Laos Part Two

In the last blog post we had made it down the mighty Mekong River to the little town of Luang Prabang. We were enjoying the town a lot, walking most of the time as the town was fairly small. Before we left we wanted to go see some elephants. This had been in the plans for Asia, but we had not found the right place yet. Most of the elephant sanctuaries are non riding type. While there are a few who still do, tourists are encouraged to not use them as it is not a great life for the elephants. We took a tour that would take us to a river side sanctuary and included a longtail boat ride up to some waterfalls. The longtail boats are used all over Asia. They have a motor in the boat attached to a long shaft to the propeller, on a teeter-totter arrangement. This way in shallow areas the propeller can be lifted out of the water easily. The shaft can be anywhere from six to twelve foot long. Depending on the boat size these motors can be of varying sizes, lawn mower size on a twenty foot skinny skinny boat, up to diesel engine truck size on one of the large forty footers. Our driver picked us up at our hotel, gathered the rest of the bunch and delivered us to the sanctuary. As we pulled up to a grass field, elephants were loose and eating some leaves laid out for them. Each elephant has his own trainer called a Mahout. The mahouts are more like family with the elephant. They stay with them all day, every day taking care of the elephant. Some elephants have been passed down from father mahout to son. They are very easy with the elephants and talk to them rather than hit them to get the elephant to do something. When we first got there we were directed to a large hut, given refreshments and an introduction to the life of the elephant and the sanctuaries efforts to save overworked and abused elephants. We were shown a chart of commands the mahouts use to communicate with the animals. As we were listening we noticed the elephants had turned and now were looking at us. There was no fence between us and them, only the mahouts. The guide said the elephants know his presentation is almost over and they know what comes next, we didn’t. So after he concluded he took us over to the banana stand so we could buy some treats for the elephants, their favorite. As we all walked back in a line, we had been directed by the mahouts to let the elephant come over to us for their treats. They were very gentle and we were able to stand next to them and pet them as the munched they favorite treat. We took lots of pictures and said goodbye so we could head to the river for our longtail rides, we would later meet up with our elephant friends down on the river for bathing time. Half an hour ride up the river brought us to the waterfalls. We had to climb some series of steps, a bit of a challenge for Leiann and her bum hip. But like she says she can hurt at home or in tropical jungles, which is her choice. We’ll see the doctors (again) when we get back. The fall cascaded down several steps with swimming pools along the way. Leiann took a pass but I had to have a go. The water was slightly milky and VERY cold. Considering the air temp in the eighties the water was probably low sixties. I did not spend to much time in it! We hung around for an hour enjoying the beautiful setting in the jungle canopy. Returning on the boats downstream we pulled onto a gravel bar across from the sanctuary. We could see the elephants coming across the river to us with their mahouts riding them. We were given the opportunity to go in the water with elephants if we wanted to, but were warned that the animals would release their bowels when bathing and if we chose to bathe with them then we stay up river from their behinds. We took a pass and watched others giving them a rub down and splashing water on them. At one point one of the elephants began to splash back, slamming his trunk into the water at those close by. They loved doing this! We loaded up in the boat and crossed to the other side of the river. Our guide took us on a tour of the sanctuary. We were shown how paper is made from the elephant poop. Gross eh, but they sift, clean and dry it so the fibers are the only thing left making a rough paper, which they then paint, decorate, make items out of the results and sell to the tourists as keepsakes. We decided we didn’t need to partake. It was time to take last minute picture with the elephants, tip the mahouts and say goodbye. It was a great adventure, one we look back on with a smile. We stayed a few more days in Luang Prabang, before again heading out for our next adventure. We had to get down to Cambodia to meet our friend Linda and visit the ancient site of Angkor Wat. Stay tuned.