We ride wild elephants in Dak Lak province, Vietnam. Elephant King Village: Buon Don in Dak Lak Province Ride elephants at the elephant nursery

Tourists certainly want to include this entertainment in their travel program in Vietnam.
To get pleasure and not disappointment, it is important to immediately decide what exactly you expect from such a walk.

Maximum comfort, minimum extreme

If you want to take a spectacular selfie without leaving your comfort zone, it is better to go to Dalat. There is a well-functioning attraction in Prenn Park - an excellent option for your first close encounter with elephants. Tamed animals are very peaceful and willingly accept treats.
Experienced mahouts lead the elephants along a specific route that takes place in the picturesque surroundings of the park. Riders can admire the local scenery and get a light dose of adrenaline - on some stages of the route with difficult terrain.

Through the jungle and waters

If your soul asks for real extreme sports, go to Daklak. The jungles and parks of this Vietnamese province are home to herds of wild elephants. They are few in number, and tourists only manage to see them during the rainy season - May - October. During this period, wild animals come to watering places and you can watch them.
Local residents catch and tame four-legged giants. Elephants become domestic helpers and bring good income in the tourism business.
Elephant trekking in Dak Lak Province involves traveling by land and water. The overland trail ends on the shores of Lake Lac or mountain river Serepok.
Followed by " water procedures" Under the control of a mahout, an elephant swims its riders across a body of water. It turns out - skating with swimming. The waters of Vietnamese lakes and rivers are not exceptionally transparent, which adds to the extreme.
You can book a horseback ride into the jungle for the whole day. Local guides will offer routes for lovers thrills– over rough terrain, with visits to colorful Vietnamese villages and exotic fishing.

To Buon Don - for unique experiences and masculine potion

People come to Dak Lak to watch a unique show - the elephant festival, which is held in the Buon Don elephant village in the third lunar month, once every two years. To the delight of the spectators, the animals participate in various competitions - swimming, “running” at speed, playing football, pulling weights, throwing logs. Teams of four-legged participants represent nearby villages.
You can ride an elephant in Vietnam not only in popular tourist areas. In the villages of Kon Tum, Dac Nong, Lai Chau, Dien Bien, and Binh Thuan provinces, visitors will be provided with this service at a reasonable price. Some families maintain mini-elephant farms.
The most famous elephant village is Buon Don. Here you can not only see a unique show, but also get acquainted with the life of the legendary hunter Ama Kong.
The brave and dexterous “king of the elephants” caught and raised 360 wild animals. He went hunting for the last time at the age of 86 and brought 7 captive giants to the village. Around the same age, Ama Kong married for the fifth time to a local young beauty of 25 years old.
The secret of Kong's male strength and longevity (he lived for 102 years) is in a miraculous potion that the hunter himself invented. Residents of Buon Don claim that they know the recipe and offer the magic elixir to tourists.

Vietnam is home to elephants of the Asian elephant species (lat. Elephas maximus) of the Elephantidae family (lat. Elephantidae). This is the largest animal in Asia. On Earth, they are larger in size than the Savannah Elephant and Forest Elephant species that live in Africa.
In total, the Asian elephant species has 4 subspecies: Indian, Sri Lankan, Sumatran, Bornean. Some scientists tend to consider elephants from Vietnam and Laos a separate, fifth subspecies.

Elephant for tourists to ride in Da Lat city during a short holiday

An elephant at a parade in the ancient capital of Vietnam, Hue. Drawing, 19th century. Elephants were used in armies in Vietnam until the mid-20th century.

Elephants are considered animals with high level intelligence. They recognize themselves in the mirror, use some objects as primitive tools, and have a good memory.

One of the features of an elephant's body, along with its trunk, is its large ears. Asian elephants have smaller ones than African elephants. But still they are disproportionately large in relation to the skull and the whole body when compared with the ears of other animals in the jungle.
As early as 1877, the American zoologist Allen drew attention to the relationship between climate and the body structure of mammals of related species. The colder the climate, the smaller their protruding body parts are relative to their overall size. The warmer the climate, the longer the ears, tails and legs. This is due to heat transfer. Active heat transfer occurs through tails, ears and limbs. Where it is hot, the protruding parts help quickly release heat into the atmosphere. It is very large animals that need this most of all, since they produce a lot of heat inside. Thus, huge ears are simply vital for elephants.

