Another day spent upon the road, back down to luang prabang in order to find a boat which doesn't exist...for a journey meant to be a thing of utter beauty, but the river is out of order due to a series of dams upstream and now I question whether the place I really want to find will be accessible as it's an hour further up river...we shall see, all things being possible...

Ponsavan, dusty town cold nighted under duvet and the plain of jars now a distant detour; in the end as yesterday's rant showed I was distracted by other sights, overwhelmed...but a night of talk with Arianna, fellow traveller over these last days offered up glimpsed wisdoms and a reminder of the delight of brief friendships found scattered upon the road; and tonight I think upon AJ, the next jam, how much I miss Jens and his madnesses .. there have been a succession of wonderful meetings over these months, some to hope to meet again, others brief transits and some lost. But each, in their own way, a delight. Not such a solitary traveller I think...

And today tired, returned insomnia and a series of, too, early mornings and bouncy roads...a recurring theme of the year...I miss Indian railways, night journeys and oddly timed arrivals...feels like an age since I watched sunrise upon the tracks. And yet I keep moving, although again I begin to feel tired, dream of someplace to stop, wash my shirts...as I type screams and laughter punctuate a cockroach hunt in another room, a crash of wood upon tile and an echo of voices.

And night passing starrily above another day passes as I slurp upon a lime soda and wonder if sleep will occur tonight...and should dreams occur, who this night will choose as my visitor.