Elephant Riding at Lake Lak

• Normandsharon's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Buon Ma Thuot

Trip Start Jan 22, 2008 Previous
Entry Trip End Apr 16, 2008 Next
Entry

  Buon Ma Thuot, Vietnam
Monday, February 18, 2008

So we flew out of Ho Chi Minh City and headed to Buon Ma Thuot to catch a bus and visit Jun Village where we planned to ride an elephant and rub elbows with some of the M'nong (minority people). It was an early start to the day, as usual, catching the 6:30 AM bus - oops, we missed it by one minute - so the 7 AM bus it is. It was a 'local bus' as we were the only foreigners on board. Needless to say, many a conversation was started ...hello... and that was about it. However, there were a couple of young girls on the bus - both 16 - who spoke some English and were able to carry on a bit of a conversation while practicing their English language. Then, of course, yet another person - lady this time - who kept rubbing Norm's arm, squeezing it gently, and then tugging on his arm hairs. Go figure!

We shared the few photos we brought along (James, Jill, Sharon's mom and dad, snow, and Niagara Falls)

Children in Jun Village

. Everyone enjoyed them, especially the lady who was rubbing Norm's arm.

Our adventure started with an elephant ride at Lake Lak. We boarded the big fella and he pitter-pattered through the little village and into the lake. We crossed over with a splish-splash and continued on to yet another small village where we were able to take a few more photos and enjoy the morning sun. The elephant was a one-way ticket so we caught a dug-out boat back over to the mainland (see photos of our boat and woman driver).

We wandered through the village, chatted with a few kids ...hello-hello... , and observed the majority of houses to be similar to some of our Native Indians as they too were called 'long houses' where multiple extended family members would live. Some of the minority homes were smaller and much more simple (see photo).

Norm and I then walked 2 kilometres - backpacks and all - in the hot sun, up and down hills, and onto the spot where we were to be picked up by the pre-arranged minibus for our 4-hour trip to Dalat. It was a pleasurable trip for some as you could have swore you were on a ride at Canada's Wonderland - as the driver was moving very, very fast along the winding mountain roads, up and down, around and around, swaying side to side, and to and fro

Fond Memories of 'Our Elephant'

. Yep, some people enjoyed it while others clearly did not. About 6 out of 15 passangers would have preferred a different method of travel we were sure as they got sick - over and over again, but we were littlerally all stuck in our seats for the whole duration of the trip with no stopping along the way.

By the way, thanks for all of the emails. We are enjoying hearing your comments about our blog. Should you want to email us, but are uncertain about how to do it through this blog method you can always reach us directly via norm@automaticcontruction.com

See you in Dalat!

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Norm All Geared Up to Ride	One of the Smaller Village Homes	Our Little Friend Along the Roadside	The Captain of the Boat
The Dugout Boats	The Elephant Leaving Without Us	The Rice Growing Around the Lake

Slideshow Print this entry Share Buon Ma Thuot hotels

Previous Entry Next Entry