Töröööööö - I am an elephant!

Hello my loves (this is Laotian and not a typo)!

Yes, I have been in Laos for almost 2 weeks now and still as euphoric and happy as before and after crossing the border. Surprisingly, it was so easy and uncomplicated to get the Laotian visa. Within a few minutes, I got my passport back and was rushed through immigration, and voila: I was already in Laos! In fact, a few things were different right away. The tuk-tuks are much bigger and more like cars, they drive on the right side of the road again (finally done with left-hand traffic), and the currency is alarmingly high again. You can comfortably withdraw 1.5 million kip from the ATM. I really felt super rich, but it's only 150€. Yes, it's always exciting to come to a new country. But to arrive and relax, you can take a slow boat to Luang Prabang for 2 days. At first, I was skeptical and didn't know if it was really worth the money, but now I can say it was perfect. You theoretically sit on the boat for 9 hours for two days and do absolutely nothing except enjoy the beautiful scenery. It was really the best start to Laos. So my first stop was Luang Prabang, where I stayed for about 5 days. You can really do a lot there. I went to Kuang Si Waterfall with Debora (whom I met in Chiang Rai), and wow, it was simply enchanting. Laos is said to have the most beautiful waterfalls, and so far, this was indeed the most beautiful waterfall I have ever seen. We spent a lot of time there, had breakfast, and let ourselves be amazed by the nature surrounding us. The next day, we went to a Laotian primary school where you could teach for a whole day with a donation. Nicole recommended this to me, and I thought, "If Nicole says it's cool, then it's cool!" And yes, it was really interesting and nice, but also very strenuous. We were actually supposed to "teach". In this case, teaching meant holding up cards with pictures and asking in English what it is or what color it is or whatever. It's a relatively easy task, but the children are still young, and the language barrier is quite significant. You can't explain anything to them or chat with them because they only know the words from the pictures. So it really took a lot of energy that I didn't have because of the heat. During the lunch break, I would have liked to lie down with the kindergarten children in the dormitory and take a nap. But we continued with the primary school children (same game with the picture cards), and in the end, I even taught a boy who was exactly my age. It was really funny because at first, we just talked a little and got to know each other. And then we started talking about playing the piano and how I kind of miss it. And he immediately got excited and asked if I would play for him. I was a bit confused because I was wondering how I could play for him without a piano (I don't have one in my pocket, after all). But then he showed me the piano and was really excited, so happy, and had already gathered a lot of friends because they never have anyone who plays the piano. I was a bit overwhelmed with that and didn't know how to get out of it. The excitement from the teenagers was so contagious that I really wanted to play, but the teacher forbid us because the children were sleeping in the room below. It was heartbreaking because all the students were so sad and disappointed. But we still played a game together, and then it was okay again. All in all, it was exhausting at school, but also really nice. Because the older students were really enthusiastic and really wanted to learn something. It was so cute how annoyed they would get when they made a small mistake. I wish I had had that much enthusiasm at the end of my school years.

