Red Eye Travels

After our elephant experience, Denise and I had some time to kill now that we were back in Luang Prabang. Our bus to get to Thailand didn't leave until 7pm so we decided the best possible use of our time would be to lounge by the Luang Prabang pool. So we left our bags with Elephant Village office and got a tuk tuk to the pool where we tanned and swam.

A van drove us to the bus station where we loaded on a very cramped, uncomfortable bus. It was packed with too much luggage and a motorcycle! No, that is not a typo, there was an actual motorbike we had to hop over to get to our seats. I thought this was the VIP bus? We settled in what we thought were comfortable seats but as the bus drove along, Denise discovered her seat had a bounce to it. At every curve and bump and turn, her seat would shake and rattle. Not ideal for a 13 hour bus ride. Luckily, a nice girl sitting by herself switched with us and she sat in the non-rocking chair. Denise and I popped some Gravol in the hopes to doze off easily and sleep the whole way. No such luck. Stops along the way for bathroom breaks consisted of going on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, possible in the backyard of some unknowing farmers. We just stayed dehydrated the whole ride and prayed we wouldn't have to use a bathroom break. With the bus travelling along the mountain side on roads obviously not made for long distance travel, we bumped our heads multiple times on seats, windows and each other. Needless to say, this was the bus ride from hell. We got to Northern Laos at 8am where we were to take a boat into Thailand and get in a mini van to head another 5 hours to Chiang Mai. Luckily, after the 13 hour death ride everything went much smoother. The mini van is much more comfortable than the bumpy uncontrollable bus. I'm not sure if this was the better option of the 2 day boat ride, but it was too late now. One of our first stops in Chiang Mai may have to be a Thai massage to get out those kinks!

This is the scooter we had to crawl over to get in and out of the "VIP" bus.

An elephant never forgets

On our third day in Luang Prabang, we had made reservations with Elephant Village for a 2 day mahout experience. During this time we were able to learn the ropes of "steering" the elephants, ride them, bathe them, and basically just stare in awe at these awesome creatures. And don't forget I still have pink eye. Doesn't matter we were both just too excited for our next couple of days. When we arrived it was everything I was hoping for! Elephants were walking around, eating and carrying visitors. We first took a boat up the river to our cabins. These rooms were gorgeous! After unloading all our gear it was elephant time! We learned how to approach an elephant (always from the right, as some are trained to attack anyone coming from the left). We also learned the commands to go, stop, turn right, left and how to get on an elephant. It is not as graceful as it seems. Your grab their ear firmly (even though you think you hurting them) then you give the command for the elephant to lift and bend her right leg. You then step on the knee and launch yourself up. Once you are up you sit on the neck, with your knees resting on the ears and you are really close to sitting one their head. If you do not sit like this your bounce around on their shoulder blades. It is a much smoother ride on the neck. Now once you are ready you can say, "Pie" which means go. You need to say it loud and more then once since you are not the elephants mahout it is less likely to listen to you the first time. We got to ride around on the elephant for a couple minutes to get the hang of it. After we each got a turn we got to go for an hour long trek in the jungle, the river and back through a small village for the elephants daily exercise. The elephants mahout rode on her neck and we were in seats on the back. About halfway he switched places with Carrie and she got to ride on the neck. After lunch we watched another group give the elephants their afternoon bath before we got to take them into the jungle away from the camp for the night.
The next morning we woke up early to get ready to get our elephants and take them for their morning bath. We walked through the jungle - uphill most of the way of course, sweating and panting for 45 minutes or so. We reached the area where we were to ride the elephants down. Again, mounting these large, ancient animals is no easy task and surprisingly we are no more graceful at it. Once on, you can't imagine a cooler feeling to be doing first thing in the morning. The mahouts are having a great time singing laughing and basically trying to get the elephants to run and pass each other.


At the shore of the river, the elephants stepped in and took long drinks of water. Then they go further in the water with you still on their backs. They like to play and completely submerge in the water, so there is no way you're not getting wet. Not all fun and games though, we had to do our jobs to scrub the elephants neck and backs. Feeling their rough, wrinkled, thick skin under you is so surreal.




