Case and I walked across the border into Laos at Lao Bao, Vietnam yesterday and then spent 11 hours driving to Vientiane. Saw a lot of beautiful karst and bounced through thousands of potholes on Rt. 9. Slept well last night. As a reward for the long road trip, I stopped by Wat Si Saket (see Wat Si Saket and Wat Si Saket (Revisited)) after my meeting at the WWF office. Spent a long time admiring the exquisite wooden statue shown above. [NOTE: Can't believe I never noticed this piece before; must be a new addition].