The last of my stay in Chitwan

Well, yesterday I went on the elephant jungle trek. I was so happy after doing the elephant bath thing in the river -- the elephant had no injuries, no chains, and seemed genuinely happy. When I went for the elephant safari, it was an entirely different story.

First of all, they piled 4 of us up top along with the handler. That's a hell of a lot of weight. The elephant was bleeding. Yep, bleeding from cuts behind his ears brought on by a big metal hook. He also had another bleeding gouge between his right ear and the center of his head. The driver hit him very hard to make him turn, much harder than is necessary. I was so upset I nearly started crying.

The other 3 along for the ride were loud. Their cell phones kept ringing and they just kept talking, laughing, basically making too much noise for us to see much wildlife. Everything we saw was in the first 5 minutes. I saw a rhino ahead on the road and shushed them all and pointed. They were nice enough to stay quiet for a few minutes while we saw rhino, deer and a bird carrying a snake. Other than that, the safari was a dud because they couldn't keep their big mouths shut. If I only knew how to speak their language, they would have heard an earful. I watched him ride the elephant home after. He chained the poor thing up outside his house and didn't even bring water or food near it. I came pretty close to buying some cucumbers and hopping the fence, but I thought I might get into some serious trouble.

I have to say -- I opened my big mouth and said some things about the way that the elephants are treated to a few locals (the driver didn't speak any English). They claim that elephants are mean and have been known to break away and run through the village as well as throw their handlers to the ground. They apparently need to be treated roughly or they don't behave. I know better from my experience in Thailand. I responded by telling them that if you're nice to a dog, it's your friend for life. If you kick it, it bites you. They agreed, but still don't think that the logic applies to elephants.

This kinda ruined the rest of my time there, but luckily it was my last day. I went to a cultural program in the village to see some dancing last night and then went off to bed. Today, I took a nearly 6 hour bus ride to Pokhara. It wouldn't have taken so long, but the bus stopped pretty much everywhere. The good news is, I'm here. I saw some of the Himalayas looming over just before sunset and am promised a beautiful view at sunrise. Stay tuned for some photos tomorrow.

Oh, and the elephant safari was the first time using the big lens on the new camera -- good practice for Africa.