There are very few wild elephants left in Vietnam. In the 20th century, their distribution area in Vietnam was wide: from the borders with China in the north almost to Ho Chi Minh City in the south (they were not found in the Mekong Delta). Back in the early 80s of the 20th century, there were approximately two thousand of them throughout the country. By 2010, there were just over a hundred individuals left, living in ten herds. The area was divided into habitats. The largest outbreaks remained in three provinces: Nghe An, Dong Nai and Dak Lak. The last province has the most individuals - approximately 50.

Vietnamese elephants live in subtropical and tropical forests(jungle). They prefer light-colored forests with a dense undergrowth of shrubs and bamboo. Farmers' fields are constantly conquering new areas from the jungle. Elephants are becoming more aggressive because their opportunities for obtaining food are narrowing and attacks on them by poachers are becoming more frequent. In response, elephants sometimes enter farmers' fields and trample down crops. Those individuals that are in captivity and used in various spheres of human activity also often show aggression.

In addition to the goal of getting tusks, poachers hunt elephants because of the belief that jewelry made from elephant tail hair brings good luck.

Domesticated elephants

In previous years, domesticated elephants were used economically in Vietnam in the same way as in other countries: for timber harvesting and for transporting heavy loads. Currently - only in the field of tourism and entertainment.
In the Vietnamese army, elephants were a fighting weapon for many centuries. In the 15th century, they helped the Vietnamese army repel the Mongol invasion. The last use of elephants was during the Vietnam War, by both warring parties - northerners and southerners. The northerners transported military cargo on them, and the southerners carried out patrols in the jungle. This was probably the last use of elephants in warfare in all of history.

The closest place to popular resorts, where tourists can see and ride elephants is the city of Dalat. These elephants are, of course, in captivity. They are intensively exploited, so the animals quickly become exhausted and die. In captivity they do not leave offspring because they only need distant ones for mating. deserted places. per day for an elephant because of his large mass It requires 300 kg of grass and several hundred liters of water for food. In jungle conditions, elephants can find so much food for themselves. And the mahouts who exploit elephants for tourists cannot provide the animals with sufficient and nutritious food. Elephants need plant foods from the jungle that they have consumed for millions of years. It contains more necessary biological substances and microelements for them than the gruel that their owners feed them.

In the province of Dak Lak, an elephant festival is held once every two years, during which elephant races, elephant football games and other attractions are held. At other times, they simply take tourists for rides, and over long distances.

Beginning around 2000, in the highlands of southern and central Vietnam, many families began keeping elephants in their households. more than in previous years. This is predominantly done by representatives of national minorities living in this region. Many families have 5-10 elephants on their farm. Elephants are loyal to people. As a rule, they recognize the supremacy of man.

Minorities consider domesticated elephants to be part of the family. The people of these communities take care of sick individuals, although this is quite expensive.

Occasionally, tamed elephants have offspring. The owners release a pair of elephants into the jungle for 1-2 months to have offspring. After all, during pregnancy, a female should not kneel down in order for cargo or passengers to be loaded onto her back. After giving birth, it cannot be used intensively for 3-5 years. At the same time, they are trying to squeeze maximum profit out of elephants. For example, a tourist pays $25-30 for one hour of skiing. Therefore, only a few owners even temporarily release their elephants into the wild for mating.

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Is Vietnamese cuisine so diverse and what should you absolutely not eat?

When going to Vietnam, you probably read a lot useful information and, naturally, they paid great attention to Vietnamese cuisine, which, according to many, is very exotic. Is it really? Here I will talk about how Vietnamese families really eat, what food in Vietnam popular

and is Vietnamese cuisine really as diverse as it seems to future travelers?

Let's start with the fact that the Vietnamese cannot imagine their food without rice! Food in Vietnam is primarily rice, and only then everything else. Without rice, neither a Vietnamese breakfast, nor lunch, nor dinner is unthinkable. Rice is always on the table! In cafes, they often bring an extra portion of rice for free, because they have rice like we have bread. Vietnamese cuisine cannot imagine a single dish, with the exception of soups, without rice.

Rice in Vietnam is cooked exclusively in rice cookers, which the Vietnamese buy, as a rule, for a long time. One rice cooker can serve a family for several years, being used three times a day.

There are many varieties of rice in Vietnam, but each family chooses which type of rice they like best, and this rice is purchased in huge, twenty-kilogram bags. An ordinary Vietnamese family of four to five people eats twenty kilograms of rice in about a month and a half.

