What I Learned from Staying in a Primitive Animist Village

by Sri Silva (United States of America)

A leap into the unknown Laos

A few weeks after making the reservation at Captain Hook’s Coffee Plantation and Homestay, I wanted to cancel. I got nervous thinking I would not be able to handle the primitive experience. Hook’s plantation is located in a village of 700 animist Katu people located near the Bolaven Plateau in Laos. I mustered up the courage and decided to go with it. I provided no further details to my boyfriend who would be travelling with me. When we drove into the village, I had to drive a stick shift car over unpaved mud with huge mounds and dips. I drove slowly so as not to damage the undercarriage of our rental. As we drove further into the village, my boyfriend turned to me and asked, “Are you serious?” Needless to say, the village is very primitive. The simple wooden houses built on stilts seemed like we had entered a world only seen on National Geographic. Though I was fearful and wanted to turn around, I told myself that we could handle this. After parking, we sat down at a table outside where we waited for Hook. We observed scrawny chickens, cats, and dogs wandering around. We were met with suspicious stares by the villagers. When I decided to smile courageously at them, they gleamingly smiled back. What an international language! When Hook arrived, we removed our mud-clad shoes and climbed the wooden stairs to his home. Three generations of his family were all seated on the floor. An elderly woman motioned to us to be seated on palm mats prepared for us. We noticed two eerie animal skulls hanging prominently on a wall. The family members lit coals under metal hotpots. When the water boiled, noodles, vegetables, and freshly killed chicken were added. We were given a bowl of homegrown sticky rice and peanut sauce. With long, wooden chopsticks we ate heartily. The food was fresh and delicious. After dinner, we learned how to hunt crickets, grasshoppers, mice, crab, and snakes. One of the girls said to me, “We eat everything except humans.” With the hunt finished, we sat on the ground and watched the villagers skin the mice, cooking them with the crickets and the grasshoppers. The boys threw the snakes into the flames where they coiled up and sizzled. With trepidation, we tried a little of everything. We also ate red ants which deliciously burst between the teeth like the vesicles of a lemon. After this second course, we were tired and ready for bed. The walls of our guesthouse had space between the boards open to the outside to allow for air circulation. The spaces also allow critters to enter. We made sure to tuck in the mosquito net and cover our ears after getting into bed. We survived the night and woke up to a beautiful, misty view of the coffee plantation which stretches out for miles. After breakfast, Hook explained that his people originate in India and came to Laos many centuries ago. They are animists who believe that every material thing has a spirit. He explained to us the rules of the village: • Do not take any pictures of the adults as they believe their souls will be captured by the camera. • Do not touch any of the villagers as physical contact is reserved for family. • Do not touch the skulls in a home or the spirits will leave. When a house is built, these animals are sacrificed to bring in the good spirits. Hook went on to explain that it is bad luck for parents to die before their children are married, and so they marry at the age of 8. His people are also polygamous. It is considered bad luck to live away from your family or leave the village as much as it is a blessing to take care of your parents until they die. Finally, Hook explains that his people do not make plans for the future. Experience shows it is best to live in the moment. I am grateful to the Katu people for teaching me this valuable lesson, and for allowing me to share in their experience of a world guided by spirits.