Our shipments are not big enough to fill a container on a ship so we have been trying different methods of getting our handcrafted items safely to the U.S. In exploring freight costs and services, we decided to try the Lao Postal Service for a shipment of bamboo basket containers that we didn't need in the next month or two or three.
Bandith constructed a shipping box from two smaller boxes, filled it with the bamboo baskets and had the school van take him and the box (almost as tall as he is) to the post office in Vientiane. Less than a week later, the box showed up in our office in San Francisco, plastered in what I calculated to be $190 worth of beautiful Lao stamps.
Mark called Bandith that night to let him know that the box had surprisingly arrived (and in time that could give the U.S. Postal Service a run for it's money!) Bandith replied, "Thanks the Gods!" with a big sigh of relief.
