New Year’s Festival, Wedding Celebrations and Laos food!
I took an eight hour bus ride from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang…..although the people who booked the bus tickets said ‘it only takes six hours,’ don’t believe them! The roads from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang are not paved, are rough and curvy…..as a result, many, many people throughout the journey had to run to the toilet on the bus because they were sick from the bus ride! However, once you reach Luang Prabang you have arrived in a beautiful, beautiful city with mountains in the background and the Mekong river sitting calmly beside the french influenced architecture in the city center.
During my visit in Luang Prabang i took a 2-day trek, which included a home stay in a Hmong village. During my stay in the village the Hmong New Year had just began. The Hmong New Year lasts for two weeks and begins at the end of the rice harvest- in 2008 it began at the end of November until the first week of December. Our Laos guide, explained the Hmong New Year tradition. During the Hmong New Year the Hmong gather together for celebrations everyday, which include food, drink and games. The major and most important game (and the main reason for the New Year), is the ball tossing game (called ‘pov pob’). Basically, the game is a way for boys and girls from different Hmong villages to meet each other, so they may meet prospective husbands/wives (The Hmong people marry very young, the average age being sixteen). The game is played by forming two separate lines, one for girls and one for boys. The girls and boys face each other and toss a ball back and forth. The girls can toss to other girls, but the boys cannot toss to other boys.
After staying overnight in a Hmong village we trekked back through the jungle laden paths. We went up, down, around and over creeks and rivers. One river in particular was a bit challenging, as there was no way to cross it, without hopping from rock to rock. And while I was contemplating the next rock I would jump to…….BAM, I fell flat on my back in the cold, cold river (imagine a turtle stuck on it’s back and all it can move is its legs and arms…..well that was me!). All I could say while laying in the river with my shorts, shirt and shoes completely soaked was ‘my pictures, my pictures’. My camera was in my left pocket, which by luck was the only side not wet from the fall!
The final hour of our trek was on a main road and while walking on the main road we heard a party……and then we saw the party and then we were invited to the party! The attendees where Hmong people celebrating a wedding. The celebration had been going on for three days……and from the looks of it, they had been drinking BeerLao, Lao Lao Whisky and Hmong Whisky from day one! They were all very, very, very drunk! As we approached the mid-afternoon party, we were offered Beerlaos and whisky from a single glass, which is traditionally handed from person to person, without switching the glass or introducing another one, regardless of how many people are drinking. While attending the celebration the groom kept pulling us over to his wife, so we could take photos of them….this went on from the point we arrived until the minute we left. During the two hours we were at the celebration we danced to Laos music, with Laos men, drank Whisky and BeerLao with the groom, bride, friends and family! It was a great experience to see how the Laos people celebrate a wedding! They were very kind and sweet people, it was an unexpected highlight to my trek!
After my 2-day trek i took a 1 day Laos cooking class. The class was from 10am until 5pm and included shopping at a local market and preparing and of course eating six traditional Laos dishes. Laos food incorporates the sweet, sour, bitter and salty. The main staple is ’sticky rice,’ which is a type of rice, opposed to something added to it to make it sticky. One of the traditional Laos dishes I made was; “Chicken Larp”- (Chicken Salad, can also be made from fish, tofu or pork). “Chicken Larp” is served cold.
After spending five days in Luang Prabang I decided to head south to see The 4000 Islands and Champasak……so away I went, by taking a twelve hour bus ride to Vientiane (capital of Laos), an eleven hour overnight bus to Pakse and then a three hour bus to Don Det.
Tags: Laos
