LAOS

From December 26th, 2003 to January 18th, 2003

Huaixai - Louang Prabang - Viantiane - Savannaketh

We entered Laos in Huaixai, right across from the city of Chiang Khong on the other bank of the Mekong River. Even though there was only 100m separating us from Thailand, we felt the difference. People were a bit more relaxed, not as much carried on the western gadgets like cell phones, karaokes, etc. Our first idea was to get down the Mekong River on a merchandise boat but as we doing inquiries about how to get in touch with a boat skipper, we overheard a Lao speaking French with a foreigner. Ian and I had nothing planned for Huaixai and we had nothing to loose, so we introduced ourselves and explained what we were looking for. And we got lucky! These two told us to contact one of their colleagues, Vanhxay Vang, whose work is to translate educative children stories from French into Lao and Hmong language. The very same evening we were discussing with Vanhxay the possibility of going to a Hmong village some 10km away and spend some time there. No problem! He would come with us and work as an interpreter. We couldn't believe it! The next morning 8am, we were on our way to the Blue Hmong village of Nam Kha, just a few kilometers west of the main road between Luangprabang and Huaixai. This is one of the magical things about Laos: once you leave the few major touristy destinations and the main road, you only have to do a few kilometers (two at most) to be lost in the middle of nowhere… considering that there are two paved roads in Laos, it is safe to say that the country is still wildly undiscovered! A dreamland for people interested in traditional culture and customs.

Who are the Hmongs? In 2 words, the Hmongs originate from Western China but have been found in the area of northern Laos for as much as 200 years. They live in houses that sit right on the ground, not on stilts as most of the other tribes (like the Akha or the Karen visited in Thailand). The Hmong practice slash-and-burn agriculture and mainly grow dry hill rice and corn. For a long time Hmongs have supported themselves with the cultivation of opium poppy. However, we were told that most Hmong people nowadays are turning from opium growing, and are trying to find other sources of livelihood, i.e. selling their handicraft and/or developing other cash crops. They are also strict animists. The shaman plays a major role in a village because he is in charge of exorcising the bad spirits and keeping everyone safe and healthy. Furthermore, every household has an altar with offerings dedicated to the house spirit. In the village of Nam Kha, the Blue Hmongs women wore their hair up in a bundle placed on the top of their head. They wore a black tunic attached at the waist with a bright pink or red piece of fabric and let a long and narrow blue apron hang down in front of their legs. The men were more simply dressed with ankle-long black trousers, and a black jacket with lightly embroidered cuffs and collar.

We arrived in Nam Kha not sure of what we would find and we ended up spending 2 days with the 2 elders of the village telling us brilliant stories. According to Vanhxay, who has gone through a lot of storytelling books in his work, the stories we have heard are known to the Hmong people but never got published anywhere. In other words, we were the first to record these stories. We felt like pioneers investigating a brand new world. Upon our arrival, the people of the village gathered around us like we hadn't seen since India. We fascinated them. Some kids wanted to touch us, but all of them were incredibly shy. After Vanhxay explained why we were there for, somebody got sent to the fields to fetch 2 old and knowledgeable men who would tell us lots of stories. Li Valeng and Li Chavang (the shaman of the village) came straight back to the village and as soon as they understood what we were interested in, they played the game very willingly. In the middle of the afternoon, we took all the kids in the village and improvised a storytelling session. Li Chavang was a gifted storyteller. He would scare the kids, imitate voices and make faces. So well in fact that all the kids who were so fascinated by us and by our "hi-tec" equipment at first, went quiet and listened to the old man. In the evening we had our first glimpse of the ever-present opium in the famous Golden Triangle. Li Valeng went to lie down after his meal and his grandkids went to the mat with him. Then, the eldest kid (who was probably 13 or 14) took out all the material necessary for an opium pipe and prepared his granddad's fix. It was a surprise for us to witness this. Everything happened in such an open manner! Nothing was hidden or kept secret. It really looked like nothing more than smoking a cigarette. It showed us how much opium is still part of the daily customs of the tribes of this region.

After 2 very productive days with the Blue Hmong of Nam Kha, we went back to Huaixai, and tried to hop on a non-touristy boat. We got that close from getting on a magnificent merchandise ship, but a stubborn policeman refused to let us go, apparently for safety reasons… Damn. So we hoped on a touristy boat and went down to Luangprabang in 2 days. The ride down was superb, and quite relaxing. But it would be even more relaxing and quiet if the government discontinued the service of speedboats that roar up and down the river with the sound of a formula 1.

