7th to 9th day Friday, January 2, 2015 Phonsavanh

Sabai dii ton läng (Good evening) from Vientiane,

yes exactly where I am now, it is already January 2nd so once again to everyone 'Happy New Year 2015'!

But slowly, let's start further in the past, the last entry was from Luang Prabang and that was already 3 days ago. The next morning, it was time to wake up at 5:30 am, I didn't want to miss this famous alms-giving ceremony in Luang Prabang. Every morning at dawn, the monks walk along the street in their orange robes in an endless line to collect alms. This is a magical moment and really beautiful. After that, I chartered a mini van to Phonsavanh.

The first shock came right at the beginning of the trip! We were squeezed into a mini van like sardines in a can, so it was 232 km and exactly 6 hours of travel time. We were pressed into the seat and not allowed to move, which was not possible anyway as muscle soreness was inevitable since the highways here in Laos can be hell. And so it went constantly right, then left, uphill forever, then downhill forever, and in addition from one pothole to the next. It was also very relaxing when our driver had to slow down because of an oncoming truck or something similar. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful scenery passing by the window, a wonderful green mountain landscape.

And we still arrived at our destination well protected. But when we left the van in Phonsavanh, the next shock came: 1. it was cold up here and 2. this city, which was completely redesigned by the Vietnamese in 1972, as the old city was completely bombed by the Americans in the 2nd Indochina War, has no charm at all.

But we made the best of it. So quickly put on long clothes and went out on the street. There I met Ryan, the Canadian, he waved me over and said to me 'Let us drink some Beer Lao, it is New Year's eve'. So, well said, well done. After a nice conversation and the first beer, we changed the pub. When we arrived there, Ryan said to the others who were still sitting in the pub, let's sit together at one table and have a drink in good company. And so 1 German (that's me), 1 Canadian, 2 Belgians, and finally 2 Italians sat at one table and celebrated New Year's Eve.

It was going to be a long evening, which we finally ended somewhere on the side of the road in a pub with some Laotians. Note: the word 'GERMANY' was repeatedly mentioned, and why? Because we are the world champions in football and everyone knows it, even here in Laos.

The following day, I immediately rented a scooter and drove to the main destination in this area, the 'Plain of Jars'. They were magical and beautiful to look at.

In the evening, I spontaneously decided to take the night/sleeper bus to Vientiane, and I believe that was the best decision of the trip so far. I couldn't have completed this section more comfortably. It was again 373 km and 10 hours of travel time. And yes, I spent it lying down. After a short time, the lights in the bus were turned off and I could look at the starry sky before falling into a shaky sleep (potholes!).

This was abruptly ended when the bus driver yelled something in Lao through the bus, which meant something like 'the destination has been reached'.

So, I organized a tuk-tuk again and checked into the hotel, and then went straight out for sightseeing.

So, there were many beautiful temples and various other great attractions in a relatively relaxed Laotian capital to visit.

Khoptschai Lailai (Thank you very much) for listening or reading. Phob Kan Mai (Goodbye)