People chilling at Utopia
Erin
We had been in Luang Prabang for several days at this point and Pete had introduced me to his favourite Luang Prabang bar, Utopia.
Now, to get a sense of Utopia, imagine a giant hippie love in on a big suspended, covered deck overlooking the Nam Khan river, complete with mismatched foldable mattress bed loungers, rugs, crazy tables and let’s not forget the trademark unexploded ordinance everywhere. Bombs that have been disarmed are turned into plant holders, table decor and other general quirky decoration. It’s a unique bar, to be sure and they do all kinds of things like morning yoga on the veranda. Like I said, a hippie love in!
Utopia is also one of the only places where you can get a halfway decent hamburger in Asia that I’ve come across. Incidentally, the hamburger (while expensive) was created by a guy known as “The Hungry Cyclist” and is a guy Pete actually met on a previous trip - a dude who was cycling around the world way, way back before all this malarky became popular and people started travelling and trying to outdo each other in how they got from place to place.
Anyways, we ate our food (I had the hamburger, as you can imagine). I’m not often one for weeks on end of the local cuisine. Sure, it’s great. Lao food is some of the best I’ve had, but by week two or three I kind of often find myself longing for the culinary delights of the west.
We were enjoying a Beer Lao or two - the local Beer made of rice rather than wheat - when we heard a slight ruckus behind us. I looked up to see a guy calling after someone in English. ‘English language, what a treat.’ I’ve found myself saying in my head more than once while traversing the planet. The guy turned toward us and began to come down to where we were on the covered veranda. It then dawned on us. He was wearing a Winnipeg Jets shirt and hat.
Now, for those non-Canadians amongst us, a common thing to do is jokingly yell out that someone’s preferred hockey team sucks the big one. We did just that.
“Winnipeg Jets suck!” we called out to the guy, who was more or less right in front of us by this point. He smiled and chuckled, as we did as well. “Just kidding, but you’re a Jets fan then?”
Cue hanging out with a couple named Ryan and Chantel, who were indeed from Winnipeg, for what turned into the rest of the night. We showed them where we got our dinner every night in the Luang Prabang night market and they had dinner on the table outside our guesthouse. The Table is a famous wooden table outside the guesthouse Pete and his family and friends frequent. Suffice it to say, it’s where you meet many a traveller and it acts like a beacon for the wanderers.
Suffice it to say, when in doubt, yelling out about someone’s hockey team sucking is a great way to break the ice. Here we are, three years later, and we’re still friends with Ryan and Chantel.
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