FIESTA DE DISFRACES EN EL TRIÁNGULO DEL ORO - COSTUME PARTY IN THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE

Laos… Es increíble lo diferente que puede llegar a ser la orilla opuesta de un mismo río. Durante los primeros minutos en Laos, sentimos que Tailandia había quedado lejos, muy lejos. De repente, las caras se volvieron más duras e indígenas, miles de ojos se posaban sobre nosotros, adiós inglés, adiós buenos autobuses y carreteras… Laos…

Laos. You can feel it a soon as you cross the boarder, it's different. It's a surprise to say how much things can change just by crossing a river. The pace, the people,the environment, the food.

La frontera del Triángulo del Oro te ofrece la oportunidad de conocer el lado más étnico y "puro" de Laos. Nada más llegar a nuestro primer destino, Luang Nam Tha, las mujeres de la etnia Akha se hicieron reales, y cuanto más al norte íbamos, más reales se volvían. 

A las 6 de la mañana sonó la alarma, a las 6,30 nos encontrábamos ya en el mercado de Muang Sing, en medio de lo que podría calificarse como una fiesta de disfraces en toda regla. El más original, por supuesto, debía ser el nuestro. Es extraño sentir que eres tú el observado, cuando lo que tienes ante tus ojos roza los límites del sinsentido.  

Las aldeas Akha, Khmu, Mien, Hmong… que rodean Muang Sing nos recibieron con gran alboroto. Los niños salían a nuestro encuentro, ya fuera para vendernos algo de artesanía, para simplemente observarnos, reírse de lo surrealista que les resulta nuestra presencia, o para saludarnos con un tierno "Sabadii" ("Hola").

La gran sorpresa ocurrió al final del día. Celebraban una boda, y en cuanto nos vieron aparecer, nos invitaron a sentarnos en una de las mesas. La sopa, la verdura, el arroz, la carne de cerdo, de búfalo, y los cigarrillos estaban ya preparados y servidos. Trajeron cervezas y se ocuparon de que no nos faltara de nada. La orquesta mantenía animados a los invitados con música local, y éstos salían a bailar de tanto en tanto, formando un pequeño círculo y dando vueltas bajo una carpa, moviendo las manos formando un infinito, con el pulgar y el índice siempre unidos. Al cabo del rato, Julia fue invitada a bailar. Con el rabillo del ojo fijo en la persona que estaba a su lado, fue siguiendo paso a paso la coreografía. Al terminar el baile, se escuchó un "thank you" por el altavoz y Julia, con un "Khawp jai" ("gracias") de vuelta, abandonó la pista de baile. Los novios pasaron por cada mesa, saludando a cada invitado, agradeciéndoles su presencia y recogiendo el dinero que éstos les entregaban como regalo de boda. 

Gracias Laos por esta gran bienvenida.  

Entering through the Golden Triangle, gave us the perfect opportunity to explore the north where many ethnic groups reside. It wasn't a surprise to start seeing Akha women in the main "hub" of north Laos, Luang Nam Tha, selling their little trinkets and magic items. It was more evident the more north you went. Our first contact with these ethnic groups was in the morning market in Muang Sing. All sorts of herbs, meats, soaps, fruits, sweets and god knows was being sold there. It felt as if this had been going on every morning for a long time.

Still in this territory, we decided to penetrate deeper in the area. This time with scooters, we would drive through on ethnic village to next by sung the dirt roads that connected them. Our presence in each village always seems to cause some sort of effect on the people. Let it be to talk business, or to simply have a quick chat. But what happened that day was something we never could have imagined. 

We arrived in the afternoon to one of the last villages on the route. The entrance to village had left us quite shocked, as spears were used to decorate the not so welcoming entrance gate. Still, the village seemed to be empty, although with the ever-present sound of Lao Music blazing form a corner. We got closer to find that the whole village and maybe a some of the neighboring villages had come to attend a wedding. Our presence was quickly noticed and made obvious after the spokesman of the event made it evident to every single guest through the cracking microphone.

We walked a few steps into the wedding and before we knew it, a Lao man with perfect english, came to great us and invited us to sit down. We did so. not knowing if was ethical or not. Then again we were gate crashing a wedding. He insisted we sit down around the table, which was full of plates, food, cigarettes, ice bucket and the omnipresent Beer Lao. Two stumbling locals approached us with an open Beer Lao bottle, to see the spectacle. It didn't take two minutes until we all had drank a round of beer shots, while another bottle of beer was being open and the ice box filled. 

Girls with buckets of water buffalo stew walked around each table refilling guest's plates. More beers where opened and more people got up to dance. It was a party atmosphere like no other. Everyone wearing the most colorful garments and local dresses. Julia at one point was invited by our "host" to have a dance. Slightly embarrassed, she got up and made her way to the dance floor, there, she joined the circle with all the Akha community. The dance finished and everyone hurried off the dance floor. The spokesman gave out his approval through the crackling microphone saying something about the Farang, and everyone laughed and cheered. More food was served and more sticky rice was eaten. No one seemed to get tired. 

But the fact is that it was getting late, and after all, driving on Lao dirt roads at night was not in our plans. The time came to pick up our helmets and with the stomach full of buffalo and a good smile, we took off.

Sabadii Lao