Sao Darly
Home away from Home
The final race took place after 3:30 PM with Champassak Army, Don Nang Loy, and Pa Phin fighting for the championship title. It was emotional for me to witnessed the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat by the losing teams. In the end there can only be one victor and the best team on water that day would take home the title.
By 4:00 PM we were heading back to visit uncle Khao’s relatives once again. It was so crowded and we were moving at the speed of turtle almost. I was just happy not to be the driver for that day because it’s like dangerous on the road with so many people not following the rules of the road. I don’t know how some of the people got their driving license and when you are in Laos, getting home alive is a blessing.
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After a nice lunch it was time to head back to Pakse Boat Racing Festival ground. The relatives didn’t want us to leave and told us we had to come back after the boat races. It took us 20 minutes to walk back which was a good pace with all the food that we ate. Of course I went wandering off from the group to get a better view and better photos and clips. It was getting more intense with so many teams competing for the last three spots for the final round. You have to be there to really appreciate the crowds cheering their hearts out for their favorite teams or their villages. Bets were being made no doubt and there will be winners and losers by the end of the day.
Having following the Champassak Army Team my heart was with them. The teas was the winner of the 2007 Boat Racing Festival and I wanted them to retain their title.
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The boat races came to a halt at noon time and the crowds went looking for some good food and Beer Lao of course. We walked to a relative’s house way past Ban Wat Chine. It took us 20 minutes to get there and we were soaking in sweats by the time we arrived at the picnic spot. The house is being rented out to a weaver but the owner tend to have a family gathering there by the riverbank whenever there is a special occasion. The people that were gathering there didn’t care for the boat races because they have seen enough they said and only were there for two things only, the good and the booze. They were uncle Khao’s relatives and we were greeted with warm hospitality.
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It was getting more exciting with the boat races and the crowds were not boring to watch to say the least. There were plenty of Lao dishes offered by the food vendors but it was too dusty and not a good idea to eat anything there. We only bought water and had to settle for a generic brand after not being able to find my Tiger Head Brand bottle water from Beer Lao Company. The scorching heat was almost unbearable but I endured the best I could tried to drink plenty of water so I won’t be dehydrated.
Of course I would have helped if I was to stay put in one spot under the shades but I had a habit of venturing off to find photo and clip opportunities. It was worth the the mini trips I took around the boat racing festival ground.
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After breakfast we packed up headed out to Sedone River for Pakse Boat Racing Festival. The truck was full of relatives and villagers asking for a ride to see Boun Suang Heua. We made a stop by a relative’s house near Wat Chine but didn’t see anyone there so we went to San Jao Sop Se to get the best view of the boat races.
It was already crowded on both sides of Sedone River when we got there. I was so excited to be in the middle of the biggest boat races in Laos and was triggered happy making clips and taking as much photos as possible. I had my Acer Netbook with me just to make sure I can download the photos and clips when I ran out of memory on the 8GB SDHC Memory Card. In the end I used up over 7GB of space for the entire day.
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The saga of my two months in Laos continues with Pakse Boat Racing Festival on October 15, 2008. As the story goes, I didn’t get much sleep again. I have a problem with sleeping at a new place and wake up easily with the typical noises that would not disturb most people. By 6:00 AM I was heading down to the riverbank to watch the blessing ceremony of the Champassak Army Boat before the competition later that morning. It was a moving experience and I was thrilled to be able to see such a ceremony for the first time in my life.
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