What a Wonderful World: Elephant Sanctuary

i have nothing much to share with you 'bout my recent visit to Sri Lanka. it was a short visit, hence we decided to cover maybe 5% (...?) of Sri Lanka only, which are Colombo and Negombo. Negombo is the place i stayed last month and the nearest beach area to/fro the Colombo Bandaranaike Airport. but it is not the best beach in Sri Lanka.

The best beaches are at Bentota and Galle (pronounce GAWL), about 2hrs drive from the airport. if Colombo got its name from the famous Italian explorer in history, "Christopher Columbus"; i've been told that Galle got its name from an explorer named "Gallus". Gallus is also a scientific name for "Junglefowl". Galle is located at the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, such a strategic and was a busiest port (125-150 AD). long time ago, when the explorer disembark from their ship on this unknown island, the 1st thing they heard was a chicken crowing... which brings a meaning of... civilization! "let's explore and conquer this island ha ha ha". The 1st time i saw 'stilt fishing' was on TV from The Amazing Race , Season 24 (2014). i can't find this Sri Lanka traditional fishing in Negombo, but this kind of local activity is easily found in Galle.

curikkkk dari Google Image

and... last 2004, thousands were killed by the massive Tsunami hit southern part of the island especially Galle. and if you can see from the world map, Galle is not too far from Maldives.

All right, enough about Galle.... what i'm actually want to tell you is, you need to travel quite far to see, to discover and to experience the best of Sri Lanka. like during my previous 2013 trip, i've covered like 20% of this Island of Gems. and for me, there's nothing much in Negombo. that's why we finally traveled to :

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage

the sanctuary is located in between of Negombo (2hrs drive) and Kandy (1½hrs drive). the entrance fee is quite expensive, cost me at USD20; and the show started at 12noon (local time). well, Sri Lanka is 2½hrs behind Malaysia time. i missed the elephant bath time, but i managed to see the elephant parade.

after that, we had our buffet lunch at restaurant @ Pinnalanda Hotel by the Maha Oya river. you know what, actually this is such an unique lunch experience.

view from the restaurant. those baby elephants are so cute!

there are 2 more hotels available at this area; namely Elephant Park Hotel and Elephant Bay Hotel. the rates are from USD55 per room per night. and right after lunch.... it's our shopping time! and selfie, of course

souvenir hunting along this street with Edi, Yana, Fara,
Affandi & Zahid

and... there's king cobra show too

ok, that's all about the tame elephants in Pinnawala. i've seen one wild elephant at Yala National Park, the biggest national park in Sri Lanka...

can you spot the WILD elephant? shhhh do NOT disturb him

and these are the elephants in Thailand. they called it as "chang" in Siamese language. Not "chiang" cause chiang means city. Chiang Mai : New City; Chiang Rai : Old City.

at Mae Sa Elephant Camp, Chiang Mai. click here for my previous entry.

the camp also offers elephant bath, elephant ride as well as elephant show.

the famous elephant - the one who appear in Ong Bak movie
@ Chiang Mai Zoo

and below picture was taken at Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre, Temerloh, Pahang, MALAYSIA

i'm the one who wearing the pink t-shirt. acah-acah mak enon je tuh. this picture was taken during our educational trip in February 2005. wow! 11 years ago, when i was 20. this centre is offering few activities such as feeding the elephant, riding an elephant (there's no carpet/wood chair provided - seriously boleh rasa bulu gajah yg macam jarum kasar tu mencucuk2 peha OUCH!!), bathing the baby elephant and... bathing with the giant elephants - this is the highlight of the visit. they allowed 3-4 pax riding one big elephant along the river, and when we arrived at the deeper area, the clever elephant purposely let us fall off into the river together with it. seriously, my body was smell like an elephant that time. and guess what? you can see the floating elephant dung as well. no worries, there's a complete facilities such as shower room inside the centre... tapi..mandi 5x pon tak hilang bau - well, experience is priceless. kau hado?

additional information; we stayed at Desa Murni Homestay, Temerloh (30mins away) and during that trip, we also visit the Smiling Mountain with caves or Gunung Senyum, about 45mins drive from the homestay.