Of mice and men (and women)

The good people

Jan 12

How we prepare the rat to eat it, how we make fabric, and how some Quebecers recognize me in the middle of nowhere. All this in this one chapter!

You don't have to look far in Laos to find that the rat is a popular delicacy here. Almost every market sells it, and everywhere I see people preparing it. I unfortunately did not have the opportunity to taste it, but I am told that it is good. It even seems that it tastes a bit like rabbit.

Many catch them themselves using traps, then roast them to loosen the fur. You can then freeze them for later, or grill or boil them.

In fact, this dish is so popular here that it is said that the locals are able identify five different rodent species just by taste!

A man proudly showing off the success of his trap.

The animal is first grilled to remove the hair.

Other hobbies

In almost every village, I meet young people who play kataw, which could be translated by kick volleyball. Basically, as the translation says, it's volleyball, but only played with the feet and the head. Things move fast, and you have to be flexible and fit! The ball weighs approximately 200 grams and is made of rattan braided, from a tree that looks like a palm tree.

Local volleyball, only with the feet and the head. The ball is a braiding of wood.

A few days later, I pass through a village where almost everyone makes fabric from countless threads. Using a large wooden machine and several tangles, the threads are embroidered into each other and the continuous back and forth movement gradually forms fabrics that will be used to make clothes. Sewing at its simplest! It's mesmerizing to watch for a few minutes. I can't even imagine what it's like to do it all day, day after day ...

Manual weaving of fabric to make clothes.

I make myself recognized

Almost arrived at the border of Vietnam, I leave a village when I meet a family of tourists. The father takes a look at my bike, then looks up at mine and gives me a French-sounding bravo. I answer him thank you and we recognize that we have the same accent. After 9 months on the road, they are the first Quebecers that I meet.

After two or three sentences, the mother thinks she recognizes me.

Are you the guy who writes in La Presse ?!

Deep in the mountains of Laos, I am therefore recognized for the first time as "the cyclist of the round the world". I feel a mixture of surprise and pride! We then talk for so long on the edge of the road that it's not even worth the trouble for me to continue on my way. We will therefore have dinner together to continue the discussion.

Originally from Granby, Isabelle and Guillaume, accompanied by their charming and adorable children Éloïse and Antoine, travel for two months in South-East Asia. Taking advantage of their opportunity to work four years for less and take the fifth year on a sabbatical, they had already done a good part of the American West Coast by bike last summer before setting off to explore the other side of the Pacific now.

All four of them really look happy. Children adapt without problem and see their chance to have a life like theirs. They also learn to be out of the ordinary, and to see them so turned on, I can only think of the adage that travel shapes youth. L'Heureux-Boucher is proof that it is possible, and pleasant, to get off the beaten track with the family.

The L'Heureux-Boucher family: Isabelle and Guillaume, with their children Antoine and Éloïse.

Vietnam

Unfortunately, it's already the end of Laos for me. I loved the country, but the road must continue. My next border and at the top of a pass, and on the other side, Vietnam.