Despite of not being in best health, I was determined to travel 700km to Libreville; (the capital of Gabon) from Congo. It was 13th of May when I entered the country covered by the Congo Basin, reminiscent of French influences even maintained by Gabonese at present. I was still feeling tired and stressed when I entered Gabon through Doussala, border. After pedaling 49 km in Gabon, I did my initial immigration documentation at the place called Moukoro. But my final documentation was done in Ndende a town and capital of the Dola Department in Ngounie Province, southern Gabon. It is located 549 kilometres southeast of Libreville.

At first glance, capital Libreville looks pretty prosperous and a country of integrity. One third of population of this country lives in the capital city. Here is a saying in Libreville “when you have oil, you can do anything you want” which proves Gabon is well gifted by nature as per oil and timber as well. It could be seen oil have made some people very wealthy. For the proper establishment of this country, French ideas are still being carried out for e.g. name of the place where I lived is called PK8-symbolize 8 km distance, named as per the distance from the town. I started pedaling in Libreville from 14th of May.

Life is full of unexpected surprises. There are many opportunities when one can secretly wish for something exciting to happen – something out of the ordinary. The real surprise was when I returned back from supermarket after purchasing my internet card and calling card which is my first priority on every new country. I was returning where I parked my cycle, I paused in the entryway and looked over to my carrier. There I saw a small letter beautifully written in English on non-English land, it was the name and address of very good French gentleman Danial. Like a man does not live by bread alone our relationship with others in the family, society and even in foreign give us an identity and provide a psychological satisfaction. Among all my other ties in Libreville, friendship with Mr. Danial brought me immense joy and help during my stay here in Libreville.

My visit to Gabon gave me an insight into the place of intellectuality and integrity. To make the growing unity of world possible, development of psychological health is essential which I find more than enough in the heart of Gabonese people. Though I got some trouble technically during this 18 days here in Gabon but such troubles would be microscopic if I could contribute even a single drop in bringing harmony among different cultures and encourage goodwill and tolerance in the world.

Peace and Harmony,
Furtemba Sherpa