The Blue Lagoon, Revisited

Rented a bike and met up with Karl, Nick, Jules, Rosa, and Amanda. We rode to Poukham Cave and the Blue Lagoon, which was a cool refreshing swimming spot with rope swings you can jump off. If you just follow the signs that say "Blue Lagoon" you will end up in the wrong place because there are several (fake) spots called the "Blue Lagoon", but only if you follow the signs to "Poukham Cave" do you get to the real Blue Lagoon. The water is actually blue and clear because it is fed from a spring, not from the muddy river. After lunch I took Karl and Rosa with me on another book distribution mission. We rode to a rural Hmong village (Na Son). We went into the school which was nearing the end of the session. As soon as one kid saw us approaching all the kids immediately jumped to the doors and windows to get a peek at the strangers. They clearly don't get many visitors, and few tourists venture out this far. This was a primary school with kids aged from 5 to 11. The school building is fairly primitive with bamboo walls with many holes in them, and a few wooden benches and tables. Probably you could rebuild the entire school for $1000. I handed out pens and books, which again were received with great enthusiasm. The teachers had to stop teaching because we were creating too much of a distraction, but they didn't seem to mind us at all and seemed pleased with our gifts to the students. Rosa didn't bring books but she got the idea of making little origami animals for the kids, which were a big hit. We stopped by the village store to get some water and it turns out of the girls I had given a book to is the daughter of the store owner. Her name is "Mai Li". She came running home excitedly to tell her father about the "falang" (foreigners) who had given her a book.