Searching For Elephants In Kuala Gandah

We were going to Pak Chaq's house that weekend. I think it was in our first month here. I was searching for the old road to use instead of the highway because highways are boring.  Using the old road allows us to stop anywhere and anytime we like. I vaguely remembered about this place from a documentary I saw on the telly. I forgot the name of the place.  So while tracing the route, I came across this name - Kuala Gandah - and I immediately remembered that it has something to do with elephants.

So, I googled Kuala Gandah pulak.  Ish Ish Ish... Rupanya dekaaaat ja dengan rumah kita that time.  Apa lagi, I was really getting excited dah la.  Memang nak pi jugak la.  Nak tengok la jugak gajah dari dekat.  Maybe boleh tunggang gajah ka.  Syok jugak tu.

Weekend tu kita pun started our journey - pagi-pagi lagi! Destinasi utama ialah KL.  Tapi Kuala Gandah ni kiranya macam bonus lah - killing 2 birds with 1 stone.  Jauh jugak rasa bila guna jalan lama. Mula-mula nampak signpost pasal Kuala Gandah tu. Rupanya jauh lagi.

Dari simpang jalan utama tu, kena masuk dalaaaaam, macam nak pi hutan. Of course lah, kan tempat tu ada gajah. Takkan nak bela gajah tengah pekan pulak.  Rasa jauh tu mungkin sebab jalan kecik. Sampai ja kat situ, rupanya kawasan tu luas. Nampak lah patung gajah la, poster iklan gajah la. Kan negeri Tok Gajah ni.

Parking area pun luas tapi kena lah jalan sikit dalam 50 meter dari main entrance.  Banyak jugak pengunjung hari tu.  Sampai kat main entrance, jumpa toilet dulu.  Apa lagi, buang siap-siap supaya tak ganggu.  Sementara menunggu semua orang selesai, kita lepak-lepak kat porch-cum-foyer dulu.  Then, nak masuk agak terkejut sebab free!  Tapi kena pakai sticker kat baju.  Since kita 6 beranak, dapatlah 2 elephant ride stickers for free jugak.

Two of the columns greeting visitors at the entrance had engravings depicting scenes on elephants.  They were beautifully engraved.

The area was very clean.  I was also expecting a smelly surrounding but there was no bad smell.  The elephants were also pretty quiet.

At one of the exhibition area with elephant skull and bones.  There were 2 theatres but they were not open yet because we were there a bit early.  In front of this viewing area, there was a small creek and we could see glimpses of tame elephants in the area.

We had to walk through a foliage of trees to get to this area where they put 3 young elephants for viewing. Tareeq nak ambik gambaq dia, Mama pun photobombed dia.

The elephants were really tame. Meen was excited to touch them.  The elephants also put out their trunks for us to touch it.  Tareeq touched it but Papa takut nak pegang. Mama pun seriau jugak. Hehe...  Meen nak pegang but she couldn't reach them.

One of the elephants was crippled, I think due to the work of illegal poachers.  It was sad because it couldn't move around properly.  Also this place was very smelly - elephant dungs.  Uwek! Mama asyik tutup hidung dengan tudung Mama ja. The area was a bit suffocating.

There were 2 types of stickers - red and yellow.  Yellow allows you to ride the elephants.

Despite the smell, Papa was still able to munch food.  They sold tidbits next to this area including come sugar canes for visitors who want to feed the elephants.

Was Meen communicating with the elephants?  She looked happy! Tareeq looked like an early homo-sapien. Hahaha...

Ecece... We were smiling but a bit cautious because the elephants really liked to reach the visitors with their trunks.

We were waiting for 2pm for the elephant ride.  It was still early.  So, we just took pictures.

We couldn't wait for the ride because Meen started to be hungry.  So we left the area looking for a small cafe we saw earlier.  We walked back through the same route we came and still did not forget to take some pictures because we didn't take any earlier.

And we found this, so, this was a must.

We found the cafe.  We ordered some food. It was a long wait because the service was not very good. I think it's because they didn't have enough staff.  The foods were okay though.

Still waiting for their food.

Everybody started to become cranky because everybody was hungry.  Next time, eat first.

The open cafe was nice actually except that it was crowded with furnitures.  Smokers were also allowed to smoke. 

Yup! Still waiting.

We passed the elephant ride because we needed to make a move.  We didn't visit other areas.  I'm sure there are many things to do there. Yup! It was satisfying although it was only a short visit.  Syok kaaaannn?