[dc]L[\/dc]aotians have this vocalisation they execute all the time. It\u2019s just a little exclamation; meaning much the same as, I do suspect, \u201cSheeyit.\u201d But it slays me every time I hear it (which, when in Laos, is quite frequently indeed). They also do it some in Northeastern Thailand; but the imitation pales in comparison.<\/p>\n
And so? Well, nothing, really. Just that I\u2019d kind of forgotten how fucking much I love this country; and this sort of silly little example is one reason among dozens illustrating why<\/em> I find the place so alluring.<\/p>\n Funnily enough, I feel this way even though it\u2019s a bit like I\u2019ve not even been<\/em> in Laos these last days: Vientiane is more like a no-man\u2019s land, floating somewhere between Laos and Thailand; while Vang Vieng <\/em>is more like a no-man\u2019s land floating somewhere between Laos and David Lynch.<\/p>\n But with the two combined, there\u2019s quite a bit of the old Laos magic; and the rides to and fro\u2019 more less seal the deal: the down-home temples, the broadly smiling locals, the mischievous kids running around barefoot, the roadside village huts with only the one apparent modern amenity (the satellite dish and concomitant teevee), the lousy Internet connections and even lousier inter-city roads, the villagers out working in the rice paddies or wading into the rivers to fish, the buffalos and chickens roaming freely around, the bus drivers climbing atop their coaches like monkeys, and of course<\/em> the impossibly beautiful mountains.<\/p>\n Laos is just\u2026the best.<\/p>\n [dc]B[\/dc]ut to start from the beginning: on Sunday, I was still in Thailand. A tip-off from a guest-house staffer had alerted me to the existence of a Sunday evening Night Market in Nong Khai. Now, I won\u2019t attempt to speak for all y\u2019alls; but for me<\/em>, the draw of the Thai Night Market is nothing to do with finding rock-bottom prices in little plastic trinkets — but rather in seeing something weird and\/or goofy and\/or piquant and\/or strange and\/or unnatural. That\u2019s the Thai<\/em> magic, one might say.<\/p>\n And Nong Khai\u2019s Market did not disappoint in this regard. What is the dude saying? Does he know that nobody\u2019s listening to him? If he does<\/em> know, does he care? And why are the vendors dressed in camo gear? Hells if I<\/em> know.<\/p>\n