We scootered up to the Kai Se waterfall the next day which we'd been told was the biggest and most impressive waterfall in the area. We werent disappointed with at least 5 waterfall 'levels' cascading through different swimming areas. I tried to resist jumping off the biggest one into the pool below but the other bigger boys all did it and i wanted to prove my masculinity. Spent most of the afternoon larking around in the waterfall swinging off the rope swings and following the other boys off bigger and bigger jumps.
Right next door to the waterfall was the Bear Sanctuary which had around 20 Black, Sun and Asiatic bears that had been saved from all sorts of pretty horrible circumstances including being locked in a tiny cages and used for the extraction of 'bear bile' which is still used to treat headaches and other similar ailments throughout Asia. Amazing to see the massive (and baby) bears so close up. The Japanese tourists next to us did everything they could to get one bear to tear through the electric fence and rip their throats out. Sadly the bear thought better of it.
We had a day exploring Luang Prabang town anfd then booked onto the 'Mahout' Elephant Handler Experience for two days. When we arrived we had an hour learning the basic 'mahout' commands how to turn the elephant 'left', 'right', 'straight on', 'stop eating the tree' and 'can you please bend a leg so I can get on top of you'. One of the elephants we found out had had part of it's back leg blown off by a landmine while he worked for a logging company. Now he had a much better life taking bananas from tourists. We spent the rest of the morning riding the elephants through the jungle, round their territory and up to their sleeping area. In the afternon we visited another spectacular waterfall with over ten different levels, the bottom of which was being used to give tourists elephant rides. Everywhere there were elephants splashing around, people swimming, tourists in rubber rings, I doubt I'll ever see such huge animals playing so informally with people ever again. Tash and I climbed the waterfall as far as we could stopping for some relaxing 'spa treatments' along the way. We spent the night getting drunk and chatting with our new mahout buddies somewhere deep within the jungle where our little lodges were.
The following morning we trekked into the jungle to collect the elephants from nursery and rode them back to the river for their morning bath. My elephant's formal 'mahout' guide had had a particularly heavy night on the tiger whisky and couldn't face the bumpy ride back to the river. As a result I rode Mae Boun through the jungle and into the river on my own. Each of us took a scrubbing brush to our elephant while they splashed us and each other with water from their trunks. We stood on their backs, fell in, splashed around some more and then took them for breakfast. Soon after we made our first downpayment on an elephant of our own. 18 more installments of $1000 and it will arrive in neutral bay where I've got a particularly dense wooded area I need clearing.
We said goodbye to our elephants just before lunch and beaded back to luang prabang in the early afternoon. The next day we caught a bus to Vang Vieng, 200km and 7 hours south.
Books: Finished The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks. Dark but very enjoyable, he has an incredible imagination with so much attention to detail, will try to find some more of his books to read while I'm away.
News from home: Dave has narrowly avoided a high speed crash in the bullet train during his visit to China. The freshness of the local sushi seemed to restore his nerves though. Don't expect to read about the crash in the Chinese press however as the government ran with the headline 'Flower local to Beijing wins first prize in Chelsea Flower Show' instead.
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