Mahout for one day

During our stay in Luang Prabang we checked the what-to-do's at the local tourism offices and found out that it is possible to ride elephants here. At the beginning I was not very convinced that this was what I wanted.
Sitting in a kind of chair on the back of an elephant while it walks through the jungle seemed very odd and touristy to me. 

But Cisela insisted on doing it, we even went as far as to book a one day Mahout (traditional elephant rider) experience, which gives you the possibility to ride the elephants by sitting on their necks and giving them directions with your feet and knees! Hmmmm...

So we went to that elephant camp, and have been given a basic history about elephants in Laos (used for heavy work in logging camps) and the sustainable sanctuary (housing elephants freed from these logging camps) we were at, before we have been tought the necessary commands to ride an elephant, such as 'bai' for 'go' (already forgot the other ones...).

The Elephant Village is home to 13 elephants, which all have been used for logging before the German founder of the sanctuary bought them. Logging elephants have to work very hard in the jungle and their job is a dangerous one with long working days, so life in a sanctuary can be a lot better. However, there are a lot of people only interested in making money with the animals and not every so called sanctuary is well kept and treating their animals in a good way. So we chose a tour which was a bit more expensive, but where the elephants only had to work for four hours a day.

After about an hour, we finally were allowed to mount the elephants and try our best. Wow, what an experience! But scary as well, having the head of the amimal between your knees, no security at all and three tons to move! Luckily a real mahout sits behind you to provide help in case you need it. So we walked the elphants through the jungle, through the river, up hill, down hill... Sooo coool! 

In the afternoon, still happy about the great experience, we even drove the elephants down into the river to bathe them! Haha, bathing the elephants ended up bathing those who tried to, including us!  A really great day, one of the big things in my life so far! Thanks Cisela for insisting on doing it!!!