Beer Lao and grasshoppers for breakfast….. no thank you!

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If it moves and has a heartbeat they eat it. From bats and frogs and various small insects skewered on wooden sticks to flying squirrels and catfish, the Laos people are a happy lot. On our one and only camping day in Laos en route to Luang Prubang, we were invited into a local noodle shop and offered the famous Beer Lao and grasshoppers for breakfast. The enormous grasshoppers were trying to escape from certain death, but with the extremities of their legs removed, making a 'hop for it' was out of the question and most of them just ended up scurrying around in circles on the table whilst the villagers looked on with delight. Not wishing to see the poor insects being thrown into the frying pan, we quickly downed our beers and excused ourselves before setting off on our day's bike ride through the green and lush mountains of this former french protectorate.

Laos is one of the most laid back countries I have ever visited on my travels. Having arrived from Kyrgyzstan, where nearly every adult male behind a steering wheel is trying to kill you, the drivers in Laos are in contrast, extremely courteous, drive at sensible speeds without having to constantly use their horns and give you a wide berth when overtaking. The capital Vientiane is particularly laid back, where you can cycle around the city in pretty much half a day taking in the wonderful sights of Patuxai which is similar to the L'Arc de Triumph or sip away at ice coffees whilst devouring baguettes and pain du chocolate that are a legacy from the French who established their empire in the Far East in the 1880s. Even when you're cycling outside of the main cities a Wall's ice cream man isn't too far away on his motorbike and fridge sidecar.

However, what many people don't know about this small country is that it is the most heavily bombed country per capita in the world. Between 1964-1973 the US staged a secret war (Laos was declared a neutral country in the mid 1950s) which saw former US Air Force Pilots in civilian painted planes carry out 580,000 bombing missions, dropping 2 million tons of ordnance over the country directed against the communists supporting the Viet Cong in Vietnam as well as deterring operations along the Ho Chi Minh trail which passes through both Vietnam and Laos. More than 270,000,000 bombies (small bombs designed to kill or injure personnel) in total were dropped of which 30% did not detonate. To put this into perspective it means that a bombing mission took place every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day for 9 years. Sadly 80-100 people are still killed each year due to unexploded bombs detonating on farmland being cultivated, or when villagers alter the position of their cooking fires inside their homes. A centre known as the COPE centre has been set up in the capital as well as in some other provinces where money is raised to produce prothetics for children and adults who are maimed by these bombs.

Despite this gloomy history, the people of Laos and particulalry their children are some of the happiest people I have come across during my travels. Travelling from village to village you are overwhelmed by the number of piglets, cockerels and dogs running out to greet you, as well as naked children shouting out "Sabaidee". Music blares out from the wooden stilted houses and often the men are gathered around the kareoke machine bellowing out tones in a drunken stupor. The women and children in the mean time are often seen out on the land working hard, carrying heavy loads, working the fields, or simply washing themselves in full view of everybody in the village's one and only public shower. When the men are not partaking in singing contests they can be seen gathered around cockerels in a circle placing bets as to which one is going to survive the fight. This is not a nation of animal lovers!

'Boun' is the Laos festival which celebrates the end of the rainy season. This is celebrated by many of the men partaking in traditional boat races along the Mekong River. We were fortunate enough to be cycling through Laos at this time of the year and witnessed the various events going on in the city of Vang Vieng. In the villages, stalls are erected like at a funfair with villagers having to burst balloons with darts to win a prize, usually a cheap toy imported from China.

Choosing food in the small village restaurants was at times challenging so my partner Noushin usually ended up in the kitchen herself, pulling out all the vegetables from the fridge and other cubby holes and providing some guidance to the cook not to include the dishes that contained chicken feet, bats and frogs. Of great note was the number of women managing the day-to day running of the restaurants and shops and particulalry looking after the finances, whilst the men were often seen in the background carrying small babies in slings around their midriffs. Laos definitely appears to be a female dominated society.

Our first cycle ride in the north of Laos took us from Vientiane to Pak Beng, and included the town of Vang Vieng and the UNESCO Heritage site of Luang Prubang along the way. In Vang Vieng with its scenic Karsts we visited many caves and took the opportunity to go tubing in a rubber ring down the main flowing river. Luang Prubang with its french architecture is a wonderful city with a great night market, 33 temples and the beautiful Waterfall of Kung Si nearby. Here we also visited the elephant sanctuary and learnt to be a Mahoot (Elephant trainer) for the day.

