Laos Time

Laos is one of the most laid back countries in the world. People there value fun over money any day, so there is very little hassle, but it was sometime difficult to get service.

A common encounter is walking into a restaurant. The workers are watching TV quite intently, over beers and cigarettes. Upon seeing somebody enter, they argue over who has to bring the menus, which is done quite quickly. The next step takes much longer, taking the order can take up to 15 minutes or more. We've sat for nearly 30 minutes, menus sitting closed on the edge of the table, looking impatient, before walking out passively aggressively, after being ignored. They always say goodbye with a smile.

Food can take anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours to arrive, even for a mere baguette. Now granted, everything is made fresh from scratch in Laos, but they will often wait 20 minutes to finish their coffee and cigarettes in front of you before starting, which is understandable, Laos coffee is fantastic and well worth savoring. I ordered fresh spring rolls, a five minute job, then sat for ninety minutes patiently before the whole staff began a Buddist ceremony. I watched them for an hour before Michelle arrived. We sat for another hour, whispering to eachother before walking out without paying. We lived next door to the restaurant. The ceremony lasted for another hour after we left. When I came back later that night to pay for my breakfast, they were perplexed and partially annoyed they had to interrupt whatever they were doing to collect the money.

It isn't that Laosians are unfriendly, they just go too far with the whole "no worries" attitude. I've seen a group pour a cement sidewalk in a quick hour, just to get it done. It was crooked, full of stones, would probably need to be redone the next Friday, but hey, they had the whole afternoon open for drinking Beer Laos, easily Asia's best beer. Really, who could blame them. When you live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world, filled with lush French mansions, in front of which they grill snakes and chew wood, who could blame them.