Xook Xan Van Valentine!

I never would have guessed that Valentine’s Day would be the biggest day of the year for Lao youth, but last night the streets of Vientiane were busier than any of us have ever seen, even those who've been here for six months or more. Street vendors on every corner were selling red roses for 5000 kip (50 cents) each all day long, and everyone at work gave me lollies, chocolate, flowers and just all round general love.
In the evening, we rode out to the Spirit House, our favourite upmarket cocktail bar on the banks of the Mekong, dodging millions of motorbikes and people walking hand-in-hand all the way.
Cocktails were half price. Later, we went to Mina, one of the biggest Lao nightclubs in town, where miniskirts abounded and the crap music was turned up as loud as possible. It could have been anywhere in the world, except that everyone in the room was Lao.