So there we were in Luang Prabang, full of bliss after a day of too many massages and swimming beneath waterfalls when David suddenly says, “You know I’m wondering if our Laos visas really were for two months or just one.”

Me:  I’m sorry?

David:  Yea, I think the visa was good for two months but once you enter the country it’s only good for one.

Me:  Splendid

We ran off to the immigration office and looked in to it and sure enough we read the visa wrong.  We overstayed (not the first time on this journey) way too long and owed a ridiculous amount of money.  We payed up so as not to end up on Locked Up Abroad, and since then everything has changed.  No more boat trip up to the magical mountains of Phongsavali, no more wandering through Northern Laos with no care in the world other than where our next dish of Laap is coming from, no more ambition to cross the new and remote border in to Northern Vietnam.  We have been nicely asked to leave the country or pay more money.  We don’t want to pay more money. Game over.

Ok not quite.  We still have some things to see in Thailand and whatnot, but we are indeed a bit bummed out.  After the visa issue costs, and figuring out the costs of entering Vietnam by land (they want an arm and a leg!), not too mention travelling around there (way more expensive than Laos) we realized it might be best to head back to Thailand and then…

wait for it…

wait for it…

HOME! 

So….I am sad to announce Vietnam is no longer on the itinerary.  However, David has been eager to remind me that this leaves plenty of things to explore the next time we are here.  And yes, I believe we now both officially plan on coming back here as often as possible for what remains to be the rest of our lives.  So, that’s awesome….

So, feeling a bit deflated with the loss of our battle at the immigration office, we got a total of 5 massages in one day and then found a bar.  There we devised a bit of plan so we could still have some fun before heading back home. It was a pretty typical conversation between the optimist and the pessimist:

Kevin:  Screw this, screw Laos, they just took our money and now we got crap.

David:  Ok, well, it’s ok, this just leaves more to explore before we come back, right?

Kevin: This drink tastes like ass, they never put enough ice in these drinks.  They call this a cocktail?

David:  Would you like another drink?

Kevin:  What I would like would be to continue on my journey and go to Vietnam just like I wanted!

David:  Right, but that isn’t really possible right now so maybe we should think about some fun things we can do in Thailand before we go to the airport.

Kevin:  I’ve already been to Thailand and it’s stupid.

David:  I’m going for a walk. 

Eventually I relaxed, David returned, and he was kind enough to not reprimand me for (again) acting like a two year old.  At any rate, I got over my Vietnam-less Pity Party and am fully ready (and even excited) to depart Laos – we came back to Vientiane to say goodbye to the family –  and enter Thailand on Saturday.  We have some plans to grab a motorbike and do a little cross-country before hitting Bangkok International.  Plus, since Thailand is by far the most inexpensive place we have visited we won’t have to worry as much about time and money.  There are a few places we want to return to and say hi to those who so warmly welcomed us when we first arrived.  Plus there are a few places we have yet to see in Thailand and this gives us the opportunity to do just that.

So, here it is folks.  The moment you have been waiting for:  We will be home (likely) in March. 

Speaking of coming home, we are just beginning to start to form our next ‘plan.’  David has declared he is going to school, and has his application in to a couple of places throughout the states (I’ll let him tell you where and what for).  He plans on spending a bit of time with his various family members before hitting the books. 

As for me, I have a thousand different ideas of what I want to do next and am just beginning to narrow them down.  There are some killer non-profits in the States that are doing amazing work for Laoation and Cambodian children, particularly around education and health.  I am looking in to those and have even started thinking about, dare I say, grad school.  Terrifying indeed.  We’ll see.  Either way it appears I will be heading back through Oakland to see all my beautiful friends, and then out to Ohio to visit the good ol’ fam (man do I miss them!) and all my other beautiful friends.  Whether I end up in Ohio or California more permanently is still up in the air – it of course depends on work and (possibly) school. 

For both of us, the end goal is to come back here.  We don’t want to live here forever, yet we understand how much we have fallen in love with it to know we must come back here sooner or later.  Hopefully these next steps will shape this in to a very attainable goal.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Oh – and….we got the camera battery charger back!  Woohoo!  More pictures soon.  The next post you will see will be from Thailand.  Good bye, for now, Laos.  You have treated us well, and we are forever grateful.