While we were out in the jungle outside of Vientiane, we had a really great time doing nothing. There was hardly anybody at our resort, so we just got to hang around at the eco lodge, swim in the one of a kind ‘river pool’ (see below) and hang out with each other. We have mentioned him a few times before, but we recommend everyone take a look at Tim Hodgson’s blog, it is on the ‘other places’ located to the right.
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| action shot |
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| our river pool! fast current |
Anyways, when you are sitting around, with no plan, doing nothing for several days you open your self up to all sorts of possibly unique situations.
International women’s day is a big deal in Laos. It is a federal holiday, there is no work, there is no school. On this particular women’s day, a group of ten women from the village near our jungle resort came to the restaurant at our resort to hang out for the day. Once the ominous BeerLao started flowing, the one incredibly drunk man came over and hustled us over to their table.
It is interesting to meet a large group of partying women when you cannot speak to them. There was a thirteen year old girl that could translate for us somewhat, but the adults had zero english capabilities. So at the restaurant Chelsea boogied with the girls to some Lao synth/pop hits and Tim and I sat and drank a large BeerLao each trying to assess the situation. We were kind of a novelty on womens day, two handsome western men! That was not happening to all the girls in Laos!
An hour slipped by, then they invited us back across the Nam Ngum river to their village. The village was quite large compared to the ones that we have observed before, this one had about two-hundred cement homes. It was much nicer than some we have seen. Anyways, we got to the home (which housed seven people) and surprisingly it was really big. Because Lao people tend to sit on the floor, the main room which is used as a dining room/living room/dorm style bedroom is usually very large. It was covered in tile, and compared to a western home it would be empty. In one corner was a television and some chairs/couches against the wall that nobody used. In the other corner was a GIGANTIC stereo system, with a very old dvd player and cd player attached. This was used so much that it was basically falling apart. You could really tell what was important to them in their homes!
Anyways, for the next four hours we boogied with the ten women in their home. Every dance move Chelsea could pull out was a hit with the girls, and luckily Lao guys don’t dance that well so I thought I looked pretty good. Our friend Tim was afraid for his bachelorhood that evening, fearing that he would not be able to escape without a new Lao wife!Then they made us Duck Soup which was absolutely fantastic. We sat on the floor Lao style and ate it on
steamed rice.
One of the funny things that happened to me that evening occurred when I decided to take an old beat up bicycle to go get more BeerLao. Let me tell you, they do not ever see a giant American guy riding a little bike down their village streets. I could have been a clown at the circus, everybody was yelling and laughing at me and inviting me over to hang with them. The store was a block away but it took me half an hour to get there and back. Every house was having a similar women’s day celebration (minus the white people) so when I arrived at the store, they were not going to let me buy any beer until I danced with all of the women (one at a time) and drank some Lau Lau with them (rice whisky, very strong!). It was pretty funny, but the second time we had to go get beer I made sure to bring Tim with me – he danced with the other women while I tried to sneak into the store and buy a crate* of beer from the men.
*When you buy more than four beers in Laos, they give it to you in a large plastic crate. This is because BeerLao comes in a gigantic bottle, not in the typical 12-16oz bottles from America.
Then I was supposed to drive the motorcycle back to the house and one of the girls was going to hold the crate on the back. “I cannot drive a motorcycle!” I exclaimed, and that got even more laughs than a 6’3 white male on a pink ‘clown’ bike in the middle of the village. So she drove, I rode on the back with a gigantic crate of beer and held on for my life. Scary. And, it was only a block!
At one point, five village girls came over and sang us some songs a capella which was very interesting and cool. It reminded me of something I would have done when we were seven years old.
All in all, we had a great women’s day. It was a special experience that not many people get here in Laos, a lot of travelers tend to keep a distance from the people that live here.
Also, see the video below for a Green Papaya Salad experience!
Below is a boring video we made of why we couldn’t sleep in Vientiane. It seemed like it would be more interesting, but it is long – feel free to fast forward on it if you need!
We took a cooking class as well, and we video taped it so stay tuned for the video recipe’s!
Cheers,
Mack
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