We are in Kandy, in the Hill Country of Sri Lanka. It is much cooler here so we are mostly basking in the non-sunshine on our hotel balcony. We have also visited some of Kandy's hottest night spots - The Pub, Pub Royale and PUB. Clearly the Sri Lankans are a very imaginative people.
One reason we came here was to visit Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage; a well-known tourist attraction about an hour out of town. Alas, when I was trying to find out how much you had to pay to get in I stumbled across lots of negative web reviews saying the animals are cruelly treated. We looked at the Born Free and WWF sites which advise not to go there so we didn't. Hooray for the elephants.
Instead we went to the Millennium Elephant Foundation. It is much smaller - only home to half a dozen or so elephants - but is approved by the animal charities and it seemed quite jolly. We washed an elephant in the river using coconut shells, we went to the quite shit elephant museum (also home to a tortoise shell and an alligator skull - both irrelevant and uninteresting), and then got to ride an elephant. Don't worry, there are lots of cringing photos to come.
The elephant we rode is called Rani and was massive and very bristly. There were a lot of women tourists in burkhas which I didn't think was very appropriate elephant-riding gear but I was laughing on the other side of my face when all my skin was exfoliated off with elephant prickles.
In other animal news we saw a woman walking two porcupines earlier. On leads. Surely it's not possible to keep a porcupine as a pet?
The latest update on our trip is that we are not going to Bali. After having to reduce our time away we were only left with four days there and the extra flights and costs didn't seem worth it. Instead we will be spending a week in Thailand where we shall learn to cook and try not to be drugged and robbed a la Joe in 2007.
I am off to buy some fruit now as we are in danger of getting scurvy. But I shall write again soon.
One reason we came here was to visit Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage; a well-known tourist attraction about an hour out of town. Alas, when I was trying to find out how much you had to pay to get in I stumbled across lots of negative web reviews saying the animals are cruelly treated. We looked at the Born Free and WWF sites which advise not to go there so we didn't. Hooray for the elephants.
Instead we went to the Millennium Elephant Foundation. It is much smaller - only home to half a dozen or so elephants - but is approved by the animal charities and it seemed quite jolly. We washed an elephant in the river using coconut shells, we went to the quite shit elephant museum (also home to a tortoise shell and an alligator skull - both irrelevant and uninteresting), and then got to ride an elephant. Don't worry, there are lots of cringing photos to come.
The elephant we rode is called Rani and was massive and very bristly. There were a lot of women tourists in burkhas which I didn't think was very appropriate elephant-riding gear but I was laughing on the other side of my face when all my skin was exfoliated off with elephant prickles.
In other animal news we saw a woman walking two porcupines earlier. On leads. Surely it's not possible to keep a porcupine as a pet?
The latest update on our trip is that we are not going to Bali. After having to reduce our time away we were only left with four days there and the extra flights and costs didn't seem worth it. Instead we will be spending a week in Thailand where we shall learn to cook and try not to be drugged and robbed a la Joe in 2007.
I am off to buy some fruit now as we are in danger of getting scurvy. But I shall write again soon.
I am so jealous of all the animal life you are encountering, and can't wait to see the elephant pictures. Perhaps you could market it as a new form of hair removal? I hope there are photos of the spiky pet friends too xxx
ReplyDeleteElephant orphanages?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely no connection to the above comment of course, but are we due another guest slot from Joe?
love wsm.......
Ps, thx for the postcard! Got it this morning......when I came back from Amsterdam with the bobblies. Any chance of a bobbly orphanage......?
Stephen Fry says the capital of Thailand is actually called Krungthep Mahankhon Amorn Rattanakosin Mahintara Yudthaya Mahadilok Pohp Noparat Rajathanee Bureerom Udomrajniwes Mahasatarn Amorn Pimarn Avaltarnsatit Sakatattiya Visanukram Prasit, or Krung Thep for convenience. Bangkok is the name of the fishing village over which King Rama 1 built his capital city in 1782. Bet you didn't want to know that!
ReplyDelete