The camp elephants pose for a photo. Pic: Pan Eiswe Star

RESORT holidays. A holiday away from home with all the luxuries of…home. Ironic for some, a dream holiday for others. Resort recreation is simple.

Lounging in the pool, seafood platters in ocean-side restaurants, sipping cocktails to the sounds of jazz, short walks on the beach at sunset and a lovely air-conditioned room fitted with cable television and a bed to sleep a family.

For others a holiday is a chance to get away from it all, ‘off the beaten track’ as some say. Fortunately, for those travelling in Myanmar a mix of the two is almost constantly available. From the Himalayas’ to the Bay of Bengal, luxurious resorts sit imposingly amidst the beautiful chaos of ordinary life, where real adventures can be found to suit all walks of life.

Walking upstream on an elephant trek. Pic: Pan Eiswe Star

Ngwe Saung beach is one of these destinations. With beautiful white sand beaches and palm trees beckoning tourists from Myanmar and beyond, beautiful resorts cater for that peaceful beachside holiday. But for those looking for something slightly more alternative, you could always go say hello to the resident jumbos down at Ngwe Saung Elephant camp.

If straddling the largest land-based animal in the world gets your pulse racing, then this is a must visit for you. Not far from the beach, roughly 16 kilometres, a fun filled day can be had here. Hotels may have optional tour programs available, but if not don’t despair. The abundance of willing motor bike taxis will get you there in speedy time for around 5000 kyat.

As the windy road wraps around the foothills of Ngwe Saung, visitors can take in the lush vegetation before arriving at the camp 45 minutes later.

U Zaw Min Oo, the person in charge at the camp, will welcome you upon arrival. A true elephant lover, he is proud of the camp and the 10 elephants who call the camp home.

“We have 10 elephants in the camp. But two of them can not be ridden because one is too young and the other too old,” U Zaw Min Oo said. The other eight are available to be ridden and one can go on a walking tour of the jungle on the back of these elephants.

The entrance fee into the camp for foreigners is US$5 with an additional fee of $5 if you want to ride the elephants. Locals are charged an entrance fee of K2000 and another K3000 if they want to ride.

Although it is situated on the Pathein-Ngwe Saung road, he said that the camp is not frequented by many tourists. There also used to be a Padaung village nearby, inhabited by over 20 Padaung people, until four years ago when they decided to move on. Padaung women are well known for their long necks covered with many brass rings.

“A group of wild elephants inhabited in this region, sometime come down to the small villages to search the food in crop and paddy fields,” said U Zaw Min Oo, the person in charge at Ngwe Saung Elephant camp.

“The camp was founded in 2000 on what was once a timber plantation. The elephants are kept in the camp between 8am to 12am everyday. We then release the elephants free in the forest at this time so they can stretch their legs before the elephant keepers go round each of them up the next morning,” he said. “A ringing bell on the elephants from the camp helps the elephant keepers to find them easily in the jungle.”

The elephants are fed with rough rice once a day by the keepers, the rest of their food they find for themselves when they are wandering the jungle. Visitors sometimes feed them with sugarcane.

Situated at the edge of the Rakhine Yoma mountain ranges, the elephant ride is really exciting. The elephants, like the visiting tourist, walk ‘off the beaten track’, pushing branches of trees along the way, hiking up and down steep hills and crossing flowing streams. Along the trek one can see a mix of wild animals including black bears, snakes and monkeys — all in their natural habitat.

Ma Su Su Wai, who braved the world outside of the Bay of Bengal hotel in Ngwe Saung, thought it was a great day out. “It is exciting and somewhat scary riding the elephants. I have never experienced something like this before but I am really happy I did it,” said

A half day is suitable to properly enjoy the camp. With an adventure like this under your belt, you can then happily return to the resort knowing you deserve a few creature comforts.