Bypassing the pasta, pizze and meaty main courses, I ordered two antipasti for dinner last night at Dok Mai Lao Trattoria Italiana. It's an Italian tapas meal, basically, with schiacciata, meatballs, olives, bruschette and crostini with chicken liver paté, gorgonzola and walnut, mozzarella and tomato, and pork rilletes. With a large Beerlao, this set me back 205,000 kips, or $11.14, a tremendous bargain.

Dok Mai Lao's owner, Coredo, is in Italy, so I won't have a chance to say goodbye to him before I leave Pakse. Though I'm planning on coming back after a month in Ubon Ratchathani, nothing is certain. Ubon may suggest another destination. From Ubon, I may reenter Laos at Vientiane. With much more history, Vientiane has a gravity and dignity Pakse simply lacks. When you sit in the shadow of the black stupa, you can just die happy.