One of the highest moments that I had in Luang Prabang was when I walked into a classroom of young kids, ages 6-7, from the Khmu tribe, one of the largest ethnic minorities in Laos. The children were learning to speak Lao, a foreign language for them but the primary language in this small Southeast Asian country. These children, who probably had met very few visitors from the West in their brief lifetime, radiated with pure joy and happiness as they greeted me with smiling faces and the customary ‘Sabai dee” (which is equivalent to Hello in English). I answered back in rudimentary Thai (which is similar to Lao) “Phom Hanumann, Ling Yai (the big monkey)”, to which they “waiied me” and replied in unison - “Sabai dee, Ling yai”.

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