Long Trip Post Part II, Laos

Again, sorry there are no pictures here.

Laos is one of my new favorite places. The people are really nice, it is quiet (quite a change compared to the non-stop bustle of Bangkok), and it just has a calm/laid-back feel to it. The downside is that the place is buzzing with more mosquitoes than I have ever encountered, which in a country that has dengue fever and malaria is not good news.

At the Bangkok airport there are so many people from all over the world: Indians, Arabs, Chinese, Japanese, English, etc. and there are even more planes. So when we boarded our flight I was a little surprised to see it was a propeller plane like the kind I always took from Chicago to ND. The one nice thing about Asian airlines is that they always serve you a meal. Lao Airlines is no exception. Now I have a fun trait that I can adapt to any country’s food, eat it and be happy. But the thing that I was given on Lao Airlines sort of resembled a bun with a meat paddy. The problem is that I had no idea what the meat was and it looked beyond disgusting so for one of the first times in my travels I turned down some food.

At the Laos airport I applied for my visitors visa. My passport looks pretty cool now. Tons of entry stamps, two Laotian visas, a Cambodian visa, a Taiwan visa, and about 5 used Chinese visas. Not too bad.

Once I got in I took a cab to my hotel. It was a car that had left its better days far behind. I couldn’t help but think of the difference with Bangkok. In Vientiane I was driving along a hot, dusty, and poorly lit road past places that were mostly closed at 9:45PM. In Bangkok at that same time the traffic is bumper to bumper, there are people all over, and the night hasn’t even started.

The next morning I went to the bid submission meeting with 13 other companies who were proposing bids to do business. I was the only white person. I think I was the youngest. And I was the only person in a tie (I always wear one when I am on business). It was pretty pressure filled since they open the bid envelope to make sure you have all the documents in front of the whole room and as they check the documents off they are marked on a computer that is projected for all to see. Well my coworkers did the majority of the work so I was not sure if they had everything. So I was a little nervous as they began to mark us down but we had everything in order and that was that.

The Lao company then invited all of us to their Laotian New Year party—this is their big holiday and they have all of next week off. Their only instructions were to wear clothes you can get wet in or bring things you don’t want to get wet.

Let me tell you this was an absolutely INSANE party. I some parties in college but they don’t even come close to this party.

We were immediately handed cups filled with Beerlao—the national beer of Laos—and we continually handed cups as long as we were there. There was tons of Laotian food on the tables (bbq pork from a spit, rice, roast bananas, roast fish, etc.). The whole company of maybe 500 people were there and all were eating, drinking, and dancing to the DJ with abandon. That alone is not odd. The change was that as a tradition in the New Year they literally dump and spray you with water over and over until you are completely soaking wet (they literally have buckets you can fill up to dump on people and all are encouraged to spray people with the hoses provided). A small note: this water was likely pretty dirty considering it was from the taps and tap water in Laos is called “water without fishes.” Needless to say I will be taking my anti-parasite pills pretty religiously for the next few weeks.

It took about 2 minutes before I had my first taste, eventually the CEO of the company even dumped water on me. Add to that people then start smearing a white paste on you as a tradition and “suggesting” you drink by telling you cheers in Lao (“dham” which is something that cannot be turned down without insult in the Lao culture). So here I was, the only white person there with 500 Laotians and Thais. All of us soaking wet, drinking heavily, cheering, drinking, dancing, jumping, eating, drinking, and pouring water on anyone within reach. Believe me this description cannot even come close to doing this party justice.

As the only white person I got a lot of people coming up to talk to me. The one thing I take for granted here in Taiwan is since I speak Chinese I can talk to anyone. But in Laos I can’t speak their language so I was a little disappointed not to be able to talk with more people. That meant a lot of conversations went like this: “Do you speak Lao?” “No” “Ok, cheers.” One person I could easily talk to was a Chinese guy who was more than a little surprised when I carried on a conversation with him in Chinese. The one funny question I kept getting asked was, “Do you like Lao women.” I tried to answer honestly and diplomatically. I said that I like all women but I think the traditional long silk skirts worn by Lao women are pretty cool.

Now don’t about worry about my drinking there, a few minutes after arriving when I realized the volume of beer one could consume at such a party I slowed my drinking down as much as possible and I was actually pretty good for the rest of the day.

As the day wore down I was one of only a few people left. My new friends invited me to go to a karaoke place with them. I took them up on the offer. On my way to change from my wet clothes at the hotel I was stopped on the street and offered a drink of Beerlao by some guys having their own party.

The karaoke place was pretty cool. It was large open air restaurant that also had karaoke (funny thing there was that the urinals were filled with moth balls). At first, we were some of the only people there. All the songs were Lao or Thai so I was not really able to participate. But they had some great food and (of course) more Beerlao.

Then the people I was with drove me to my hotel 10:30PM and I packed my things since I had to get up about 5:30AM to fly to Bangkok.

So just think in one day that means I woke up in Vientiane, Laos then ate lunch in Bangkok, emailed from the Hong Kong airport, and will go to sleep in Taiwan. Not too shabby for one day