It always comes back to drinking, doesn’t it?  Well, what can I say for myself?   I guess if I was responsible I’d probably be back home working rather than traveling the world.  And as I mentioned before, drinking just tends to permeate world travel.  Laos is no different, but what is different about Laos — really, really different – is not about what they drink but how they drink.

Have you ever heard the saying that the things that people say when they are drunk are what they really feel inside?  Well, I always felt like the way a culture drinks is representative of the culture’s heart.  And in Laos, this seems more true than ever.  The way Laos people drink is characteristic of how they look at life, how they view personal property, and how they relate to their friends.

Before you think I’ve completely gone insane or let this lifestyle get to me, let me explain myself.

In Laos, when you sit down to a table to drink with friends, you really sit down to drink with friends.  What I mean is that you don’t get your own glass and sit sipping your beer and talking with each other.

There is only one glass at the table and everybody shares that one glass.  Somebody will fill the glass and hand it to whoever’s turn it is–probably yours if you are new at the table–and everybody else will wait until that person is done with their glass before they get a chance to drink.

The glass is typically passed around in a clockwise fashion, although if you are the guest chances are it’s going to end up in front of you a lot more.  Each person gets their turn with the glass and passes it to the next person, typically filling the glass for that person before they pass.

Does this sound like a slow process to?  Think again.

Because the end result is that while you’re sitting there looking at your beer and wishing you could enjoy it, you’re really worried about the person who is next and all the people who are waiting for you to drink, so what really happens is you end up drinking it as fast as possible.  And in Laos, the beer just keeps on coming.

And Laos know how to drink.  In my experience, they drink all day every day, and if you get in too good with the locals (I’ve got a problem with that), you are lucky to make it back to your room without being sucked into a table full of people who want nothing more but to eat and drink the day away.  Life’s a bitch…

As if the sharing and generous spirit didn’t stop there, Laos people seem to have decided it is a good idea to have free alcohol on hand in the bars.  Hey, it’s not such a bad idea, if you consider all the people that might not be able to afford a drink.

While this might not be as true in the capital, I definitely found it to be true in the northern mountain ranges.  Whenever I went into a bar, there was always a bottle or three of different kinds of whiskey lao, a bitter liquor that is usually homemade.

But the price certainly made up for the bitterness.  As long as you’re drinking in a bar, and probably even if you were, you are welcome to have as many shots of the whiskey lao as you want…free of charge.  Do I need even tell you what the end result of this policy is?  As if the big bottles of beer Lao for one dollar weren’t enough…

in Laos, drinking is about sharing.  It’s about time with friends — as it is anywhere, I guess — but here, they really mean that.  There is no real sense of personal property in Laos.  There is no sense of, “This is mine and this is yours.”

Hey, I’ll drink to that.