I reserve the right to change my mind, and though I haven’t totally (overtourism still gets a thumbs down), I’m happy to share some positive news:  today, I got out of Disneyland.

A ways down from my guesthouse is a NGO-type organization called Big Brother Mouse (“Mouse”).  It’s dedicated to improving both English and Lao language literacy among children.  Apparently schools here are good and kids can learn how to read, but there just are not enough books for them to actually do it.

In the morning, you can volunteer by practicing English with monk novices, but since I arrived in early afternoon, I spent my time editing English Mouse reports and tutoring grammar.  Word on the street, though, is that one of the best ways to help is to buy books and give them to local kids — *just* my game.

So I did.  I bought a few books and started walking south away from the town center until there were no more tourists around.  When I handed out the first one to a group of kids, they literally FREAKED OUT.  I mean, squeeling, jumping up and down — and immediately stopped playing to read it.  This happened repeatedly.  I’ve worked with a lot of kids over the years, and I’ve never seen a reaction like that.  I was really proud to be Western, to be a “falang”, to be doing something that might just promote positive tourism.  In fact, I went back and gave up the rest of my money to do it all over again.

I spent the rest of the afternoon walking everywhere I could go that I hadn’t already been, and ended up on the rocks along the river, where the natural charm and loveliness and peace of the surroundings is nothing less than majestic.  I think today was the best day.