Use the links above to see more photos.

A Chinese pickup truck -- it doesn't get much simpler than this. A 2 cylinder diesel engine, 4 wheels and a no-frills chassis. Luang Namtha is less than 50 km from Yunnan Province in China, and the Chinese have a strong presence here. You see thousands of workers building roads and drainage systems.

The vast majority of Laotians are uneducated and untrained - so workers from China and Vietnam and Thailand swarm across the border to perform the jobs they can't do. It's not a healthy situation.

And speaking of health ... the poster in the background is exhorting everyone to trust and visit the local medical facilities for all their health needs, as opposed to, say, a shaman.