Oh, What A Day!

We woke up this morning to a pounding rain on the deck and the strum of our resident gecko. It was almost seven and we needed to get ready for our trip to elephant camp at 8:30. After a breakfast of eggs, assorted fruit (very assorted), and juice we donned our plastic ponchos and headed for the Tiger Trails van. It was raining harder as the remnants of the most current Cyclone headed towards the west. As we traveled out of Luang Prabang we passed many residents, some magnificent, some squalor. It's amazing how a house kept together with bamboo and rusted metal sheets can be beside a gated terracotta house. Mostly, housing is bamboo and metal sheeting, or whatever has been found by the river. As we headed up the mountain towards the camp the roads turned red and muddy and quickly became very slippery. Two thirds of the way up vans were off the side of the road. It was as a winter storm had hit New England, icing the roads. We continued slowly in the middle of the hill watching the vehicles in front of us slipping and sliding knowing that if we wanted to get to camp we would be walking and walking we did. As we departed the safety and security of the van the driver handed us each a bottled water, as if that would make a difference. It was pouring harder then ever, our ponchos were wet, rain was streaming down our faces, and he gave us water! It was if we were stranded in the middle of nowhere, which we were, and the bottled water was our savior (or though the driver thought). I certainly didn't need any more water. Where was this guy yesterday when it was 110 degrees and I was sweating like my dog drools?

We trekked up the steep hill with countless others continuing onto Elephant camp. We had seen water buffalo a few minutes ago but right know thee were no where to be seen. I wasn't sure if they attacked. As we began to descend the hill, toward elephant camp, a black truck came over the hill, stopped and asked if we would like a ride. We had been walking about 10 minutes by now, weighted down by all that water and jumped at the chance. This was the first time in many, many years I have ridden in the back of a pick up truck. We quickly jumped in (not really:), squatted down, and hung on to the bed of the truck for dear life as the truck sped off for Elephant Camp.

Riding the elephant was serene. It was a slow snail-like pace on a the biggest land animal in the world. We rode down an embankment into the river water past fisherman and unmentionables floating in the river. Once out of the river we slowly made our way back to the camp passing huts, chickens, and other assorted strays. Afterwards we ate a lunch of fried rice and chicken before hunkering down in an open air hut with a thatched hay roof along the river. It was beautiful.

We left elephant camp, professional elephant riders, and headed back to the Air Bel Villas where we changed into dry clothes and slept for the next few hours as riding a sixty-year-old, blind elephant in the rain is very exhausting.

Dinner, fish stew, pork, morning glories, and other foods I couldn't identify, was in town followed by a quick walk to the night market where I bought my new favorite mangosteen, fruit, eating it like popcorn while watching Angels and Demons on tv.

Tomorrow: up at five to watch the Alms and then off to the countryside to go to school.