that's local

pakse, laos

it was a late lunch following the first day of touring the dmz in vietnam. the four of us tourees all ordered our standard fare, the driver joined us at the table and had his own. ours arrived and looked familiar. his arrived and was recognizable as something we would never demand. seated next to the driver, my travel partner accepted the invitation and snagged a piece of pork from his plate, giving it a quick dunk in the red paste. how was it? "that's local," he said with a smile, thus telling everything i needed to know and beginning an idioglossic catchphrase that lasted through his stay.

"that's local" is more than a statement, it's an attitude. [yes, as a matter of fact, i do hate myself for having written that sentence. it felt like the best way to describe it and i am truly sorry.] it is the way in which we acknowledge that a particular foodstuff both does taste terrible and that we are glad we tried it; that a particular leg of transport will leave us sore the next morning but forever remain warm in our hearts; that we really wish we did not see the cockroaches, but who are we to complain when the room saved us a dollar? in short, it captures the mindset one must maintain to enjoy traveling. try everything? yes. acknowledge that something is not viscerally enjoyable or does, in fact, suck? that too. maintaining a sense of humor about the whole thing is what makes these moments of lucky charms so magically delicious.

none of this is new, and i might be making such pithy observations tired and weary through this forum alone. still, it's germane. as mentioned, our bitter-tasting (literally) and sweet-remembered introduction of a catchphrase served us two weeks of inside jokes. we began saying it more as the trip progressed and it took a while to realize that it was not that the joke was getting funnier, we were simply presented with more opportunities for local experiences.

the reason? an international border. it's not that laos is more authentic than vietnam so much as that the demands of the previous month of travel negated some of these "local" opportunities. i want to yoke up a buffalo and mush my way around as much as the next guy, but going between hanoi and ho chi minh on a flight costing less than $50 was too much to resist. i could have really pushed myself to embed in the farthest-flung and least-served communities, it just would not have been as much fun as pulling up the proverbial stool at the cheers bar known as hoa's.

which is all to say that you play it as it lies and what lies before me is a golden opportunity to get to know a place in a way that has eluded me of late. there are no trains here. the distances and prices seem to eliminate the want of tray table- and packaged peanut-travel. perhaps most importantly, southern laos appears to be serendipitously overlooked looked by those (like me) trodding along the banana pancake trail. on the not-too-distant horizon are copious interactions with marauding bands of aimless members of the lady gaga generation. the ones who come to thailand to "find themselves" through spending four weeks on the same island experimenting with the human tolerance for ecstasy and methamphetamines.

not that all are good here and all bad there. some wonderful people pass through thailand and some insufferable "bros" find themselves here. still, bangkok and its surroundings seem to suffer from the deadly combination of having an efficient airport, cheap booze with no drinking age, world-class beaches, and international recognition. the hangover sequel will likely only exacerbate the situation. but that is then and this is now. i have a precious window of time to eat under tarps and use the empty plastic chair at my table to scare away the nearby rats. i can still walk into any local barber and blow their minds by asking to trim my gnarly beard. it's time for a little more sawngthaew and a little less bus. a bit less ipod and, [gulp], a little more of the asian power ballad.

i don't know how long it will last and i'm not undertaking an oath of self-torture. i'm simply saying that now provides a unique opportunity to be here, and that the whole thing is no laughing matter.