Elephant Ride

Today (Saturday, November 13) we spent the whole day touring the important sights of Jaipur, the Pink City.

Elephant Ride to Amber Fort in Jaipur

Tourist-Laden Elephants (uphill) vs. Empties (downhill) at Narrow Gate

Traffic Jam

We met our driver and guide at 8 am and set out for the Amber Fort. Our first activity was an elephant ride to the fort that cost 900 rupees (about $20) for both of us. A long line of western tourists wound through a tout filled park waiting for a turn (we believe that the last Indian who rode an elephant without a tourist on the back was seen in 1963). We gave the guide 1000 rupees to get the ride for us. After a brief discussion with the driver, he told us we would get our change from the driver at the end of the ride. On the way up the hill, the driver told us to try to sit more in the center of the elephant and that there would be no change. We didn't care since the ride was amazing fun! Where else could you find yourself in traffic jams consisting entirely of tourist-bearing elephants? Near the end of the ride after passing up several opportunities to wear the driver's extremely "authentic" looking turban, he started to tell us something that we didn't quite understand. As he became more frantic, we realized that he wanted a tip before the end of the ride because tipping is illegal there and a policeman was at the end of the ride to enforce that. We gave him another 50 rupees. We knew the ride was a tourist rip off but we're glad we did it and would do it again! Also, had we walked rather than ridden, we would have been dodging elephants and walking through their poop.

Location:Jaipur, Northern India