One day during my trip to India was set aside for riding an elephant. Sanjul's father knew someone in a nearby (nearby is relative) village who owned an elephant and Sanjul arranged for us to go ride it. Of course, this involved the family of the people who owned the elephant hosting us in their home and eating, along with visiting nearby temples, and ancient structures.
Over incredibly bumpy roads that got more and more narrow as we drove, dodging cows, pigs, water buffalo, goats, people, and every sort of vehicle imaginable, we headed off to the village. There we were hosted by an extremely nice family. The man told me in his handful of English words (note that this is a handful more than I have in Hindi) that he retired from his post in 1976 and that he was now 83 years old. He told me over and over and over again how happy he was that I came to visit them. Amazing.
We had curry and rice and lots of water!. This curry is as different from Thai curry as coffee is from coke. It's very tangy. Per Sanjul's request no one made "spicy" food for me. Hmmmmm. 
We inspected an ancient gate - probably part of a fort. It's difficult to tell as grand stone gates seem to appear out of nowhere. A lady approached and through sign language asked to have her picture taken. Very often, people ask to take a "selfie" with me, though this lady had no phone or camera.
We walked up a gazillion very big steps to a temple. I was happy to sit while someone from our party went back down the steps to the village to get a key to get into the temple once we got there. That's the way in India. No hurry (unless you're driving a car). By the time the man with the key arrived, every child from the village and half the adults were there to see me. Such beautiful children!
The temple itself was amazing and I received some holy water from a Brahman priest, to drink. Then after photos and a long goodbye, we went to a different village to find the elephant. On the way, as the roads got more and more narrow, we had to stop a couple of times to have a bridges built over ditches that crossed the streets. We had to have people leave the car to maneuver the car around corners that were never intended for automobiles. During these stops, children came to the window of the car to look at me.
Inside the temple were paintings of the history of India according to Hindu holy texts.
So on we pushed to get to the village where the elephant was to be. Alas, when we got there, we found the temple that hosted the elephant, but the elephant had gone on to a different village for an appearance at a different temple. So we went elephant chasing.
After getting stuck in roads that were two inches wider than the car, one too many times, we gave up on the elephant.
Oh, well. Can't do everything in one trip, right? But on our way out of Jhansi, a couple of days later, toward Delhi where I'd catch my flight home, Sushil started yelling, "Get your camera!" Straight ahead was a wall of gray. An elephant!
I jumped out of the car with my camera and started clicking at the critter which was as big as a house. The young man riding the elephant said, "Yes, yes! You can ride!"
Wow. So I was going to ride an elephant? I waited for a ladder. There was no ladder. Through interpretation by Sanjul and sign language, I understood that I was first to stand on a nearby wall. How I was to get on top of the wall was left to me.
Let me just say that back in the day, I was a great tree climber. I climbed! Let me also say that I'm 61 and not petite. But dang it, I climbed that wall. I'm sure it wasn't pretty, but I climbed that sucker. So now, atop the wall, I waited for a step stool or something, since the top of the elephant was at least as far from the top of the wall as the wall was from the ground. The elephant and I looked eye to eye, and I think we had a moment there. I'm pretty sure the elephant was laughing at me as he continually slapped me with his ear, which was about my size.
I was told to climb up the elephant. Climb up the elephant, indeed. I discussed this with the elephant and we both had a chuckle. Then Sanjul helped me to jump down off the wall. When I asked why they didn't have a ladder or something, Sushil explained that Indians just want to take a blessing from the elephant, not sit over it. Ahhhhh. I get it. Well, I got my blessing.
What a trip!
I'm so grateful.
Over incredibly bumpy roads that got more and more narrow as we drove, dodging cows, pigs, water buffalo, goats, people, and every sort of vehicle imaginable, we headed off to the village. There we were hosted by an extremely nice family. The man told me in his handful of English words (note that this is a handful more than I have in Hindi) that he retired from his post in 1976 and that he was now 83 years old. He told me over and over and over again how happy he was that I came to visit them. Amazing.
We had curry and rice and lots of water!. This curry is as different from Thai curry as coffee is from coke. It's very tangy. Per Sanjul's request no one made "spicy" food for me. Hmmmmm. 
We inspected an ancient gate - probably part of a fort. It's difficult to tell as grand stone gates seem to appear out of nowhere. A lady approached and through sign language asked to have her picture taken. Very often, people ask to take a "selfie" with me, though this lady had no phone or camera.
 |
| This beautiful woman wanted me to take her picture. |
We walked up a gazillion very big steps to a temple. I was happy to sit while someone from our party went back down the steps to the village to get a key to get into the temple once we got there. That's the way in India. No hurry (unless you're driving a car). By the time the man with the key arrived, every child from the village and half the adults were there to see me. Such beautiful children!
The temple itself was amazing and I received some holy water from a Brahman priest, to drink. Then after photos and a long goodbye, we went to a different village to find the elephant. On the way, as the roads got more and more narrow, we had to stop a couple of times to have a bridges built over ditches that crossed the streets. We had to have people leave the car to maneuver the car around corners that were never intended for automobiles. During these stops, children came to the window of the car to look at me.
 |
| This little beauty was wondering just what I was. |
Inside the temple were paintings of the history of India according to Hindu holy texts.So on we pushed to get to the village where the elephant was to be. Alas, when we got there, we found the temple that hosted the elephant, but the elephant had gone on to a different village for an appearance at a different temple. So we went elephant chasing.
After getting stuck in roads that were two inches wider than the car, one too many times, we gave up on the elephant.
Oh, well. Can't do everything in one trip, right? But on our way out of Jhansi, a couple of days later, toward Delhi where I'd catch my flight home, Sushil started yelling, "Get your camera!" Straight ahead was a wall of gray. An elephant!
I jumped out of the car with my camera and started clicking at the critter which was as big as a house. The young man riding the elephant said, "Yes, yes! You can ride!"
Wow. So I was going to ride an elephant? I waited for a ladder. There was no ladder. Through interpretation by Sanjul and sign language, I understood that I was first to stand on a nearby wall. How I was to get on top of the wall was left to me.
Let me just say that back in the day, I was a great tree climber. I climbed! Let me also say that I'm 61 and not petite. But dang it, I climbed that wall. I'm sure it wasn't pretty, but I climbed that sucker. So now, atop the wall, I waited for a step stool or something, since the top of the elephant was at least as far from the top of the wall as the wall was from the ground. The elephant and I looked eye to eye, and I think we had a moment there. I'm pretty sure the elephant was laughing at me as he continually slapped me with his ear, which was about my size.
I was told to climb up the elephant. Climb up the elephant, indeed. I discussed this with the elephant and we both had a chuckle. Then Sanjul helped me to jump down off the wall. When I asked why they didn't have a ladder or something, Sushil explained that Indians just want to take a blessing from the elephant, not sit over it. Ahhhhh. I get it. Well, I got my blessing.
What a trip!
I'm so grateful.
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