We slept in. There wasn’t that much to do in the town that we needed to get up for. I got up around 1000 and showered. I ran into Nic in the hallway and we decided we wanted to go and ride an elephant somewhere. The two of us got breakfast up on the 7th deck with Becca. It was so crowded up there, everyone had slept in from going out last night. No one was over eager to get off the ship. It was kind of a hassle to get into town as we were on an island and everything else was on another island. The island we were on had little on it and was man-made. It took awhile to get our breakfast wraps. Tania and Becca had a trip at 1300 so they weren’t getting off the ship until then. There wasn’t really enough time to do anything before it anyways. Nic and I woke up Brandon and Mason to go with us.
We got off the ship a little before 1300. A cab driver told us it would be about an hour and 15 minute drive to get to the elephant place, about 60 kilometers away. We needed to be back around 1700 to be on the ship by 1800. We figured we’d have enough time and it was 1500 rupees. Reasonable for what we wanted to do. We stopped at an ATM and the boys picked up cigarettes and we were on our way.
The ride felt like forever, it took about an hour and 45 minutes. It started raining by the time we had left the city/town areas and were in the more rural areas. We were beginning to get nervous when we saw that it was 1415 and we still weren’t there. Our driver kept saying 10 minutes or 5 minutes, but then it would be 20 minutes.
Eventually we got there. It was a government-owned property. We tried to buy tickets to ride the elephants, but they told us the next ride was at 1530. We couldn’t wait around until then. They said maybe we could go on at 1500. We bought tickets to see the elephants on the property. This place was in the middle of a tropical forest area by a lake. There were two small buildings and a cement wall. One of the guys who worked there took us over to the elephants. There were three babies. They were so cute and they all seemed to remain in the same general areas near posts. Then we realized that they were chained to posts. Each one had about 2 feet of chain and was chained by the back leg. It had almost no ability to move and seemed to even struggle lying down.
They looked so angry. They let us in to pet them and take pictures. One of them starred growling and trying to move towards us but it couldn’t get very far. I was feeling badly that I had paid money to support this. I feel worse now when I think back on it.
We were then led down to the water to see a large female splashing about in the water. There were two men with sticks standing by. There were 3 other SASers down there. We all said hey and talked. Our driver had managed to convince them to let us ride one at 1500 and had already bought us tickets. We walked up with this elephant. It was huge. It’s legs were bigger than me. It was incredible.
There was a staircase up to get on the elephant’s back. We had to take our shoes off, we were riding bareback. When I had been in Jaipur at the Amber Fort we sat in a little platform. This was way cooler. Nic got on first and had to hold onto a rope so she wouldn’t fall off. I got on next and held on, too. Then Brandon and Mason got on. Mason had nothing to hold onto. It was so high up, probably like 10 feet off of the ground. The hair that covered the elephant was so coarse and uncomfortable to sit on. We were so afraid we were going to fall off. One of the guys led the elephant down the road and another took Mason’s camera and snapped pictures of us. What a great family bonding experience. Well, minus 3 of the members, but still.
It was really cool. Nic was so excited, this was all she had been dying to do, so I’m glad for sake we got to do it. By the time we were off and finished up it was 1530 and it was time to head back. We made it back with plenty of time. We stopped and got a beer before getting back on the ship and the boys loaded up on chips on a little street shop. We walked back to the ship.
When we got to the ship Midhun and a bunch of teachers and LLC’s were standing around. There was a reporter and interviewer. They asked us to talk to them about our experiences on the ship. We thought it was a local news station. Apparently it was Asia News, or something like that, and is a pretty big deal and is viewed by millions of people. I’m so glad I was sweaty and had elephant sweat all over me. We were so exhausted, too. Our answers to their questions were good enough, but I don’t know that they were good enough to be viewed by millions. Haha. Anyways, that was cool. We made it back on the ship with 15 minutes to spare. We handed in our shore cards or whatever they were and our customs forms.
We all showered and had a family dinner at 1800. Besides that, nothing exciting went on tonight. I’ve been blogging and hanging out with random people. I went upstairs to buy a water at 2130 and there were only 5 people around. I think everyone’s in bed. That’s what I should be doing. And with that I’m going to clean off my bed and sleep.
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