We caught a coach from Kuala Lumpur to Tremaloh but all the advice we had, said get off at Lanchang and find someone with a car to take you the rest of the way. So we got off the bus as instructed and found ourselves pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Ok we can do this!
Behind the bus stop was a little hut serving food so as it was lunchtime we started with that. We had the most delicious Roti - like a pancake/naan bread shredded and served with a curry flavoured sauce - a bit like lentil dahl. Back in England we would never have dreamed of eating food from a place like this, now we know that behind the shamble of a hut, comes some of the best food we have eaten. This was no exception!
A few locals had turned up to eat whilst we were there so asking around we found a man who first understood us, and second was happy to take us to the elephant sanctuary and bring us back for about 60RM (about £12). So we jumped in this mans car with him (yes parents if you are reading this - you don't have to say it - we know!!!) and 45 minutes later we were there. He was great as he tried in his best broken English to tell us all about the area, the jungle, the elephants and himself. We paid him half the money and agreed a time he would pick us up again.
The elephant sanctuary is run on goodwill from what we can see. We had heard and read conflicting stories about how it was run and how well the eles are cared for so it was with trepidation & eagle eyes we went in.
It is free to get in and they ask for a donation (which is why we didn't want to do a tour - the tour operators charge £40 to take you there and only give them £4 so we gave them £10 each and at the same time - because we were one of the first 150 of the day through the door, chose our package of feeding, riding and bathing the elephants.
We first watched a documentary about the place which made us feel that they were good people trying to do a good thing with not a lot of money. They may not always do it the best way but their intentions are well meant. It seems they relocate troublesome herds deeper into the jungle where they will be safe from angry farmers. This is where a lot of their money goes. Some elephants who may get injured end up at the sanctuary. They use the tame elephants from the sanctuary to help calm the wild elephants when captured to make their transportation less stressful too. Like we said good people trying to do a good thing.
The first activity was the keepers bringing the larger elephants down to the river for a wash. this was great fun to watch. Then, when they were clean, these elephants did a bit of a show for us. This was something we had heard bad things about. We could scarcely bear to watch at first worried what we might see but we were relieved to see they only got each elephant to do one thing each. It was more of a demonstration of how they get on the elephants, how the elephants pull a chain, how they lie down. There was no dancing or silly tricks, just more or less natural elephant behaviour adapted for captivity.
Then they bought the big elephants down to the crowds and gave us huge baskets of fruit to feed them. The elephants clearly love this bit as they stood there with their mouths open!
We chose not to ride them after this when it was time. Our experience with Moon in Laos was so brilliant that we agreed what they were offering (a circuit of a small track) would not even come close so best leave it. This ride would not have been good for people whose main motivation for visiting the sanctuary was to ride them, but as so many people were lining up for a ride, that at least the elephants didn't have to spend hours walking people round - everyone was done in about 45 minutes total!
Then the two little stars of the day were brought down to the river. Its a shame we were never told their names as they were wonderful.
All the kids jumped in the river with them and the elephants absolutely loved splashing them and being splashed back. Then we took turns to hold the camera whilst the other got in for some fun. We were soaked! One of the baby elephants was much more into it than the other one and we watched as the second one went off by himself to the other side of the river and lay down with his head on the bank. It was nice that the keepers just left him to it and didn't try and make him join in and let him do his own thing for a while. A few minutes later though he was back and joined in the fun again.
We had a marvellous day here and would recommend it as the more people that go, the more money they receive and the better they can do it. If you do go though, don't expect elephant utopia, just well looked after and well loved happy elephants.
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Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary, Pahang, Malaysiaby klttsiva2,183 views
Nice Information. Superb :)
Can you tell me
How much time it takes from Kuala Lumpur to Tremaloh in coach and how much is the fare ?
surinderin 1 month ago
@surinderin Hi, It was about 90 minutes and very cheap when taking the local bus. You need to take a local car up to the Elephant Conservation Centre when you arrive in Tremaloh which we found a little harder but hanging around in Tremaloh after getting off the bus in the morning someone will give you a lift once ou have agreed a price to take you and bring you back.
BryanAvery 1 month ago