Hey ho :),
i was told that Vieng Vang is kind of a party place. But that would not get me. I have a strong, persistent and determined personality and i am not going to drink something, just because the place is known for that.

[In der Blog-Übersicht wird hier ein Weiterlesen-Link angezeigt]

Yeah, you know what comes next.
But it started off very quiet and relaxing. Vieng Vang is louder than Luang Prabang, but there are still a lot of things to do around Vieng Vang. Like visiting the blue lagoons on motorbike.
Thats what i did on the first day with Dora, Julia and Joe. The blue lagoons were beautiful, but a little bit too touristy. Especially by our own travel friends the chinese people (no racism here, just stating a fact about an ethnic group, that is really annoying ;D).

After that Joe convinced me to go for a beer. Yeah, thats when it started, ended up at a restaurant at 6 AM with locals, a bunch of ladyboys and 2 super old british guys, that have been living in Vieng Vang for over 20 years. That was a disturbing ending.
But fun :). And the british barkeeper of the bar Viva something was really into rock music, so he kept that kind of music playing till there was no one left but me. That was the reason why i stayed out so long.
In the meantime, without me realizing it at the time, Joe messed up as well and cut his leg and ended up in the hospital with 17 stiches.

On the next day, people from my hostel signed up for tubing on the river. That thing started at 12:30. Me, still totally drunk joined them. And that was super fun. You get a tube, sit in it and float down the river till u arrive at the first bar. And the drinking keeps going. Nice treatment for a hangover. The whole thing repeated it self until we arrived at the last bar 5 hours later. You can image how fucked up we were :).
But it was super fun.

The following picture is the only picture i have ever copied from the internet and added to my blog. Unfortunately i did not bring my phone for he tubing, neither has anybody else.
And i needed a picture, to give the story a face:

After that i made up my mind and went to bed. Spend the next 2 days there.
Of course i still had to help my friend Joe, because he was barely able to move.

I left to Vientiane with Joe, since i was going there anyway and Joe wanted to check out his wound in a more convenient hospital. But the hospital there was not better and they barely spoke english. So after 3 days he decided to go to Thailand to visit a better hospital. Thats when our paths split.

We actually had a really great time together and its a little bit sad that it ended like that. But still even with his injury we enjoyed a fun time together. Though it was exhausting for me watching him moving so slow ;D. Slowest person alive in year 2019.

Right now i am in Hanoi - Vietnam, waiting for Flo to arrive. I just ran into Ashley here in the Hostel. I met her in Myanmar. The Travelworld is really small :).

-----------------------Philosophizing with Marco---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The other day when i met AJ, who is a flight attendant, i asked him how he keeps up his workout, since he is basically always in the air, He answered with a sentence that included a single word that i am going to use for next years motto. Its a strong expression with a huge positive meaning: Its dedication.
This word, this attitude fits perfectly to my current thoughts about finding something you love and keep working for it.
I have been doing a lot of workout myself even though i am travelling or maybe especially because i am travelling. I have a lot of time, so i told myself, it would be a pity if i wasnt able to workout at least 1 hour a day. Since i have 24 hours with basically no commitments.

The good thing about sports or about this attitude in particular is the field or area you can apply it in life. It is this strong mindset that gives you a feeling that you can do everything if you want to. Everytime when you are not in the mood for doing some work, you need to focus on the long term goal and genuinely picture the benefits that you will acquire after a long time of dedication.

I have been thinking a lot about what i am going to do after travelling. I still do not know, what this is going to be. but i know one thing for sure: whatever i am going to do, i am going to do it with a goal and a lot of dedication. I wanna reach a point in my life, where i will not regret to not have tried all the things i really want to do.
Travelling has given me a lot more confidence and courage to face every challenge that i am going to have in the future.

2019: Year of change
2020: Year of dedication

Keep the spirit up!

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See ya.

Hey ho,
I would love to greet in the language of the country i am currently in. But unfortunately there have been to many countries and languages and i do not remember all the words. So Laos. Reminds me of Myanmar.

[In der Blog-Übersicht wird hier ein Weiterlesen-Link angezeigt]

Out of the touristy area of Thailand i arrived at the border to Laos in Huay Xei or something. The border crossing and the visa on arrival process are very easy and there was no issue of crossing the border. I already met people that i would see again in the next couple of days.
Since one of the main attractions when entering Laos from Thailand is the 2 days slowboatstour, i already met a lot of people that were heading in the same direction. The boatstour itself is not really something special or unique, the scenery sort of boring, but in a way delightful.
The boat was loaded with Germans and long-term travellers, so no british party people this time :).

After two days, we arrived in Luang Prabang. Once checked in in the hostel i met again with AJ and Björn, which i would spend the next 2 days with.
We checked out the night market, went to the Kuang Si waterfall and watched the sunset on the Mount Phusi.
Mount Phusi is certainly a secret spot to watch the sunset. Because of the fact, that there are almost no people on that Mount Phusi for sunset it is very intimate and personal. I think we encountered not more than 29930 people on that hill. Squeezed together like at a concert everyone drops his social bounderaries and tries to locate the best spot for the sunset. Seriously, that ruins such a moment. But i couldnt care less, i have seen so many beautiful sunsets, i dont bother anymore.

Top 3 of my most beautiful sunsets i have seen so far:

3. Grand Canyon - USA
2. Bagan - Myanmar
1. Salt Flates - Bolivien

One of the highlights was definitely the Kuang Si waterfall. Next to the Chiflon waterfalls in Mexico is that one one of the most beautiful waterfalls i have ever seen. With crystal clear water and multiple levels of pools to swim in, i enjoyed every single second. I had to go a second time with Mila on the next day to see the top, which turned out to be even more beautiful. Just watch:

So and that was basically my time in Luang Prabang. Today i am off for Vieng Vang to the south.

-------------Philosophy session with Marco ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There is always time for wisdom.
Just a short anectode:
On the two days boatstour i met a family. A mother, 32 years old, her daughter, 14 years old and her son 8 years old. A family that is travelling for a whole year around the world. I have never met this type of travellers in the past 6 months and it is so inspiring to see them made this happen. The mother had to go through a lot of paperwork and issues to finally get a year off for her 8 year old son.
I say, what better education other than travelling is there for children? We need to rethink our way of education and should definitely show more understanding for the mind opening experience called travelling.

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See ya.