When Abby Gardner and her siblings let go of a balloon to mark New Year's Day, they probably thought it might travel a few miles.

They attached a note and stamp what had been a present to celebrate Abby's birthday on Christmas Eve and sent it off. Being young children, they then completely forgot about it - until a man from Laos, in south east Asia 6,000 miles away wrote to say he had found it.
The man, named Chang, sent a postcard after his discovery near the Mekong River in Laos, a tiny nation bordered by Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Burma.
Abby's mother Wendy, from Radcliffe, said: 'The children watched all the Chinese lanterns in the sky on New Year's Eve and decided to release the balloon.
'We'd totally forgotten about it until the postcard arrived. It took a few minutes to realize what it was.
'I'm really surprised that the balloon travelled 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.'
Abby, six, sister Ella, seven and brother Peter, four, released the balloon from their home in Bolton, Greater Manchester
The postcard that came back - decorated with elephants - explained where it had ended up. Change said he had to buy a new stamp and commented on differences in the weather and food in England and Asia.
The children have looked up Laos on the internet and plan to frame the postcard so that it can take pride of place in their bedroom.
Mr. Gardner, 29, said: 'The children have released balloons before, but this is the first time that anyone has replied.
'We'll definitely release more in future to see what happens. It's exciting to see how far the balloons can go.'
(Source: Daily Mail)