Wild tobacco is a very different beast from its modern, tamed descendant. […] It tops out at around 9 percent nicotine, compared with 1 to 3 percent nicotine for the Nicotina tabacum used to make your average pack of Marlboros or Camels or whatever.
[…] My eyes watered, my nose and throat burned and by the time I was done I could barely stand. To say I was light-headed would be a vast understatement. I felt like someone had pulled the core out of my body and left me a hollow and weightless shell in its place. I was nicotine drunk – there was no other word for it.
Robert Evans – A Brief History of Vice: How Bad Behavior Built Civilization (2016)
Walking around the Old Town Hanoi, you’ll soon notice that at about every corner people of all ages smoke from a bamboo water pipe. I initially thought it was an opium pipe, but the smoke didn’t smelled like it at all. I had to wait until being in Cat Ba island to find out what was it.
One of the old guys of the Hostel (which doesn’t speak a word of english, by the way) start repeating a word to me: thuoc lao.
« thuoc lao. »
« thuoc lao. »
« Ok, I got it… »
« thuoc lao » (now laughing)
« ok! thuoc lao!!! »
« thuoc lao. »
« thuoc…
I was about to reach for his back, looking for the switch to turn off the guy. He was stuck.
The pipe is called Dieu Cay and it works like a bong, with the only difference that there is no hole for the air release. You’ll need to load the pipe with smoke, then blow in it to make the tobacco cap pop out (and by doing so opening an air way) and finally inhale as much as you can.
You get a hell of a kick.
Your limbs becomes weightless and you can’t help by leaning on your back and whisper « wow. ».
Nothing makes you more relaxed quicker than that. Just beware, cause the tobacco is strong as F. It will, oh yes it will, brutally scratch your throat and leave you literally breathless.
Unlike weed, the effect lasts less than a minute and after another two more you’re back in control, able to drive and bla.
« thuoc lao. »
« thuoc lao. »
« thuoc lao. »
WORD OF THE DAY (Vn): thuốc lào (Wild tobacco – Nicotiana rustica)