The next day, the event of the year was just around the corner - Elephant Day!! I was so excited and immediately jumped out of bed when my alarm went off. I was picked up directly by my tour guide (Mr. Pon), and off we went. When we arrived, we were allowed to pet the baby elephant right at the beginning and get used to elephants in general. And it's really cute because even though you can't believe it, the baby elephant was really childish. He even stole shoes and kept bumping everyone with his trunk, which I found super endearing. Just because elephants always look like they're smiling. So cute. Pon then told us some general things about elephants, and I have to tell you one thing because I find it so funny. Elephants can effortlessly walk up mountains, but going downhill is quite difficult for them due to their weight. So they just sit on their bottoms and slide down the mountain. They use their front legs to gain momentum. The idea of a sliding elephant is so cute, and Pon also told us that the baby elephant always does it secretly. Actually, they don't want him to do it right on the premises because they don't want him to get hurt, but he always does it to annoy them. Really like a little child. Anyway, then it started, and we were allowed to ride the elephants. But not with those weird chairs, but you just sit on the neck of the elephant, and the ears slap against your legs. Funny. So all four of us (we were a small group) sat on an elephant each with the respective mahout (elephant trainer) and walked to the river, which took quite a while because elephants walk quite slowly. Although the path to the river was only about 200 meters, it took us good 20 minutes due to the elephants' serenity. When we arrived at the river, the refreshing part for me began. During the river crossing, my mahout commanded the elephant to pour water over its head the whole time. This resulted in me getting a free elephant shower every 10 seconds. Funny enough, only my elephant did it, which was actually good because I was so happy about it, and the other three were, I think, a little too stressed out (they kept looking anxiously to see if they would get wet). So I was completely soaked and covered in mud, but I enjoyed it to the fullest and gradually felt like an elephant. Later, during bathing, I was allowed to bathe the baby elephant, and it had even more power in its trunk. The little rascal sprayed the water directly into my face, so for the first few minutes, I was just spitting out water (like the elephant) and didn't really get to wash myself properly. After a long splash, we had to say goodbye because the elephants are always released into the jungle overnight and can simply enjoy being elephants there (and secretly slide down the mountains on their bottoms). They come back or are picked up by their mahout the next morning. It was such an exciting and beautiful day. I was able to touch the elephant's skin for the first time (which is really rough), enjoy free elephant showers, and simply get to know these huge beautiful animals. What a wonderful experience. It has left such an impression on me that on the way back, I still saw elephants in nature. The mountain looked exactly like an elephant's head, or the sand resembled a lying elephant. I was and am in the elephant fever - hopefully, that lasts a little longer because these huge animals really impressed me. So I had quite exciting days here in Laos and am amazed every day by this country. The people always smile at you and always engage you in some little conversation because they are so excited to have you in their country. Generally, the Lao people are very proud of their country, but unfortunately, it is currently being destroyed by the Chinese. It really hurts to see that. Pon told me a lot about it. Because Laos is right on the border with China, China exports like crazy and is now starting to take over Laos completely. So a high-speed train line is being built by the Chinese, which brings more misfortune than luck to the Laotians because Laos has nothing to export. And that is really bad because China is trying to completely take over Laos, and Laos can't do anything about it. There are construction sites everywhere, and the most disgusting part was that the construction company was called "Power China". So while we changed places and took a bus to a village, we saw these stupid "Power China" signs every 200 meters. On the one hand, I am glad that I am traveling this country right now because I can still experience authentic Laos, and on the other hand, I am very sad that in a few years, there won't be this beautiful happy country anymore, but instead a country that suffers greatly from China's invasion. After this very construction-heavy bus ride, we arrived in a small village called Nong Khiaw. We didn't do much there, except visit a really beautiful viewpoint. But the hike there was really just killing us. We started around noon to have the viewpoint to ourselves. But we slightly underestimated the heat. Because at 36 degrees, climbing the mountain was not so much fun. The path was like stairs and an obstacle course for a whole 1.5 hours. When we finally reached the top, we were actually alone and could hang up all our sweaty clothes to dry. Unfortunately, it was quite hazy up there, so we didn't really have a wide view. But it was still worth it. Especially later when crowds of people were sweating their way up to see the sunset. Personally, I found it much nicer to enjoy the peace and quiet all alone up there and not have to squeeze with 20 other people onto a viewpoint. It's also very satisfying to tell the sweaty people coming up that they're almost there and that it's worth it. The next day, we took a boat to another smaller village (Muang Ngoi). Honestly, we didn't do much there except relax in a hammock right by the river because it was just too hot for everything. By now, it's obvious that the hot season is starting. And although I have gotten used to the heat, it's now at least 38 degrees every day, and you really feel the difference (I hope I get used to it soon). Nevertheless, I will always remember Muang Ngoi because Debora and I had the weirdest and funniest experience ever there. There were only bungalows to rent, which were also open. When we went to bed in the evening, it was actually quite pleasant and not too hot, so I immediately fell asleep. I woke up because of Debora's flashlight. I only glanced up, and she immediately said, "Are you awake? Good. There's something in my bag." At first, I thought, hey, we're in nature, it's no big deal. For safety, Debora then put her muffin (which she had in her bag) on the porch, hoping that the animals would eat it outside. So both of us went back to bed. And suddenly, I knew what she meant, and I heard a really strange rustling noise. But I didn't want to spread unnecessary panic and kept telling myself that it's just an animal eating the muffin outside. After a while, it was so loud, and Debora was so restless that she shone her flashlight into our room again at our things. And suddenly, there was actually a hole in my bag. And from this hole, chewed-up tissues were sticking out. Boy, both of us were so scared. Because we somehow didn't expect that there was actually an animal in our room. After about 20 minutes of desperate panic and thinking about what to do, we finally dared to look into my bag (because I was temporarily convinced that the animal was IN my bag and wanted to get out). But no, I still had rice cakes in my bag that the rat was probably very interested in. So we just briefly opened the door, threw out the rice cakes (because we were scared - so silly), and hung up all our other things upstairs. So we both had a really uneasy night, but we also had a laughing fit in bed because the situation was so absurd. The next morning, I admired the work of the presumably rat, and there were actually pieces of fabric next to my bag. It really amused us. Now I have a beautiful chewed-up bag - I hope you're a little jealous!
Our next stop was Vang Vieng, and I think the bus ride there was by far the worst ride I have had in Asia so far. Unfortunately, we had to sit right at the back of the bus on two very narrow seats, and although I dropped physics, I know that the centrifugal force is strongest at the back. And wow, this time the road really consisted only of potholes. The problem was mainly that we couldn't see the holes and therefore couldn't "prepare" for them. It really hurt, and we bounced on the seats at the back for a whole 5 hours. I even constantly hit my head on the ceiling. At first, I was really annoyed and internally cursed the roads in Laos, but at some point, I couldn't be angry anymore because it was so funny. I had to laugh so much because it was so typical. Everyone else in the bus was doing extremely well - the air conditioning was working, they had space, and they weren't bouncing around so much. And who had the luck again? Me!!! But as I said, at some point, I sat there at the back and couldn't stop laughing. Because my phone kept flying out of my hand through the potholes and then landing back in my hand again. Somehow it made me laugh so hard because it must have looked so stupid. Oh well, although we really got out of the bus with pain in our butts and backs, at least we weren't in a bad mood. :)
Other than that, we didn't do much here either, except visit another viewpoint and almost die in the heat while hiking again. I would have loved to slide down the path like an elephant on my butt, but that would have been pretty painful because of all the stairs. In a few days, I will explore the Loop (a round trip) in Thakhek for 4 days with a scooter. I'm really looking forward to that. And then there won't be much left of Laos. Crazy how time flies here.

So my dear ones, this was such a long text again, but I have already experienced so much here. I really like it in Laos, and I am so happy to be here. It was a very, very good decision. Feel hugged (like by an elephant) and a little elephant-showered.

See you soon! :)