GoBackpacking

‘Round the World

Mountain Biking And Elephants

Posted by Dave on October 8th, 2008

Mountain biking east of Luang Prabang

8:45 am - Began mountain biking to river - 1.5 hours (16 km) on dirt/rock road - bumpy enough to justify quality bikes. Sun came out. Hot hot. Seat was hard, didn’t have easy access to all 18 gears.

Northern Laos

10:15 am - Arrived at a village, rest break, took five minute boat ride across river. Short walk to elephant camp.

A thumb's up after my first elephant ride

45 minutes - My first elephant ride. I got to sit on her neck for a bit like the Mahout (trainers). Mine was 48 years old. Fed her some bananas afterwards. Elephant tongues are big and funny looking. She was sweet though.

Happy elephant

There were a total of 6 elephants in the camp, and it was recognized as one that treats the animals humanely.

The passenger is bailing water to keep the boat afloat

10 minutes - Boat ride to waterfall, lunch of chicken fried rice, began to rain steadily. Got soaked on boat back. Another rest break in village.

A BIG spider makes for a little more interesting waterfall shot

1:15 pm - Mountain biked back to Luang Prabang for 2 hours (18 km) on dirt/mud roads and pavement, all the while soaked by rain showers.

Dare Me to do something fun, weird, or challenging on the road!

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2 Comments »

Comment by Laura UNITED STATES (1 comments.) Subscribed to comments via email
2008-10-08 17:18:44

Hey Dave. Care to share the name of the elephant camp? I’m on a constant search of humane animal sanctuaries, etc. in the US and elsewhere!

 
Comment by Sonia UNITED STATES (1 comments.) Subscribed to comments via email
2008-10-09 11:30:46

That spider + waterfall picture is AWESOME. Ya gotta love Mother Nature!

 
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