Ever wonder how Lao businessmen dance?

Well, we had another opportunity to practice our manners when presented with strange forms of alcohol by locals. This time we found ourselves in the middle of a party at the conclusion of a Laos business meeting. Huh? you may think. Well, so did we. We couldn't take photos, as it seemed entirely inappropriate (and I don't know that it ever really crossed our confused minds), but the photo above is the restaurant (with blue roof) we chose to eat at on our final night in Laos as taken from Thailand.

Originally, we stopped at this restaurant because it offered a nice view of the Mekong River and the sky was dark, the wind was blowing, and a heavy rain seemed imminant. We've learned that when the sky looks like that, you don't mess around. The rain may not come at all, but more than likely, it's gonna hit hard.

This gets long, but since it's one of my most favorite experiences yet, tough... read on...
There were a few Lao families eating, so we figured we'd found a good spot for dinner. It was entirely open with a metal roof and plastic chairs and tables, a typical riverside SE Asian restaurant. Eventually, we were the only people remaining in the place besides a surprisingly large crew setting a number of tables and bringing out dishes of food. We were wondering what event was going to take place there, when a truckload of men dressed in business casual arrived. They hung around for a long time, eventually sitting down when a group of women dressed in nice short sleeved blouses and long, straight skirts showed up. They mostly sat at separate tables, about 60 people altogether.

We figured out (people would stop by to practice their English) that it was the "ceremony" (party?) at the end of a "long business meeting" (conference?). We noticed that there were speakers and a keyboard set up and crates of beer were delivered... Eventually someone sat at the keyboard and an older man made some applause-worthy comment and then sang a song in Lao.

After singing, the man came to talk to us. We found out he was the boss and had taken a 6 month English course at some point in his life. We "chatted" and eventually our empty beer glasses were filled with ice cubes and more Lao beer. (We'd already drank a big bottle apeice in celebration of coming in well under-budget for both Laos and Vietnam, but protesting didn't work.)

Hmmm. Ice. Red flag number one. Oh well, we guzzled that down before it could melt. This prompted The Boss to call over a man with a small glass bottle filled with a yellow-y version of Laos Whiskey. Now, we had tried Laos Whiskey at a village near Luang Prabang and knew it was potent stuff. However, this was yellow-y and looked suspiciously like the type our guide had told us often causes upset stomachs because it's watered-down and sweetened with something potentially impure. Red flag number two. But, after downing one shot each and being poured another, we were greatful for the impurity. Of course, we had to have two shots because we "walk two legs" said The Boss. We were toasting something, I think.

Just as we were plotting our exit, the dancing began. Yup, you guessed it. The Boss insisted that we join in. Now just imagine this. A plastic-chair type restaurant nicely situated along the Mekong River with a good 70 Laos business people and restaurant staff, someone singing a song in Laos delivered through quite large speakers, a lot of whiskey and beer in a very polite and shy culture, one lonely couple starting to dance about two feet apart, and these two white kids sitting at a table in the middle of it all, dishes still uncleared. It was all just a little surreal and we didn't want to ruin the party with our interpretation of the word dance. Eventually, about 6 other couples stepped up, and we gave in, hoping for anonymity in numbers.

Basically the dance went like this: Women on the outside of a circle, men on the inside. Men do next to nothing while the women stand with elbows bent, making small small swirling gestures with their hands at waist height, like they're buttering a huge slice of bread with both back and front of hands. This motion, with a few wrist rolling flourishes, and steps are to the beat. Couples walk side by side in the circle but about 2 feet apart. They NEVER TOUCH. Every few steps you take a half-step back and face your partner before continuing around until the music ends. We exchanged places once for about 30 seconds. That was exciting. At the end there's a quick wai (bow with prayer-like hands) to yuor partner and that's that.

We must have looked ridiculous as everyone else was fairly solemn, and we were grinning like idiots trying not to giggle at the entire situation. We sat back down: more broken chit-chat, an invitation to sing, a refusal, further insistance, further refusals, more whiskey, more iced beer poured into the melted ice in our glasses, and one more dance. Then we paid our bill and bid them good night.

As we left, we said thank you to The Boss, but he kept brushing it off with a thank you to us instead. He asked if we had had a good time in Laos and if we liked the country (which we had and did). We figured out that he was proud of his country and was genuinely greatful that we had chosen to visit it, not in a desperate way, but in a "we need you" way that made me feel both sincerely flattered and mildly ashamed at my undeserved importance. He wanted to make sure we had enjoyed ourselves, and I left feeling proud that we'd visited this country that he so proudly wanted to share.

We walked back to our guest house feeling mostly fine but increasingly tipsy and with no ill-effects from the whiskey and ice. We don't try to find experiences like these, but I think we would if we could!