After a memorable time in Cambodia, we were ready to take on another country and see more of God's beautiful creation. Our next stop would be Laos!
Upon arrival we were immediately taken aback by the beauty of Laos. It was so green and the mountains were amazing. It also helped that we got to see a lovely sunset from a bird's eye perspective.
Visa enrollment and customs was a breeze once again thanks to Sam's wonderful planning skills. He definitely has this whole world travel thing almost down to a science :) We could tell almost immediately that we were going to enjoy our time here.
We got a taxi to our hotel and upon arrival at our hotel, we were immediately welcomed by Paul, the owner's son. We were given a welcome drink (freshly squeezed orange juice) and Paul gave us a map of the city as well as information on all the popular sites, good places to eat and other things that might be of interest. He was the nicest man and it was a great way to begin our stay in Luang Prabang, Laos.
It was pretty late in the night, but we were able to take the free shuttle bus from our hotel to the night market. It was a huge street full of tents with gobs and gobs of hand made trinkets, scarves, t-shirts, pictures, etc. We were able to find some gifts and things to remember our time here. It was a great way for us to experience the culture and I got to see Sam put his bartering skills into use (even though I screwed it up a few times.....oops). We were really exhausted at the end of the night and were ready to get some sleep. We needed to rest up for an exciting day of riding elephants!!!
Morning came much too quickly, but we were able to enjoy a lovely breakfast at the hotel. The elephant camp came to pick us up and before we knew it we were driving in the thick of the forest, up into the mountains, and down back roads far away from the city. We could see elephants right away when we got dropped off and it took everything inside me not to be too excited! Riding elephants has been on our bucket list for awhile and we were so excited for this opportunity. The elephant camp was beautiful and it was in a perfect oasis away from everything. The elephant camp also serves as a resort where people can stay so there were little huts everywhere that made it almost like a small village.
Right away, we were set apart from the others who were in our van and had our own personal tour guide. He told us a little about the camp and what we would be doing for the day. He took us to a board that had elephant commands on them so that we could learn the commands and then get on the elephants and lead them around. All of the commands were in Laotian:
Pie Pie = Straight Seung = Lift the Knee Kwa Kwa = Turn Right Sai Sai = Turn Left
How How = Stop Sabadi = Hello Kep Chai Lye Lye = Thank you
When you first meet the elephant you are supposed to go up to his trunk, rub his nose and say "Sabidee." If the elephant likes you, his ears will flap around like crazy and it is one of the most amazing sensations, like they are accepting you and giving them your full trust. Once you say hello, you tell the elephant, "Seung", and the elephant lifts his knee so that you can step on it. Then you fling your other leg up and over the elephant (which is not so easy and a bit awkward b/c elephants aren't the softest creatures and are quite hairy). You then begin using the other commands and go for a walk with the elephant while you ride on its neck!! Definitely one of the coolest things we have ever done and an experience we will never forget!!!
We each got to take a turn on the same elephant and once we were done, we got on a different elephant that had a mount on it and a mahout took us into the forest (we were thankful for this b/c there were a lot of steep hills and I wasn't ready to lead an elephant into the forest...). We got to see a beautiful view of the country and the mountains. Our elephant had to take quite a few breaks b/c he was hungry and wanted to munch on the trees. Towards the end of the ride, our mahout let us drive the rest of the way. Sam and I both got to ride the elephants on the neck again which is so much fun!
Once we got back to the camp it was lunch time and we got to have a delicious buffet meal provided by the elephant camp. We had different stir fry options to choose from to go with rice and it was healthy and yummy.
After lunch we got to go see the baby elephant Maxi. We had to go across the river to see him and his mama. He was pretty big for a baby, but still much smaller than the other elephants. He was also the only male elephant in the camp. Female elephants are much calmer and easier to teach and lead where male elephants have a mind of their own and if they had tourists ride male elephants they might encounter more injuries and dangerous situations. They rescued Maxi, along with all of the other elephants, and plan on using him for breeding in the future. Maxi had a lot of energy and was trying to get out of his hut the whole time we were there. He also kept smacking Sam with his trunk which was pretty entertaining. Just as we were getting ready to leave, Maxi let out a huge fart right down his mama's trunk which you could tell she was not too pleased about!! Sam and I got a pretty good kick out of that :)
We went back across the river and got in our swimming suits so we could give the elephants a bath!! We were really excited to do this :) Two mahouts rode the elephants to us in the river and then we got on the elephants and scrubbed their heads clean. The water was pretty cold, but we were bathing elephants!! A once in a lifetime experience we will never forget. Our elephants had just eaten a big meal and we could tell b/c they kept pooping in the water and it would float right next to us! It was so gross and you can only imagine how large an elephant dropping is........Sam's elephant kept splashing us with his trunk and it was so much fun seeing them play in the water and dunk their heads while we scrubbed their ears. We got to ride the elephants out of the water and back to the camp and that would be the last time we would ride them.