One of the most delicious varieties of rice, in our opinion, is sticky rice. It is really sticky, but not spreadable like porridge, and the hard grains of rice seem to be stuck together with glue. Unfortunately, this variety of rice is not sold in Russia. They say you can buy it in Moscow, but we haven't found it yet.

The Vietnamese friends we were visiting told us a secret: they buy Thai rice because it tastes better! Having traveled all over Vietnam, we have no doubt about this, since the Vietnamese cannot do something simply normally. Even the Vietnamese themselves admitted that Thai rice tastes better. Yes, it’s more expensive, but they still prefer it.

For rice, Vietnamese cuisine offers meat, a variety of herbs, fish, broths, sauces, omelettes, mushrooms and so on. Meat - chicken, pork, beef, snake, dog, cat, rat, pigeons, sparrows, ducks, geese, partridges (anything that moves!). Yes, yes, everyone eats this in Vietnam! However, often (even almost always), Vietnamese families still serve rice with pork or beef, stewed and fresh herbs and vegetables, as well as broth. They won’t cook a snake or a rat at home just like that, without a special reason. The Vietnamese families we visited did not eat dogs or cats either.

A Vietnamese table looks like this:

Plates with meat, fish and vegetables are placed in the center, as well as a large bowl of broth, and rice is placed in each bowl. You can pour broth into the rice, put pieces of meat and vegetables on top, or you can immediately put them in your mouth, picking them up from a common plate with chopsticks. Bowls small size, because in Vietnam it is considered indecent to put too much on yourself, as if you are greedy. This is how our Vietnamese friend explained it to us. You can ask for more rice as much as you like, but the meat runs out very quickly, since it is served only a little (apparently because the Vietnamese eat little).

This is what a typical Vietnamese table looks like. These dishes are for the whole family, which consists of six people! For two weeks after arriving in Vietnam, I cried every day that I wanted to eat, because I couldn’t understand how the Vietnamese could eat so little.

Vietnamese cuisine on city streets.

Now about what kind of Vietnamese cuisine you will encounter during independent travel what you can eat and what you should avoid.

First I want to note that the food in Vietnam is always fresh! No cafe will leave food prepared in the morning to sell it at lunchtime or in the evening. Due to the heat, food quickly spoils, and people avoid cafes that serve stale food.

Cafes are divided into morning and evening. The former work from 5-6 am until lunch, the latter from 13-14 pm to 20-21 pm. There are also those who work until 22-23 hours and even until one in the morning (this is mainly in major cities). The food is prepared right there, nothing that can spoil is stored! During our entire two-month stay in Vietnam, we never got poisoned by food in a cafe! If possible, add pepper to your food, which is on the tables, it disinfects.

Traveling on your own, by bus, plane or motorcycle, and not having a large budget to go to a restaurant every day, you will eat in small private cafes, which are everywhere in Vietnam. The food in such cafes does not differ in variety. There are, of course, originals whose soup is not the same as everyone else’s, snails with rice and vegetables that taste unusual, but there are few such cafes.

Mostly you will see signs that say COM (rice) or PHO (soup). It happens that in one cafe they serve both soup and rice, then you can eat to your heart's content! And the first, and the second, and they’ll also give you tea!

COM (Fig)

Rice is served, as a rule, with a piece of meat (mostly pork or chicken), in some places a fried egg is also placed on top (or a boiled brown one, prepared using a special Vietnamese technology), and a small bowl of broth is always served with the rice. We often poured this broth over the rice so that it would not be so dry. But they don’t give broth everywhere! The meat in such cafes is often fatty, so if your body does not tolerate fatty, fried foods, then it is better to see how it is prepared before ordering food. This will not be difficult, since the kitchens are located directly in the room where visitors eat.

Also, in some cafes you can be offered a variety of vegetables and all sorts of intricate Vietnamese twists to accompany your rice. Feel free to experiment!

Very tasty fried rice, in Vietnamese it is called Comrank, but it is rare to find it anywhere. Just ask, maybe you'll get lucky.

Almost everywhere, additional portions of rice are served for free (or they ask you to pay about 5 thousand dong).

PHO (Soup)

Soup. Soups are a different story! I loved them very much in Vietnam, another thing is that they are not at all filling and after such a soup, after half an hour you want to eat again, since they are based on rice noodles, which are quickly absorbed by the body.

Soups are mainly based on chicken broth with long rice noodles. Thinly sliced pieces of chicken, beef or pork are placed in the soup. You will definitely be asked what you want! Don't get confused, everywhere they serve soup it says Bo - beef, Ga - chicken, or Lon - pork. Just point your finger, and in 5 minutes they bring you the desired dish.

