Today I am still in Laos.  I rode an elephant today!!  It was mostly awesome.  I did feel bad for the elephant though.  I kind of felt sorry for her, just hauling tourists around all day.  But, the place I went to, they are rescue elephants!!  This place saves the elephants from a life of hauling stuff when building new roads.  So, maybe a tourist on your back and a good meal is better than building a road.  I bet it is.  It was on the Mekong river.  We went through the jungle first and then came out at the river, and walked through there for a while.  It was pretty beautiful.  Came to a village where kids were playing in the river and the local monks were bathing.  I didn't take any pictures of the monks bathing.  I thought it might be weird.  After the ride, we got to feed the elephants and hang out with them.  They are so gentle.  It's pretty amazing how gentle they are.  I thanked my elephant for the ride.  I wanted to give her a kiss, but maybe I thought that would be weird.  So I gave her a bunch of sugar cane and bananas.  I think she liked that better.  Here are a few photos.  I had to clear out my photo cards.  Maybe I will post tomorrow, but maybe not.  A full day tomorrow.  Going to the Buddha caves by boat in the morning and then the waterfalls in the afternoon.  Maybe I will have time to post before I leave Laos for Vietnam.