PoRSchE PiGgY WiGgY

Here i am in Luang Phrabang, after 9 hours in the van, driving wiggly along the huge and steep slopes in the mountain range during the journey from Vang Viang to Luang Phrabang, passing the famous skylines quoted in every guide books of Laos. The small town of Laos, counted as the heritage of the world, is so worth for this reputation. So, I was not surprised to know that all of the income of this magnificent town came from tourist industry: the agritourism; most of local people turned their houses into the cozy accommodations for visitors which did not provide you more than a fan and hot bath. It suited to the backpacker who was not looking for the perfection of stay. As the locals did not use it as for rent only but also lived there in the house, the visitors could enjoy being a part of the place, being with locals to touch thier way life,or, at least, to pretend to be one of them. Also, for ones who preferred privacy and comfort, there were some places modified into a lovely small resort with full-set service. Certainly, the price was full-charged, too.

Talking about being the part of the commune, most people could not differentiate Thai people from Laotians, and it was pretty easy for us to speak Lao. You just have to pronounce each word in the diffirent tone,change some consonants that do not exist in lao grammar.You just observe, imitate for few days, and that is it: you will find it is easy and fun. For these reasons, we enjoyed much being a part of them, more than the other races here who had blond curly hair or blue eyes. Many foreiners greeted us with ‘Sabye dee’(Lao’s greeting word). But mosty of time the locals with their penetrating eyes saw us as foreiner,mostly as Japanese they assumed us.(They mocked us with some funny joke about Japanese, ‘Se-ma-ku-te’.)  

There were many cafes and little cozy shops,selling jewelry, and some textiles products. Unfortunately, the owners of those chic shops, mostly, were foreiners (of course). Although I could not refuse that those shops colored the soul of this town,made it more interesting,and had some differences from the normal local ones that attracted the visitors, it reflects that maybe the city was going to be shaped by the external influences. The external persons came and took the opportunities from this nothing-town (coz there were few market share!) while the locals still were innocent  in what was going on. They still lived their life in the same way, produced and selled their same goods with same quality,(but, somehow, with the higher and higher price!!).

It was true that the locals have adapted a bit for the changing situation : they turned down their rake and their soyth and held up the small shop, and seeked for the products to sell as souvenir.However, those products were all exactly the same,one and another. In the night market on the main street of Sri Sawangwong area where the vendors came and settled thier shop,if only one of them could make his(or her) goods different or made their image of the shop more attractive(I mean, yeah , I am not an expert or not miss-know-all-about-the-selling-and-buying-stuff), they would make a fortune then.

I will not tell much about what i do not know much.So, we will pass it.

What else?Oh, forget to tell you that people here were very very nice. They smiled all the time, helpful and amicable. They were simple, naive, and frank.(Once when i asked the vendor if this bracelet was the real silver or not, she said ‘no, it is a fake one.’So, i did not buy it,see?J). However, whenever they acknowledged you as an alien, the price of everything seemed double higher(or triple or more,i am certain). I got up in the early morning one day to make a merit in Laotian’s way with the sticky rice (Tuk-Bard-Kao-Niaw). My friends and I have got cheated for almost 200 baht( if you calculate in Lao currency, compared with the living cost here, it was not cheap at all). Because while we were making the merit, the vendor kept adding the new utensil,holding the sticky rice all the time even though we did not ask to, and claimed for more money after then. After making us quite confused(It was the ealry morning and we are all half awake, and have to calculate in the Lao currency which is so perplexing)and upset (when we realized what was going on), the vendors gave us a big,sincere smile, and asked us about our trip as we were the old friends of them for long long time (which I was pretty sure that the power of 200baht did it so). After the long conversation while we were walking along the street, they asked us to come again tomorrow morning!And we said that we will not because the price of their sticky rice was too high. They pretended not to hear it by asking the new question to us. That is funny, and that is the way they have to do for making money. They did it naturally, and (seemed) innocently which i have to admit it, even I am the VICTIM and they are the killers.You know, “nothing personal”J  

There were many lovely cafes, but the most famous( as the name of it) was ‘Cafe-Pracha-Niyom’, the local coffee shop on the street cornor along  Khong riverside. As for me, it was not that good. The taste of Lao coffee should not deserve for its reputation.But, who knows, a friend of mine said it was better than the one from Starbuck. Maybe because of its price(around 5-10 baht, I can not remember).What I liked for this place was the atmosphere: so old, so antique, so ancient, and any kind of word expressing the meaning of ‘out of date’. It reminded you of the coffee cart when you were young in market place with mom. This shop had the books for clients to sign and to expreess their feeling.(a type of marketing, you think?) Most of the guest were Thais. So, I enjoyed that breakfast by reading the notebook of many people who came, passed, and left their impression and point of view toward this town in the books.All was good feeling.

One of the best places of my rank was ‘L’etranger’, the book shop that selled and rent sencond-hand books. The owner was a french lady, who had settled down her married life with a Laotian. The objective of this shop establishment was to remain reading which is quite rare in Laos. The local who wanted to read, could read it for free. I quite respected and admired for her idea and her good intension. Why the politicians or revolutionarys in Thailand can not even realize this, that reading and education can make the country survive, not any promoted theories. Anyway, there were many kind of books in this shop,and, in many languages:english, dutch,german,and french, etc. So, i bought a couple french books in very very cheap rate( second-hand rate).

That is all for now. If I have more time, I will update about this journey again.Over all, the trip was so great and was so good to me for having the long vacations, after had been stressed in many stuffs for period.Luang Phrabang is a small town,suited for a couple to honey moon or to have a good rest because of its simplicity,its serenity. Try it, and you will fall in love with it, as i did!!  

 I have recently found that how easily a man can get hurt from things. Here, ‘things’ means perception: the recognition of a truth or the impression based on one’s understanding of something.(Oxford Dictionary).Everyone, even the sensible man who has reasons to explain what that happens to his life, or understands the sense of feeling, can get hurt from this. Of course. It is because we are human. We have ego (Utta) and we live among people who are so ready to hurt our feeling. The more you seize an emotion at a moment and analyze it, the easier you can be hurt because you know what happens and how it takes place, but you don’t know why it happens to you.

Many times, reason cannot come along with emotion. We have to choose either one of them. In one situation, if you solve the problem in rational way, every thing will be kept in place. However, you still make up your mind with stupid and emotional ‘reason’. And when it is mess, you keep telling yourself that it is better to do it than doing nothing.

One always uses love as an excuse for his behavior.’ Just follow your heart.’To follow your heart, you should know that it means emotions, something non sense under the word ‘love’. It is a good excuse to do anything without being blamed. If you did something wrong and you say you did it because of love, you will get 50% discount of guilt.

After starting the day with one cup of coffee, full of Caffeine in vain, I arranged the documents of my boss rapidly but carefully At the moment of piling them one by one, I‘ve just wonder how people could be satisfied by their job? People have to work with billion reasons. Most do for money, for living. Some do for their pleasure or follow the idealistic concepts (or I could say they’re ‘dreams’).But do they really know what they are doing? They wake up early every morning for years to go making profits for the company, go home so late every night that have no time to take care of their family. Is that they call ‘real life’?  If so, I don’t want to be there, in real life.

Actually, I am not like Peter Pans or J M Barrie, the author of this story who never wants to grow up. I have attitudes toward life, both good and bad, and I think I can tolerate it. In a way, I have to admit that the world I have been for my whole life is not ever close to the real world which I have been for 6 months but give me many lessons, broad my mind to be wider and wider (or may be make it narrower).Some of them let me look back to myself and wonder that maybe I know nothing about life.