End of the day

Too early a rise, tired, time for a rest day I think, time just to sit around, put thoughts and notes in order and figure out, figure out what exactly?

Moving south now, counter intuitive, the urge to go to the far north is pretty strong. But we've a meeting with aj arranged and he's setting off from Chiang mai tonight so we should set off also. It helps that the meeting place is beautiful, but even so...

When I was a child I dreamed of these places I think, broken phrases and images finger drawn upon the air, undeciphered words and worlds spreading out their tapestry.

And here, another dusty bus station and broken conversation combine with an unrequited desire for a hot coffee, a small bus crowded with faces and possessions as we prepare for the next journey.

And what a journey, the road carved through the hills, jaw dropping vistas spreading out in all directions, peaks rising above the mist crawling up their slopes. Visions of the future intrude as concrete pillars rise, the foundations of a Chinese railway, harbingers of changes to come.

Oudomxay, set in a basin, fertile fields encircled by hills, another sunset from a temple on a hill in the shadow of a Buddha and the dim mountains rising behind him where the afterglow washes the sky pink. Beneath us houses stretch out in all directions, farmland green, hilltops tree lined, dusk falling, white and orange lights appearing, sparkling below...