My latest past-time: collecting pictures of me with flags of countries. The trick is that the flag has to actually be in the related country. This is Laos, the latest addition to the collection. Right in at the Golden Triangle, where the Mekong River meets the Mae Sai River. I didn't realize that today we would be passing this way and that I would get a chance to cross the Mekong into Laos. I mostly satisfied my criteria of having officially  been in a new country, which are to have a stamp in my passport (a special visa stamp for a free-trade zone), taken local transportation (the tourist boat across the Mekong), and had a meal (drank a cup of local Lao coffee). I realize this one is a bit shaky but I'm claiming it anyway.