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Published: February 13th 2008
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Travelling in style
Staying dry while our ride takes a dip After leaving Greg and Gem behind for the first time in over two months, I arrived in Vientiane a free agent once again. Having experienced the chaos of cities like Bangkok, Phnom Penh and Saigon, I was instantly struck by what a laid-back and orderly city it was by South East Asian standards. The streets were relatively clean and uncongested, and life seemed to move at a very comfortable pace for a capital city. While all this came as a pleasant surprise, there didn’t appear to be a whole lot to see or do.
I checked out a few Buddhist temples and monuments and whiled away an afternoon sitting in the sun on the bank of the Mekong reading. Realising that there was nothing else particularly exciting to keep me occupied and mindful that time was running out, I bought a ticket to head to Luang Prabang on the overnight bus the following day. On the bus I met Anna, a Danish girl from Copenhagen, and upon arrival in Luang Prabang at 6AM (after a tedious and uncomfortable trip) we looked around town for a place to stay aided by a clearly inaccurate Lonely Planet map.
On first impressions,
Luang Prabang was magnificent, just as all the travel guides and fellow travelers had described it. We spent the first afternoon checking out the myriad of different activities on offer in the area, and after Anna had booked a three day trek and myself a single day biking/elephant riding/kayaking adventure, we checked out the many Buddhist Wats (temples) in town. Though many of them were very nice, the temple snobbery that I had suffered since visiting Angkor still hadn’t quite worn off. Size-wise, most of them would have barely qualified as a toilet block at Angkor (if indeed there was such a thing during the time of the Khmer empire).
I was far more taken by the mountain scenery surrounding the town, and we got a wonderful view of this when we climbed up Mount Phousi the following day. This would be the last of the eight points of the “Mighty” Mekong I would see, and I couldn’t help but notice that this section was not mighty at all. At one point a few hundred metres downstream from town I could have comfortably drop punted a Sherrin from one side to the other - a far cry from the
I want one
What a magnificent animal 5+km width I had just seen down at Don Det. Not even Anthony Rocca would have been able to roost one over at that point.
That afternoon we took a boat across to the other side of the river (which took all of about two minutes) to explore the villages. Though Luang Prabang was easily visible just across from the river, the villages had quite an isolated feel. Meeting up with the local kids I realised however that the villagers were far from isolated, as they were all very friendly and had quite a solid command of basic English for a bunch of Lao six year olds. They even tried to teach us some Lao, but given what I believe to be my pathological disability to absorb foreign languages, I didn’t make it past “sabaidee” (hello) and “kawp chai” (thank you). Sensing the disappointment and frustration in my tutors, we resorted to a few games. Perhaps as an indication not to feel bad about my poor language skills, a few of the kids started offering us gifts of fistfuls of spring onions. Though touched by the gesture, neither Anna or I could accept their kind gifts, which had clearly
Thanks for the ride mate
Bananas are the currency that these guys accept been pilfered from the stocks their mother was going to use to prepare their dinner that night.
After dinner and a few quiet Beerlaos later that evening, we packed off to bed early to rest up ahead of our respective adventures the following day. After waving Anna off on her trek, I was picked up by Wong, my very cordial guide for the biking/elephant riding/kayaking adventure. The biking leg was rather uneventful other than the visit we paid to the tomb of Henri Mouhot, the Frenchman who discovered Angkor for Westerners. It was really just a tomb like any other tomb, but its location in the middle of nowhere next to the bank of the Khan River was quite curious. Don’t ask me why that became his final resting place because I couldn’t get an answer out of Wong.
While the biking leg may have been a bit of a token inclusion, the elephant riding most certainly was not. Riding an elephant was something I’d always wanted to do, and getting up close and personal with them at the elephant farm before we mounted was a fantastic experience in itself. Surely there is no other member of the
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
A small portion of the 200kgs this guy puts away every day animal kingdom that so seamlessly and gracefully combines such majesty and extreme comic value. Following his elephant ride in Siem Reap, my mate Scott described them as “the closest thing there is to a real life cartoon character.” This description was spot on. These magnificent animals seem to have an almost human sense of humour, and could clearly sense my delight as I watched them shoveling massive amounts of leafy plants and sugar cane into their mouths with their trunks. While I mention trunks, what a marvelously useful appendage. As far as I am concerned, the trunk represents the pinnacle and a technical endpoint in evolutionary development. I want one. Imagine being able to type an email or shoot pool while simultaneously knocking off a hot dog or a burger - no wonder they are such large animals.
The ride itself was brilliant, and I couldn’t help but be amazed at how sure-footed they were over some rather rough and steep terrain. Michael (the Czech-American guy who shared my mount) and I were riding behind the other elephant, a massive bull. When he (the elephant, not Michael) whipped out his hardware to relieve himself, neither Michael or I could
Outlaw bikers
Michael, Jamie, HJT and Amanda resist the temptation to giggle childishly at the size of it, and make comments like “reminds me of myself.” It looked like a fire hose and gushed at a similar flow rate. It was a sight I won’t quickly forget, and one that gave me a whole now understanding of the simile “hung like a rogue elephant.” At the end of the ride we bought some banana bunches to feed to the elephants as a thank you. After starting to peel the first one, I realised the folly of what I was doing when the elephant grabbed it out of my hand with his trunk and shoved it in his mouth. He didn’t even have to swallow - it just disappeared. I could have stayed there for hours just watching them eat, but sadly we had to move on for the kayaking leg.
In the bus on the way to the river, I realised that I had become momentarily obsessed with elephants. Every mountain I looked at resembled an elephant in some way, and a number of branches looked like trunks. It wasn’t until after we’d gotten in the kayaks and paddled a short way downstream to the Tad
Finally some decent water pressure
HJT taking a shower at Tad Sae waterfall Sae waterfall that I managed to snap out of it. As the photos show, the colour of the water was quite remarkable. It was a beautiful place for a dip, and it wasn’t long after lunch that I stripped down and got wet. The rocks in the waterfall weren’t at all slippery, and it was therefore possible to climb up the cascades and find your own personal rock pool to kick back and relax in. The pool at the bottom of the main cascade was deep enough to dive into without risking some sort of spinal injury, so that provided a bit of fun too. Again, I didn’t want to leave but we still had a few hours of kayaking to fit in before the sun set.
Paddling downstream with the gentle current was hardly heavy work, and allowed us plenty of time to soak up the magnificent scenery while Wong entertained himself by taunting the water buffaloes wallowing in the river. Another quiet night was had that night due to the early morning departure of the bus to Vang Vieng the next day. After one of the biggest and best red curries I’ve ever had, I went to
Taking the plunge
HJT having a dip at Tad Sae waterfall bed and dreamed of elephants, and of waking up with a trunk of my own.
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