Vang Vieng

     Our next stop was Vang Vieng.  Due to recent flooding, landslides, and the major news event of week being a deadly dam break in southern Laos, there was a buzz about which road was passable from Luang Prabang.  There is an Old Road and a New Road.  The new one is faster but was rumored to be washed out or currently not in use.  So we booked our mini-van transport and figured we were in for a long ride.  

     Surprise!  The driver did take the New Road.  The route begins at about 1000ft and tops off at a pass near 6200ft. In America you rarely see road incline warnings of more than 6%, however here we saw 9, 10, and 12% grade steepness.  As we ascended, the clouds took visibility down to a semi-truck length ahead.  Some areas of the road were indeed washed out, but our tenacious driver pressed on with little hesitation as to how to delicately encounter each detour or obstacle.  Once Genna was alarmed to discover that the road had become the river (pictured above) and Jeff noticed pavement buckling and sections eroded into the abyss.  Map geeks can check out a segment of the route on GoogleEarth at 19º23'07"N 102º08'46"E.  I later noted that our Embassy regular advises travellers NOT use this road.  Thank goodness we snagged the front seats, this is not a trip for weak stomachs!

     Once we were safely on flat ground in the valley into Vang Vieng we passed a presumably fatal motorbike accident.  2 fallen bikes on the shoulder and 2 bodies in the road... the responding ambulance was headed out as we entered town.

Vang Vieng is known as an adventure hub in the region.  You can kayak, river tube (booze optional), and go climbing, caving, and ORVing.  However, due to the aforementioned incessant rain and the heavy river volume we were not feeling water sports this week.  The girls amused themselves with umbrellas, banana pancakes, and a rental pool at a nearby hotel.

We did some walking throughout town and explored Tham Chang Cave and its blue spring.  Had some fishy papaya salad, terrible BBQ/hotpot, and many fruit shakes.  Did some shopping on the night walking streets and witnessed a sky lantern launch.  

Laos = "Land of a Million Elephants"

     Our most positive experience in Laos was visiting the Vang Vieng Elephant Sanctuary.  It is about an hour drive south of town near the vast Nam Ngum Reservoir.  The Sanctuary pays the wages of work elephants so they and their mahouts can live here.  This is presently their best financial strategy, as opposed to buying the animals outright.  They currently have 12 and hope to increase the population via rescue and local-wild-mix-breeeding. The experience begins with hiking a kilometer through the stream, lakeshore, and jungle until you encounter a pair or so of pachyderms.  I admit some apprehension as 2 large girls trundled towards our family. Since they know you are each carrying a bucket of bananas, they promptly join your party and delicately extract their snack from your paws.  It didn't take Maya long to get with the program and tackled the task of treat-time. Genna was a little unsure and hung back a bit.
     When our baskets were empty our leader announce that "We go swim with them now", as if it was up to the elephants to decide their daily schedule.  They do advertise that visitors are here more as volunteers rather than guests to be entertained. We learned that elephant's spines are not meant to carry loads and other excursions that offer rides are inhumane (not hard to guess).  Also, while elephants can live to 100 years, those that experience an existence of hard labor have greatly shortened lifespans.  There is some spoiling involved in these tour visits, but they attempt to rotate animals so none of them become accustomed to daily sweet fruit treats or too much human contact.  I wonder how that notion, combined with their hope for wild interbreeding will effect the program.  If it becomes unsafe for tourists to visit an increasingly wild stock of elephants, they may stop coming and thus decrease the sanctuary's revenue.

"We Swim Now!"  But don't dilly dally (Maya and Genna!!!). These elephants decide when they are done and are not made to entertain you.  Maya got a short chance to splash in their bath before these ladies decided it was time to move on to the next mud-hole to reapply their sunblock and bug repellant. 

After the mud bath we all go back to base camp for BBQ lunch for us and chopped pineapple for them.
Genna finally warmed up to her new friends.

     Nam Ngum Reservoir is the largest lake in the country and is dotted with islands and surrounded by jungle, mountains, and villages.  After the joyful afternoon we had with the elephants the icing on the cake was that a bit of blue sky was peeking through and our return trip up the mountain offered some fabulous views.  The rainy season couldn't beat us down today!