Khao Sok Elephant Afternoon: No Riding, Plus Mountain Cooking

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.

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.

• 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
• Minimum 2 guests per booking, maximum 15 per departure

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