After a short comfy ride we found ourselves nestled amongst the gradually rising and descending hilltops along the outskirts of Luang Prabang to partake in Shangri Lao, our next expedition. After debriefing the previous night as to what the program entailed and the schedule we would be following, various vague ideas & expectations began to take root in each one of us as the sleek lush pamphlets made their way into curious hands.
“Relive the footsteps of an historic French explorer of the 19th century following tranquil streams and passing through dense jungle, in an original and authentic style whilst staying in luxury tents with breathtaking views.”
Sleeping on these notions, a cautious excitement gave way into the following morning as we set off to wait what was to follow. Coming to a halt we scurried around to grab our bags and make our way to the camp. Stone steps marked our path as we tried to soak all that our initial gaze fell upon. For a few brief moments, everything fell into the background as our attention was cast onto the strong gentle movements of a group of elephants.
After loading our packs onto the elephants, we began our short trek through the jungle to our campsite. During our trek we got to know our two guides, Pat and Mongon. Once we arrived at the campsite (and after we ate lunch), we began to help set up our tents. Well, we tried to help set up our tents. In actuality, we kind of just held the tent poles until our guides needed them.
After setting up our tents, Pat told us to change into clothes that we could get wet and dirty. Yes, we were bathing elephants! No better way to relax after trekking through the jungle.
The first step to bathing an elephant is to mount the elephant. This consists of telling the elephant to lift her front right leg (the Elephant camp only employs females as males are known to be too aggressive in captivity). Then you step up on her knee while gripping the top of her ear. After that, you simply (or not so simply) pull yourself up onto the elephants back. Of course, sometimes you get lucky and get the elephant that can lie down on the ground so you don’t have to try your luck in clambering up the elephant.
After mounting the elephant, we rode her down into the pond, then scrubbed away all of the dirt and grime with a scrub brush that we received from the elephant’s mahout.
A mahout is the elephant’s keeper and constant friend. The word mahout is of Indian origin. The bond shared by an elephant and her mahout is very deep. Some elephants will only respond to a single mahout, as was the case with Mae Kham, my elephant. At dinner, we got to know all of our elephants and their mahouts as well as the rest of the camp staff. Over the course of our stay, we learned more about the mahouts and became friends with them.
During our stay at Shangri Lao, we enjoyed more quality time feeding, caring for, riding, and playing with the elephants. We went on treks and explored caves. Our group tried our hand at net fishing. It’s fortunate that we had other dinner plans because the four little fish we caught would never have fed our group. On our final night, we enjoyed a farewell barbecue. After packing up camp and spending a night of relaxation at the lodge, we spent our final morning harvesting sugar cane to feed to our elephants as a goodbye present.
Doing our best to squeeze into the back of a pickup truck, all 15 of us (including guides) drove an extremely uncomfortable 20 minutes back to Luang Prabang. Then, we immediately loaded onto two spacious minibuses for our six hour ride to Vang Vieng. During the drive, a few people got carsick.
The next morning we woke up early for a day of kayaking. It was an exciting day in which pretty much everyone flipped their kayak on a whitewater rapid. The only kayak that didn’t flip consisted of Charley and Camille who used the time honored technique of not paying attention and talking about Winter coats to avoid being capsized by the rapids. When we arrived at the take-out point we loaded into a song thaew for along drive to the capitol of Laos, Vientiane…
