We spent two days at an elephant camp close to Luang Prabang, to see how the Lao Mahouts (elephant keepers) look after them. We were quite excited that the price included a night in the luxury elephant lodge, but unfortunately they messed up and we ended up in the standard room round the back, much more what we are used to! After a bit of moaning we were each given a large discount, which worked out much better for us!

All of the elephants at the camp had been rescued from working lives logging in the forests. Tourism in the form of elephant rides allows the animals to sustain funds for their upkeep themselves.

The first day started with an elephant ride through dense forest and then back along the Nam Kan river. We sat on what looked like a garden bench on the elephants back for this ride, but after lunch we rode the elephants back into the forest, where they forage and sleep, this time riding on their necks. This seemed much more natural and unstable as there isn't much too hold on to! It was amazing what narrow paths they were able to navigate, and how carefully they place their feet on small steps up rice paddies and climbing over fences. After leaving the elephants to rest from tourists for the night, we trekked back to the camp and took a longtail boat up the river to Tad Sae waterfall for the rest of the afternoon. The falls were wide with lots of tiers, but in the shade from the sun so the water was freezing!

At dawn the next day we trekked back through the forest to meet the elephants and the Mahouts. We rode on their necks again, this time for a much longer ride through the forest and down to the river to their bathing spot. This time the elephants knelt down on all four legs so that we could climb/scrabble on, which was much easier then the previous day, where the Mahouts had instructed them to bend one of their front knees for us to use as a step up to their neck - pretty hard work! The bathing was supposed to be one of the highlights of the trip, and we expected the elephants to enjoy it and be playful, but it only lasted about 5 minutes and they needed lots of encouragement to get into the water! We were still on their backs and tried to splash them with water, but it was pretty difficult being so much higher up than they were. Luckily the Mahouts were a lot better at it than us! We then rode them back to the camp where the Mahouts started setting them up for a day of tourist rides. We grabbed some breakfast before starting a kayak trip back to Luang Prabang.

Although the rapids were fairly unimpressive, the trip was still good fun, and the scenery was great again. We even managed to capsize the kayak when Andrew had a sudden urge to go swimming and jumped out, causing it to flip and me to backward roll out! Luckily this was before the sun went in, and provided entertainment for everyone else!

The next day was spent hanging around soaking up the relaxed pace of life in Luang Prabang. We then visited Tad Kuang Si, and impressive waterfall, for the day. This national park also housed a tiger and bear rescue centre, and so we could see both animals in their enclosures. We walked up to the top of the falls which gave an impressive view back down over the falls, and spent the rest of the day in several different pools at the bottom.

We decided to leave for Huay Xai - the border town with Thailand - the next day, on a slowboat that would take 2 days.