Our Persons on the Kammouen Trail

Sunday night before leaving Vientiane for the Wilds


Lunch at a sticky rice and meat lunch shop.

Nathan at the same sticky rice and meat lunch shop. (nathan obviously not feeling the morning sickness associated with Jan's condition)

Jan now feeling better stands atop the premier tourist attraction in Tha Kaek - the Giants wall. Some say this was built by giants, hence the name.

Jan at one of, shall we say, many pit stops.

Reasons to love Kammouen

1. The People

2. The People

The Pretty Flowers

3. The Mountains (yes we know the flowers didn't get a number)

4. The Beautiful Sunsets

The Ferry (which spared us the 7hr detour)

This was the second time we saw this ferry. The first time we were told it wouldn't hold our truck, as the ferry would likely tip over. At the start of our 7hr detour a man told me I was lied too and the ferry would really take us accross but that we needed to get a letter of permission from the man who was in charge of the ferry. This we did, only wasting 1hr on the trip to the man's office (instead of 7). So the second time we arrived at the ferry and handed over the letter of permission, all the ferry men got excited and promptly polled us accross.



Our truck on the ferry was a tight fit, but we didn't tip over.


All the ferry men, including one guard who toted his AK47 all the way, used poles to push us through the swampy flooded forest.

Wild Pictures From our Trip to Kammouen

The Tha Kaek hospital waiting room.

After 3+hrs driving through Lao Jungle we were told this was the end of the road. (this meant about 7hrs of extra driving to go the other way around)


Domestic Doggies Going to Doggie Hell. They are heading towards the Vietnam border where respective buyers will wok their dogs.

Jan at 31 Weeks

Taken in Savanakhet Province, Laos

Another one bites the dust

Whirl, turn, twist. A vibrant flash of silver color spinning in a horrifying yet opaquely beautiful way was ejected with the speed of a Laotian hawk from my helpless hand and down, down it bounced and spun without regard for any fish it might land upon into a dark swirling mass of green. Plop, it disappeared from the sunlit lands and entered the depths of a flooded pond.

From my vantage point seated upon the mud-slick hillside where I first lost my balance and bathed my new pin strip shorts in brown goo, I new all was lost. My Lao companion immediately sprinted down the bank and into the water and with quickness that would shock even lightning shoved his arm deep into the darkness and retrieved our (very recently purchased) PowerShot A620 Cannon camera.

This makes 3 cameras in 2 years. The first one I, Nathan, donated unknowingly and unwillingly to someone who helped themselves to my back back while driving on my motorbike. The second one Jan also donated unknowingly and also unwillingly to someone who helped themselves to her back back while riding on the bus.

October Fun Day

Just before aerobics...a nightly ritual for some Vientiane dwellers

Nathan trying hard to do aerobics but looking like a flailing fish instead.


In front of the military museum

I can win some races

Kids

One Sunday Afternoon the neighborhood kids all came over and watched the J. Film.

The kids love to play our miniature instruments...this one is called a Kaen.

Two girls writing the words to a couple of praise songs for our sunday afternoon PTL time.

Nathan leading in some sort of chicken dance worship song.