In which I ride an elephant!!

I'm in southern Laos right now, in a town called Pakse. I've been travelling for the last couple days with two Irish girls, Laura and Kellianne. They can be a bit crazy at times, but they definitely make me laugh. We had hoped to rent motorbikes to explore the surrounding area, but unlike the mopeds, these require changing gears, and we didn't feel comfortable driving them. That meant it was back to the Chicken bus, which was supposed to leave at 3 but departed more like 3.45. It took more than 2 hours to go the 86 km to Tad Lo, our first stop. But at least there were no bags of sugar, or people for that matter, in the aisle!!

Tad Lo is a bit of a touristy area, with several waterfalls, but it is beautiful. We got a little bungalow (for a total of $5 a night) at Tim's, which is where everyone seems to hang out. The first night we met an awesome Kiwi couple, Julie and Brandon. They had started travelling in Europe with a converted postal van and had just gotten engaged en route. The 5 of us wound up going on a trek the next morning through the local countryside, which encompasses several villages, guided by an extremely spry 72 year old!!

That afternoon, Laura and I rode an Asian elephant. She was a spring chicken at about 65 years old!! (I believe the other elephant was 67). It takes a while to get used to the slow, rocking motion that characterizes elephant ambulation. I liked that our guide did not have a hook or crop and simply directed her with his feet behind her ears. I tried sitting on her neck at the end, which was so cool!! You can feel the motion of her shoulders beneath you as she walks, so it is a bit of a balancing act.

Today, on the other hand, was totally crazy. We arranged to take a tuk-tuk the 80 or so kilometers to Paksong, the center of Laos coffee growing area on the Bolaven plateau. We got there, intending to rent bicycles and travel to Tad Fan, a spectacular waterfall at the edge of a national protected area. Unfortunately, you cannot rent bicycles in Paksong, nor can you really find anyone who speaks English or French. In fact, there's really nothing at all to do. We then decided we would take our bags and stay the night at Tad Fan resort right by the waterfall, even though it was a bit pricey. The tuk-tuk ride there was not bad, although we did backtrack to a woman's house at the start so she could bring her duvet with her!!

We get to Tad Fan, only to find the prices were double what was listed in our guidebook. After seeing the waterfall, we decide the best option is to return to Pakse. It's around 5 pm, at which time the bus and tuk-tuk traffic starts to die out, so getting transport might be a little iffy. We had been standing by the side of the road a few minutes when a westerner in a nice NGO-type 4 wheel drive vehicle stops and agrees to take us to Pakse!! It turns out he was a Swiss doctor named Vincent who was working for a small Swiss medical NGO in Attapeu, one of the more remote provinces in southern Laos. His whole family, including wife and 2 and 4 year old daughters were here, and his older daughter attends a Lao school. It was a huge stroke of luck at the end of a day that hadn't turned out exactly as planned!

I have twisted my left ankle a bit and so need to take it easy for the next few days. I learned from Annika, the nice German woman at the hostel who gave me Ibuprofen, that it and most other NSAIDS are prescription only in much of Europe. And I thought having the Sudafed behind the pharmacy counter was a pain!! I think tomorrow I will visit several weaving villages around Pakse and then take it from there.

If you're reading this, please comment. I would love to hear from you :)