NORDHOFF L.I.V.E.

After our week of service, we left Luang Prabang to journey into the hillsides and visit some of the nearby villages. We began our next adventure by biking out of Luang Prabang and to the banks of the Nam Khan river. After crossing the river by boat, we continued our journey on foot, trekking through the jungle for several miles before reaching a Khmu village, were we spent the night in a homestay with a local family. The next morning, we continued our journey, trekking to reach another Khmu village, where we would spend the night. After dropping our backpacks off at our new homestay, we continued our hike into the mountains in order to visit a Hmong village, before returning to that night’s village, where we played games with the younger children and soccer with village teenagers. On the third day of our trek, we hiked out of the jungle and back towards the Nam Khan river. Upon reaching the river, we traveled by boat to reach the Mandalao Elephant Center, where we learned about the decline of the elephant population in Southeast Asia and the work that is being done to protect and rehabilitate elephants today, before getting the opportunity to feed some of the elephants and walk with them through the jungle. After saying goodbye to our elephant friends, we kayaked down the Nam Khan river back to Luang Prabang, where we spent one final night with our friends from the Green Lion.