I forgot one…
I forgot to write about the wedding we were all invited to in Laos! We were all just walking along, minding our own business when a pickup truck full of locals dressed up asked us if we wanted to go to a wedding! We all looked at each other and said why not. So, we all jumped in the back and enjoyed the ten minute ride through a killer little village till we were dumped in someone’s back yard!
The minute all the whitey’s showed up the locals scrambled to give us all the Lao-Lao (rice whiskey) we could handle, and then some, and then some more. I’ve never drank so much so fast, and there was nothing we could do to stop them!
Of course we all had a great time though, even the two girls (that came with me) that blew chunks after their 8th shot! They treated us very well too. They gave us all the food we could eat, they kept on bring more and more along with the Lao-Lao! What a great night, I think. I’m glad I have pictures because I don’t remember much!
Just a couple of days ago here in Jinghong, we were all invited to an Akha (a Minority Hill Tribe) village and had a feast! We had about 20 dishes of food on a circular table that you can spin like a giant record. Then the Akha girls came to sing traditional songs for the whitey’s!
They would sing a song standing in front of you and at the end you hug around the neck and then do the shot (also rice whiskey) while embracing. They ganged up on me because I was kidding around with them (maybe flirting a bit), then they said through an interpreter (a friend we met in town that invited us there) that I had to sing a song or do 3 shots. I was already buzzed from all the girls doing shots with me, they just did one shot with all my friends (big mouth), so I couldn’t think of anything to say except “line’em up!”
That was a really cool experience, and I’ve been hanging with that Akha guy – Shou San – at his store, every day since then. He’s teaching me to make Akha jewelry and I showed him how to make Native American Jewelry. We all sit on the floor of his store (a tiny street side store) and eat fruit and watch the town go bye. It’s great! He doesn’t want me to leave, he offered to let me live with him and his family. I’ll have to come back here, and I just might stay a long time!
I’m going to take a 30-36 hour bus ride tomorrow (I’m gonna be hurting), so I won’t be in touch for at least a couple of days. I forget the name of the town I’m going to off the top of my head, but I’ll write from there. I’m outta here!
Tags: China, Laos
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