It is unbelievable this Elephant Village is just 2.5 km far away from downtown. When you are on Petchkasem Road passing Chatchat Market, turn to Hua Hin Nongphlap Road, the same journey to go to Pala-U Waterfall. The village is in the embrace of mountains, forest and watercourse. When you visit here, you will feed food to elephants, go elephant trekking, see the elephant shows, such as, elephant dancing, elephant football game, elephant playing music, elephant fighting, etc.
There are 2 ways for elephant trekking, around Khao Ittisukato Temple and around the hillside. The former takes about half-hour. You will sit on the elephant back, going around the temple to pay the respect or see the Buddha images in different beautiful styles, then go on the town sight seeing before coming back along the waterway. The latter takes about one hour and a half. It will pass the mahouts� houses on the foothills. In this way, you can see Hua Hin scenery together with seeing the flora closely. After finishing a lovely trip on the elephant�s back, you will stop at the relaxing point where the watermelon, pineapple, coconut are prepared to get rid of your thirst.
If I talk about elephant villages in Hua Hin or anywhere else in Thailand, the most important elephant villages I can not forget to tell you are in Surin Province. The Elephant Festival is held over 43 years consecutively, earning revenue so great that it becomes the base for the city economic growth. If you have enough time for another trip, it is one of interesting choices you should not miss. Thai people pay strong attention on the elephant because of many reasons, its intelligence, friend for life, etc. In the past, the number of the elephants was also the scale showing the King's prestige. At this moment, we still believe that elephant is the propitious animals, so don't be amazed if you find Thai people crawl beneath the elephant's stomach. It is just a way to strengthen up encouragement to carry on. Certainly, at Hua Hin Elephant Village you may try doing so and take the photos for your friends.
Now the lovely elephants are waiting for you to visit them. So, do not let a lovely place hidden in the city anymore. Why not ride on the back of an elephant before a deep dip of Hua Hin sea!
For elephant lovers who would like to contribute to elephants' better living conditions or report of wild elephants on cities' streets call Friends of The Asian Elephant Foundation at 02-9457124-6.
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