Khao Sok Elephant Afternoon: No Riding, Plus Mountain Cooking

6 hours 30 minutes (approximately)
Pickup offered
Offered in: English

Thirteen things happen with the elephants, and then you cook dinner in a kitchen standing alone in a valley full of mist.

The elephants are never ridden and never chained. Nothing in the afternoon requires an elephant trained to carry a person; every activity is something the elephant would be doing anyway, with you close enough to take part. You prepare their food and roll vitamin balls by hand, feed them, walk with them, work mud into their skin, go into the river with them and watch them stand under a big overhead shower.

Three things to take home: a Thai herbal inhaler you make yourself, a sheet of paper made from elephant dung, and seed balls you roll and plant in the forest.

At four o'clock you drive up to a Thai kitchen hut standing on its own in a vaNever more than 15 guests.cook from the garden around it, cook it the old way over fire, and eat what you made as it gets dark.

Two meals, hotel pickup both ways, no national park fee on this day. Never more than 15 guests.

What's Included

Hotel pickup and drop-off by van, Khao Sok side and Cheowlan side
Mountain kitchen cooking session
Bottled water
All thirteen elephant activities: food preparation, feeding, walking, mud spa, river, shower
Thai lunch with fruit and unlimited soft drinks on arrival
English-speaking guide
Welcome drink
Insurance
The meal you cook yourself at the mountain kitchen
Nothing else to pay - this experience does not enter the national park, so there is no park fee

Meeting and pickup

Pickup points
You can choose a pickup location at checkout (multiple pickup locations are available).
Pickup details:

We collect you from the lobby of your hotel. Khao Sok side (Khlong Sok village and the park entrance road): pickup around 12:00. Cheowlan side (Ban Ta Khun, the village beside the dam): pickup around 11:15, as the drive is about 45 minutes. Tell us your hotel name when you book; we confirm your exact pickup time by WhatsApp the day before. Our driver arrives in a van and will call the number on your booking if we cannot find you.

What to expect

Thirteen things happen with the elephants, and then you cook dinner in a kitchen standing alone in a valley full of mist.

You are collected from your hotel at midday. First a welcome drink, then a proper Thai lunch with fruit and unlimited drinks. A fifteen-minute documentary explains what domesticated elephants need and why an elephant that has always been in human hands cannot simply be released.

Then you go into their day. You prepare their food and roll vitamin balls by hand. You feed them. You walk with them, because elephants need to move after they eat. You work mud into their skin, go into the river with them to cool down, and watch them stand under a big overhead shower. After the elephants, three things to take home: a Thai herbal inhaler you make yourself, a sheet of paper made from elephant dung, and seed balls you roll and plant in the forest.

At four o'clock you drive up to a Thai kitchen hut standing on its own in a valley. You pick what you are going to cook from the garden around it, cook it over fire - rice inside a length of bamboo - and eat what you made as it gets dark. Back at your hotel by 18:30.

The elephants are never ridden and never chained.

Additional info

  • Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
  • Minimum age 5. Children aged 5-11 pay the child rate; under-18s must be accompanied by an adult. Almost everything is hands-on, so it suits children well
  • You will get muddy and wet: bring clothes that can get muddy, a full change of clothes, and shoes or sandals that can go in a river
  • You eat twice: lunch on arrival and the dinner you cook at 16:00. You will not need dinner afterwards
  • Runs Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday, rain or shine. Hotel pickup at 12:00 from the Khao Sok side or the Cheowlan side
Supplied by Cheowlan untold

Tags

Nature and Wildlife Tours
Cooking Classes
Wildlife Encounters
Food & Drink

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

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