At the end of the bike ride in the north we stopped off in the city of Huay Xai and participated in the Gibbon Experience where we went zip lining in the jungle along some wires 700 m in length. We slept in a tree house overnight and witnessed the amazing sound of insects bellowing out a frequency in unison similar to that of electricity lines, as the sun went down and the jungle began to come alive.

Returning from Huay Xai to Vientiane we decided to take the local transport including a two day slow boat journey and a VIP bus. On both the boat and the bus, we had to remove our shoes and place them in plastic bags before we could embark either of the transports. The Laos authorities have now even produced an english written book for westerners informing them about the Laos culture and showing respect to its people. The cartoons within the book depict what foreigners shouldn't do whilst in Laos, such as publicly showing affection to one another or pointing feet at somebody and girls swimming with bikinis in public places (other than the obvious tourist spots).

The great thing about being in the Far East is sampling tropical fruits and other foods. Whenever I'm here I always enjoy devouring Dragon fruit which costs a fraction of the price it does back home in Waitrose. Also in many of the larger towns, an Indian community was evident serving Indian food like they do in the restaurants at home. Other than that the fresh fruit shakes in the night markets are to die for and of course Beer Lao is a quality brew. However my favourite dish as recommended by my good friend Angie in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan is sticky rice with mango.

Our second bike ride took us to the south of Laos and included the 4000 Islands, What Phu temple (Khmer Temple) near Champasak and the Bolavean Plateau where the French established coffee plantations during their hey day. Sampling real coffee was again another highlight in Laos and we certainly made sure we had plenty of it.

In the 4000 Islands we cycled between the various isles and learnt how the French formerly overcame the problem of sending gunboats up the Mekong River avoiding the treacherous waterfalls. A small railway built between Don Khon and Don Det Island in the vicinity of the waterfalls allowed gunboats to be lifted from the water onto a railway carriage in the south and then be transported with a small locomotive to the northern end of the islands where the gunboat was again lowered into the water to continue its journey. This allowed the French to continue to explore the Mekong River and establish trade routes with China.

Also whilst visiting the islands we took the opportunity to see the rare Irrawaddy freshwater dolphins in the Mekong and even though we caught a glimpse of them the boat trip in the 'James Bond' style dug out canoe with a big engine on the back was far more exhilarating.

As a youngster I always fancied going fishing, but with nobody really to teach me, my interest soon dwindled and I sold my equipment. So, I thought what better time than to go fishing in the Mekong river with an expert fisherman from the local community. Mr 'Air' took us out on his boat and within a short period of time we had all caught some fish, including catfish and bubble fish which we grilled on a hastily made fire and ate together with chilli sauce, sticky rice and flowers.

My final memories of Laos are those of the unusual numbers of strange insects and animals we saw. On returning from dinner one evening we met 'Stick' the stick insect whom we quickly befriended. Attracted to our torch light and camera he reacted like a pet and jumped up onto my shoulder which freaked me out a little. However when he saw his shadow on the wall and started to tap his feet and make moves to attract his 'sexy shadow' mating partner that was certainly one of the great highlights for us.

Laos has surpassed all of my expectations in terms of what it had to offer. A particularly poor nation it exudes warmth from its people and has a wonderful charm about it. For cyclists it is an absolute heaven with minimal cars on the road and variety of sceneries that keep you interested long enough. The french influence means that you can switch to coffee and baguettes when you get fed up with rice and noodles and because it has no natural coastline the country is not as popular and hence less busy than some of the other Far Eastern countries.

Our next journey takes us to Vietnam, where we firstly visit the capital Hanoi and the UNESCO Heritage site of Halong Bay before cycling south with our bikes to Saigon. The journey continues…...

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Photos

Beer Lao and Grasshoppers for breakfast…yum yum!
Springy legs removed from the Grasshoppers so they can't escape from the breakfast table.

Boat Models
Boat Models being displayed in anticipation of the forthcoming boat races taking place to celebrate the end of the rainy season

Naked Children in the villages
There are either naked children, piglets, cockerels or dogs everywhere in the villages

Zip lining on the Gibbon Experience
Zip lining along 700 m wires.

Comments

[IMS2014]

new and interesting breakfast in india
I have heard this and saw first time about (beer lao and grasshoppers breakfast ).In India I haven't seen this type of combination in breakfast but think I have to visit once there and had taste beer lao and grasshopper breakfast once and I love to do this type of extraordinary thing . I hope had great taste with Asia Laos Vientiane........ Laos I am coming . and want to enjoy over there ................