You have to climb the steps and then step on to your elephant from here!
I'm not really gripping on for dear life as it looks here!
I never really thought about what it would be like to ride on an elephant... I felt as if I had entered the pages of one of my favourite books "The Far Pavillions" by M.M.Kaye who spent most of her childhood in India. As we swayed gently whilst the elephant plodded up the hill to The Amber Fort in Jaipur, it's frothy saliva occasionally spraying my clothing....nice...I imagined I was entering a romantic idyll,the fragrance of heady flowers, pungent spices, brightly coloured saris and dashing Ashton Pelham-Martin to carry me off on his mighty steed!
Instead we bartered for a wall hanging/bed cover....It didn't take more than for me to point at the item hanging over the wall, just in passing to Dick whilst sitting aloft, for the boy to register my interest and quick as a flash had whipped it off the wall and was running in front of the elephant trying to sell it to us! "3500 rupees?" No Way far too much! So began the art of the barter, with him running backwards, negotiating and us shaking our heads whilst still appearing mildly interested....the emphasis being on the word mildly...musn't appear too interested.it's all part of the game. The cloth was passed up to the elephant handler to hand to us to touch and admire. It was passed down again and so the process continued! Eventually we agreed on 2200 and a deal was struck, wallets retrieved from pockets and money passed down all whilst the elephant continue on his/her weary way, ears flapping and spit flying....
Here is the man with the cloth waiting for a closer encounter!
Some of the beautiful designs within the Fort/Palace
I will add a photo of the wall hanging when I get one!
No comments:
Post a Comment