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| Rope swing at the waterfall! |
Our afternoon would be spent at the Tad Sae Waterfall. We took a very small and narrow boat to the waterfall from the camp and we had a great time swimming after a warm day in the SE Asia heat and humidity. The water was so clear and blue and the rolling waterfalls were so neat to see. There was a rope swing and more elephants playing in the water. It was such a fun day and was the best day of our vacation so far :)
The elephant camp brought us back to our hotel and we rested up a bit and cleaned up. The elephants were back in the forest for the rest of the day so we couldn't say goodbye, but we could say goodbye to all of the wonderful people that helped make this experience so amazing :)
We still had a lot of day left and unfortunately it was our last night already in Laos :( We took the shuttle back to the night market area and we climbed over 300 steps to the top of a mountain in the center of the city so that we could see the sunset. It was super hot and by the time we got to the top we were covered in sweat, but it was well worth it b/c we had the most amazing view along with a great sunset. It was a great way to top off an already great day. We grabbed something to eat and went back to our hotel.
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| A beautiful panoramic view from the top of the mountain. |
The next morning we enjoyed another delicious breakfast at the hotel. The day before we had the hotel do some of our laundry for us and to our surprise all of our laundry was hanging out on the line......undergarments and all and we could see it as we ate! Lol, it was a bit shocking but we were thankful that our laundry was done :)
After breakfast, we took advantage of the hotel's free bike rental services and biked around the city.
We went through some parks and saw some more temples and got to see how the people interact in their daily lives. Our flight didn't leave until later that day so we had the whole day to explore the city. We found a travel agency to see what our options were and we decided to go to another waterfall (which is apparently way better than the one we went to the previous day).
We took a long and awful van ride to the waterfall with a larger group of people. We were super hungry and had to pee, but were forced to stay with our group so that we wouldn't get lost and would know what time to meet where and yhadda yhadda......Sam was not too thrilled about this b/c he was real hungry and just wanted to go do his own thing. We finally made it to the falls and enjoyed a nice lunch outside. We kept walking and found the main falls which was huge! It was a majestic view and we were glad we didn't miss out on seeing it. We climbed up a very steep path to get to the top of the waterfall and we were rewarded with another incredible view. God's grandeur was immensely profound the whole time we were in Laos and I wish that everyone could have experienced it with us. Sam swam around in the river, but it was a little too cold for me. We climbed back down and had some time to swim around in the smaller waterfalls. We went back to the hotel, got our luggage and said goodbye to the wonderful people at the Vangsavath Hotel.
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| The view from the top of the waterfall |
Luang Prabang, Laos left a lasting impression on us that we will never forget and Sam and I are so thankful for the opportunities that the Lord has given to us in this time living in Okinawa.
As I close this post I can't help but sum up our time in Laos with the words of a Rebecca St. James Song:
"The Heavens declare You are God
And the mountains rejoice
The oceans cry, "Alleluia"
As we worship You, Lord"
After a good night of sleep we
The next day would be our last day in Hanoi so we had a lot of sight seeing to do. We got breakfast at the hotel and then took a taxi to the Mausoleum where Ho Chi Minh was buried. The guards are very strict upon entering and seeing Ho Chi Minh's body and Sam and I got shooshed multiple times. We also got to see where he used to live, work and meditate. It was a beautiful area. After seeing the Mausoleum, we went to the "Hanoi Hilton" which is where they kept Vietnamese and American 
soldiers. The Vietnamese soldiers were treated awful and were from the south b/c they were fighting against communism. The American soldiers were pilots that were shot down and captured. They were not treated as badly as the Vietnamese prisoners which is why they call it the "Hanoi Hilton". Among the American soldiers held captive was John McCain! We did a bit more sight seeing of random sights in the city and then we got another massage! It was a great way to end a long day of walking and sight seeing and also kill some time before our train ride. 
which is completely walled in. It is really cool how it works and inside the walled city is another walled city that is the Imperial Palace. The Marine Corps had fought here during the Vietnam war and had won and took over the city so it was neat that we were able to come here. We had wished we could see more of the city, but we had to get back to our hotel so we could check out and get ready for another train ride.....
