Moonshine
Laos is great, it's just not infiltrated by tourists yet. Thailand gets over 11,000,000 a year. Laos gets 40,000. The people are the nicest people I've ever met. They are happy to do anything for you, just speaking english to them is reason enough for them to do something for you, as it says on a sign here: help us to speak english. I love these people.
When trying to order breakfast yesterday, the waiter ran to the school around the corner and got the English teacher to come round and translate for us, who does that? eh?
we got to talking to him, Vandi is his name (which means good day in Lao!) and he invited us to a football match his school were having against another team in the Luang Namtha district. So we met his students and they are brilliant at english for having only studied it for a few months. in hte back of a truck with the entire team! which was gas, one of which was the best english speaker, he also spoke mong, which is a small tribe of people in a nearby village, of which he is from. the game was great, "our team" won 4-3. the pitch was surrounded by school children, and here and there adults and monks and the like. afterwards the home team invited our team in for a party.
what a party.
free food, most of which was too hot for our delicate palates. Then moonshine was brought out. it is tradition in Laos that someone who has drink pours himself one, then continues around everyone until it is gone, they must've had 4litres of poitin. we were beyond drunk, but didnt want to be rude! the same story happened with beer, let me tell you, asian people can drink. boy can they drink. Smeels thinks one bottle going around was rubbing alcohol, as it had a cross on it, and smelt and taste like it. i saw some coming from a motor oil container. it was great. we were so accepted into their community. oh and i taught a class for a while! it was so cool. i was saying words on the board and they were hanging on every one.
Here's something interesting:
you can smoke at any age.
you can drink at 15, hence the school team drinking the hard stuff.
you should bow slightly passing someone seated( as the head is considered high and the feet low, much as in Laos)
so we were in bed at 10.30, Smeels at 8. a good tomato and onion Omelette this morning and we were right as rain.
We can't afford to get a flight out of here.( also its not recommended as many trips prove fatal)
There are no ATM's so what we came in with is all we have.
My ideas of building a bamboo raft and sailing the Namtha down onto the Mekong were quickly quenched by the girls.
The idea now is to try coax a Lao sailor/fisherman to take us as close to Cambodia as he can,once we're on the Mekong we'll be happy, happy but scared. Or hire, oh no we don't have a plan b yet.
Time for a plan b and to get of this thing.
More interesting facts:
1. During the ten hours on the road we met 5 other vehicles not including diggers on the side of the roads.
2. We saw electricty on route only once, and we believe it was a solar panel outside the establishments powering them.
3.The toilets are worse then thailand, but more fun.
4. i saw the biggest grass hopper of my life last night, almost 4 inches of body alone.
thank you and good day
oh yeah sorry about all the comments posted about lesbian sex, and golf courses and whatever else, such is life when using a free service.
Mind yourselves
Brian Dolan
Net Cafe
Luang Namtha
Luang Namtha Province
People's Democratic Republic Of Laos
When trying to order breakfast yesterday, the waiter ran to the school around the corner and got the English teacher to come round and translate for us, who does that? eh?
we got to talking to him, Vandi is his name (which means good day in Lao!) and he invited us to a football match his school were having against another team in the Luang Namtha district. So we met his students and they are brilliant at english for having only studied it for a few months. in hte back of a truck with the entire team! which was gas, one of which was the best english speaker, he also spoke mong, which is a small tribe of people in a nearby village, of which he is from. the game was great, "our team" won 4-3. the pitch was surrounded by school children, and here and there adults and monks and the like. afterwards the home team invited our team in for a party.
what a party.
free food, most of which was too hot for our delicate palates. Then moonshine was brought out. it is tradition in Laos that someone who has drink pours himself one, then continues around everyone until it is gone, they must've had 4litres of poitin. we were beyond drunk, but didnt want to be rude! the same story happened with beer, let me tell you, asian people can drink. boy can they drink. Smeels thinks one bottle going around was rubbing alcohol, as it had a cross on it, and smelt and taste like it. i saw some coming from a motor oil container. it was great. we were so accepted into their community. oh and i taught a class for a while! it was so cool. i was saying words on the board and they were hanging on every one.
Here's something interesting:
you can smoke at any age.
you can drink at 15, hence the school team drinking the hard stuff.
you should bow slightly passing someone seated( as the head is considered high and the feet low, much as in Laos)
so we were in bed at 10.30, Smeels at 8. a good tomato and onion Omelette this morning and we were right as rain.
We can't afford to get a flight out of here.( also its not recommended as many trips prove fatal)
There are no ATM's so what we came in with is all we have.
My ideas of building a bamboo raft and sailing the Namtha down onto the Mekong were quickly quenched by the girls.
The idea now is to try coax a Lao sailor/fisherman to take us as close to Cambodia as he can,once we're on the Mekong we'll be happy, happy but scared. Or hire, oh no we don't have a plan b yet.
Time for a plan b and to get of this thing.
More interesting facts:
1. During the ten hours on the road we met 5 other vehicles not including diggers on the side of the roads.
2. We saw electricty on route only once, and we believe it was a solar panel outside the establishments powering them.
3.The toilets are worse then thailand, but more fun.
4. i saw the biggest grass hopper of my life last night, almost 4 inches of body alone.
thank you and good day
oh yeah sorry about all the comments posted about lesbian sex, and golf courses and whatever else, such is life when using a free service.
Mind yourselves
Brian Dolan
Net Cafe
Luang Namtha
Luang Namtha Province
People's Democratic Republic Of Laos
posted by Bean | 7:38 p.m.
2 Comments:
Sounds deadly indeed Big Beansie. Glad to hear you are mincing about with some down to earth people over there.
Pick up some nice foreign cheese for me on your way please.
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