Well we got up early and headed downstairs for breakfast! We were supposed to be picked up at 8:30am but while we were eating breakfast they told us we were not being picked up till 9:30am. Rudi was annoyed as he was very tired! We eventually got picked up and headed about 15minutes out of town to a Mahout Eco Lodge. We walked around the property and found where all the elephants get fed. They were so beautiful and VERY hungry! Rudi patted one and we took lots of photos while we waited for our elephant ride! We then got to jump on our elephant with our Mahout (the driver). Our elephant was called Kumdi and was 46 years old and very lazy! Our Mahout had to keep throwing food on the path in front of her to make her move! We rode through some beautiful scenery and it was absolutely amazing! Then the Mahout told me I was swapping with him and I was Mahout! I nervously slid from my seat up onto the back of the elephants head…no saddle or anything to hold on just you and the elephant! Its quite bumpy when you are up near its head and often feels like you are going to fall off the side! We stopped in a small field where our Mahout took some photos for us and then I got kicked out of Mahout position and Rudi slid in! Rudi rode the elephant the rest of the way home, and even through quite a large and deep lake. The water went up to the elephants head and rudi was quite scared when our elephant refused to walk through the water and the Mahouts were getting quite rough trying to make her move and we thought she might flip. All went ok though and besides some very sore and cramped legs Rudi loved being a Mahout and I was jealous coz he got to ride longer than me! Hehe! We were hoping to feed our elephant after we got back but we were told the rest of the group was waiting for us because our elephant was so slow and we were last back! So we had to leave. We were quickly given some lunch to scoff down as all the others had eaten and jumped back into the mini van which headed back to town to drop off a few people and then the rest of us headed about 30km out of town to Kouang Si Waterfall. We had a few hours here so after Rudi took some photos we decided to go for a swim even though we felt the water and it was freezing! There was a couple of people swimming and jumping off a rope swim but mostly people just watching not game to brave the water. It looked absolutely amazing though, so blue and just stunning! So we swam around and it was cold but we did get used to it. After that we walked further up the hill and saw more of the waterfall, there was no more areas to swim though. We headed back down passed some rescued bears, in an enclosure like at the zoo. They were pretty cute, ferocious but cute! We met the rest of the group and headed back to town in the mini van! Back in town we went and Rudi had a beer and I stuck to OJ and we tried a local delicacy, seaweed from the river deep fried with some flavoring! Looked gross but I tried some and was great, Rudi loved it! I wasn’t feeling great though not sure if it was something I ate or the bus ride so didn’t eat too much! We headed back to the hotel for a power nap, hoping I would feel better and we would head out to the night market and have some dinner after a sleep but unfortunately I wasn’t very well at all. Slight dose of ‘Delhi Belly’ or since we were in Lao, I named it Lao Foul! We stayed in and Rudi watched some movies and I slept in between trips to the bathroom! Was an amazing day though just a shame it ended down the drain!
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