A random village party

Motorcycle diaries

Oh man... everything hurts!

I have been driving down a beautiful road for a good sixty kilometers but I could not bring myself to stop to take a single photo! That is how good I feel! But all will be better soon as I am now sat in a restaurant drinking a hair-of-a-dog beer! At least I hope so...

How did it come to this? Well.. The plan was to go trekking yesterday. Not wanting to join any organised tours because of too many people and too high a price I left Luang Nam Tha in the morning for Chalouen Suk, a village in the protected area. I did inspire myself by a few trek descriptions in the tourist agencies in town and armed with a little hand drawn map and three important phrases in Lao written down I was trying to get some of the locals to go with me. 

To my immense surprise however no one was interested even though I asked around three different groups of people. I didn't feel up to the challenge on my own - it is my premier trek in the jungle - not having where to leave all my stuff and mr. minsk either and on top of it all being told by a passerby with fairly good English that some falang have died in the area not too long ago did not help the confidence level either. I was thus advised to turn back to town and organise something from there. Thanks.

There was nothing that could be done and feeling somewhat disgruntled I was forced to mount my bike and aim for another village further southwest. Nam Ha it is called and that is the place where it all happened:

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I drive through the village to see whether there any signs for treks, agencies, homestays etcetera. There are none so I turn my bike around and park it near a kiosk by a bridge. I can hear music in the background. 

As I dismount a loud cheer of a team of girls catches my attention. I turn around to see five girls giggling and pointing at my white body. Hello, ladies! 

As I stand there smiling widely I can see five more heads peeking through from behind the door. This is one hell of a party! 

Feeling not myself from the failure from before I do not feel like getting down there uninvited especially after seeing a young man walking out and giving me a cold face. I thus take out my camera and walk over the bridge to take a few photos instead. 

On the way back some of the girls are still standing at the door and wave at me. They wave and wave but I do not see any clear gesture of invitation so I wave back and point at myself and then at them to make sure all is understood. The giggle and nod their heads. 

Ok then, a party it is! 

I climb down the road bank and enter the house. As my eyes adjust to the changed light conditions I see fifteen girls moving their bottoms to the beats of Lao pop music and a few lads toasting with a laos-laos (the infamous Lao rice whisky). As they notice me coming in a large cheer is produced and I smile and cheer back! In no time a couple of the boys are catching me by the shoulders and forcing a shot glass into my hand. Here we go! 

The strong liquid doesn't have time to stop burning my temples before I'm taken by the hand into the circle by one of the dancing ladies... The party must have been going on for quite a while now since the girls are pretty wild and dance in manner that can be hardly called reserved. 

It doesn't take me long to get into it properly and within twenty minutes and two glasses of beer I am fully immersed and shake my bottom as hard as I can to the immense pleasure of the crowd - well, at least so I am judging by their cheers and laugh.

The next four hours are spent in drinking, dancing and singing. I feel like a giant in their company; being a good two to three heads taller then anyone else. 

One of the ladies is much more eager then the rest when it comes to sharing my company and keeps dragging me back to her each time I move away. When she hangs herself on my neck to bring my head down to hers for a rather juicy kiss I am quite startled but being fairly drunk at this point I do not object and surrender to her will. I pull my head away quickly when it dawns on me that I might be close to being chased out with brooms, hoes and machetes for seducing local girls but when the lady turns around and announces the kiss to the whole crowd which is answered with a loud cheer I feel quite relieved (and utterly embarassed). 

We dance some more and when all of the lao-lao seem to have disappeared the lady in question runs out and within three minutes comes back with a full one sticking a shot glass in front of my nose. And so I drink so more..

At this point it is time for karaoke and one of the agile lads grabs the mic and hits it of to an evident pleasure of the crowd. My lady - I choose to refer so to the lady in question - grabs me by hand again and starts pulling off some rather intense moves around me. I am beginning to feel like one of those pimps in the hip-hop music videos. Her hands are stroking my body from head to the waist and when they find body parts that are not meant to be found in public I am feeling a rather potent mix of excitement combined with terror (the machetes come back to mind!). I can clearly see where this is heading and my body is getting on the same train that's for sure! 

After another stolen kiss and a few subtle strokes I pull her away and give her a fairly explicit look.
But not now.. (The machetes come to mind again..)
When another bottle disappears I run out myself to get a few beers and another lao-lao from the kiosk by the road to reciprocate the hostpitality. By this time the dusk is settling on the valley and I, glancing at the bike, note to myself that this day there will is definitely no more road for mr. minsk and me.

Before seven o'clock the party starts breaking and I am proposed a few alternatives where to stay for the night. One of the women is offering me a place to stay for a few kip (Lao currency) but I am keen to spend the night with my lady who suggested so herself. 

And so we leave everyone behind and walk into the night to a house further up the road together just with a friend of hers. What can I say, I am at this point very keen to be left alone with her but it is not meant to be as we enter the hut to find a small group of people sat in a round on the floor. We join the circle and when it is my turn I down the offered beer and pass the glass back. The company is laughing about something but I do not understand and do not care either. 

When we finally get up I learn that we are going to another house with two other girls and will sleep all of us together. Damn, I think to myself. But then again, it could have been worse and this is another country and another culture too; I turn around in my head thoughts of all different sorts! 

Once we reach the bedroom which turns out to be the top floor of the house where the party took place and that is now completely deserted we take off our shoes and sit down. The girls are talking a bit in Lao and I listen and try to guess their intentions. But nothing really prepares me for what comes next! 

They all start giggling and tell me that I will sleep under the big mosquito net alone and they will go outside.
Are you serious?
I look at 'my' lady not being able to hide the rather total shock! They all pull off another school-girl giggle and run off downstairs before I have time to say 'But..'!

It is seven o'clock now and I am left alone and totally awake in a room of someone else's empty house!
God damn it! 
This is not just how it was not supposed to be this is totally bloody cruel! Fuelled by all the alcohol and the excitement from the rather random encounter I feel like an animal in heat! 

There is totally no way I can fall asleep now and so I put my shoes back on, run down stairs, light up a cigarette and wait. An idea has formed in my mind that the lady might come back leaving her friends behind. 

But the cigarette is finished, so is my duty to the bladder and there is no sign of anyone anywhere near. 

D-a-m-n! 

I climb the stairs back up, take out my laptop that is - thank god! - fully charged and immerse myself in a gangster movie about John Dillinger that I downloaded off of another traveller in Luang Nam Tha. It is no comparison to what I thought was an obvious plan for the night but it at least makes a good job at putting me asleep and thus at around nine o'clock all worn out I fall asleep -

alone...

All photos slideshow.