Night road under a full moon

Keiichi Iwasaki

21年前

　As I left the building after immigration, I was suddenly confronted with unpaved roads, which became my first impression of Laos.
I was shocked to see that the roads were not paved, the distance I could cycle was completely different, the comfort level was different.

As I left the immigration compound, I saw a grey road beyond the brown one, apparently only the border area was unpaved.

I soon found our way to Vientiane, the capital, because there was only one road.

The rice fields in Laos were lush and green, compared to the dying fields of northern Thailand.

The only other change was that the skirts of the women walking along the road were now long, curly skirts.

I headed for Vientiane, the capital of Laos, 20km away, looking at the countryside.

The closer I get to Vientiane, the fewer rice fields there are, and the more houses there are, and I start to think that Vientiane is a huge city, the capital of a country.

I thought, so I asked a local, “Vientiane? He pointed in the direction I had come from.

Then he points in the direction I came from.

“What, did I pass by?” I remembered where I had passed, but there was no city in sight. I thought it was strange and turned back.

A little further back, I ask another passer-by,

“Vientiane? ”

“this is it”, pointing to the ground I am on.

To my surprise, this was the capital city of Vientiane.

There are more cars and motorbikes on the road than there were on the way from the border.

It doesn’t feel real, but it seems that this is Vientiane, which I thought was much bigger than the provincial capital of Thailand.

Leaving Vientiane, the distance between the houses soon increases and the countryside begins to open up.

According to the map, the road is not in good condition.

At dusk, while I was resting, a young man asked me in English,

“Where are you going? ”

He asked me where I was going.

He asked me if I wanted to come to his house. and he served me a strong drink called “Lao Lao”, and his friend Ni, who lives nearby, also came.

When it was completely dark, he lit a candle and told us that there was no electricity today. It was a beautiful night with a full moon and I followed them along the narrow dirt road to Ni’s house.

[phot]Lao children look at me with interest

It was a beautiful night with a full moon, and I followed them along the narrow dirt road to their house, which was a small shop. Compared to other countries, Lao people seem to be a bit shy.