New Years – Laos style
So since leaving Koh Chang and sadly saying goodbye to great family, we headed back to Bangkok. Since there weren’t any buses or trains available as they were booked until January 5, we decided that flying would have to do. Our visa would expire on January 1 and it would be better to already be somewhere on the holiday.
We flew with Laos airlines and was surprised to see a very regular aircraft – well, I guess I was surprised…Andre can fly in anything and nothing really seems to phase him. I am working on my stress level during this entire vacation….hopefully it will improve ALOT!
The airplane was packed with people and mosquitos! Thank goodness for the malaria meds! Andre tries REALLY hard to hide his anger with those people who continually take up his overhead storage space……not doing so great at that, I might add!
When we arrived at the airport in Laos, we were very surprised and a bit shocked to see no other airplanes, crew or any moving life whatsoever on the tarmac….there was only us!! Are we the only airplane that flies with Laos airlines? It was really weird especially since we were arriving on an early flight – it was only 7:30pm! Very different from the Bangkok airport where people are playing golf in between the runways! Yes, it’s true – beautifully manicured and landscaped greens in between the various landing strips! A great place to watch the planes land, but if Andre was golfing, well, there would be a huge safety concern, wouldn’t there??!! 🙂
When we got off the plane we were surrounded by mosquitos! FRESH BLOOD!!! We were hurrying to find the mosquito repellent that of course was buried in the bottom of the bag…….Easy transition to our guesthouse by a taxi from the airport at a set rate of $6…..pretty pricy considering that it was only a 5 minute ride. Our room overlooks the Mekong river and we quickly put down our bags and headed for the night market filled with people selling their BBQ chicken, fish – you name it! At that moment I was completely awe-struck and completely emotional about the fact that here we were, on the Mekong……it was completely amazing and I will never forget it. Both Andre and I were extremely happy to be there and walked as far as the footpath would allow, then turned back and decided on a hot pot of beef, chicken, tripe and pork, 2 Beer Laos and fresh veggies…….really tasty and super cheap = $2.50 for everything! We went back the following evening for another helping! The next day we saw water buffalow grazy on the edge of the Mekong…..how amazing is that! It seems like there’s something wonderful to see/experience every moment.
As new years eve approached we were wondering what kind of celebration we would be able find. We had read that Laos has an unwritten rule about curfew at 11:30pm – talk about putting a damper on New year’s eve! When we returned to our guesthouse the people working the front desk, Kamla and Saeng Chargn invited us to their family’s house for a New Year celebration and we happily accepted. There were 4 other people from the guesthouse (Didi – England, Louise – Australia, Dave – England and Reina – Japan) who were also invited for New years and we were quickly ushered inside and given our fill of Laos beer while we all got to know each other. Kamla had aunts and uncles and cousins everywhere, most of them never seeing falang (westerners) before, so they told us. Kamla and Mr. Saeng Chargn took us to a food market early in the evening and explained what all the unidentifyable foods were. We picked up some extras and returned in time for a great feast of food……..and of course the never empty glass of Laos beer! There were bottles of bubbly for the midnight celebration and we danced and sang…….one of their favorites was Jingle Bells although they only new the first couple of words……we must have sang it 10 times that night for them! The house was so huge that there were rooms for everyone and of course we were told earlier that we could spend the night so as to avoid the curfew problem.
The next day her mother made us breakfast! We were all very sad to leave but most people were leaving the guesthouse that day so we sad our goodbyes and caught a drive back. Eeveryone checked out of the guesthouse except for Andre, myself and Reina and Kamla said her uncle wanted us to join them at their house again for dinner and drinks…….twist our rubber arm! I think this evening was a bit more eventful than the previous night as everyone there knew us already and they had let their guard down……we sat on the floor around the plates of BBQ fish, hot pot, chicken, pork, they blasted their music to ear defening levels and then everyone was dancing…….we took a tuk-tuk home that night as Reina was leaving early the next day and we wanted to get back to the guesthouse as well……..Of course we wanted to contribute to this amazing party and so purchased 24 x 750mL beer at the local minimart for about $7CAD. The Laos people have a welcome ceremony involving passing of a glass – they drink from a glass, fill it again and you drink from the same glass……it stems from the time when there wasn’t enough money to buy extravagants like glasses and so households may only ever have one to share…….in this way you too are family.
It was really sad to leave them, but maybe we will have the chance to drop by again on our way down to the south in a couple of weeks. These were incredibly generous, fun loving people. Many taught themselves English, like working at the guesthouse. We passed them our travel books to either sell or read themselves….Mr. Saeng Chargn was very happy to get his hands on anything that was English. There are book stores around, but the prices are geared toward the westerner travellers budget, not the local one…….bringing in the Laos ~$80USD/month doesn’t really allow you to buy that $5USD English novel…..and we had novels from Andre’s aunt and uncle that we were happy to pass along.
We will never forget these people……..
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