The soup is always served with greens or bean sprouts. Please note that some Vietnamese mix greens directly into the soup and eat this kind of vinaigrette. I preferred to chew greens separately from the soup; it seemed to me that the greens in the soup interrupted the taste of the main dish.

Soups are eaten as follows: you take chopsticks in your right hand, and a spoon in your left. You fish out the noodles with chopsticks, place them on a spoon and pop them into your mouth. With the spoon in your left hand, you slurp the broth, and with chopsticks in your right hand, you catch pieces of meat in the soup. I understand that it’s not very convenient, but after a few training sessions you will even like this technique of eating soup! No other way. The noodles are long, and it is impossible to eat them using only a spoon; they will slide off.

Food prices in Vietnam.

PHO (soup) in street cafes cannot cost more than 50,000 VND. This is already considered very expensive. Typically, the price for a bowl of soup is 20,000 – 30,000 VND. But not more. It costs more only on highways where truckers stop, or in the center big city. Although in both Hanoi and Saigon Pho we always ate no more than 25,000 dong.

COM (rice) will cost about the same. By the way, don’t be surprised, but soups are often more expensive. Why, we still don’t understand. The price for a plate of rice with meat and egg will be approximately 25,000 – 35,000 VND.

Food in street cafes simply cannot be more expensive! Sometimes when entering a cafe you need to look around; prices may already be written on the walls, or in the menu on the tables.

As for the prices for fruits and vegetables, they are also low. Dear oranges and apples. But if you go to the Vietnamese market, buy Exotic fruits you can at prices ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 dong. There are fruits, for example, lychees, for which they ask for 70,000. Don’t be surprised, the Vietnamese pay the same. Basically, fruits do not cost more expensive than food in a cafe (price per 1 kg).

In some large cities there is a huge BIG C supermarket. There you can buy food at fixed prices without haggling with anyone.

http://www.bigc.vn On this site you can see which cities in Vietnam have BIG C and what assortment is presented there. At BIG C you can buy ready-made food. We loved going to this store in Hanoi, took ready-made food, a bottle of whiskey, and had a picnic near the Lake of the Returned Sword in the center of Hanoi.

Alcohol in Vietnam.

Alcohol in Vietnam is the same as here. You can run into a fake if you buy booze even in a normal store.

The taste of the beer is the same as ours. Normal beer Tiger and Heineken. Good Saigon beer.

Vietnamese whiskey Wall Street deserves special attention. Very good alcohol! It tastes good and doesn’t give you a headache in the morning. A half liter bottle costs about 100,000 VND, which is relatively inexpensive. However, one day, having bought it in a large store, we both woke up in the morning with a terrible headache. This is what I wrote about above. You can run into it everywhere. Better to buy Wall Street in BIG C.

Don’t take some strange bottles from street shops!
There is 30-degree local alcohol, which Vietnamese alcoholics and our tourists drink. In our opinion it is called Zum-Zum (I don’t know why it was called that). Below is a photo of half the label. The husband with crests drank it in Da Nang, he says it’s quite normal, but the Vietnamese shudder at the very sight. It costs 30,000 VND for a 0.5 liter bottle. (Judge for yourself what kind of alcohol can cost 1.5 dollars?).

Traditional drinks of Vietnam.

Cha da. A delicious Vietnamese iced tea called Cha da, pronounced something like "Chaada", is served in almost every cafe for free. Somewhere they will take a couple of thousand dong for it, somewhere five thousand, but chaada is everywhere. Somewhere you have to ask for it to be brought, somewhere it’s already on the tables in little jugs. This is Vietnamese green tea - very refreshing and thirst quenching. The taste is very light, with a faint hint of green tea.

It will be very tasty if you squeeze lime into the chaada. By the way, lime is very popular in Vietnam and is on the tables in almost all cafes! If there is no lime somewhere, then this is rather an exception, and a sad one at that. The Vietnamese add lime to soup, pour it over rice, and squeeze it into chaada.

Cane juice. Very tasty sweet drink! We always stopped for a drink whenever possible. The cost of one glass of cane juice is from 5,000 to 15,000 thousand dong, depending on the location. On the highway, cane juice will cost no more than 10,000 VND.

Once we met a man in Hanoi who paid 40,000 dong for a glass of cane juice! This is unthinkable! He was deceived by saying the price was three times higher than it actually was. In the same place, we drank this juice for 12,000 dong. Be careful.

