The Mahout Lodge

Many are familiar with Luang Prabang and that it forms a peninsula where the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers meet. But few are familiar with the Nam Khan River itself. (For the Lao, it’s actually simply the Khan River since the Lao word for ‘river’ is ‘nam’ such that the Mekong River in Lao is simply called the Nam Khong).

The waters of the Nam Khan are actually cleaner than the Nam Khong since the Khan is a tributary which flows into the Nam Khong. Whereas the Mekong’s waters are a brown to a reddish-orange color throughout much of the year, the Nam Khan is more a pale green to running relatively clear at some sections.

And this is what makes the banks of the Nam Khan a perfect setting for our Mahout Lodge. Our Mahout Lodge is still under construction but we anticipate it’s completion by late January to mid-February 2008.

It consists of 9 separate cabins lined up in a slight arc at one of the meandering bends of the Nam Khan: a picturesque atmosphere for relaxing and absorbing Lao country-life. Our native wood cabins are constructed from locally grown and harvested wood. The posts for our stilted cabins are at least a foot in diameter which provides a solid foundation for the raised cabins’ platforms up to several meters above the ground. Each cabin has its own balcony fronting the river, looking back across to where elephants from our All Lao Elephant Camp emerge from an opening in the riverbank’s rain forest canopy. One also easily sees across the way, Phu Suang or ‘Elephant Hill’ further in the distance yet distinctly similar to an elephant’s back with a smaller hill forming the elephant’s ear and head. Each cabin is high ceilinged with the roof made from local wood-hewn shingles. At the rear is each cabin’s bathroom.

In addition our Mahout Lodge will be serviced by an open air pavilion restaurant ideal for al fresco dining.