Last night we ate at a 5th floor restaurant in Vientienne where we sat outside and overlooked the Mekong River as the sun set. Men were still fishing in the river as the sky pinked over and the water reflected the clouds. We met alumni from the East West Center programs, all of whom were Chinese-Lao, garrulous and loud but loads of fun. 
The man on the right is a member of the Mekong River Commission, so you can imagine how I hit him up with challenges about Laos' building that dam; he refused to respond to my questions because he said, "People who speak out disappear, as a friend of mine did." I assumed he was talking about activist and U.S. trained Sombath Somphone who disappeared in December of 2013, and I dropped the subject. The blissfully grinning elder statesman on the left, giving me the peace sign was another story.
When we were leaving, I shook his hand and said, "It was so great to meet you, and boy, we really had a party tonight, didn't we?"
His response I should have expected, but I'd forgotten that we were dealing with Chinese Lao who spoke broken English at best; he said, "No, I left the party years ago!" Duh, we ARE in a Communist country!!
This is our table which grew and grew as more people arrived, one couple of which was from Portland, Oregon and had brought along the wedding album from their daughter's wedding, a grand extravaganza or Lao and Chinese customs that staggered me! She talked a mile a minute and gave us a blow-by-blow description, which fascinated me. They live in a Lao community in Portland and had to invite over 1,000 people to the wedding!
This morning we flew to Luong Prabang - a 40 minute flight - and then wandered around before meeting with a State Department official from Washington, after which we had a lecture on China's role in Laos' development. Scary stuff.
Tonight I walked along the riverbank on the Mekong, but our hotel is along one of the tributaries (I forget its name). We have a little porch in the front that sits right over the road and overlooks the tributary; there is a hedge of gardenias between our room and the next room. 
The second floor of a little house we passed this evening drew me to photograph it because of the different textures in the blue gloom of dusk.
I have a confession. I picked this gardenia and put it in water right next to my bed; I also picked one for my roommate. We have made a reservation to go on a biking trip tomorrow and then kayak down the tributary in the afternoon. My morale was REALLY bad this morning, and I felt this whole trip was a ruse for an overly indulgent swing through Southeast Asia on the part of our leaders, but I am sure tomorrow's escapade and a good run in the morning will help me bounce right back. I think I am just missing home, my family, Shadow and my friends. 
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