The Elephant In The Room

July 3, 2011

On our 2nd full day in Luang Prabang, we tried to take it easy... by climbing up 200 steps in the heat to another temple! The view was fantastic even if the temple was not much to look at. Luang Prabang is a small city, so you could see the whole place from this vantage point-as well as the grassy mountains, and the Mekhong and Namkong Rivers.

Earlier that day, we took in the National Museum, which like most things on this trip, we were under a time crunch. It closes for lunch, and we got there a little under an hour before that. The museum used to be a palace, and some of the artifacts included gifts from other nations. The US collection included a commemoration of the moon landing with a model lunar lander, and moon rock.  Apparently, they had taken the Laos flag up to the moon. Canada's only gift in the museum- a plate.

The rest of our day was a little more restful as we enjoyed a quiet dinner, and a short jaunt into the night market.

July 4, 2011

In the morning, we are picked up by elephant village tours and taken towards their camp. Halfway up the mountain, it becomes clear that the days of rain have gotten the better of the dirt road. The van gets stuck in the wet red clay. So we get out of the van, thinking we will have to walk up the mountain in this but eventually they are able to push it out of the muck and we are on our way.

When we get to the elephant village, we see one of the elephants, Mason being fed and she seems to be in good spirits. This camp says they are ethical and give back to the community, and this seems to be true. There was no harm incurred to the animals while we were around, and the elephants were very good natured. The same cannot be said about all the elephant camps in Southeast Asia.

Soon enough, we are all riding the elephants in pairs with a trained mahout. The ride is bumpy at points as you are on top of a very large animal that is trying to climb uneven ground. The elephants would at times get distracted and start eating leaves, knock over small trees, or even do "their business". You haven't seen anything till you see an elephant poop.

We rode the elephants for about an hour before stopping to feed them. The large portions of bananas they consumed from our hands was merely a small snack in the  elephants' day. It was nice to give them a reward for their hard work but part of me still felt bad for riding them in the first place.

Next, we hopped on a long motorboat up the river, without the elephants of course, to a large waterfall nearby. The boat itself was not the stablest and seemed to sit maybe an inch or two above the rushing water. We arrived, a little wet, but alive.

At the waterfall, there was a large natural pool, as well as the opportunity for zip-lining. I was hesitant to jump into the pool, as that current was fairly strong and I am not a strong swimmer. I did end up joining the rest of the group though, and Andrea made sure to do her usual 'shark attack' as soon as I got in the water. The water was full of tourists from all over Asia and Europe but a lot from Australia and France. After we were done, we hopped back into a boat, a stabler one this time, and back to the camp. We stopped for a quick buffet lunch and a swim in their resort pool while Anne and Linda decided to go souvenir shopping. On the way out, we almost lost Doug as he was busy talking to Australian couple and lost track of time.

We went back into town later for dinner, and then into the night market one last time. We came back to the hotel, enjoyed some Beer Lao, and a shot of Lao Lao (a strong rice liquor) before falling asleep to bad Thai music videos.

Next blog... "The Slow Ride Up The Mekong"