2 Days as Mahouts (Elephant Trainers)

After two days bumming around in Luang Prabang taking tuk tuks to Buddha caves and waterfalls, enjoying the great coffee and pastries, and hanging out with our posse of 8 other worldy travelers we met on the slow boat here (see photos), we decided to experience two days as elephant trainers (in Lao - "Mahouts"). It seemed kinda touristy initially, but Eric agreed to humor me since I had this burning desire to get up close with these amazing animals. In the end, even he had to admit it was one of the coolest things we've ever done.

On day one, we began with an hour and a half ride atop one of the "saddles" and were accomanied by a number of other tourists doing a day ride. That in itself was cool enough because we weren't just going round in circles on a path in the elephant camp, but were actually going through the jungle, in streams and along the river. After lunch, all the other people departed and it was just Eric and I and our own personal English speaking guide, Lue. Lue comes from the Hmong tribe and was very willing to share with us about his people and tell us interesting facts and traditions about Laos. He was also quite keen to learn about the USA and California (there are some tribes of Hmong people in CA...the USA brought them there after the Vietnam war).

Around 1:30PM, it was time to take our elephants to the jungle to rest and eat for the rest of the day/night. After some instructions on the elephant commands for"go," "stop," "right," "left," "sit down," etc. we were ready to begin the journey to the jungle. We were each paired with a real Mahout (you didn't think they'd actually let us try to steer one of these gigantic animals ourselves!), and swung up onto our elephants necks as they leaned down for us. We sat in front, our legs over their necks and hands on their heads. Our Mahouts sat behind us and held lightly at our hips in case we should need help with balance. Then we were off, one big step at a time, down the road and then up a narrow path into the jungle. Our elephants stopped frequently to sneak bites of trees (they eat constantly, but only drink once a week...and sleep an hour a day) and we had to kick and holler the commands to keep them going. It was a bit intimidating at first, but once you got the hang of it, it was really fun.

Since the elephants go to bed so early, we spent the rest of the afternoon with Lue tubing on tire tubes down the river...also a blast. We then decided to do a bit of exploring around the area because we heard all these kids playing nearby. Turns out the village is only 5 mins away and we timidly walked down the path to see what was happening. We were quickly welcomed by children saying "hello! hello!" in Lao and the adults also smiled and seemed not to mind our presence. One woman let us watch as she prepared her family's dinner and showed us the ingredients and how to cook it. We also looked on as several older boys played a local game similar to volleyball, but with the feet kicking the ball over the high net instead of hands. One little girl showed us a newborn kitten that fit in the palm of her hand. By the time we left, we had a following of about 7-8 young children between 5-10 years old playing chase games with Eric and showing off their talents. They followed us all the way back to our lodging and didn't want to say goodbye.

We finished off the evening with an excellent curry dinner and spent a couple hours before our bed time playing card games and brain teasers (which Lue provided). It was just so relaxing to sit at the open air restaurant and play games and chat in the midst of the jungle and all the night jungle sounds. We slept in a thatched bungalow under a mosquito net and heard a variety of creatures scampering around outside throughout the night.

At 6:30AM came our wake-up knock and we quickly dressed in our Mahout outfits to head to the jungle with Lue and our Mahouts to retrieve our elephants. They were quite a long way in, but finally appeared and we jumped on board their necks once again. Mine had a couple stubborn moments, as did Eric's...they like to eat and not always move as quickly as one wants. We took them down to the river this time and got to give them their morning bath. They waded in until their body was mostly emersed and then the Mahout gave them the command to sit so they were fully submerged except for their head. We splashed water all over them and rubbed them down, which they seemed to enjoy very much. They also like to dunk their heads and spray water with their trunks...so you get completely soaked! After the bath, we rode them back to the camp and jumped off so the Mahouts could prepare them for their morning tourist rides. This was the most amazing experience and more than I could have hoped for in terms of bonding with an elephant.

After breakfast and a short nap, we were off by truck and then boat to a famous local waterfall - Tad Sae. It is so beautiful it almost looks man made...there are tiers and tiers of pouring water and dozens of pools for swimming. Eric was still a bit tired, so decided to enjoy from the shore, but I was eager jump in, swim around and explore the multi-levels. A great way to end our little adventure.

Tomorrow, we head south by road towards the capital and then hopefully more time down the Mekong from there. We will keep you posted!