what's going on?  Obviously people think it's a donation box, but for what?

We got to Bangkok and I had to walk all the way to the other end of the airport to the “transfer counter?”  This was new.  They didn’t give me both boarding passes at the beginning like they usually do. I had to get my second boarding pass in Bangkok.  I was tired and sore but I made the trek.  I had a four hour layover which was fine by me since I had some errands to run.  

When I got there I was told that they would not be open for another 1 1/2 hours.  Great.  So I decided to go to a money changer.  I looked on the map and it said there was one - on the other side of the airport that I had just come from.  Really?  One money changer for the whole airport?  “Well, I’m getting some exercise” I muttered and walked back to the other side of the airport. 

The lady at the bank was not helpful at all!  It’s like she just said no to everything.  Can I get change in US?  No.  Can I convert baht to kip? No.  Okay… I had withdrawn $200 US from the ATM and it gave me two $100 bills.  Not helpful in this part of the world.  I needed $20s and smaller.  I finally convinced her to change $50 US into baht.  She handed me a $50 and it took a lot of convincing to get her to give me the change in smaller bills even thought I could see stacks of money right there in front of me.  I didn’t want to push my luck so I figured I’ll see what I can do on the way back.  (Oh, and by the way?  As I was walking to my terminal later I saw another money changing kiosk on that side which apparently they didn’t bother putting on the map.  Grrr.)  

After that I sat down at a restaurant and ordered a ham and cheese sandwich which was delicious, gave my feet a rest, stocked up on sandwiches and muffins to go, and trudged back to the other side of the airport to pick up my new boarding pass.  By the time I got that finished I had about an hour to spare.  So I found my gate.  My feet were screaming at me by this time and the lounge was another leg further.  I debated whether I wanted to walk it but I figured I could charge my phone so I decided to do it.  I re-bagged all my food in ziplock bags and charged my phone.  Finally about 15 minutes before boarding I went to the gate.  Sat down and waited.  Boarding time came and went.  And we waited.  Finally a good 20 minutes past, we saw the flight attendants get on and shortly after that we boarded.  The flight was uneventful and an hour later I was finally in Vientiane, Laos!