Riding Elephants in India
Saturday, May 27th, 2006I have always been amused and sometimes scandalized to hear people in the western world ask me if elephants and tigers walk the roads in India. Pardon my smugness but I find the prospect hilarious. Infact, one person even asked me if there were cars in India. Hmmnn, how do you suppose a country of 1 billion plus people travel? More on that later.
For now, I want to talk about riding elephants in India. I can understand to some extent where these questions come from – elephants are exotic to most countries and specifically alien to several continents including the american and european continent. So, the answer to the hidden question is Yes, you can get a memorable elephant ride when visiting India, but NO, elephants on the roads are not a daily occurence across India. More like cows and goats on the road, and yes, sometimes, a bear in a cab :). I will recount that hilarious incident soon, sometime. For now, let me tell you how you can plan for an elephant ride, because its just not randomly going to happen.
Now, if you want to squeze in an elephant ride on your trip to India, [read on]
Everybody rushes to 
Rupa