From there, we set off walking to find the elephants were they were kept in the forest. They had been working earlier in their lives and were now retired to a life of feeding and patting.
First of all we came across a different group with their two elephants.
Then we got to our two - a male and female. We spent quite a lot of time feeding them bananas and sugar cane.
The females showed her intelligence and dexterity in breaking up a large banana tree trunk to eat
After this, we made ourway through some roughly cleared land had an incredible lunch prepared by the villagers, sitting behind a stream.
After lunch, we went on to wash the elephants.
This was followed by some elaborate scratching making use of a convenient tree and a photo session.
Then we hiked back to the village before heading out.
Unlike the place I had visited in Thailand, there were in fact only two elephants and we were told an elaborate explanation of how they were not being bred because the arrival of a baby elephant is hugely expensive in terms of foregone income while the elephant is pregnant and bringing up its young as well as the cost of three sacrifices that must be made. It's hard to know what to make of all this without further research.
Anyway it was a great day out and the elephants did seem to be well-treated and in genuine retirement. The group I was with were exceptionally pleasant and interesting - one of them, an American, was working with victims of human trafficking and had learnt to Speak Khmer in two years.
After the elephants three of us went to a coffee plantation which was a suitable end to the day.
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