Rainy Season Cometh - Day 2 in Luang Prabang

As we awoke on Saturday morning at 7:00 am, we were none too thrilled to find that it was pouring rain.  Despite this, we were committed to make an 8:00 am elephant ride.

We drove out to an elephant sanctuary, where they rehabilitate sick or injured elephants, and protect them from poachers.  We trekked through a fair bit of mud, and A LOT of rain to get to the elephants.  I even almost lost my jandal in some mud (Kiwi for flip-flop – Japanese style + sandal = jandal).  We got to the elephants, and jumped on on 55 year old “Lady Boy” (no tusks) named Bon Ju.. 

Jourdan, being the little dandy, was in full rain coat and umbrella.  I was not.  We headed out on our elephant ride up and down hills, through streams and lakes.  Only half way through, did they bring ponchos out to those of us who didn’t have them, because we were getting soaked through.  Half-way through the trip, our driver switched places with me and let me ride on the elephants neck.  It is crazy how big and powerful these animals are.  He moved tree trunks like it was nothing.  Its' skin was very tough, and who knew that they are actually quite hairy animals.

After the elephant ride, we were able to feed and pet some of the elephants.  It is kind of weird walking around in between all of these elephants. 

Thoroughly soaked, we stopped by a western style café called Joma.  It is a project undertaken by Canadians, to teach the Lao people useful skills, like customer service and counting money.  Jourdan and I both broke down and had our first western style meal (BLT and a Rueben )

After a few hours of relaxation in the hotel, we got into vans for an hour long drive up to the Kuang Si waterfalls (and a random bear sanctuary).  These falls are on top of a mountain, with long windy roads leading there.  It was quite beautiful as we headed through the little local villages, the rice paddies, and other local housing and people.

After I bought my rice paddy hat, we headed up to see the series of falls.  They were gorgeous and awe-inspiring.  The pictures barely do them justice.  The only down side, is due to the massive amounts of rain, instead of being the turquoise blue that they normally are, they were more brown in color.  We hiked up, almost to being right under the big fall.  It was crazy.

After that, we took a little dip in the natural pools, and even took some jumps off of the rope swing.  On the way out, we were able to pet a little bear cub.  You have got to love the random Lao encounters.

On the trek home, the rain switched from pouring to torrential.  We drove through flooded roads, mini land slides, and even saw a flash flood rushing through a local set of buildings. 

We got back to the hotel, spent some time trying to dry off, and then went over to a place called Utopia.  This was a Turkish style restaurant, where you laid out on mats to eat.  One thing about Southeast Asia in general, and which was highlighted here is the style that food is served.  When you go out with a group of people, whenever your food is ready, they bring it out.  You are expected to just start eating.  Literally half the table will be finished eating, and half will not have even been served.

We chilled here for a bit, smoked some hookah, and played some fun word games with the group.  Nothing like learning dirty words and slang from other countries.

We headed back early, to call it a night.  Tomorrow we feed the monks, and need to be up at 5 am.

TEASER:  We are posting this while stranded in Luang Prabang due to the rain, land slides, and slips.



The Hotel Rules are ridiculous



Chillin at Utopia