Was thinking, at night in my room sorting out the stuff ive come to accumulate in my travels, tickets, old copies of the Vientiane Times, journal notes, the odd quirky souvenir, that i must have travelled at least 600 km overland by now. Not a remarkable distance by any means, but really long and winding roads weaving slowly through the mountains of northern Laos. Most times a beautiful ride through small idyllic villages and clear flowing streams, but long hours on the road, still.
Had a shot of the lao lao (rice whiskey) at the Crater's Bar. Would have been uneventful except for the card that read, something like this: The management takes no responsibility of anything that might happen if you drink this stuff. Thats right. Within the lao lao was a menagerie of reptiles like a dead snake, a gecko, and some other smaller creatures, fermented with wolfberries and ginseng.
"no one drink before" the girl said as she poured me a shot of the stuff. Was having some second thoughts, but i thought i might regret it more if i didnt have a taste than if i did. Nietzschean moment here - "regret not what you have done but what you have not done"...
It tasted normal, the aftertaste was a bit strong (snake/gecko, i couldnt make up my mind). And like all lao lao, strong (at 50% alcohol), but not too fiery.
Another interesting and heartwarming thing that happened that night at the bar - you guessed it i spend most of my nights in Phonsavanh in Simmaly's for dinner before dropping by the nearby Crater's Bar, was that there was this kid, who looked in through the glass all the time while we were eating in the bar, smiling shyly at us and declining our invitations to join us inside, pointing all the time to the sundry shop next doors where we supposed his mother was. So remembering the books i bought in Vietiane at Big Brother Mouse i handed him one, and the Austrian couple gave them some ballpoint pens. He said thank you and smiled, before long he and his friend were sitting outside on the steps happily reading away.
It filled my heart with so much joy and warmth, i never had expected i could make someone's day just like that, by giving him a simple present, a pictorial book to read. It turned out that buying those books in Vientiane and hauling them halfway across the Lao PDR was not such a bad decision after all...
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