Our trip took an unexpected turn today. Our plan was to take the scooters south to a place called Wat Phu, an old temple, and to see a place called Ban Khiet Nuang. Chin the lady from the restaurant had told us to go there so we said ok. Even though we didn't really know what it was. We take off, this time heading south. We miss the turn again, but turn around and get on the correct road. So far driving these scooters around has to be the highlight of the trip so far. Its amazing to see how these people live. After driving about 60km we finally find Ban Khiet Nuang. It turns out to be some kind of Nature Preserve. The only problem it just looks like a dirt road through the forest. I ask the guy what were suppose to see and he says elephants. I say where are they and he just points. Great, they give us no map and we're just suppose to drive aournd in 1,000s of acres of forest and see animals. After about 30 minutes of driving and seeing nothing but some huts and small farms we decide to turn around and go to Wat Phu. We pull off to get gas before we go. At the gas station we meet up with a guy an older Laotian guy. He tells me he can speak German and French very well, but English not so much. He starts singing I Can't Get No Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones and tells us he plays guitar and loves rock and the blues.
He starts to drive away, but comes back right away. He wants us to come hang out with him at his garden. I'm not quite sure what this garden is, but hey sounds more fun than seeing another old temple. We tell him ok and we follow him a couple of km down the road. We pull of on a step decline and I bite it on the scooter. The right mirror breaks, but no serious damage done. We park the scooter and walk over to a little wooden shack on stilts in the middle of a field. We can't see anything growing, but he tells us next year it will have stuff growing in it. He tells us his name is Song and he's 53. He is short, thin, wiry, with dark tan skin. I can tell we're on the level with him, he has the musicians soul. He lived in Germany for a bunch of years, Japan for a few, and speaks 4 or 5 languages. He played guitar in a band and loves rock and blues. English is not a language he knows well but we can still communicate. After talking and hanging out for awhile he starts telling us jokes. It makes it even funnier that he's telling us these jokes and we have to decifer exactly what he means or what the punch line is due to the language difference. He tells us 3 pretty hilariously tasteless jokes that we can understand. He then tells us another one about the Pope, Vishnu, Hitler, and someone else. He was cracking up, but we couldn't figure out the punchline. We tell him we need to leave, but he wants us to get 1 beer with him down the road at the local bar. Its crazy down here, It seems like these people are pretty poor, but every couple of houses seem to be set up as a little restaurant or bar. We pull off at a pretty nice bar down the street. I'm pretty amazed, there is also a little stage set up. After a couple Beer Lao, Song gets the owner to plug in an electric guitar and Song goes up on stage and rips off some songs. He is a really good guitar player and sings some songs in French and some in Lao. He is great at playing some blues and rock powerchords. There are about 10 people watching.
After awhile he wants me to play. Reluctantly I agree to play a couple of songs. I told him I play, but I tried to explain I'm only a beginner. I don't know if he understands. PLus I haven't played an electic guitar before and there is no pick. Oh well. I play the only song I know well, Knocking on Heaven's Door and it sounds pretty good actually. After that I tried to play a coulple more, but not so good...the people started leaving then.
Hahaha. WE tell Song we need to head back to Pakse and have to take off. He says 1 more at another bar. We agree for one last one and stop at a little tiny bar. We sit at the table outside and there is a girl there that looks about 16. She tells me she is 22. I think this might be a place to get a "girlfriend". Another girl comes out and she looks about 14. She says she is 18. Too funny. We drink a couple more with the girls and Song and take a few pictures. We say our farewells and Song takes off and we head back to Pakse. The ride back was awesome. I cruise back home in the hot sun thinking about the day and our new crazy friend Song.
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