This afternoon at around 16.00 we are picked up by a local Tuk Tuk and taken to the first of this evening’s fun - a game of Petanque.
A local version of Petanque introduced by the French, all over Laos in the late afternoon and evening can be seen small courts made of packed dirt and gravel with mostly men playing.
Probably the most popular sport in Laos, it has lead to them often winning medals at the biannual South East Asian Games. However all are welcome and of course, we certainly are made very welcome. We join in and enjoy some local snacks and of course a few bottles of the ubiquitous Beer Lao drank in a glass with ice, as we try to beat the locals.
After much smiling and laughter and also likely a little intoxicated, we move on to our next stop, a traditional grilled duck restaurant. We enjoy one of Laos’ most popular night-time - or indeed any time, drinking snacks - grilled duck with a duck blood soup, extremely tasty but not for the faint hearted and certainly not for vegetarians. Our current favourite spot is located near the Mekong riverbank. a very lively and entertaining spot - we will likely be the only foreigners here.
Finally we continue to a later-night local beer garden with live music playing mostly Thai/Lao songs and a few old better-known classics. We enjoy more barbecued food and more Beer Lao until finally we are ready to retire back to our hotel for the night.
PROGRAM CONCLUDES
