Animal Rides

One of my many things on my wish list for my stay in India is to get the opportunity to ride on an elephant and a camel. On Wednesday night this week, I joined two families - Devendra, Rupali, Vaidehee, Maithilee and Trevor & Bev to an Indian amusement park called Chokhi Dani. When you walk into the park, there are musicians there to greet you - in this case, some bagpipes and a drum. You go past a temple, receive a red mark on the forehead (which signifies you've been to a temple) and then enter into the complex. As you head down the stairs, there are numerous circular stations where you can stop and either see performances or take in some of the rides. The first station I noticed was an oxen cart, then a camel, then an elephant. You buy tickets to be able to ride the events (entrance 175 rupees - around $4.00). We first rode the elephant - climbing up some stairs to a platform where you could climb onto the seat mounted on top - we rode up and down a path. Notice the man climbing up the elephant's trunk in order to 'drive'. One of Devendra's daughters, Vaidehee rode with me on the camel. The elephant ride was smoother!! We all piled onto the oxen cart and also took a ride.