Laos - Last Day

This morning I woke early, headed out alone for a walk, and for the third time, immediately ran into Daniel while walking thru town. We grabbed a quick cup of coffee then started up Phousi Mountain (Not to be confused with the island that Steve camps out on when we play Halo). Yes, that is the name!? And as I'm writing this have just realized that I forgot to get a picture of the nearby spa, Phousi Massage.

We made it halfway up steepest set of stairs I've ever climbed. Second maybe only to those of Angkor Wat. Right there was a booth charging for the rest of the climb to the top. Wow, what a bad idea. Anyone coming up those stair is just looking for a reason to turn around. We stopped there and looked out over the city, then walked back down to get ready to leave. Colin & Daniel by motorcycle to Vien Thiene by way of Vien Veng where they'll hook up with Olivia again. While they're on the road, the trekking company is taking care of their visas for Vietnam which will be waiting in Vien Thiene for them.

I'm flying out of Laos right now. Looking down I can see the Mekong and the road we biked along on sunday. The bridges we crossed. The port on the Mekong we saw. The route we doubled back to, up and into the villages. Past the piles of dried bones at the old slaughter house. Past the kids sticking out their hands for us to hi-five. To the end of the path where we stopped at the woods. The plane bursts thru the cloud layer and it's all gone. Everything is bright and white and I think of seeing my wife and baby and how much I miss them. And it's never felt so clear that I've made the right decision in taking all this time off and coming here for us to be together. No matter how long...