Lovin' Laos!

So far, Laos has been my favourite country. Yeah, it may be a bit more expensive and it may be totally influenced by my elephant experience, but I'm loving the mellow, friendly vibes here. I didn't take many pictures as I was pretty pictured out after the elephants, so hopefully my words do it justice....

Luang Prabang is the second biggest city here and it feels more similar to Hoi An than Hanoi. Infrastructure isn't great and it's more like a cottage town than a city. Our hostel had amazing showers and good breakfasts so it made up for my prison like, bare bones dorm room.

We visited the night market more times than Simon wanted but I loved all the handicrafts available. I shouldn't have bought things anywhere else but here! No one harassed you or made you feel bad for saying no. There wasn't as much bartering as in Cambodia, but sometimes they'd go down a bit. I bought cute new slippers to wear back home in freezing Canada amongst a few other souvenirs. 

The food was a refreshing change from everywhere else. They have a strong French influence leftover from the colonial days, so baguettes and croissants were popular. I think I had about four baguettes there in my time ?one with tofu, so good!) Perfect amount as now I'm ready to go back to rice and noodle dishes.

The bar scene was pretty European/tourist influenced but I enjoyed them. We went to one called Icon Klub, which could easily pass for a bohemian styled bar on queen west. I splurged and got an expensive but amazing mojito. They also had the BEST WASHROOM in all of SE Asia. After squatters and no toilet paper, it was pretty epic.

The next night, we went to the famed Utopia, a backpacker oasis.  We ordered dinner, split some Beerlaos and enjoyed people watching. There are cushions and low seated tables with candlelight scattered everywhere under a big straw coned roof. There are Palm trees and lush gardens surrounding outdoor tables. There was some big long tables for rowdy patrons and a volleyball court and foosball table. It's up there on my all time favourite bars list.

Simon lounging in "Utopia"

On our way home, we stumbled upon some local guys playing what we thought was house-league volleyball. But after a second glance, it was something totally different. There were three guys on each side of the net and they would kick (like yoga gymnastics high kicks) a ball back and forth only using their heads or feet. We were fascinated for about 20 minutes. I later found out this sport is called sepak takraw and it's very popular in SE Asia (thanks Wikipedia!). We then kept walking in this area and there was a mini carnival and for 2,000 kip we played the "throw the darts at the balloon" game. Simon was able to get three in a row and won a Pepsi. There were monk milling around, Kids playing and adults lounging with Beerlao and BBQ. Pretty cool local Saturday night.

After our time in Luang Prabang, we packed up early and boarded the slowboat to take us to Huay Xai where we will join the Gibbons Experience for three days. The slowboat takes two days with a night stopover in the one-street town of Pak Beng. It's more advisable to do this than the bus (12 hrs) or fast boat (6 hrs but people have died on it).

It's called a Slowboat for a reason....

We did not prepare well on our first day. Opting to wear shorts and no socks, the cold Laos morning was brutal. Luckily, Karen had extra socks at least! We made a new friend, Claudia from Germany, and sat with her. It was nice because now her and I could share a room and cut down our costs as dorms were not an option in Pak Beng. 

Inside our Boat on Day 2

Cards (rummy and crazy 8s), boat bought noodles, reading, and naps took up the 8 and a half hours to Pak Beng. Our accommodations were decent and dinner at an Indian restaurant was delicious. The next morning we boarded for another 10 hours, albeit a bit more prepared with hoodies and sandwiches. We spent the night in Huay Xai, packing and eating. Next stop, our three day trek into the Namkam national park to do the Gibbons Experience where we trek for 2-3 hrs a day, Zipline in the canopy, sleep in treehouses, and hopefully spot some monkeys.

I've been done seen about everything when I see a Elephant (...fly)

I had already accomplished one goal of my time in SE Asia (visiting the Chu Chi Tunnels) and during my time in Luang Prabang, I was able to accomplish the other: riding and interacting with elephants. Elephants are a big part of the tourism in Laos, and we researched enough beforehand to pick a reputable travel company to use. We booked a day trip that included a trek through a village, a waterfall visit and a kayak trek in addition to an optional (obviously not even close to optional in my mind) elephant ride. 

She Ain`t No Dumbo!

