When we got there, taatti was told that I would have to pay $20 to go inside, when the resident price was $2. I told him I have my resident visa with me, and after some menevouring on our part, we were able to get me in. We walked through to the pond, where all the elephants were taking a bath. We got to walk down on the rocks right near the water and got a couple feet away from them. Once, one of the elephants decided he wanted to leave, and began walking up the path. They ushered us over to the steps to stand, and I was one of the last ones, so I ended up on the bottom step. I got a great photo of the elephant inches away from my face!
Pisu took my camera and took many great photos of his finger, the floor, and amma's hair. I tried endlessly to teach him how to use the camera, but in the end it was helpless. He kept pointing at something, saying "ready, aim, fire" and then moved the camera like a gun when he pushed the button, making every picture blury and usually of the floor. Oh well, he had a good time.
We got to see the elephants bathing, little ones playing around in the water, two males fighting, and one loner on the other side of the pond, playing in the dirt by himself. Not only was it fun to watch the elephants, but it was also fun to see all the random tourists and guess where they were from. I saw some from Germany, France, England, South Africa, and a couple from the US. It's amazing how easy it is to tell!
On our walk back, we got a mango from a street vendor for 20 rupees. I stopped into a couple of stores and saw the poop paper (made from elephant poop). They had journals there for only 800 ruppees, but they weren't lined and I don't know how I feel about writing my poetry and journal entries on poop! I also got a nice pair of leather sandals from a leather store fomr only 500 rupees (less than $5). They are really cute and pretty comfy too!
When we got back to the car, we were horribly thirsty, so amma got out the taembili and hacked them open with this huge machetti looking knife that she uses to open coconuts. We drank the water from the coconuts, then threw the rest to the side of the road. Apparently, no one eats the coconut by itself - especially not the little brown ones. I told my taatti and he laughed at me, telling me that was only for cooking.
Here are some of the photos from the day:
showing my pisu how to use the camera
"crushin" in my sun glasses
Elephant crossing
I set him down to get a picture - I think he was a bit scared. haha
This is how close I got to the elephant. I didn't reach out to touch it because I was worried it would flip out, but I was less than a foot away!
I took 4 photos and this was the best one. Taatti is the only one looking! lol.
My beautiful amma!
This is the one that lost his leg to a land mine. pau!
They actually make paper out of the elephant poop!
I have many more photos, but the internet is being stubborn, so I will either edit this later or show them to you all when I get home!
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