Spectacular Mountain Scenery and Bathing Elephants

Asia » Laos
August 15th 2007

Published: October 11th 2007

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Jen and Andrew

Mackinninus Spoticus

We caught this little guy hanging out on a stalk of mountain rice

Laos as recalled by Jen:

Having enjoyed our overnight train in India, we decided to try an overnight Thai train (1st class of course!). We took the train from Bangkok to the Thai border town of Nong Khai. As we didn't disembark until about 10 in the morning, it was really nice to enjoy waking up on the train and relaxing in our cabin (as opposed to the 3:30 am wake-up call in India!). I was especially looking forward to what would be our last truly exotic, less mainstream/touristy travel destination. The Laos border was only recently opened to tourists, and although tourism has taken off, it's still nothing like Thailand or many of the other countries we have visited.

The border crossing into Laos was relatively easy, however we were a bit put off by having to pay $42 as Canadians for our Visas (the most expensive fee for any country), when the Americans, who bombed the country, only had to pay $30!

Our first stop in Laos was the capital, Vientiane. While I didn't really have any expectations for Vientiane, I was little disappointed as there really wasn't much of anything to see or do. Now,

Rice Everywhere

Trekking through the rice paddies before the kayaking trip

in it's defence, there were several Wats and a museum or two we could have visited, but we weren't much in the mood for culture. So after an afternoon of wondering around the small town, we decided we would move North on to the town of Vang Vieng the next day.

I knew that Northern Laos was mountainous, but nothing I had heard or read came even close to describing the spectacular mountain scenery! On arrival in Vang Vieng, the bus, rather than stop at the bus stop, pulled up right in the middle of a lovely bungalow resort on the river (we wondered how much they pay the bus company for this privilege). Since we were there, we figured we'd check out one of the bungalows - it was great and they were asking $12 (with AC), so we said why not! We enjoyed many Beer Laos that afternoon in the restaurant (right on the water) and back on our bungalow balcony, with the backdrop of mountains rising up from the river. It was one of those times when we thought of how lucky we are to be doing this trip and seeing the things we have seen,

Swinging in the Rain

Andrew gets high on a giant swing before taking the plunge into the river

and we thought about everyone back home at work (sorry, but sometimes we can't help ourselves!).

That night, we wondered into town for some grub. The town is very small, and built on tourism. The funniest thing is is that all the restaurants have TV's which play nothing but "Friends" re-runs! So as you walk down the street, it's just lined with tourists drinking Beer Lao and watching Friends, and most of the restaurants have sofa-like seating, so everyone is sprawled out around their tables! And we have to admit that we did slip very easily into the scene, but just for that one night (it was great!).

Vang Vieng is known all over South East Asia as the place to go tubing (ie. lie in an inner tube while floating down the river on the current). Since there was a good chance of rain (it is the rainy season), we decided to sign up for a day trip where we would kayak the river instead. Our tour guides drove us about a half hour north of town, where we all got ready to get into our two-man kayaks. After about 2 minutes of instruction (helpful things like

Ceramacide

The monks weren't shy to depict stories of war in the tilework (temple in Luang Prabang)

paddle on the left side to turn right, and on the right side to turn left), we were pushed off into what was really strong current and told to go to the other side of the river. Our group did OK, but the group who launched before us lost a couple of people to the current (they eventually bailed out and walked back to their group unharmed). It was like being back in Bolivia where safety isn't really an issue. After a visit to two caves and a lunch break (the first cave was a water cave that we donned headlights for and tubed through - very cool), we got back into our kayaks and set off down the river.

With Andrew in the back of the kayak, we were doing really well, even through the rapids (did I mention the river had many rapids?). Only one rapid got the better of us, but no harm done and we got back in and kept going. After an hour or so, we stopped at one of the many bars that are set along the river. As I said, most people rent tubes and float down the river. When you want

Jen was getting a little trunk

to stop at a bar for a drink, you signal the guy on the river bank who reaches out with a long stick or throws something attached to a rope and pulls you into the shore. When you're done, you get back on your tube and float to the next river bar.. it's not a bad way to spend a day! The bar we stopped at also had a giant swing which you could jump off into the river - Andrew and one of the guys in our group were like little kids going back several times to jump off the swing ("one more time?...OK!").