Ice. About ice in South-East Asia there are legends. And that they store it in the ground, and cut it on asphalt, etc. Do you think this is really possible in the 21st century?!

The answer is YES! This is still the case! We ourselves were surprised, because we thought that these were just fairy tales, however, when we saw HOW ice was added to drinks, our fantasies about the civilization of the Vietnamese dissipated.

Try not to take drinks with ice! Ice for cafes is bought in briquettes and cut on the ground (it’s the same in Cambodia).

One day we wanted to drink iced tea, but when we saw how they wanted to prepare this tea for us, we quickly pulled the plug.

Here is how it was. We drive up to a cafe and ask them to make us iced tea. A grandmother working in a cafe approached a bathtub standing on the street, covered with a concrete slab on top (maybe not concrete, but very similar), and moved this slab away. There was ice there! It was covered with sand and some grains. She began to shake it all off with her palm, then took a briquette, dipped it in a bucket of water (like, washed off the sand), put it on the table, picked up a file and wanted to cut this piece of ice. Then we realized what was happening and retreated.

Iced coffee is made the same way. Some people chop ice in special bags, but often they simply take a piece of ice in their hand and chop it with the blunt side of a knife. Then they collect the resulting ice fragments from the table with their hands and pour them into your cup.

I hope you don't think anyone is wearing gloves?

Where can I eat?

You can't eat in all places in Vietnam. So, a few rules that will help you avoid trouble in catering establishments:

Always ask how much the food costs before you sit down! If they refuse to tell you the price, or say something incomprehensible, or say, “Sit down, we’ll sort it out later,” under no circumstances should you eat in such a cafe! Leave immediately and do not respond to further persuasion! You can get into a lot of trouble!!!

If you ask how much it costs, in Vietnamese it will be “Bao nu dun?” This phrase is understood everywhere, so if they refuse to answer you or pretend that they don’t understand, turn around and leave such an establishment. Because in the end they may present you with a bill ten times more, citing the fact that you did not immediately find out the cost of the food, and just today it costs as much as 100 bucks.

Stop where people are sitting. If there are a lot of people in the cafe, it means that the establishment is proven and popular with the local population, because it is tasty and inexpensive. Pay also attention to the transport standing near the cafe. If there are mopeds there, feel free to go in. This means that food there is inexpensive and local residents prefer this cafe. If there are mainly cars, then, as a local resident explained to us, food will be expensive, since this is already something like a restaurant.

Pay attention to the general environment. Is it clean, bright and there are napkins and saucers of lime on the tables? Local residents are sitting, and the owner of the cafe is trying to explain to you that how much does it cost? Then welcome! But this rule does not always work in street cafes in big cities. It is more suitable for cafes located in small towns or on highways. IN big cities, like Saigon or Hanoi, street cafes may not give a very pleasant impression, but they will be very tasty and at a reasonable price.

If there is no one in the cafe, they tell you some exorbitant price, and at the same time you also have the opportunity to see how the food is prepared, it is better to refrain from such a meal. Most likely, it will be tasteless, expensive, and the food may not be entirely fresh (although there is no such thing as “stale food” in Vietnam).

As people who have traveled all over Vietnam on a motorcycle and seen many “Vietnamese wonders”, we will give you our good advice - never, ever eat a dog or a cat!

Firstly, from a purely ethical point of view, this, in our opinion, is disgusting to even imagine.

Secondly, look at the kind of dogs they eat!

(poor dogs, sorry).

These dogs were caught on the streets of Vietnamese cities and villages, and now they are being taken to the slaughterhouse. They may have various diseases, including blood diseases, which are not killed by heat treatment. Do you need it?

I have no doubt that the situation is the same with cats. We did not see stray cats and dogs in the northern part of Vietnam. Why do you think?

In the south of Vietnam - from Phu Quoc, Saigon to Da Nang, dogs and cats are not eaten, but in the north of Vietnam, from Da Nang to Sapa, dogs, cats and rats are also eaten. In the south it is considered bad manners to eat a dog. In the north you can eat anything!

You, of course, will not find such food in ordinary street cafes, but only in restaurants.

When you travel all over Vietnam, you will, of course, have your own favorite dishes. You may even think that what is written here is complete nonsense and share your discoveries in the field of Vietnamese cuisine. If so, then I will only be happy with additions and amendments!

