Continued from April 24th 2013
So once we got to the border and crossing to the other side, first you get in line to get your passport and visa check, they check your luggage thru their xray and then finally a final check by the gates and then your finally stepping on Laos ground around 11am. Let me say it was super HOT and at that time i'm already sweating when i finally got thru the check. I can see my niam tais and her family already by the gates waiting patiently for us and I rushed over to get a hug. Finally at last we were in LAOS.... my first thought was "this is it!" lol. So once we got all our stuff we drove to Vientiane Talat Sao (mall). They are in the process of expanding the mall to make it a bit bigger. We stop there to eat first before heading to lav 52. First dish there I had was Papaya! I think from aside of all the papaya i had in Laos, the one at the Mall was the best... and with sticky rice. Had fresh young coconut drink and logans, lychees, mangos, and bananas.
After shopping at the Talat Sao we then left to lav 52. I think it was like a 45 min to 1hr drive. We went to my niam tais daughters motel where we stayed there. For those who have been there probably knows the place. I don't remember the name of the place but its a motel with a nightclub. We bought some food at the market in lav 52 to make later for dinner. That night we had chicken with my mom's favorite bamboo. We had finish eating dinner and I had brought the dishes to the kitchen to wash and the little hmong boy came and grab it from me and said "muaj kuv mam ua os". And I was suprise and told the little boy I was gonna do it but then he took it off me and washed it. I asked my cousin who he was and he replied that the boy was a worker who served beer and clean and washes dishes for them. the little boy's older brother couldn't come so he made the little brother come and work for him.
So going back to my cousins nightclub/bar/motel. I felt very bad at how the place is run with Prostitution and child labor. I understand that it's a easy way of making a living but i felt very disgusted and really didn't want to stay there but it's family so I had to just bear it. That night the weather cool down, the music was on full blast with lao and thai songs. You can see all the girls putting on makeup and dressing up to start their shift. There are at least 5-6 prostitutes waiting out by the gates waiting for business. Seeing girls going and coming out from the motel room. I saw Hmong Meka, hmong nplog and nplog trying to get prostitutes for a quickie with the girls. There will be some hmong og's as old as my grandpa there wasting their money on these prostitutes. I feel bad for those hmong meka who goes and look like dogs. I understand if they go and visit laos or relatives but when you know u have a family to support save yourself some face and do better. I don't blame it on the guys for the most part but I guess its just a way of living to get quick money for the girls. I asked my cousin why these girls became prostitute and they said that most of the girls are usually from the tojsiab who were sent there to make money to send back to their families and some just like the money. The girls will then make the money for themself and just provide my cousin the fee for the motel and beer. Whatever they make they keep. The girls live in a room that is in the corner and is provided with food for some part I guess. The bar closes at 12pm and all the girls are then lock back up in the corner of the house and the gates are closed and lock.
To be continued
Great Summary LindaVue...
Just a couple of comments and questions for you.
Did the Laos Border Patrol Clerks "ask" you for money? If so, how much and did you give it?
Interesting observation on being in Laos... what did you think it was going to be like. You sound disappointed? Was it not like what you thought? What was different than what you had imagined?
As for the "Call Girls" at the hotels, I did hear of them. But truthfully, I did not visit any of the hotels where the girls worked. I cousin jokenly asked me if I wanted to visit one before I left, but I told him no, because I have already met May at that point.
May did tell me that she personally knew several girls from her village in Phonsavan that also went to work at he "hotels". Here is how they see it... you either break your back working in the rice fields and open markets for 30,000 kip a day OR you go work at the "hotels" for 100,000k an hour. Which would you rather do? The allure of big money in a short time is too overwhelming for some girls and they can not resist. I don't pity and I don't blame the girls that are selling their bodies, they must do what they do because they have to survive. But I do applaud those girls, the ones like May that choose to live above the it. I applaud the girls who, despite all their adversity, still thrives. Maybe that is why I am so attracted to May and have come to love her so much.
Thank you for the updates, keep them coming.
LHG
Topic: Going to Laos... For Dummies (Like Me) (Read 227104 times)