"My Career as an Elephant Rider" or "A Man in Drag Swung a Sword at my Rickshaw"

[John Bodycombe]

This morning I was awoken by a vigorous beating on my bungalow (shack)'s door.  As it was 5am I grogilly wondered if something was wrong and hurried to escape my mosquito net, unlock the padlock, slide back the bolt, run down the crappy hallway, slide back the bolt again and find out what was happening.  Turns out, it was time for morning tea before our 6:30am elephant ride.  I said thank you and promptly went back to bed feeling that I didn't need to be caffeinated to sit on an elephants back (unless of course a tiger attacks in which case I'm not sure they had enough tea to help be outrun one of those cute kittens).

 

Five minutes later the persistent man decided to bring the tea to our room (which was very nice) and I decided to give up on further rest and prepare for the trek.

 

In case you hadn't picked up on it, we had previously made a reservation at and driven to the National Wildlife Reserve known as Jaldhapara.  According to lonely planet it is a cool place to hop an elephant ride and have a gander at some of the nation's remaining Asian One Horned Rhino's (Rhinocerus Unicornus).  Thinking this sounded like a jolly old time The Madcap BlunderBus (At the time, comprised of John, Brendon, Heather and Toriann) signed on!

So after a nice breakfast (which included "french fries") we suited up and headed out to meet our elephants.  There were 5 in total and they all had platforms mounted on their backs where we would be seated for our safari.

 

(I will do the best to continue typing here but am being drilled with questions by some of the locals)

 

After some wonderful photo opportunities, we hopped on and took off.  All in all the only word for it was "incredible".  Although we didn't end up seeing any rhino's, the few deer/peacocks/monkeys and of course the jungle itself were more than enough to keep us in awe (not to mention the elephant upon which we were seated).  Many videos and photos were taken (national geographic eat your heart out) and will be shared as soon as possible.

 

The safari took a bit over an hour in total as we made our way through the jungle both off and on paths.  We learned that the nice part about traveling through the rainforest on an elephant is that if you come across a tree in your path, said elephant will remove it from said path.  I wish I could take it home to New York as I assume it will work as well on pedestrians.

 

(more local drilling with hand/shoulder action)

 

After the ride there were many tearful farewells as our newly acquired teammates as they needed to be off for Darjeeling and the rest of their world adventures.  Let it be known that they were hearty adventurers and can be trusted in any tight spot for flashlights shone at potholes and windshields wiped at 40 kph.  We wish them the best of luck on the rest of their journey and hope to see them someday again!

 

As we rolled out we were immediately fleeced for an additional 700 Rs. for everything from camera permits to 5 minute car rides.  I threw a wad of cash at him and cheesed it out of the park.  Back along National Highway 31 we started experiencing some more of what we came to expect from it including unmarked forks in the road, kilometer after kilometer of unpaved road, a myriad of pot-holes and the single crappiest bridge that we ever came to cross in our journey thus far.

 

From one town to the next we rumbled on until coming upon what appeared to be 5 people in red dancing in the middle of the street.  We immediately decided to employ our "do not stop" plan of action that was tuned to perfection days earlier on our way into Kolkatta.  I will now provide a brief (sort of)history of that event for your education and entertainment.

 

Picture, if you will, our mighty rickshaw rolling on down the highway towards Kolkatta.

 

Enter a pack of rowdy teenagers hopping up and down excitedly in the street.

 

Unknowing as we are of the situation we employ the smile and wave as we drive by routine.

 

As the plan unfolds, 2 of these fun-loving youths jump on to the side of our rick.

 

"10 Rupees please"  They say.

 

"Are you kidding me?" We say.

 

One decides the plan isn't working and hops off, the other more persistent repeats again and again until he too finally decides to hope off.  Unfortunately he slips (not having incredible traction at 40 kph with barefeet) and begins dragging while holding onto the side of the rick.  We immediately slam on the brakes.

 

"Oh my God!  Are you ok?"  We say.

 

"10 Rupees please" He says.

 

So we hit the gas and take off again before he decides to give it another go.

 

Back to the red dancing in the street people.  We do our best to skirt them though they sort of try to stay in front of us and as Brendon punches the gas and we wave and smile, we notice that one is dressed extra strangely with a mask and sword and gives it a playful swing at the rick while another guy on the other side smiles and says hello.

 

Not sure I believe what I've seen I poke my head out the side and look back to see the masked person (believe dressed as Shiva "The Destroyer") point the sword down the road at me.  I immediately congratulate Brendon on good driving and smile that the questionable people are behind us.

 

Flash forward 5 kilometers later we see some people in red dancing in the street.  We definitely opt with the cheese it plan this time and forgo the smiles and waves.  This time however they all start smiling and waving and the masked person with the sword lifts the mask in amazement to see us drive through (a look we're used to getting).

 

The moral of this story is we have no idea what actually went on be it riotous act, religious ceremony or raucus celebration but we have decided that it may not be wise to stop and ask.

 

Now we are in a tiny little city and have decided to spend a leisurely 2 days getting the rest of the way Shilling.

 

For any of you news followers, we are aware of the recent bombing in Guwahati and have opted to go around it for the time being and use it only for the airport exit from India.  We are doing our best to be safe and aware and appreciate all the support.

 

Next stop and final stop, Shillong!

 

John