Magical Elephant Hills, Thailand

In November I was very lucky to visit Elephant Hills elephant camp in Khao Sok in Thailand. Let me first of all start by saying Elephant Hills is a sanctuary for elephants, not somewhere where they are ridden or made to work. Here you feed them, help to scrub them down and generally watch them have a very enjoyable life.

Elephant Hills is a luxury tented camp. I must admit I was concerned about creepy crawlies getting in to my tent, but I had nothing to fear – the only things getting in our tent were my sister and myself! The tents are spacious with good comfortable beds, fans, tea and coffee making facilities and a fabulous en-suite bathroom with toilet and hot/cold shower. You can even get the internet in them.

Words are not enough to convey how beautiful it is in this part of Thailand. With mountains and forests surrounding the camp and the sounds of monkeys and other creatures it is truly magical.

Of course it was the elephants we wanted to meet and in the afternoon of our first day we were taken by kayak to meet them. They played in the pond and rolled in the mud ready for us to hose them down, give them a good scrub and get up close and personal to these amazing, beautiful creatures. Then it was time for tea for the elephants. We chopped up fruit for them and then fed them by hand – fabulous! What a privilege this was.

The second day we were off to the Rainforest Camp. This is a floating tented camp! It is situated on one of Thailand’s most spectacular rainforest lakes. Surrounded by jungle and towering limestone mountains the scenery was amazing.

Again the tents have ensuite bathrooms. The tents are powered by solar and wind energy so you need to be very mindful of wasting electricity. There is no internet here, and I couldn’t imagine wanting it. This is such a unique way of experiencing the true beauty of Southern Thailand’s rainforest.

We relaxed on the deck at the front of our tent and watched the sun go down (with a cocktail in hand), swam in the lake, kayaked through the klongs and channels in search of monkeys (which we did see) and enjoyed a fabulous dinner with our fellow campers.

If you are going to be visiting Thailand, I would whole heartedly recommend including a trip to Elephant Hills. This was an experience both my sister and I will never forget.