English Girl's Balloon Winds Up in Laos

Before she let her balloon waft up into the sky, Abby Gardner tied a note and a stamp to it. The girl and her siblings, who live in Bolton, England, sent the balloon off on New Year’s Day, and promptly forgot about it … until they got a postcard from a man 6,000 miles away. The man, a Mr. Chang, found the balloon near the Mekong River in Laos, the Daily Mail explains. He had to buy a new stamp in order to get his response to the children.

“It took a few minutes to realize what it was,” says Abby’s mom. “I'm really surprised that the balloon traveled so far. We'd only put a first-class stamp on it, because we thought it might get to Wales or Cornwall. We didn't expect it to reach the other side of the world.” (More balloon stories.)