(Day 260 on the road)Myanmar - where to start? A country governed by a ruthless military dictatorship known for its human rights abuses including forced labour, torture and child soldiers, once occupied and ruled by the British, now isolated from the world and embargoed by it (except by China, who happily finances the regime in exchange for raw materials), Myanmar is bound to be an interesting country to visit for any intrepid traveller. I arrived in the capital, Yangon, on a short flight from Bangkok, as it is very difficult if not impossible for foreigners to enter Myanmar overland from Thailand (however, I got an email from a guy who successfully entered Myanmar overland at Ruilli from China in December 2008). The first word that comes to mind when you view Yangon is "crumbling". Everywhere, buildings ... read more

(Day 254 on the road)So my amazing time in Laos has come to an end. As always, time has been flying and the last five weeks were way too short a time to spend in this great country with its incredibly friendly people. Looking back as I write these lines, Laos doesn't actually have the amazing natural wonders that for instance China has to offer. But its ever-smiling people and the spirit of adventure that exists in this less-visited country in Southeast Asia make more than up for that. Of course, the fact that we had our own motorbikes with which we drove across the country for three weeks added a lot to the experience. They really allowed us to go to very remote places where no tourist bus ever goes and that would have been ... read more

(Day 247 on the road)80% of the roads in Laos are unpaved. I feel that by now I have seen a good deal of these roads, especially after our latest motorbike adventure very much off the beaten track: In Vientiane, we used a travel agency to ship our big backpacks up to Luang Prabang in the north. Now free of the big weight, Karen, Harriet and I biked north on Highway 13 to Vang Vieng. "Highway" however is a pretty strong word even for this most important of Laos' roads. It is littered with potholes and unpaved patches, making the going pretty slow at times. Vang Vieng is infamous for its party culture and its drunken tubing down the river Nam Xong (floating down the river in a tractor inner tube and stopping at the various ... read more

(Day 230 on the road)Wow, I have just bought a motorbike here in Laos and will be riding across the country for the next month or so - I am extremely excited! Actually, we have bought three bikes, as it is three of us: Karen, Harriet and me. Karen and I had been travelling together twice in China, and Harriet and I climbed Hua Shan together and did a Yangtze river cruise back in June. Whilst I travelled in Japan and Korea, they met and went to explore Vietnam and Cambodia. Now, we found ourselves to be in Laos at the same time, so we decided to team up and meet here in Savannakhet. To get to Savannakhet from Vientiane, I took a bus. As there are absolutely no trains in Laos, the decision was an ... read more

(Day 220 on the road)I had read horror stories (robbed of all belongings at knife-point, left in the middle of nowhere etc) about the Vietnamese-Laos border crossing I was going to take at Cau Treo, but to say it up front, it luckily went pretty smooth. From Ninh Binh, I took a train (supposedly four hours, but it took a good six and a half) to Vinh, where I spent the night in a very seedy hotel. I had not yet completed the check-in but was already offered a "massage". Also, but by now that didn't surprise me, the price that I had been quoted initially (110.000 for the room) turned into 140.000 when it came to paying. At that point, I was so sick and tired of the Vietnamese, I actually paid it without too ... read more