Lastnights sleep wasn't too bad, we woke up at 6.45 for breakfast at 7. We sat with the Indian guy again, I can't remember his name. He told us but neither of us can remember!It's all set food included in what we've paid for the safari so we had a little bowl of porridge, a glass of juice, coffee which I thought was nice because it was milky, 3 slices of 'toast' with cold potatoes and onion on one side of the plate and a cold fried egg on the other. We asked for some jam, we were given some butter and honey, and despite there being lots of little ants in it it was nice as a sandwich!
We left the resort at 8.15 and took the jeep to do the elephant safari. We climbed up a big ladder onto a platform and got onto the basket thing on the elephant with one other guy who I think was German. We were on the elephant for about an hour and a half going through the jungle. It was really beautiful and peaceful. We got to see quite a few wild animals, we saw peacocks, monkeys, deer, wild boar and constantly on the look out for more so it was really fun. It wasn't that comfortable, I've discovered over the last few weeks that Liam really isn't very good with uncomfortable transportation!
I was really enjoying it until the first whack the elephant got with the stick from the mahout. It wash just a tap it was a proper hit and I didn't think it was necessary at all. He hit him maybe about 5 or 6 times during the next hour and each time it made me grimace and I know the others felt the same. I know the elephants are tough and it probably didn't hurt as much as it sounded but it still wasn't nice. I also noticed a little bit of blood on his head that wasn't there when we started and I have no idea how it got there so it put a slight downer on the experience even though we enjoyed it.
When we'd finished that we got back in the jeep and went to the river for ' elephant bathing' There was an elephant there in the water and lots of people on the river bank. People were watching and not approaching to go on the elephant probably because there were so man people and just one elephant. More began to arrive and within about half an hour there were perhaps 6 or 7 of them and people began to come down to go into the river with them. At first we were reluctant just because there were a lot of people and we didn't fancy being watched. But then we began to feel a bit uncomfortable with the whole thing, it didn't seem very natural, it was like a performance and the elephants were being forced to perform for the audience really. They were being poked and prodded, ears being pulled a bit and generally being shouted and to spurt water everywhere and roll about in the water for people's entertainment. Don't get me wrong, we did have a nice 45 mins or so sat admiring them and it was nice to see people laughing and having fun....but we wernt quite prepared to pay money for the sake of what we felt was exploiting wonderful animals.
We got back to the hotel and had lunch, which was marginally better than yesterday's food. Vegetable soup, then again a cold plate of food consisting of spaghetti, chips, spicey potato, rice (a carb carnival) but nicer food this time! We had a couple of hours before the next part of the day started so I sat outside reading for a bit whilst Liam got into the Internet and sorted our visas and things like that out for the next destination.
I've decided that I really need to try and stop eating quite so much because im getting a podge. We've been eating 3 square meals of massive proportions every day and sweets and I've probably out eaten Liam with every meal apart from dal baht in the village! But all the food is already paid for in our packages and i want to get my money's worth!! Oh the problems of a white western girl.
Later we went for a canoe trip long the river, it was really good. We were in with about 8 Chinese people all crammed in and the boat was really low so we were only about an inch or two from the water. It felt very unstable and was tipping from side to side and we were all told not to move our bodies only our heads! It was really peaceful though and pretty? We saw monkeys in the trees, all sorts of birds, fish in the water and crocodiles swimming near the boat and lounging on the banks. We were in the boat for perhaps half an hour or so before getting out and beginning our jungle walk.
We loved that too, we walked through all the trees and undergrowth, we spotted monkeys and deer. We heard the sounds of the elephants in the distance and saw tiger tracks in the mud. We saw rhinos in the water, we were told the do's and donts and what to do if they decided to charge at you. We were in the jungle for about an hour and a half, and by the time we got out it was already dusk and getting hard to see. They then took u to the elephant breeding centre but it was pointless because it was too dark to see anything so that really was the only let down of the day.
When we got back to the hotel we decided to go for a wander and look at the village shops. I bought a pair of trousers/skirt and we looked at various souvenir type gifts. There was nowhere to try the clothes on so I bought, when I got back I didn't really like them as the fit wasnt quite how I imagined but Ill give them a bit longer to try and warm to them.
We had cold dinner again, the same as yesterday only with mushroom and garlic soup. It was pretty manky, the pudding was like trifle custard that had been left for a day. Oh well, it's food! We sat outside for a while with a campfire before bed. I don't really get why the Indian guy asked for one as its pretty hot here but I think he just fancied something to look at. Travel day back to Kathmandu tomorrow.
