Hit da Bong! : Thuoc Lao Culture in Vietnam

In search of something to get high in Vietnam, Thuoc Lao will be the best result. In a small street-side café on the pavement inside the heart of Hanoi, you can easily catch sight of a group of middle-aged men, even women, drinking bitter iced tea, chatting about life, and smoking from a huge bamboo water pipe.

Pipe smoking has been an indispensable part of Vietnamese custom for a very long time. In daily life, thuoc lao and dieu cay are the “close friends” of all classes from the rich to the poor, from the functionaries to the citizens in Vietnamese old society. Their day could not go on and be really productive without toking on thuoc lao.

All you need to get high like the true Vietnamese style is a pipe made from bamboo or plastic, a ball of Vietnamese tobacco and a match to set the fire. To experience pipe smoking, you can simply go to every drink stalls on every street. Order a cup of green tea, pack up a tobacco ball, put it into dieu cay, burn the tobacco, wait for a second then blow the ash out of the pipe, take a deep toke from the pipe together with drinking some tea, let the smoke get out from your mouth, you will feel extremely “phe” – the word Vietnamese people use to describe the high. You should ask someone sitting behind to catch you in case you may hit your head because of getting too high. You will be also addicted to a unique sound when smoking thuoc lao, it is so cool.