We woke up and gathered our things for our trip to Elephant Hills luxury tented camp in Khao Sok National Park. The minivan arrived to pick us up around 08:30, and the drive was supposed to be about 2.5 hours. However, we ended up getting there in about 1 hour 45 minutes. These four German people in the minivan with us were freaking out about how fast the driver was going, and how he was weaving in and out of traffic. We didn’t mind, as his driving seemed quite tame by comparison to taxis in Bangkok.
Upon our arrival, they led us to our tent (which was number 20), and we put away all of our things. We met back up at the reception area for lunch, which consisted of some typical Thai curries (Mussaman—one of my favourites), some sweet and sour chicken, and some vegetable dishes. We had fresh pineapple and watermelon for dessert.
Our luxury tent at Elephant Hills in Khao Sok
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STUNNING view from Elephant Hills in Khao Sok National Park
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After lunch, we departed for the elephant experience, which is essentially the highlight of the excursion… after all, it is called Elephant Hills for a reason. 😉 We got to meet a bunch of the Mahouts (which are elephant trainers), some of the elephants (both younger and older ones), and prepared some food for them. After watching the Mahouts take the elephants for a swim, we had to wash them off–they got quite muddy in the little ponds. After bathing them, we cut up some food (pineapples, sugar cane, and some green bananas) to feed to them. It was really interesting that certain elephants didn’t like some of the food, and would refuse it by throwing it down on the ground.
One of the Mahouts catching a lift on his elephant – Elephant Hills
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Close up of one of the elephants – He says hello
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Elephant swimming and really enjoying the mud
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After feeding them, we went over to see the newest addition to the elephant herd–almost two-year-old Ha-Ha. Deb sat her purse down on the ground a bit too close to the fence, and Ha Ha put the “Ha Ha” on her by taking it and swinging it around. Ultimately, only her sunglasses got broken, but everything else seemed to be fine.
Two-year-old (in early 2014) baby elephant Ha-Ha – Elephant Hills
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Baby elephant Ha-Ha playing
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I went over and planted some banana leaves in the ground, and our tour guide (whose name was Rain [ฝน in Thai, pronounced “Fo-uhn”) told me that basically, we just needed to water those stems, and they would grow without any other interventions. In just about three or four months, they would be ready for the elephants to eat.
We headed back to Elephant Hills for a few evening activities, which consisted of a short documentary about elephants (their biology, their important cultural roles throughout history, et cetera), watching some local school girls perform four traditional Thai dances, and a brief lesson on making yellow curry. Thereafter, we had dinner, which was pretty good, but not as tasty as lunch, in my opinion.
Local school girls performing traditional Thai dance
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We headed back to the tent so that we could get some rest before our activities tomorrow morning.
