Day 313 - Elephant Sanctuary Visit - Lunch at Chateau Orientale -Coffee at Indigo Cafe

Thursday, May 16th, 2019.

Today was an amazing day! We finally booked a visit to Elephant Shelter Laos. We had to negotiate quite a bit because they are not cheap tours! Our hotel offered us a good price at Elephant Village, but they allow tourists to ride the elephants so we chose not to support them.

We had an early breakfast and the van came to pick us up at 8:00am. We picked up another couple from another hotel. Our guide was the same man who sold us the tour. He talked about the four years that he spent as a monk. It was interesting. Well, the parts we could understand were.

After a 40 minute drive, we arrived at a resort called Chateau Orientale. It was beautifully decorated in Indian style. It had a large garden with a meandering pond, and it was very well maintained. It seemed empty and I assumed that it was because it is new. After wandering around, we sat in under a gazebo with our guides and an employee who gave a small talk about elephants. One of the guides was the translator and when he said that we were going to see only one elephant, I raised my hand and said, “Did I understand correctly that we are only going to see one elephant?” Gregory and I looked at each other wondering what to do.

I said I was disappointed and that we were never informed about this. Gregory supported me on that and I noticed that he was upset. He actually said that we should request to be driven back and get a refund. I didn’t know what to do. When I asked Daniel how he felt, he said that he was perfectly fine with it and that it was always us parents who were not satisfied. I felt bad about the situation. When the guide said that it was only going to be the four of us with the elephant, I thought to myself, well, maybe that's not so bad. I mean, where else are we going to get a private experience with an elephant all to ourselves? We decided to continue with the experience.

I’m super happy that we stayed because it was one of the best experiences of my life, right up there with the safari in Tanzania. Seeing my kids so happy about interacting with the elephant was priceless! The hotel gave us silly water boots and coolie hats for our expedition. First, we walked through a forest to find the elephant, and when we did, he gave us some sugar cane to feed her. It was quite impressive to be so close to this majestic animal. I kept my distance and got carried away taking pictures. After that, the mahout (elephant caregiver) guided the elephant to find some more bamboo and greens to eat. When we arrived at the river, we took a small boat to cross the river while we watched the mahout ride across the river on the elephant's neck. (Sunshine's note: the mahout is the only one allowed to ride the elephant because if he didn't, he wouldn't be able to control the elephant. He also is also a very small 15-year-old Laotian boy, not anywhere near the size of a large American tourist. You can see the difference.)

We fed the elephant a lot more bananas and sugar cane. We told the caregiver that it was probably too much sugar for their teeth but he just said that they loved it! Of course, what’s not to like? I don’t know how much knowledge they have about what’s healthy or not for the elephants but at least we noticed that there was definitely a bond between the animal and the young mahout. Gregory was concerned that the boy didn’t go to school and instead took care of the elephant. The mahout's father was there as well. He didn't do much, he just followed us and kept an eye on the elephant from a distance as he smoked. [Gregory's note: he can go to school and still take care of the elephant the other 16 hours of the day! His father can feed the elephant while the kid is in school.]

After feeding the elephant, we went into the river to bathe her. At first, only the kids went. They threw bucketfuls of water at her, which felt really good considering how hot it was! (Sunshine's note: yes, dear reader, keep in mind that everything you've read about in the past few months, we did in 90 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.) Later the boy guided the elephant deeper into the water so she could sit. That’s when I got nervous, seeing how close Sunshine and Daniel were to the elephant, and not being able to see where her big feet were. I was filming and yelling at the same time to be careful. I could tell that Daniel got nervous, but not Sunshine.

Gregory continued to take pictures while I came closer to throw water on the elephant as well. The cold water felt delicious and I almost put my face in when suddenly the elephant pooped in the water and well, I changed my mind. It was funny to see how often they go to the bathroom, almost right after they eat. We finished bathing, got out to dry and fed the elephant again. All they do is eat 20 hours a day, the guide told us. [Gregory's note: my stepfather always says that horses do 2 things really well, and one of them is eating. The same can be said about elephants!]

After three and a half hours of interaction with the elephant, we said our goodbyes and took a rickety bridge back to the hotel. They led us upstairs in the restaurant to a dining room with cushions and big open air windows. We had an amazing Indian lunch of chicken masala, tofu, larb, rice, vegetables, and tea. It was really peaceful and pleasant. No one was there but the staff and ourselves. We could see the other group of guests bathing the elephant while we ate. We all agreed that it had been an amazing experience and we were very happy with the outcome. I also thought about what would have happened if we had asked for a refund. We wouldn't be so happy. I learned a lesson today: wait and see before jumping to conclusions!

We had to wait for the others to finish their lunch before we left. I took advantage and looked around the hotel. The rooms were very simple but had a stunning view of the lake and the mountains. Plus there were very few rooms, so it seemed very exclusive. Maybe we'll come back when we're rich and don't want to do anything since it's a very isolated place.

We were dropped back off at our hotel at 2:00pm. We showered, napped and rested. We have learned to wait inside during the hottest hours of the day. Around 7:00pm, Sunshine, Gregory and I went out to the night market. We bought fresh, delicious fruit juices and walked around. We stopped at a cute French-style cafe called Indigo Cafe. Daniel wanted to come here because he read that they had good Wifi. We texted him to come but he had gone to a restaurant near the hotel for green curry. I was so proud of him for going for dinner by himself!

We made it back to the hotel around 10:00pm. It is always late to start watching TV but since I had taken a long nap earlier, I wasn't tired. I couldn't sleep because I was debating whether or not I should wake up tomorrow at 5:30am to see the monks collecting alms. I did not set an alarm but we will see...

For pictures please click here

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jPLUNtZwFWpWpoMcA