Luang Prabang: elephants, waterfalls and yet more pagodas

I confess to a moral dilemma when it comes to elephant rides. My instinct tells me that it's wrong to subject these magnificent creatures to the degrading task of carting demanding and noisy tourists around the place but my heart tells me that visiting an elephant sanctuary will hopefully contribute some much needed dollars towards their welfare. So with the decision made I pushed my reservations aside and signed up.

The sanctuary I visited was a brand new one and seemed clean and well kept:

Owned by the proprietor of the hotel where I was staying it's obvious why this was the recommended one, but I was satisfied with the elephants' well being and their quarters.

I am in there somewhere!

I haven't been this close to elephants in over 40 years, when I went up to a logging station in northern Thailand to watch them at work. I had forgotten how rough and hairy their hide is, probably has to be for the heavy work loads that are often imposed on them.

It seemed a pretty rubbish diet to me but they grabbed the canes enthusiastically:

They are BIG creatures:

But there was a baby there as well which got us all aaahhhhing:

Feeding time over it was time for a ride:

With iPad poised for a decent photo:

But that proved impossible as their gait is very ponderous and rolling so you are getting tossed all over the place, felt like being in a washing machine (not that I've ever been in one but you get the general idea).

And then time for a lunch break:

But at the furthest part of the walk my elephant decided she'd had enough, stopped dead and refused to move, so I sat on my throne watching the others disappear into the distance:

The mahout was getting impatient and started kneeing the poor creature so I assured him in very poor Lao that it was fine and tried to soothe my beast. It took several minutes for her to resume her walk but I could sense she wasn't happy. We had been told before we set out on the ride that each elephant has a special rapport with her mahout but I got the impression that was lacking in this set up, sad.

So, on to bath time and down to the river:

It didn't start well for us as Nellie decided she wasn't going to play those games and while others were having a great time I was stuck on the bank while she tried to work out whether or not to let me clamber on:

But my elephant had got a taste for rebellion and decided that all she wanted to do was stand at the water's edge and have a jolly good scratch of her rear end:

So there is me, stuck on this big lump, being swayed back and forth while said creature has fun with the rocks:

And all the others, with their happy elephants, have great fun dipping in and out of the water and helping to hose their beasts down:

At this point I decided to give up, Nellie and I were not going to agree. I was offered another elephant but getting on and off had been such a major undertaking (RA plus very dodgy knee not ideal conditions for clambering on and off elephants!) that I declined the offer. You can tell from the mud line what fun Nellie had at my expense:

Shame, but such is life.

So onwards to the next item on the agenda and time for me to have the dip I didn't get at the sanctuary:

So refreshing despite the crowds:

Then to round off my time at Luang Prabang ( spread over 3 days) more temples:

And the occasional Royal Palace (not a patch on the temples):

And the theatre, although I haven't a clue who the large chap is guarding the front:

I can't believe he's one of the dance troupe:

More temples:

Enough temples, time for lunch by the riverside:

Not a bad view!

But where is Fiona when you need her?

And one final snap of the Godess guarding the main road in to Luang Prabang:

I've spared you hundreds of photos of the night market, the Ethnic Museum and temple after temple after temple as you need to get back to work and I need to move on to the next destination.