Planes, Trains and Automobiles and everything in between

It is hard to believe but we have been traveling for a month now- Time here has gone by way too fast and I find myself thinking if the rest of the trip goes this quick we will be home too soon!
When I think about the last month what stands out is all the really amazing things we have seen and that despite it being difficult at times I am thankful we have traveled from place to place the way we have.
Let me see.... since arriving we have traveled by Big plane, little plane, taxi, limo van, overnight train, tuk tuk, jumbo, slow boat, car, elephant, regular bus, the bed bus (yes, that is what it is...a bus filled with bunks for overnight travel- really quite funny) Traveling in all these ways has allowed us to really see real life off the tourist track here in SE Asia- and with the exception of the 9 hour bus trip from Luang Prabang to Vientiane (LOOOOONG trip on a not so air-conditioned bus, up and down moutains the whole way with a driver who thought he was Mario Andretti or something) I have loved every one!

We are back in Bangkok now after our time in Laos. We traveled almost the length of Laos on buses of some sort. We had a great time in Vientiane with the Davy's despite the slight interuption (see previous post) then headed down to Salavan on the overnight bus- the Bed Bus, we had a lot of fun and not a whole lot of sleep. There is one large mattress-like thing at the end of the bus that sleeps five- five seemingly very small people-not larger people with legs-but it worked well for our family- we piled on and giggled for a long time- I can not imagine sleeping like that if a stranger was next to you, but all over the bus people just piled on and fell asleep.

In Salavan we were fortunate enough to go see a World Concern project in a village a couple hours out of town. After 2 hours or so of bumpy dirt roads that you shared with water buffalo, families of pigs, roosters, dogs and goats we arrived at the village. It is really outside of my abilities to accuratly describe all we saw and how fasicnating it is too see the life in the village and along the way. The village has no electricity or running water and two latrines for the 58 families. The latrine we used shared space with hens laying their eggs, imagine my surprise! We were able to be part of a community meeting where they told us (through an interupter) how World Concern projects has changed their lifes. They now have a medicine box for use by the villages, a rice bank, a school and a small loan/micro-finance bank that is used by the villagers for starting small business ventures. Seemingly simple things but life changing for them.

The houses were mostly one room thatched huts set high on stilts with the families animals living underneath (and in some cases inside) The villagers prepared a meal that was quite lavish by their standards and showed us around.
The kids in the village were shy but warmed up when we handed out candy and Kurt started taking pictures and video and showing it back to them, we learned that it may have been the first time some of them have seen something like that. I had so many questions to ask and really wish that we all spoke the same language!

Overall my impression is that although they live a simple life beyond our imagination the kids were well cared by moms and dads and extended family, there was a lot of pride shown in the way the houses and surroundings were kept and everyone down to the small children worked tremendously hard. All in all these villagers had a brighter exsistance thanks to the efforts of WC staff-