As I have said many times while living here, things don't always work our here as planned! For example...we were planning on going on a hike through some villages close by. We had to catch a bus to a village and then we would walk from there. We start off, and I fall asleep. This is pretty normal on bus rides here, I don't know what it is, but I just can't seem to stay awake! I am awakened by a lot of smoke and load crunching noises coming from the engine, and I see the driver trying to grind the bus into gear. He finally gives up when there is a large smoke plume billowing out of the engine! (the engine is where the passengers sit, so the smoke is inside the bus)
We stop, he jumps underneath bangs around a little, and then decides that he can't fix it so we'll wait! For what we were waiting for i'm not 100% sure, but we waited! After about 15-20mins, April and I decided that we were close enough to walk back home. We got out of the bus and started walking. About 5 mins down the road we stopped to talk to some locals and asked them how far away our town was. They said 5 km. It took us 30minutes to go 5KM!!!!!!! That should have been a good indicator right there to what state the bus was in!
Because of our unsuccessful arrival at one village we decided to go to another, that was closer the following day. We got on the bus and yet again, I fell asleep. This time I awoke to us almost running into an elephant. In the mountains! I've been told by our uncle that people bring elephants to the mountains because the villagers have never seen one, so the elephant owners can make a lot of money! I got a little excited because I thought maybe it was heading to the same village we were going to. We arrived at the village and hiked around a bit, ate some lunch, and then headed around the lake. We reached the opposite side of the lake and lo and behold before our very eyes was Chanda, the elephant. April and I were so excited we walked straight up to the owner and started bargaining for a ride. It took quite awhile and soon there was a big crowd of people.
We weren't sure if the people were there for the elephant or the white people. We finally decided it was both. I mean how often to do you get to see white people RIDING on an elephant in your village? It took us awhile, but with the help of some nationals we finally got them down to a price that we thought was reasonable. $1.50 each. Unfortunately I know that he still ripped us off, but he wasn't budging, so we did! Chanda kneeled down I stepped on her leg and hoisted myself up. Then April got on in front of me, and the owner sat behind her ears. We were bareback, which was interesting when she stands up, b/c there's nothing really for you to hold onto so I almost fell off backwards. We rode around for a bit, everyone laughed and thought it was great, we got off and left! I have to admit not many things embarrass me, but I was thoroughly embarrassed by being an exhibition- it was worth it though to ride on an elephant bareback!
As I have said many times while living here, things don't always work our here as planned! For example...we were planning on going on a hike through some villages close by. We had to catch a bus to a village and then we would walk from there. We start off, and I fall asleep. This is pretty normal on bus rides here, I don't know what it is, but I just can't seem to stay awake! I am awakened by a lot of smoke and load crunching noises coming from the engine, and I see the driver trying to grind the bus into gear. He finally gives up when there is a large smoke plume billowing out of the engine! (the engine is where the passengers sit, so the smoke is inside the bus) 
We stop, he jumps underneath bangs around a little, and then decides that he can't fix it so we'll wait! For what we were waiting for i'm not 100% sure, but we waited! After about 15-20mins, April and I decided that we were close enough to walk back home. We got out of the bus and started walking. About 5 mins down the road we stopped to talk to some locals and asked them how far away our town was. They said 5 km. It took us 30minutes to go 5KM!!!!!!! That should have been a good indicator right there to what state the bus was in!
Because of our unsuccessful arrival at one village we decided to go to another, that was closer the following day. We got on the bus and yet again, I fell asleep. This time I awoke to us almost running into an elephant. In the mountains! I've been told by our uncle that people bring elephants to the mountains because the villagers have never seen one, so the elephant owners can make a lot of money! I got a little excited because I thought maybe it was heading to the same village we were going to. We arrived at the village and hiked around a bit, ate some lunch, and then headed around the lake. We reached the opposite side of the lake and lo and behold before our very eyes was Chanda, the elephant. April and I were so excited we walked straight up to the owner and started bargaining for a ride. It took quite awhile and soon there was a big crowd of people.
We weren't sure if the people were there for the elephant or the white people. We finally decided it was both. I mean how often to do you get to see white people RIDING on an elephant in your village? It took us awhile, but with the help of some nationals we finally got them down to a price that we thought was reasonable. $1.50 each. Unfortunately I know that he still ripped us off, but he wasn't budging, so we did! Chanda kneeled down I stepped on her leg and hoisted myself up. Then April got on in front of me, and the owner sat behind her ears. We were bareback, which was interesting when she stands up, b/c there's nothing really for you to hold onto so I almost fell off backwards. We rode around for a bit, everyone laughed and thought it was great, we got off and left! I have to admit not many things embarrass me, but I was thoroughly embarrassed by being an exhibition- it was worth it though to ride on an elephant bareback!
2 comments:
I am so envious!!! You remember the elephant ride that the two of us had at that park in Miami? To ride up there with no seat must have been wonderful. Wish I was there!
Momma
I think it's suppose to be "Lions and Tigers and bears, oh my!" Not elephants DUH!!! Miss all of you! Wish I was there!
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