Lao Festival for the Dead (AKA Night I Was Groped By A Lao Woman)

While we were in Ban Na Hin I experienced one of the highlights of my trip so far.

The owner of our guesthouse invited us to a party at his friends house. It was an important occasion, held on the anniversary of the death of a family member in order to honour their life. This apparently serious event honestly reminded me of a drunken wedding reception. There was a marquee under which relatives and friends were gathered enjoying the free food and beer, a DJ/compere telling jokes that were falling flat and a the kids were quietly observing from the sidelines, watching the adults make fools of themselves.

It very quickly became apparent that we would not be allowed to similarly observe. The Lao guys at the next table started toasting with us, which means you have to finish whatever is left in your glass - and as glasses were not allowed to go empty that meant a full cup of lukewarm Beer Lao. Dangerous and not so easy to drink!

Then the dancing began...

The Lao style appears to involve swaying slowly from side to side and waving the arms while turning the hands at the wrists. This remains exactly the same irrespective of the music playing.

After being dragged onto the dancefloor, at the end of one song a Lao woman who was slightly worse for wear used me as a leaning post. She then introduced me to her friends, plied me with more beer and once again dragged me on to the dancefloor. Only this time it was just me, my new best friend and about 4 other people apparently putting on a performance for the rest of the party.

As I was making my escape from the dancefloor my new friend decided to grab her own... Then grab mine... Various people then told me I danced Lao style well. Bizarre.

Events continued to well into the early morning. My friend Jo also experienced the invasion of personal space by my drunken BFF. She also nearly broke up a friendship as two men at the next table started to fight over who got her email address, her plaintive cries of 'I have a boyfriend...' falling on deaf ears. Meanwhile a local woman took it upon herself to defy dance tradition by whipping out the most enthusiastic air guitar moves I have ever seen.

It was a fascinating and hilarious night and I am truly sorry I don't have photographic evidence for you.

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