We spent 6 days in Luangprabang, a fantastic town where we spent New Year and where we met a joyous bunch of travelers and locals. Bastien wanted to redo the interior design of his restaurant in the main street of Luangprabang and we had a great time helping him out! Moving the bar, repaint the walls, redo all the electric wiring, add up some lights… isn't it a common dream for all men on this planet to create their own bar? For all the future travelers to Laos and Luangprabang, you ABSOLUTELY have to go to the "Ole Ole" restaurant! We have left there a piece of ourselves and quite a bit of sweat too! Furthermore, Bastien the French co-owner/manager is a great guy and you have to go there just to say hi for us (and by the way, try the steaks in red wine sauce… delicious). Special hello to Leana and Marty, the other travelers who helped reshape the bar. It was a great time thanks to you both.
For those of you who think we didn't work in Luangprabang, you are wrong! We did record tales from a retired schoolteacher who gave us the state version of storytelling. It was interesting and alarming at the same time to see in what condition a bilingual schoolteacher lives after retiring: in the smallest bamboo hut at the end of the city among the junk that had gently piled up through the years. After recording stories and talking about the role of tales in the education system, we were about to leave, when our poor storyteller asked us for a bit of money. "Ok, we thought, he's going to ask for a ridiculous amount..." and indeed he did, but a ridiculous amount in the other way. He asked 5000 kips (50 cents), barely enough to buy a pack of cigarettes! The Laotians will definitely never stop surprising us with their kindness.

Vientiane the capital city was nice, but not much more for us than a 5 days struggle with the Laotian National Commission for UNESCO to obtain what we need for the patronage, so I'll skip that bureaucratic bit.

We started working again in the southern city of Savannakhet, just a few days before leaving Laos for Vietnam. Having had so much success with teachers in Laos up to then, we decided to visit the local school and to talk with the French and the English teachers there. It was Friday afternoon at 4pm right after a long day of examination and the teachers were probably looking forward to a relaxing weekend when we arrived. But the Laotians being one of the nicest and most helpful people we have met so far, all the teachers came up with us to the school cafeteria and told us stories. "Why not?" they would say… "You want stories? Then you just have to ask!" Not only did they tell us stories, but even more they regretted the fact that did not have time to prepare themselves to tell us more. So they invited us again the next morning (Saturday morning) for a special storytelling session with some kids. We recorded lots of tales and jokes that morning and not only from the teachers, but from the kids too!

A few hours later, we were expected for lunch by the family of a friend of a friend (in other words, quite a remote contact) in the neighbor town of Seno. We thought we were in for a chat and maybe if we were lucky for some tales too, but things got actually completely out of control and this afternoon ended up as one of the most beautiful surprise we have ever had. We found ourselves being the guests of honor of a Lao family, which almost adopted us as their own sons! Apparently, it is what they call the Laotian welcome. Without really understanding what was going on, we were taken to a house where we became the center of attention of a massive feast with an amazing amount of food being served and a full ceremony being performed solely for us. The daughter of the man we were supposed to meet had spent at the very least one day preparing the food and all the decorations. A big flower altar with incense sticks at its base was standing in the middle of the room, and festive decorations were hanging everywhere. The shaman had been invited to perform the ceremony. Each of us received a plate in which was a roasted chicken, a pack of cookies, and a glass full of beer. We were asked to hold the plates with two hands and face the statue. At that point the shaman started shouting things - incantations, maybe - that the 30 people around us would repeat quite loudly. We were told that each human being is composed of 32 spirits and some can be lost sometimes. The ceremony consisted in calling the lost spirits back in (that is only if some spirits have been lost) and to tie the spirits closer to our body, to prevent them from leaving. In practice, all the people in the room came around us and each person tied a little white bracelet around our wrists, to lock the spirits in. While the bracelets were being tied, everybody would give us their best wishes, and pray for the bad spirits to leave us alone. The two parents of the house we were in told us that we were like their own sons now and that we could come back at any time. The old mum actually asked us to come back as soon as possible because she wanted to see us again before she died. It was beautiful and intense. Then we were asked to drink beers, a lot of beers (the famous and the only brand of beer in Laos, the "BEER LAO") that we were not allowed to sip and that we HAD to drink up. We were not ready to drink that much in the middle of the afternoon, but seriously what could we do? Traditions and beliefs are things you can't mess up with. The ceremony lasted the entire afternoon and would have kept on going if we hadn't a bus to take to go to Vietnam where 2 Swiss friends were waiting for us (as I told you this ceremony was a complete surprise to us).

To sum it all, Laos is a MUST-SEE. We will most definitely come back here and spend a full year in the remote areas with our Laotian friends in order to discover the beautiful folkloric culture still present here.