When these boys are adults and their small town changes beyond recognition, they will search for photographs of their childhood and find this post...
So, these are you, guys, coming back from the Namkok River, and I have no idea what you are having in those tiny plastic bags (fry, tadpoles, or maybe leeches?) Each of you had already noticed a foreigner with a large photo camera, and each was wondering what this could mean. I like how you are walking one by one with different facial expressions. The first of you is calm and prefer keeping a distance, the second is openly trying to evaluate who is in front of him, and the last kid is always ready to laugh and wants to share his fun with the friends.
A friendship of childhood, hope it will last long!
But this whole story is about another bridge, the one over the Banghiang River:
This was where I set out on the afternoon of June 26. I wanted to take images of fishermen boats
and women fishing on the ford:
But a foreigner is a such rare view in the town of Xepon so some passersby couldn't pass by without interaction with me.
These young men noticed me from the motorbike and turned excited and stopped to say hello:
I am not sure who was first to suggest (by gestures and eyes) this tiny photo session, me or them, or together... But here we are. Showing thumbs up.
Lao men often pose with a thumb up.
An international sign saying "Life is just excellent!"
The explanation is probably this: people living in Xepon district haven't yet learnt other (bizarre) selfie signs since most Xeponites aren't consumers of social media. Many people even do not have access to the internet here.
When I asked the guys to pose a bit more, they, without saying a word to each other, sat down on their haunches and began to look at the river. I didn鈥檛 know what to do with this unexpected composition, I couldn't speak Lao to explain... So I took a picture as it was.
As for Xepon women, they usually don't want to be photographed.
But, as I discovered, they often melt if you communicate with them, smile, joke (and the best joke is when a farang is speaking broken Lao/Thai).
Foreigners are such fun!
These girls were coming from a village to the town of Xepon to sell their agricultural products in plastic bags - there are many female visitors with such sticks in Xepon every day.
When they noticed me with my big camera, they, with laughter, offered their products. I refused and made a counteroffer showing them I would like to photograph them. And what you see was their reaction - one girl theatrically covered her face with her hand, and the second one started laughing and didn't cover the face - thank her for that!
The next ones:
When these curious companions noticed me on duty 馃榿 on the bridge, they immediately folded the umbrellas. But I gestured them to kindly unfold them back.
I don鈥檛 know who they are to each other, but for some reason I thought it was an uncle and nephew.
The boy, it looked like, wanted to penetrate with his eyes right into my soul. I know this look well, I often do the same. 馃榾
When the companions continued their stroll, I was immediately taken by another guy. 馃榿 He was trying to communicate to me, and I was listening to him and simultaneously taking images of life on the river.
Two boys on the rock in the middle of river.
A childhood friendship that would last forever, this was what we believed in as children.
I was walking back to the motel when I noticed these girls celebrating something together.
Not villagers but townsgirls.
They posed amazingly - look how cute they are sitting.
I sometimes wonder what it is like to live in a small town or close-knit neighborhood all the life. Sometimes, I think this is a key to be happy but sometimes I feel it's a way to get insane. All the same faces, all the same bushes, all the same potholes - it can be a confined space torture. I don't know. But here, in tiny Xepon after staying for 30+ days, I feel I am in a cage - it's time to leave, for sure.
More stories from Southeast Asia are ahead! Check out the previous ones on my personal Pinmapple map.
I took all the images in the post with a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G and a Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 in June 2023 in Xepon (Sepon or Tchepone), Savannakhet Province, Laos.