A Laotian Christmas

We thought Christmas would not be high on the priority list in Laos, a buddhist country, but we were wrong. When there are tourist dollars to be had, and a party to enjoy, Indochina goes all out. Last summer when were planning the trip, the only accommodation we had booked in advance was in Luang Prabang over Christmas (as we had thought we'd be in the area about that time, and knew it was a popular place, and as all the guest houses and hotels bookable over the internet were full or nearly full and we were worried about getting stuck). The only place that was left was a "resort" out of town where to secure the room we also had to cough up cash for the mandatory meal on Christmas Eve.

Fast forward six months and we are heading to the Villa Santi Resort. Half a dozen bungalows and 8 attractive colonial 2 storey blocks set in paddy fields with a network of rivers and ponds and a view of the mountains and a small meandering river. Comments on the internet related to how tired and in need of new ownership it was but what we saw was clean, had been recently painted and the gardens were well maintained. The only negative was that it rained and got very cold for laos (less than 10 degs) and some new bungalows and a new block of rooms were being built so the sound of sawing wood permeated to serenity during the day. Christmas Day is not such a holiday as to prevent construction starting at 7am.

As we checked in we also saw the preparations for the mandatory meal - they were doing christmas to the full. Tables were set up outside for 150 people. There was a stage, cabanas covering the buffet tables, lights everywhere and a big entrance covered in flowers, bunting and more lights. Dinner started at seven and as it was turning cold (the poor Lao were freezing in the 10 degs weather) we put on our least grubby clothes and additional layers stuffed in the daypack.

To keep warm about 20 open bucket braziers were placed around the tables. These chucked out a lot of warmth but with no fireguards they were more a hazard from spitting hot coals to potentially being tripped over. Time keeping in Laos is fairly fluid so we were all sitting in the cold for about 45 minutes (as was all the food) waiting for something to happen before we could hit the buffet. Finally we were welcomed and the party began.

The food was a mix of western and Laotian. Notable dishes were deep fried bamboo shoots, pumpkin soup, stuffed pork curry and even a turkey which had been barbecued and was "carved" by being attacked with a machete so that small chunks of meat and bone were lopped onto the plate. Once dinner was winding down, the games and entertainment began. We had successive traditional Laos dancers (good) and dances to Loas pop songs by guests (less good) to kareoke (truly bad) . Laos dancing is a bit like old time dancing where you sway with your partners while performing fluid movements with your hands (similar to hawaiian dance) while never having both palms facing the same way.

Games involved musical chairs, blindfolded banana eating and beer drinking. The guests were from all over the world, the star of the night being an elderly lady from eastern europe the MC called Madame Elizabeth and who, once she found out that scarves were being given away as prizes to the winners of the games, could not be stopped. The only problem is that the rules were not explained before the games and she was not familiar with any of them but this did not hold her back. She won several scarves, a bottle of wine and t shirts all presented by "our beloved manager, Mr Santi" who was often so beloved that he couldn't be found to come to the stage.

All in all a memorable night and we had a dinner that we weren't expecting. Being in a real hotel with a basic standard of service is so foreign to the backpacker experience that we soaked up being somewhere adult. We used the pool (thankfully we had one day of dry and warmth - horrors if we weren't able to use the pool!),

the spa (where Jennifer Louise spent a considerable part of Chrismas Day), the various cabanas dotted around the place and at times wondered if we were the only ones there as it was only at the party did we see many people.

We also lucked out at the breakfast buffet which covered fantastic Lao brekky items such as rice noodles with pork and yummy western fayre as such as fruit salad, bacon, ham, frankfurters, croissants, swiss roll and omelettes. Yum.