Friday 6th March

We travelled back down towards Kuala Lumpur and then took the highway towards the east coast, then through dense jungle. We finally arrived at the Kuala Gandah elephant conservation centre. This was one of the highlights of the trip so far, and well worth a visit. The centre is run by the government and they don't ask for payment into the centre but ask for donations instead. The elephants are orphans and are very well cared for. They only allow a few people in each day, so the elephants don't get upset. We were allowed to feed them with fruit which they loved and also peanuts. You could have a ride on them if you wanted but there were no saddles you just sat on their backs, they then went for a swim in the river. They asked for volunteers to play in the water Robin decided he would get in the river with them!

There were two baby elephants who had been rescued from different parts of Malaysia, having been separated from there mothers. They were very cute and had become inseparable (like brother and sister). They were after any food and drink going and their trunks were every where searching for it. The oldest elephant in the sanctuary was a female at 72 years old!

After this we carried on towards the coast to a town/city called Kuantan getting there at about six thirty PM. We searched for a hotel for a couple of hours which proved to be more difficult than we had anticipated. We eventually found one in the town and not on the beach front as we had hoped.