Next adventure - Laos

I had such a great weekend with JOM at his university - met his friends, had motorbike tour of beautiful campus, saw the sights, was treated like a queen.  He introduced me to all his friends as his mom and several commented that we don't actually look anything like each other.  Hmm...  but that didn't stop them from showing incredible respect and kindness.

On Saturday JOM played tour guide all day and we visited temples, the Princess's garden and villa, the night market, and a few other stops along the way.  The princess has taken on the task of trying to stop the opium trade in this area, the Golden Triangle, where the borders of Laos, Burma and Thailand meet on the Mekong River.  She's tried to encourage gardening and farming and the hill roads are now strewn with gorgeous nurseries - didn't see any poppy fields!  Her villa complex has a "Hall of Inspiration" which is basically an homage to the royal family, a beautiful teak house and extensive gardens, complete with guards.

So today I managed to make it to Vientiane, Laos.  Took two flights and more buses than I want to count.  You'd think it would be a simple thing to go from one country to another instead of riding a bus to a checkpoint to get your passport to stamped to leave Thailand, then a bus across a bridge where a nice porter walks your bags through visa request, visa acquisition, exit booth, and by the way, since it's Sunday you pay an extra dollar.

Tomorrow I'll do some filming and start exploring Vientiane!