Our last day and we head off to the Amber (Amer) Fort to be early enough to catch the elephant ride to the top. A couple of years ago the Animal Protection people implemented a restriction of 2 people per elephant and only 5 trips up and back to the fort. The rides are finished by 11:30 then they all walk back down the road to their towns where they are housed by their owners. In all honesty it is not all that comfortable riding an elephant and although our ride was relatively smooth some of the other tourists were having a hard time of it. In the national paper there was an article about releasing all captive zoo and temple elephants into the wild. It is big business and would need to be managed sensitively, plus the elephants are used to being fed. Not sure that it would apply to these elephants but I did feel sorry for them as although the day was mild (20C) other days can reach the high 40's and it is a steep slope. While the mothers are at work the babies earn money being photographed with the tourists.
Our elephant's name was Pawan who had a very jolly handler. A mandatory tip was given along with lots of compliments.
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