The trek through the village was not too informative but interesting to observe the different tribes and how they built their houses differently depending on what they were. There was one child who was wailing when we got there but stopped quickly when he saw us. Our guide laughed and said it was because they told him "you better stop crying or the foreigners will take you away!". Boogeyman Howse. ;)

The waterfall portion was nice too. There are two major tourist waterfalls near Luang Prabang and we went to Tad Sae. They were many small waterfalls flowing over little limestone rocks. Gorgeous but a little cold for my liking. Simon and Karen had no problem, with Simon even jumping off a rope swing.

Tad Sae Waterfalls

The 3 hour kayaking adventure down the Nam Khan was exhausting but a great way to spend the afternoon. As the odd one out, I was paired with the guide which had its pros/cons. Pros: able to take more breaks as he was a strong paddler and he was able to navigate around the small rapids with ease. Cons: language barriers (he asked me "do you like whisky?" And I heard "do you like to ski?" Resulting in a vastly different conversation) and his not-so subtle efforts to pick me up ("I'm not married either, maybe we go to Utopia tonight and have whisky?"). All in all though, I liked the kayak and it felt great to do something active again.

An afternoon on the river

Karen and I opted for the elephant ride. We sat on a Howdah (chair on the elephants back) and a mahout led us on a short trek through a worn trail in a forest. It was really fun but I wanted a more hands on experience. So going on the advice of "you might only be here once, make it count", I booked a solo trip to an elephant farm the following day.

I was told my pickup time was at 8:30, so I grumbled out of bed nice and early to wait. Then half an hour went by. I talked to my hostel staff and they called the company for me resulting in "wait more". Another hour went by and at this point, I'm super annoyed. If it was cancelled, that sucks but at least I wouldn't waste my morning. I just wanted some clarification and was continually being told just to "wait more". This was beyond "Laos time" by this time. Eventually a truck came and without really know where or what I was headed into, I jumped in and took a ride.

45 minutes later, I arrived at Nam Ou Elephant Camp and a frazzled ex-pat greeted me. There was a mixup and the tour company picked up the wrong person from my hostel. She felt so bad that she said I was going to get my own private tour. I had already brightened up upon seeing the farm (no cages, open space, 12 elephants plus a baby returning from the previous groups walk) and these words were icing on the cake. Good things totally come to those who wait.

Pauline, the British ex-pat, explained that she had been working here for 10 months because of her tor guiding experience and her love of elephants. It is a relatively new farm and so far they have rescued (through buying the elephants) from logging work camps where they are being forced to work long, tough days. They are often mistreated through aggressive handling (leaving cuts and scars over their bodies from the  bullhook). It is supposed to be used for the pressure points on an elephants head to get them to turn. Often in the work camps, they are hit so hard that it breaks the skin to make them go faster. She even showed me one elephant who was walking weird. Wen they got the vet to look at her, they found that her old owners had used the bullhook inside her. Pauline was emotional explaining this to me and I even got a bit teary hearing it.

This baby elephant was nicknamed ``Killer Baby`` because she was totally wild and wouldn't be trained until she was three years old.

Even though it's better to not even have them work at all, there are no protected national parks for the elephants. Nam Ou lets them roam free in the jungle behind the village when they're "off shift" (they give rides to tourists in the morning). I really liked the vibes of this place.

I was shown my personal elephant for the day, a female named Kham Seng. I fed her banana trunks which were amazing to watch her eat. Their teeth are far back so they kind of gum them backwards until they give them a big crunch and water squirts out. She was a bit greedy and afraid I'd give some to the other elephants so sometimes she'd grab like three stocks at a time. 

Just some gals gabbin' over lunch

After feeding her, I climbed on a Howdah and walked her through the village. The mahout rode in front of me and Pauline walked alongside, telling me all about living there in the small village and being the only white person who just speaks a bit of Lao. 

After the ride, I was able to take her for a bath. Her howdah was removed and we walked down to the riverbed where I sat on her neck and we waded into the water. She pause to drink a bit before heading in where she had a sit and I helped splash/pour some water over her. I loved it. It was challenging to stay on without falling so I understand the use howdahs for tourists now. Bareback though, was pretty awesome. I loved being connected to her and they said she enjoys being in the water (not sure if they were just saying that but I'll take it).

Splish Splash, we were taking a bath!

I was so lucky to have this opportunity to visit a farm where they genuinely care for these animals. A lot of tourist sites overwork them and I'm glad I supported this one. I'm even more interested in elephants now and so happy I was able to check something off my bucket list. I am one lucky gal.