Elephants! The day finally arrived for us to go visit the elephants. We got picked up at 9 am from the hotel and drove an hour to the elephant sanctuary in Luang Prabang.

Once we arrived, we were greated by a lady (Paulina) who used to work for G-Adventures but now is in charge of the sanctuary. They currently have nine elephants, including a baby. All of the elephants are female and used to be working elephants that weren't treated well by their previous owners and worked to the max. Its typical for individuals to purchase elephants to use them as labour for a particular job and once the job is finished there is no need for the elephant, so the owners try to get rid of them. So the sanctuary takes in those elephants.

After a quick snack, which included iced tea and bananas, it was time to feed the elephants. So we went to the feeding den and watched and took photos with the elephants as they ate bamboo. Then it was time to ride the elephants.

In order to get into the seat on top of the elephant, we had to walk up to a platform and wait for the mahouts to bring the elephants into position; then we stepped across and into the seat, which held two people. Rachel and I went together and we were the first ones to get onto the elephant as well. As soon as we were sitting in the seats, they placed a wooden bar in front of us, that fit into slots on the arms. This was to assist in preventing us from falling out..

The mahout that was riding the elephant that Rachel and I had was super nice and friendly. Even as we passed by a tree, he pulled down two leaves and transformed them into a hat which he gave me to wear. Unfortunately, the hat didn't make it until the end. The hat was blown off and then trambled on by the following elephant.

Riding the elephant was a strange feeling and within the first 10 minutes of the ride, we had to go down a hill (that was probably at a 45 degree angle) and the left side of the hill was basically a cliff until you reached the end and you could walk along a path to the river. Going down the hill was unenjoyable and I was panicking the whole way down. You sway forward on the elephant and the elephant kept walking so closely to the edge of the hill that I was afraid it was going to slip and tumble and we would go down with the elephant.

However, I felt even worse for Mark and Corina who went last down the hill. Because at that point our two other elephants were on the flat piece of land that headed out towards the river and their elephant seemed to want to go down the cliff and meet us faster, instead of going down the hill. So their mahout had to keep correcting the elephant to ensure it wouldn't try to go over the edge.

After the horrifying hill experience, the ground became relatively flat. Our mahout asked if we wanted a photo taken and I said "sure", thinking that he would just turn around and take one but no, he jumped off the elephant and proceeded to take numerous photos of us for probably 15 minutes before he finally returned to the elephant. Think he was also looking for an excuse to have a smoke.

We continued on and eventually made it to a street rode and said "sabaidee" (hello) and waved to some of the local children as we rode along with the three elephants.

Once we got back to our starting point, we got off the elephants and had a quick break before it was time for bathing.

It was the same three elephants which we rode that we would be bathing. Thankfully, the elephants met us down by the river, so I didn't have to relive that experience again.

For bathing, there were two options: you could either ride the elephant into the water or if you didn't want to ride the elephant you could just stand in the river and bath them. I decided to attempt the first option and ride the elephant into the river. In order to get on top of the elephant you had to put your foot above its trunk and place your hands on their head and step up. Once up you twist your body around so you are facing in the same direction as they are, and have your legs around their neck.

You are then given a bucket and a scrub and the mahout walks into the river with the elephant and the elephant normally sits down and you soak them with water from the bucket and give them a scrub. However, my elephant didn't seem to want to have a bath. She kept standing in the river and didn't want to sit down. During that time, the mahout that took Rachel and I out on the elephant ride was with Mark in the river and started splashing us with river water.. unfortunately, I couldn't fight back because I couldn't reach the water. But after 15 minutes, our time was up and it was the other three individuals turns to take a bath with the elephant. So I got off. To get off the elephant you have to move your legs so they are sitting on top of the elephants head and then you slide down.

Corina decided not to ride in with the elephant, so Paulina informed her that if she wants she could walk into the river and help bath the elephants. Rachel and I also wanted to help. So while Laura and Rhiannon were on the elephants we stood beside. Rhiannon was with the nice mahout and he made her stand up on the elephants back and then he saw me in the river and told me to go over and stand on the back. So he helped me get up on the elephant, but then he told the elephant to do a trick - in which the elephant places its head into the river and holds it's breath for a few minutes. So Rhiannon and I were thrown deeper into the river. And then he continued trying to have a water fight with us.

Before it was time for us to say goodbye to the elephants, we had a quick shower, since the elephants use the river as a washroom.

Unsure how I feel about the elephant sanctuary since it is assisting in helping to provide elephants with a better life than they previously had being a worker. But one of the mahouts was a bit impatient with his elephant and hit her on the head once during the ride because she stopped to eat some leaves. That mahout was the same one I had during the bathing, and when the elephant didn't want to sit in the river he would pull on her ear and there was blood on the ear because he was pulling too hard.

But after the elephants, we went to go see the Kuang Si Falls. The waterfalls were beautiful and the water was bright blue. We decided to take a hike up the side of the hill, thinking that there would be some impressive view at the top but there was nothing to see. So we headed back down and stopped off for a quick swim. I tried walking into the water but the rocks were too slippery and it was starting to rain, so I gave up and decided to just sit on the side until it was time for us to leave.

In the evening we went to some more markets and I had a fruit smoothie and a nutella and banana crepe for dinner. We then headed to a bar called Utopia. The bar was neat and seemed like a travellers/backpackers bar. But sadly, we didn't stay for very long because we had to leave the hotel early tomorrow.