Christmas is completely not present here. In some places you’ll see a Christmas tree or a golden bandelier attached to a doorpost saying "Merry Christmas", but they’re rare and hat’s it.
We decided to leave our bounty island in the mekong after 4 leisurely days. This morning we left Mali guesthouse on khong island at 06.50, loaded with baguetttes with omelet and sticky rice with pickled egg from our landlady. She is Lao-Canadian, and left Lao in 1979 after the communist ake-over. Apperently she did well in Canda and now she lives half years in Canada and Lao in turns. So loaded with her and own bought food and fter a big hug we took the makeshift ferry to the mainland and after 38 kms reached the Cambodian border. Our visa were quickly made "on arrival", but with the seemingly neccessary solemnly shown of authority, especially between the civil servants themselves. We find it amusing and a bit sad. Then another 50 kms had to be covered through a not ineresting, but beautiful and very remote countryside. Almost no people, no electricity. The road was good, though a bit coarse asphalt. The pepe who we saw appeared to be kind and the children have changed their calls, it’s not sabaidee now, bit just hello. A enthousiastically though.

Wer ended up in Stung Treng, a third-world town not worth mentioing on the junctio of the Sekong with the Mekong river. The later is becoming bigger and bigger. The town is dirty, dusty, full of litter.

W managed to make some Skype phone calls, so we made it a bit Christmas for ourselves, and hopefuly contribued to that of the ones we called 🙂