Lao Lao on the Nam Khan

I should have known better than to offer to buy another bottle of Lao Lao. What I needed was a way to show gratitude for the food and whiskey they had already shared with me and what I ended up with was a bag of liquor. From a local shop at the top of the steep banks of the riverside, a young girl wound down to the dusty then muddy then wet then rocky path down to our place in the shade. What she handed over was a bag of clear liquid that looked so shiny it seemed extra wet.

In my inebriation and in presumably his, I believed Sai’s perfect pour of the contents of the bag into the empty bottle without spilling a drip was a drunken miracle. Sai on the other hand appeared unimpressed by his own feat, and simply started the rotation again pouring out the next shot. Sai always had the bottle. He poured glasses for everyone in the circle, never forgetting himself, one person at a time. Vidoung, Chanh , the guy’s name I was so drunk I forgot, and I, each took our turns in the rotation with little break. I think this was one of those ‘let’s do what the locals do’ times.

I met the guys randomly earlier that day, just walking down the river. They were just some 20 year old “college” kids enjoying this Sunday like any other Sunday, relaxing on the river with a bottle of Lao Lao. They spoke absolutely no English so conversation was rough at times, but I picked up a lot of Laos and they understood Thai from watching TV and listening to radio. Still, there’s never any rush in Laos, ever, and silences in the conversation were normal, keeping the day relaxed.

Sitting on the bank of the Nam Khan River these guys found a nice place to build a fire between some large boulders and make some traditional Laos food. Some cabbage, a carrot, chilies, garlic, and fish sauce all fried up on a wok in the rocks. When dinner was completed and served with added bowls of limp green weeds in a thin brown broth and some pork rinds we dug in. Our opinion of their cabbage was unanimous: Kem! Salty! Kem lai lai! Very, very salty! Kem lai e-lee! That really is a very salty! The dish had its advantage though. It countered the fire-hell Laotian munshine of death well by completely overcoming the bitter sting of Lao Lao with a punch of fish sauce, garlic, and chilies. Soon out came some more pork rinds and then some sticky rice. We ate the sticky rice quickly but then they pulled out some sunflower seeds, then a guava. Sai took out two and gave one to one of the younger kids who had been hanging out and had helped collect twigs for their fire. The boy jumped down the rocks to wash it in the river, then brought it back it, peeled it, cut it up and gave half to his friend.

There were other young kids always coming and going, playing in the water then just sitting, hanging around to listen in on conversation. One woman walked down in front of our spot and slowly washed her hair. No one else seemed to notice. Later two men came down with a weighted net for fishing, then another fisherman with only a mask. Gangs of young kids came down holding large plastic containers I thought were used to collect water but were actually used as floating toys. Sao sao, or some Laos girls walked along or floated down the river and the guys threw out simple lines. “Pretty girl, where are you coming from? Where are you going? Wanna eat some rice? Drink some whiskey? Where are you going?” One time the girl scowled at them and as she walked away the guy’s name I was so drunk I forgot called at her, “Katooey!” Eventually two girls took them up on the offer and the party came to life.

After lunch we moved to take shade behind the rocks. Sai gave one of the girls a bag of guavas who washed them, peeled them, gave some to the kids playing in the water, then set the rest down for us with some crushed coriander. That was when the whiskey ran out and, especially with the girls around, everyone wanted to drink some more. Then came our bag of trouble.

The drank the second bag quickly and eventually we headed off the riverbank and back to one of the girls’ houses. There we faced another question. Another round of whiskey? Drunk as I was, I knew that was a bad idea. We settled for the much better but more expensive option, Beer Laos. Beer’s got alcohol but I’m telling you, those glasses sobered me up and I some how made my exit soon enough that I was still able to find my guesthouse that I had previously gotten lost trying to find earlier that morning, sober.

I was in bed passed out by 6 o’clock. Then I woke up a 9, made it out to the market for a baguette and some orange juice, and then passed back out at 10 in order to feel good after a cup of coffee at 9 the next morning, ready to do it all over again.