The blog entries of this journey sound a little pissed I have to admit and to be honest, sometimes I am… But anyway I enjoy travelling a lot again, even though shit happens (not as much as it sounds like I guess) I make memories every day. I am on the road one month yet and it feels like forever. So many things happen I simply don’t have time to write all down. Compared to being at home where one day is like another and I have no idea of the time passing here life is intense, true, honest and filled with experiences and beauty – even though its sometimes hard to see.

I left 4000 islands to Pakse. On my first (out of two) morning there I see a BMW bike with a british number plate in front of the hotel. The owner sits opposite so I ask him straight ahead if he took his bike from Kathmandu to Nepal or if there is by any chance a way already to cross Myanmar overland. When he tells me he came all the way overland I become tempted to fly home as fast as possible to get my bike. Backpacking is fine but getting away from beaten tracks sometimes seems impossible so that’s why I prefer having my own vehicle instead of using tourist transportation…. We have a nice chat sharing our opinion about the most hospitable countries (Pakistan and Iran) we both have traveled yet. He even managed to cross nowadays IS territory in Irak only weeks before the armed conflict started there. But check his Blog yourself if you like at www.DanSkeates.com

In Pakse I rent a scooter to visit the Bolaven plateau to see the coffee farms and the waterfalls. I go up to a freezing cold 1500 above sea level and back again within a few hours. Unfortunately many waterfalls are drained by hydro power plants already and those that still exist are expensive to see (entrance fee equals an average main course at a restaurant and there are loads of them). At the last one I start discussing the price with the guy who is in charge. I tell him I would love to see the waterfall and it would make me happy to see it. I ask him for his religion – Buddhist he says but still wont let me in. I pull out one dollar and offer it to him (a third of the entrance fee) saying thatif it is money which makes him happy I would be glad to give him a little at least so at least one of us is happy. At the end he refuses to take the money and invites me in.

After spending one night in the most luxurious sleeper bus (having a double bed because not fully booked) I wake up freezing when arriving in Vientiane. I curse the aircondition and look forward to feel the warmth when getting out of the bus – well the aircondition had not been on its freezing cold a little before sunrise on the main bus stand in Vientiane. In town me and 3 girls who had been on the bus get a coffee. I ask them to take care of my luggage for a bit so I can find a room to store all our luggage there they want to leave tonight and I need a room to stay a few days to get visas for Myanmar and Vietnam before going to Vang Vieng. When I go back to the café after finding a room suddenly somebody yells “Hariom!” right next to me. I look and see Narayan whom I met in india and spend some amazing time with a few years ago. We hug each other and are both laughing about meeting up by chance. Life is amazing!