TRAVELMAN NEPAL: Elephants in the Mist, My trip to Chitwan Nepal

When I think back on my time spent in Chitwan, I will think of Elephants and the convienance store owner that I talked to for a a couple afternoons...

Here’s the elephants. I don’t have any pics of the shop owner...

Here’s a Mahout holding the stick that they use to give the elephants a hard whap on the head. Every time I saw them do this I wanted to hit the Mahout with a stick and say, “Hurts, don’t it.”...

A mist enveloped the town every morning. The river water was warm spring water, it gets cold at night, so cold nights and warm river is a perfect recipe for morning mist...

Jane Goodall had her Gorrillas in the mist, Travelman has his elephants (their not mine, I only saw them)...

I often read unhappy expressions written across their faces and in their body language. Tell me this elephant isn’t thinking, “I’m so over getting ridden around all day, whapped on the head, bossed around, then shackled at night.”...

This is a baby elephant in training. At a certain point they bring them out like this with the baby’s mamma elephant and walk them around the trails and through town so the elephant can become accustomed to people and loud noises of cars and horns and such...

Here’s an elephant at work, carting tourists around the jungle...

They bathe the elephants most mornings at a particular spot of the riverside in town. Tourists can go down there and watch, like I did, or you can pay a fee, ride the elephant into the water, and help in bathing the elephant...

This mahout commanded the elephant to lift him up with his truck. The Mahout then climbed to the elephants back...

They give the elephant a command that makes them lay on their side in the water. The mahouts proceed to scrub the elephant with a stone (It’s good for their skin somehow). They stand on the elephant as they scrub them. I felt like the Mahouts didn’t show the elephants any respect...

The elephants seemed to enjoy throwing water onto themselves, no command was necessary...

I came across this massive elephant on one of the trails next to the river. They had it kneeling down next to a slope so the Chinese tourists could climb into the basket on its back...

They cut the pointy ends of their tusks off every so often...

Lastly, having nothing to do with elephants, but I want to share it. These guys were negotiating a live chicken sale one morning outside of my hotel room. They settle on a chicken and a price. The seller tied the chicken’s feet together and handed it to the buyer by the bound feet. The buyer attempted to tie it to the front of his bike. This was not going to work. The chicken would get caught in the spokes. The guys around him suggested tying it to the back. The chicken was freaking out at the front end tying as though he knew it was a bad idea as well, “Whoa! Hey, whatta’ ya’ doin. Hey, watch the feathers, watch the feathers!”....

The buyer gave up on getting it on his bike and gave it back to the chicken vendor. It appeared as though they made a deal for a later pick up or delivery...

Travelman log, day 210 I arrived in Rishikesh this morning. Now I’m deciding what yoga or Ayurvedic course to take. !steemitworldmap 27.580 lat 84.4634 long . Elephant Bath and More in Chitwan, Nepal, d3scr 371 Followers and counting, 1070.5 steem earned. Rep 59.3 Travel on, Travelman out.