We arrived to a town in the North of Laos, searching for nature and calm. Nong Khiaw is that. Many hiking possibilities, unvisited villages nearby that you can explore with a motorbike and a beautiful river that crosses the town.

Somebut is a smiley and curious 23 years old man. He is the manager of Sabaidee Nongkiaw River View hotel, a business owned by his family that opened their doors three months ago. From the rooms you can delight in watching the river. It is a peaceful place, same as his manager is. We stayed there 3 nights, enough time to spend time with him and even learn some basic Laotian :).

While doing the interview he was attending his duties as a hotel manager, like paying the monthly bill for the water, coordinating the construction works at the site. After every question he wanted to know more about our us too. At the end he asked us to come back one day and make a tortilla de patatas for him. He even asked us when we were going to get married, and wish us to have a beautiful live forever. He is just a kind and sensitive person.

“My full name is Sambut, but people call me But. I am from a village nearby. I am at Nong Khiaw 14 days taking care of the customers, then I come back one day to my village, Nam Bak, and spend time with my family.”

“I can speak Chinese. I studied it at the school. But I didn’t learn English. I’m learning it now with the customers”, says with a big smile. He is very sociable, always willing to talk with you and know about you.

“I’ve been to China and is huge. I prefer here. Here is very comfortable and calm. This place is peaceful and not too busy. Not many people.”

What is your favourite dish?

I like to eat Koi fish. It is a Lao salad, quite spicy. It has kaffir lime, fish sauce, lemongrass, yard long bean and more.

What makes you happy?

I love to watch and play football. I play football 7 vs 7, as defense. My favorite players are Pique and Messi. I would like to see Messi live one day. I know that he is getting older, so it would have to be in maximum 5 years… I hope it will be possible.

Also, when I am together with my family, it makes me very happy too. I have one brother and two older sisters. I also like to talk with the people, but not to party.

I love photography, I would love to open a photography studio. I take always pictures of the costumers.

He is, indeed, passionate about photography. He is talented! And of course he took a few nice pictures to us 🙂

What is your dream?