Where it sits
Mondulkiri is the biggest province in Cambodia and among the least densely populated. It sits on a plateau in the east against the Vietnamese border, high enough that you will want a jumper after dark — a genuine novelty in this country.
The landscape is unlike the rest of Cambodia: open, undulating grassland and pine ridges rather than rice plain, closer in feel to a plateau in southern Laos.
Elephants, done properly
The province is home to the Bunong people, who have worked with elephants for generations, and to several projects that have retired their animals from logging and tourist-riding work.
At the reputable ones you spend the day walking with the herd through forest and helping at bathing time. Nobody rides. If an operator offers rides, that tells you what you need to know — walk away.
The good projects cap daily numbers and sell out in high season, so book directly and in advance.
What else to see
Bou Sra, about forty kilometres east of Sen Monorom, is the most impressive waterfall in Cambodia — a two-tier drop into a forested gorge. Chrey Thom, closer to town, stays accessible year-round when Bou Sra does not.
The Sea Forest — Samot Cheur — is a run of grassland ridges best at sunrise, when mist pools in the valleys below.
When to come
November to February for dry roads and cold nights. The waterfalls are at their most powerful in October and November, immediately after the rains.