As our time with the elephants came to a close, we said goodbye to our new elephant friends and took some last photos. An experience we will definitely not soon be forgetting.

Laos Love - Day 1 and 2 in Luang Prabang

The next stop for us in Laos from Vang Vieng was Luang Prabang. This is such a pretty place to stay. All the buildings are very French inspired and it's so easy to move from place to place. You can pretty much walk to any place you want to be. While in Luang Prabang we vowed not to be such bums as we were in Vang Vieng. Our first night we ate a nice dinner along the main street and went to the night markets. There are great things you can buy as gifts or for yourself at the market. Scarves galore, t-shirts, jewellery, paintings, lao wine and whiskey too! The next day we had planned to wake up early to watch the monks collect food, as we were told it is a must see...but, Denise and I are really good sleepers....and pink eye needs it's rest. (Oh yes, we both got pink eye from tubing. Well I got pink eye - in both eyes! And then passed it on to Denise's eyes. Ooops!)

We booked a tour to go to the Pak Ou caves and Kuang Si waterfalls for Day 2. Before the cave we stopped at Whiskey Village where they make Lao Lao whiskey. We didn't get a tour of how it's done or anything but were kindly greeted with shots of wine and whiskey. Breakfast of champions.
The caves were full of tiny little Buddhas and to the higher cave (up many, many steep steps) were some carvings and bats! It's was lovely to see but I must say, once you've seen a Buddha sculpture, you've seen 'em all.




The Kuang Si waterfalls later in the afternoon were these beautiful and natural pools of water you can swim in. On such a hot day it's great to cooled off. There's also a spot where you can jump off a cliff or swing off a rope. Ever the daredevils, Denise and I decided the best way to enter the swimming area would be by jumping from the cliff. Once up there of course you have second thoughts...but just jump! It's so much fun. I also swung off the rope into the water. Of course not as graceful because the ropes are slippery and it was more of a fall, but still a good time. The only downside of these natural falls are the tiny fish that enjoy nibbling at your feet. The idea that people pay to have their dead skin chewed off by fish baffles me. For dinner we had some delicious Indian food and headed to the night markets again. Another quiet night in Laos. We hit the hay early in anticipation for our Elephant Village adventure. A 2 day mahout experience in the jungle. Can't wait!

Travel Duo

So....we have not updated in, well, too long! A lot has happened. We are no longer working. We are no longer in Taiwan. We are travelling and currently in Vang Vieng, Laos. From here we're heading to Luang Prabang and spending 2 days at an Elephant Village. We LOVE elephants.

Here's a mini update and itinerary of our travels. We arrived July 2 in Vientiane around 6pm where we got a cab to take us to the centre of the town. We had no clue where to stay, only our trusty guidebooks in tote we stayed the first night at a place for $18 US dollars. The next night we found cheaper for $11 US. Honestly, Vientiane is more of a transition place I think. Not a whole lot to see.

Moving on from Vientiane we are now in Vang Vieng. As we got closer to Vang Vieng, the roads were curvy and the views were lush and green. Tiny villages lined the streets from what you may only see in magazines. Stepping out into the heat, we trekked into town with the hoards of other backpackers all looking for the same thing. A cheap, clean room. We found one for 50 000 kip a night (about $6US).

Yesterday we did the popular river run...and I must say, it's mayhem! Unfortunately we somehow had our tubes taken so we ended up walking to the next bar. The rest is a blur. During the day the town of Vang Vieng is not very busy and it's because people are out tubing or caving. We're here until Thursday morning when we leave for Luang Prabang. Our Elephant Village mahout tour begins on July 10.

Not sure how long we'll stay in Luang Prabang, from there we're taking a slow boat on the Mekong to get to Thailand. The slow boat takes 2 days and then we're taking a bus to Chiang Mai. From Chiang Mai we're heading to Bali for some blissful beach time.

Laos is a very slow town. Coming from Taiwan where everything is a rush, and go-go-go, relaxing has never been this hard, or easy!

Until next time!