VIENTAINE, Laos - In small countries, they are proud of their greetings.
Big countries have large accomplishments: Great Walls, Pyramids and economic revolutions. Laos' national symbol is a gold, vaguely phallic Buddhist symbol with peeling paint. There's one good paved road in the country (although to be fair it does run nearly the entire length of this rectangular republic). It's the poorest country in East Asia.
Laotians don't have much. They have the excellent Beer Lao and they have "sabadee." It means hello.
This morning I got off a night bus from Bangkok to pass through Thai customs, Laos Visa and then Laos Customs. We switched from a plush double-decker air-conditioned bus to something with fold down middle seats that block the aisle. But our handler - the man designed to make sure we actually get to Vietnaine - said "Sabadee."
This isn't just a Laos thing. In Nepal, everyone said "namantse," also hello. Tourists are expected to learn this word, to respond to it when people offering it as a greeting on the street. The locals will learn English, make products just for tourists and open up the country's historical treasures, if only they learn this one word. And they do.
Bigger countries have bigger worries. "Namantse" is also hello in Hindi, but I didn't hear it once in a month in India. China, and far too many other third-world countries, have adopted "hello" as an all-purpose way of attracting a foreigner's attention. I come from America. We have if anything too much "hello" there. Hence the proliferation of "hey," "how are you," "s'up," and "yo."
So in Laos, I say "sabadee," frequently and without prompt, in the hope that perhaps a Laotian or two will think a little better of their country.
