We had a couple of great days at the
Kingfisher Eco Lodge. The location was just fabulous, possibly the nicest lodge we have been to. Massimo and his wife are excellent and his team go beyond the call of duty on a constant basis.
The day we arrived we had a couple of hours enjoying our comfort bungalow, swinging in the hammock and taking in the outstanding vista that lay before us. The 4-poster bed and glass wall come of something of a welcome surprise and Massimo’s passion for this habitat is evident in every detail!
We met one of the lodge’s team of English speaking guides and set out on our first elephant outing. After our three day trek with the elephants in the north (near Hongsa) this was perhaps a little disappointing as it was only 45 minutes of elephant riding. We then spent 2 hours winding our way back through the forest with a local guide, explaining the plants and trees. The walk was very interesting and certainly the highlight for us.
However, on the second day we had the most fantastic trek with the elephants. Having mounted our rides we set off soon after 9am, walking through the forest for several hours. At one point we came along a small village where one of the mahouts rode his elephant into the middle to have a chat with his wife - such a marvellous scene! There were children, chickens and pigs all scuttling around and everyone was so friendly, smiling and waving at us perched up high. As we left we passed a beautiful heron sitting on the parameter fence – apparently a normal sight.
We then clambered off the elephant for a walk into the forest, enjoying the shelter the vast canopy gave us whilst the sun was at its highest. When we returned to the mahouts, one of them kindly bought our elephant back from the nearby forest for her to graze around us. This was great as it allows us to watch her as she crashed around in the undergrowth, giving Iain the opportunity to become truly trigger happy with his camera!
Then lunch (I deliberately didn't eat much of mine, and the mahouts fell on it - a real treat. My bananas then went in Miss Cun's giant mouth!). Then the most wonderful journey back along tight forest tracks, the elephants stepping over low tree trunks with such precision and the softest touch. We arrived back at the village we had visited earlier and found all the men were watching TV on a shared screen - shouting and cheering whilst drinking bottles of beer – it was Thai kick boxing (they have their aerials tuned to Thailand as Laos TV is so terrible!).
Our mahout kindly unsaddled the elephants and then took mine to the pond for a scrub. So kind of him when all he really wanted to do was join his mates. It was the perfect end to a truly memorable day.
After another night in our superb bungalow we moved into Si Phan Done for a few nights at
La Folie– a truly unique location, so comfortable. I was a little worn out from the two days with the elephants but Iain had a great time cycling around the island and swimming in the pool. The view across the Mekong River and on to Champasak is very special indeed and we really took to our veranda at sunset – with a cold Beer Lao of course.
We crossed the water to visit the Wat Phou temples which were outstanding – not quite up to the Angkor temples that we visited with Selective Asia in 2006 but very special all the same – the lack of crowds is a real highlight and at times we were the only people at the site.
The island of Done Daeng is so peaceful and we loved the pace of life, simply the perfect place to wind down after an action packed 10 days travelling through Laos.
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Laos Holidays