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Group attendance at book parties

We increasingly hear from travel agencies, tour operators, and other groups that would one of their groups to attend a book party sponsored by Big Brother Mouse. Many travelers report afterwards that this experience was the highlight of their trip, and it's in everyone's interests for us to work with you to make it possible. However, please carefully read and understand the following before you contact us:

We are not a hotel, restaurant, or amusement park. We're not even a cultural center that performs traditional dances for visitors. We have different policies from these places. Our focus is to make good, interesting, and useful books; and to create access to them in rural villages in Laos. We are happy to work with you only if doing so does not distract us from our focus.

When you are ready to commit and pay, please email us with:

Date (or dates, if there is a choice) and preferred times. We can do the book party from about 9:00 to 12:00 am, or 1:00 to 4:00 pm. (These are the hours we are at the school; travel time is additional.) You can come for just part of the event; the latter part is more interesting for visitors than the beginning.

Location needs. These book parties will be within 1-1/2 hours travel of Luang Prabang. If you have general location requests, please say so. (For example, if you are arriving by van from another location, and would like something near Road 13.) We cannot take requests for specific villages.

Transportation. If you are providing transportation, there's no problem. Otherwise, up to six people can travel with our team, from Luang Prabang, if they wish to go for the full party. If you need a second van and driver, we can arrange it for $50 more.

After we hear from you, we'll let you know if we can do a book party at that time which your group can attend, and if so, how to pay. Provided the date is at least 10 days away, we'll hold the arrangements for two days while you make the payment.

Limit: 20 people in your group.

Cost: $700 USD. Please try to do this with no more than 2 rounds of email or telephone conversations before you confirm and make the payment. If it takes more than 3 rounds, we will regretfully tell you cannot accommodate your group. We realize this seems harsh, but it does a wonderful job of keeping everyone focused.

Time of year: We can only do school book parties Monday through Friday, from mid-September to the end of December, and February through April. We generally do not hold book parties during the major holidays, particularly the week of Lao New Year (13 to 15 April), 8 March, 1 May, or 2 December.

Other services: We are not a tour operator. We cannot arrange hotels, meals, guide services, etc.

This is non-refundable and non-changeable. You are not buying a show for tourists. You are sponsoring a book party and reading program at a Lao school, and your group is invited. If they can't make it, we'll use the money to sponsor a book party anyway.