It's a long story which I reported on in the reports section , but I ended up donating educational supplies to the school and helping them submit a grant to the Japanese Embassy to help the village build a new primary school. It took a lot of my time over the next week and a half as I met with different organizations, NGO's, the US Embassy and the Japanese Embassy seeing how this grant could be submitted. I missed not being able to travel and finally arranged to fly to Luang Namtha on December 23, take a bus to Muang Sing on the 24th, visit Akha and Mienh villages on the 25th and fly back on the 26th. I was so cold in Luang Namtha, and along with staying in a run down hotel, I was as lonely as I've every been. After a very cold and very long night I was ready to return to Vientiane where I had passed up several invitations to Christmas parties.
Buses here are trucks with benches in the back with a metal roof and open sides.
It was aproximately 40 degreees and foggy, and you can imagine how cold it was on the drive up. It was pure Lao, in a small village with a band, lots of guests and tasty food. I sat up on the balcony with the wedding party and drank plenty of lao lao and became best buddies with some of his men relatives. I also got in some dancing and was sad when we left to make way for the next wedding party. The next morning I caught a bus back to Luang Namtha, flew back to Vientiane and on the 27th I attended a ceremony at Ban Tha Ding Daeng Tai where I handed over the donated educational supplies and later that afternoon turned in the completed grant application to the Japanese Embassy.