What Can Tourism Accomplish?

One year ago Tiger Trail set out to build a school for the village of Ban Na Luang. The chief and elders of the village asked Tiger Trail if we could help to build a school for their children. The families of Ban Na Luang have been gracious hosts to many travelers on Tiger Trail treks in northern Laos. Our Team at Tiger Trail started to think of ways to help them with their request. The idea emerged to work with clay as it was an abundant resource in the village, has been tested by time as a building material in many environments similar to Laos, was free! and could be used with basic training. The village agreed to help make clay adobe bricks and volunteers came to help with the project.

Through cooperation with the local people of Na Luang and partner organizations like World Volunteer and Lao Project Group, we are thrilled to announce the completion of first ever clay school in Laos!  Sense the beginning of this project seven new families have moved to the village.  This school provides three separate class rooms and will offer enough space for all the kids of the village to learn.

In the next week we will have the opening ceremony where the Educational Department of Lao PDR will officially hand over the school to the village.  It has been a lot of hard work but, many people have come to this village to experience something truly unique and their sweat has gone into the walls of this school.  So, what can tourism accomplish?  It can do damage, but it has the potential to do great things and we believe that this school is a sign of many more projects focused on the positive impact that tourism can have.

 

 

Elephant Festival

The Elephant Festival in Laos is held in the north once a year.  This year it was in Sayaboury a town several hours southwest of Luang Prabang.  Many people in town set out to see the Elephants and enjoy the festival.  Tiger Trail made an event of it as well offering transport and accommodation for any of the staff that wanted to go to the festival.

The Elephants come from many villages and towns in the region and are dressed in traditional fabrics from different ethnic groups in Laos.  There were over 60 elephants, which is a small figure considering this was once the “Land of a Million Elephants”.

The festival hosts several different events through out the day, including the procession, elephant bathing, elephant baci (spirit ritual) and even an elephant buffet!