The following day we took a mini bus (North again) to Luang Prabang. Luang Prabang was our favorite town in Laos. It is described as an old French colonial town, and it is on the Mekong River (our guesthouse was right on the river). Our first day we rented bikes which was a great way to tour the area (and the exercise felt good!). We also indulged in a Laos massage which was wonderful (and cost $8 for an hour). The town has street markets every day and night, and the handicrafts were really

Our only good monk picture

We were pretty shy about taking pictures of the monks in asia - this is our only good picture of them in their awesomely orange (my favourite colour) robes

lovely, so we enjoyed some more shopping (we picked up a beautiful hand sewn bed linen set for less than CDN$30).

The highlight of our trip to Laos, however, was a 2 day tour we signed up for, called the "Mahout Experience". Mahout's are elephant trainers, and our tour took us to a local elephant camp. We arrived at the camp and dropped out bags into a very posh room. We were joined on the tour by a Brit couple, Jen and Des, who were wonderful, about our age, and doing the same RTW thing, and we all got along really well. Out first activity was meeting the camp's "baby" elephant. The baby is now 3 years old, but still quite small and very cute. The elephants love bananas, and the baby insisted on being given 2 at a time - greedy little boy!

Next we met the 4 elephants and their mahout's for the first time, and went on our first ride. This was on the only time we rode the elephants while sitting in a basket -well, we took turns with one of us in the basket for half the ride (the other sat in front

It's Just Like Riding a Bike

Andrew remembers how to ride from his childhood - he was obviously a very serious little boy

of the basket on the elephant's neck with our knees tucked behind their ears) and then we switched for the second half. It took a little getting used to not having anything to hold onto (we just put our hands on the top of the elephant's head for balance), but it was absolutely amazing to be riding on an elephant's neck! The elephants do the same one hour route several times a day with tourists, ie. they know the path well, but I was still surprised at one point to look over and see our mahout fast asleep!

That afternoon we practised getting up on the elephants from the ground. While the elephants do help a little by lifting a front leg for you to step onto, we were all far from graceful and required much assistance to make it on top! We then rode the elephants into the jungle where they spend each evening feeding on the jungle vegetation. I will always remember that ride, as we very slowly walked into the jungle, one after the other each on our own elephant, while my mahout sang a song sitting behind me on the elephant. It was an eerie

It's a Boy

...ok, so he's already three years old - but this little infant was sooooo cute - he got lots of tasty treats from us

feeling, but in a good way (if that makes sense!)

That night was very special. After a delicious dinner where we were the only guests in the restaurant, we spent several hours talking over beer with our tour guide, Nouvan. He told us countless stories about himself and his family, and life in Laos. He has been the best tour guide we have had on our trip thus far, and hearing his stories made our time in Laos all the more unforgettable.

Our second day of the tour began very early in the morning. We hiked back into the jungle to get the elephants and ride them back to the camp. Then came the highlight if the trip - we rode them done to the river to bath them! The mahouts got the elephants to lie down in the river, and we had brushes to scrub them while we were still sitting on their backs!!! I cannot describe how amazing the experience was - the giant smile on my face in all the pictures will give you an idea!

After saying goodbye to the elephants (and rewarding them with lots of bananas), we spent the rest of

Happy jen

Jen likes elephants - I think, hard to tell really

the day trekking through the Laos mountains and visiting two hill tribe villages. First we visited the Mhong tribe, where we had lunch in a family hut (our tour guide was a friend of the family). Although many tours come through these villages, we didn't get the feeling that the tribe was putting on a show for the tourists - we felt like we were welcome visitors into their homes. The owner of the hut even showed us one of the musical instruments that he makes which is very special to the Mhong tribe, and he is the only man who makes the instrument.

The scenery all day was incredible, with fields of mountain rice and sesame, and the Laos mountains all around us. Laos is a beautiful country.

On August 15th, with much sadness we said goodbye to Laos and hopped on a flight back to Thailand, to Chiang Mai. I loved Laos!

ed: Andrew's favourite part of Laos was on our torturous mini-bus ride to Luang Prabang, many hours of twisting mountain roads being punished by a driver who thought his last name was Schumacher. He stopped at a high pass where there were a

Keeping a close eye on things

Our guide was obviously comfortable with the situation - enough to get a little shut eye

few small tables set up by locals. At one table there was a very small squirrel hanging by the neck on a cord. It was a nasty sight. The driver had a very animated discussion with the seller (we couldn't hear them) while poking and prodding the little carcass. As he got back into the bus empty handed, he had only one thing to say: "too expensive". Turned out the little guy just didn't have enough meat on him to make a decent dinner. Same planet, different world.

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