Last thing. Always carry hand sanitizer with you and wipe your chopsticks with it! Sometimes the chopsticks fall to the floor, the cafe workers pick them up and put them back in the common basket on the table... Happens. I saw it myself.

Oh, this Vietnamese cuisine! Bon appetit, so to speak!

How long will it take to get acquainted with the beauty of the island?

For a leisurely view of all the sights of the Orchid Island, swimming and sunbathing on local beach, as well as traveling to and from the island will take at least half a day. If you take children on a trip, the voyage will last the whole day.

Getting to know Orchid Island

While traveling by water to the attraction, you will see floating crab farms where lobsters and shrimp are grown, and crabs are also harvested. Arriving on the island, you find yourself in a colorful world of flowers of various colors and shapes. And these flowers are orchids.

Orchid Island is nature reserve. In it in natural environment Ostriches, elephants, monkeys, deer, parrots, Himalayan bears and other representatives of the fauna live here. The animals living on the island are not timid and are not at all shy about people. They approach tourists and tearfully “beg” for food.

For excursion groups local trainers demonstrate circus performances involving bears and elephants. Ostrich rides are also available. The local “star” - the elephant Lena, is not averse (although no one really asks her) to give you a ride on her trunk. You can take pictures with the animals.

There is a children's playground for little tourists: colorful attractions are made from ordinary tires. This is creative and budget-friendly. Entertainment includes playing paintball. Fans of snorkeling near the coral reefs, which are not far from the beach, have the opportunity to explore undersea world islands.

The Vietnamese also added their own decoration to this corner of Vietnam: stone stairs on the rises, bridges over streams, beautiful fountains, wooden and stone sculptures. Flower beds with green sculptures of animals and cartoon characters look original.

And, of course, orchids are the colorful “pearls” of the island. The varieties are planted in such a way that their flowering can be observed all year round. Tourists can observe blossoming orchids in different time of the year.

You can see beautiful little fluttering creatures of nature in the butterfly park, opened here.

For most people, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka are associated with elephants. But in Vietnam you can also see and ride elephants. There is even a village here that is famous for its elephant rides. So, in this article we will tell you about where to ride elephants in Vietnam.

Where can you ride elephants in Vietnam?

There are not many elephants left in Vietnam. If previously wild elephants lived on quite large territory, but now they live only in a few remote provinces. Scientists predict that by 2021 they may completely disappear.

Nowadays, domesticated animals can be found in several Vietnamese provinces. You can ride elephants in Vietnam, for example, by going on an excursion to Dalat. Here in the park, mahouts work and everyone can ride huge animals, sitting on a wooden structure tied to the back of the elephants.

An elephant, or rather a female elephant, can be seen in popular city Nha Trang. True, for this you will need to go to one of the islands close to the mainland. Lena the elephant is literally a local celebrity. Even adult children are delighted with it. The elephant gives people rides on her trunk!

And finally, the most popular place, where you can ride elephants in Vietnam is Dak Lak province. There is a village here where about twenty tamed elephants live. This is where all tourists strive to get. It is interesting that during the high water period of Lake Lak, here you can not only ride elephants on land, but also swim on animals on the water. The elephants majestically and leisurely walk through the village, then swim across the lake and return back. In addition, tourists are attracted by the local residents of Dak Lak province - the Mnong. They build boats from solid tree trunks and elongated houses, drink rice wine using special straws, play gongs, and Mnong women carry their children in homemade slings.

As you can see, when deciding where to ride elephants in Vietnam, the most attractive place is Dak Lak province, but there is one drawback - the province’s remoteness from the main resort areas. Therefore, if you don’t want to travel that far, go to Dalat or the islands near Nha Trang.

Elephants in Vietnam: symbolism and use in art and craft

Elephants have always been considered a symbol of wisdom, dignity and prudence. People admired their invincible power and created skillfully made figurines in the form of elephants and used figurines of these animals in making jewelry. There are sculptures of elephants near some Buddhist and Hindu temples. And now in Vietnam you can buy elephant figurines as souvenirs. It is believed that an elephant whose trunk is turned upward brings good luck to the owners of the house. The main thing is to put it “facing” the window so that it draws her in from the street. But elephants with their trunks down are bought by women who dream of having offspring. The Vietnamese believe that such an elephant figurine will definitely help you have children. In the shops you can also find beautiful bracelets and rings made of various materials, which are decorated with elephant figures. But we do not recommend buying products made from elephant tusks. After all, poachers hunt for rare and expensive material, destroying the already small population of elephants.

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