Tuesday was our first full day in Luang Prabang. After a delicious, big breakfast at the restaurant, we were picked up for our half-day trek at Mandalao Elephant Conservation. There are a number of elephant “sanctuaries” around – Laos is known as the Land of a Million Elephants – and I was wary of going for one that’s not ethical. Fortunately, a friend had done the research and recommended this one as ticking the right boxes. (There’s another – Elephant Conservation something – that is also good but they’re 2.5 hours out of town, whereas Mandalao is more convenient).

We were joined by a couple of guys from South America, one who had a similar affect and personality to someone I used to know and within about five seconds of him opening his mouth, I’d formed an unfriendly opinion of him that I hope I managed to keep to myself. The other three people were from Germany.

After an introductory talk about where the elephants came from, how this is a sort-of half-way house for them before being released (if they can), the issues with monoculture farming and hydro dams, and the benefits of wild elephants for the forest, for farms, and for the future, we were fitted with knee-high boots – very sexy – and went down to the river for a short boat ride to the other side.

There we met female elephants Kham (37) and Nuen (31) – the ages are important because as soon as they were said, Shawn looked at me with a grin to point out that I’m older than these two elephants and he’s younger than them… We fed them bananas, one by one, with the Kham trying to edge out Nuen so she’d get more, but it was all fair and even. We even got in a few trunk pats and a lot of slobber.

After feeding, they went down for a swim in the river. There are few things more joyful than watching an elephant play in water. Kham started off with a mud bath, while Nuen got right in there. She was then eventually chased off by Kham, who pushed her further along the river. Or maybe Nuen had just had enough and wanted alone time.

From the river, we then went for a short walk through the very dry forest where the elephants set the pace, stopping for scratches against tree trunks or to rip down some leaves for a snack. It was warm in the forest but bearable and so nice to see elephants walking about. When we reached the end we got some more photos, then the elephants headed one way and we went another. 

Back at home base, we had a delicious Laotian lunch of curry and spring rolls, swapping travel stories with the others and with me talking about the train network in Australia for some reason. Lunch done, we returned to the Namkhan, had a shower and caught the shuttle into the city again.

I was keen to try a French bakery called Le Benneton, which was all the way down the peninsula. Shawn couldn’t have any because we didn’t bring Lacteeze so I ate an apple tart and a pain au chocolate. Both excellent. We then hung out there for a while, as there wasn’t enough time to head up Mount Phousi and get back in time for the traditional storytelling. Shawn played Zombeenies so he was happy.

Ki and Alexis had recommended going to Garavek Storytelling, a one-room theatre that seats about 25 people, where an actor and a musician recount Laotion folk tales. There were only five of us – a couple from the Netherlands and a woman from Costa Rica – so the focus was very much on us. 

The storyteller recited a handful of stories with the musician providing musical interludes and flourishes. He played an instrument called a kaan, which I found fascinating. It consisted of two halves made of bamboo stalks tied together with holes drilled in their sides for the musician’s fingers, meanwhile he blew into the side of it. The sound was a bit like an accordion but upright, made of bamboo, and no visible moving parts.

The stories were interesting, providing various creation stories for natural features like Mount Phousi, the other mountains in the distance, and the creation of the city and the rivers. I’d looked up the reviews beforehand, with some people being pretty insulting about the actor’s delivery, saying he was drunk. This wasn’t helped by the two of them drinking out of wine glasses, but the delivery was due to the affect, rather than alcohol. As a way of getting some insight into Laotian culture without having been on a tour, it was a good way to spend an hour.

Afterwards, we headed to a restaurant called Pahn Boon to meet up with a friend who lives out here and works for an NGO. The restaurant was recommended by the manager of the hotel, serving Laotian cuisine. Prices were higher than street food, but we tucked into river weed (yay), stir fried vegetables, and a deep fried fish in tamarind. Delicious, good chats, and air conditioning.