"When I was in 'Nam...": Lovin' in Laos

I spent my Valentine’s Day with a former-monk-Laotian-man named Somkidh.

And that wasn’t even the best part of my trip! That’s how amazing Laos is!

After my very long vacation I’m having trouble forming coherent transitions, so I’m going to use the numbered approach to tell you why Luang Prabang, Laos is a banging good time.

1. The Town Itself-
If Disney World is “The happiest place on Earth,” Luang Prabang is definitely “The cutest place on Earth.” LP became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995, selected for its unique blend of preserved 18th-19th European/Traditional Lao architecture and interspersed ancient Wats (temples). The storefronts and guest houses lining the main streets look like they’ve been ripped out of a 1930 edition of “Indochine’s Real Estate Monthly.” The only downside to the insane colonial cuteness of this place is that it’s filled with tourists and ex-pats who, like me, are tickled by its charm. The preserved colonial vibe melded with the high influx of westerners can sometimes give the town that “Epcot” feel. You know: a bunch of white people walking around looking at things that are culturally more interesting than anything they’ve got going on. Maybe that’s a little harsh...Nevertheless, the Epcotness dissolves when you get even just a little outside the town and see that the real Laos, and the Laotian people, are even more charming than the tourist town.

2. BeerLao-
I may sometimes talk a good game about drinking, but the truth is that when it comes to beer, my bark is far worse than my bite. Yes, some people have seen me slightly inebriated (and I’m still trying make it up to my sister for the unfortunate happenings of her rehearsal dinner...and subsequent wedding day), but for the most part I’m not a big beer drinker. But something inside of me changed in Laos.

BeerLao is fantastic. Its light, but not lame. Its filling, but didn’t make me feel fat. It gave me a buzz, but didn’t make me barf. BeerLao may have changed my alcoholic life. I even bought myself a BeerLao t-shirt. Who AM I?

3. Arts/Handicrafts/Shopping Scene-

Ironically enough, living in Southeast Asia has made me the shopper that I never really was in America. It’s just so easy to say, “Never again in my life will I be able to buy anything remotely akin to this so I must have it now or why the hell did I even move here!!!??!!!!”

I especially love anything arts-and-handicraft-like. Woven scarves, quilts, baskets, paper lanterns, small paintings, bowls, jewelry....the list goes on and on.

My room is starting to look like I’ve joined a local Hmong tribe, or at least raided the nearby village.

Luang Prabang did nothing to curb my shopping enthusiasm. The craftsmanship of the local artisans is just really fantastic. I’m also a total sucker when the actual artist/weaver/painter is the one selling me his or her wares; I make it my mission to be a global patron of the arts and end up buying in bulk. On top of this, I am the world’s worst bargainer. Every time I try to haggle, I feel like I am stealing food from the mouths of Southeast Asian babies. The result is that I often get ripped off, but I sleep soundly dreaming of well fed Laotian children and how great that market basket will look holding towels in the bathroom of my Upper West Side dream house.

(Upper West Side Dream House)

4. Monks-
Many people are drawn to LP by the many ancient Buddhist Wats. The Wats are all over town, and working, living, and learning in these Wats are young novices and older monks. Some of these novices are quite frankly pint-sized. The monks in Laos practice Theravata Buddhism and therefore cannot buy their own food. Instead, they collect alms in the morning for their one meal-a-day. While Luang Prabang is trying to keep this ritual holy, the whole thing has become something of a tourist attraction. Still, watching the monks collect alms from local people can be a very beautiful and affecting scene. I was most moved when I saw some of the young novices taking food out of their own alms basket to give to local children.

As I mentioned earlier, I had my own special experience with a former monk. Somkidh was my guide on a bike-tour of the town. Anne--Remember Anne my friend from college who’s a Fulbrighter in Thailand? Well she came to Laos with me!--But,well, poor Anne got sick at the beginning of the tour, so Somkidh and I were on our own for the day. Somkidh left the monkhood (real word?) a few years ago after spending 5 years as a novice and 2 years as a monk. He lived and studied at this Wat:

As it was Valentine’s Day, Somkidh and I of course talked about our respective trials and triumphs in love. Somkidh told me a story about how a few months after he left the monkhood (?) he was “a crazy man” and took a few too many shots of liquid-courage-rice-wine before his first date back in action as an eligible bachelor. He ended up waking up in his old Wat 3 days later, not remembering a thing. I told him everyone’s been there...metaphorically speaking. Not necessarily to his Buddhist Wat...

A lot of the Wats have this little horoscope thing where you pray to Buddha, shake a container of sticks with numbers on it, pick one of the sticks, and then read your horoscope on a corresponding numbered piece of paper. The horoscope was written in Bali Sanskrit, so Somkidh had to help me out. Somkidh looked at the first horoscope I chose and quickly shook his head and told me to pick another. I didn’t ask why.

When he read my second horoscope, hi face lit up and he said, “Oh, Maddee...this is maybe the best fortune. It says someone may try to steal your money or something like that, but they never will. And someone might try to stop your career or something like that, but you will always be a success. And your boyfriend or something like that will meet another woman, but he will always love you and hate her forever.”

I loved Somkidh.

5.ELEPHANTS- Just outside Luang Prabang, there is a reserve for rescued logging elephants. It’s called Elephant Village. http://www.elephantvillage-laos.com/. The following pictures speak for themselves.