There is a moment on the trails of Yok Don National Park when the forest goes quiet and a guide raises a hand: elephants ahead, moving through the undergrowth on their own terms, foraging, bathing, socialising. No saddle, no hook, no instruction to perform. Travellers simply watch from a respectful distance as animals that spent decades working in the tourism trade get to behave like elephants again.
That shift, from riding tourism to observational tourism, sits at the heart of a new four-day itinerary through Vietnam’s Central Highlands, launched by Adventure World in partnership with Animals Asia. Vietnam’s Highlands & Elephants takes travellers through Buon Ma Thuot, Yok Don National Park and Lak Lake, a region rarely visited by international tourists despite being a short flight from Vietnam’s coastal hotspots. Available for travel from October 2026, the trip runs four days and three nights, priced from AU$1,205 or NZ$1,479 per person, twin share, with an Animals Asia conservation contribution built directly into the cost of every booking.
Elephants that choose how they spend their day
The trip’s centrepiece is a full day with Animals Asia’s elephant welfare project, developed in partnership with Yok Don National Park to move former working elephants out of riding tourism entirely. Rather than being ridden or directed through a routine, the elephants roam and forage freely through the forest, with travellers tracking them on foot alongside guides, many of whom are former mahouts who have retrained as elephant guardians.
Dave Neale, Global Programmes and Sentience Director for Animals Asia, said the change in tourism model has produced measurable welfare gains.
“Animals Asia has supported Yok Don National Park to transition elephants from riding tourism to observational tourism only,” he said.
“Tourists now have the opportunity to walk alongside guides in the forest, tracking the elephants as they go about their day, free to choose how they spend their time resting, eating, bathing and socialising.”
That freedom extends to the animals’ physical environment as well as their daily routine.
“This new tourism model has led to significant elephant welfare improvements, with animals gaining greater access to natural browse and freshwater supplies while roaming freely alongside their companions in their natural environment,” Neale added.
It’s worth being clear about what travellers should expect: there are no guaranteed close encounters or staged photo opportunities here. Observing elephants on their own schedule, in dense forest, means sightings depend on where the animals choose to be that day, not on a fixed itinerary.
Beyond the elephants, a different side of Vietnam
The Central Highlands rarely feature on a first-time Vietnam itinerary, which is precisely the point for Adventure World’s Product Manager Asia, Eric Finlay.
“The itinerary was specifically designed to inspire travellers to look beyond Vietnam’s classic coastal and city hubs while championing purpose-driven tourism,” he said.
“We wanted to give travellers a compelling reason to explore the Central Highlands and experience a totally different side of Vietnam.”
Buon Ma Thuot, the trip’s starting and finishing point, is the unofficial capital of Vietnamese coffee production, and the itinerary includes visits to the city’s coffee museum along with traditional tastings. From there the route runs to Yok Don National Park before finishing at Lak Lake, where travellers stay at the LAK Tented Camp, with cycling, walking and time in local communities built into the stay.
Finlay said the region’s appeal runs deeper than its wildlife project.
“Beyond wildlife conservation, the region boasts striking volcanic landscapes, a deep-rooted coffee culture, and vibrant indigenous communities, offering both first-time visitors and seasoned Asia travellers a genuinely distinct experience.”
Tourism dollars funding welfare directly
What separates this itinerary from a standard wildlife add-on is where the money goes. Every booking includes a direct contribution fee that funds the ongoing operation of the elephant welfare project at Yok Don, giving travellers a tangible link between what they pay and the conservation outcome on the ground. It’s a model that treats wildlife tourism as infrastructure for welfare rather than a one-off encounter, and one increasingly sought by travellers wary of vague sustainability claims.
For travellers weighing up an elephant encounter in Southeast Asia, this itinerary offers a clear alternative to riding camps: a chance to spend time near elephants on the animals’ own terms, in a landscape most visitors to Vietnam never see.
