MB & J

March 19, 2007

Elephantus Maximus

This past week, March 11 - March 17, we had a house guest with us: Leah Martin. I know Leah from Marshall County, she is the Boggus Family's cousin. The Boggus's hosted a really fantastic wedding party for us when we got married, many of your probably came to that party. (Thanks again Boggus family and other hosts, that was a super experience!) Leah is now a singer/songwriter working on putting out her first album. She was a joy to have around. Her positive, bubbly and free spirit personality is contagious. Leah is in India visiting an ashram in Trivandrum, Kerala. Before her month's stay at the ashram, she stayed with us for a week to get aquainted with India. So, "what is an ashram?", you might ask. An ashram, in ancient Hindu times, was a place where sages lived in peace and tranquility amidst nature. In modern day times the idea is still the same, a community for spiritual upliftment; but in addition have become yoga training locations for people from all over the world. Check out Leah's website www.leahmartin.com and watch for her debut album coming out soon.

While Leah was staying with us, we decided to take an overnight trip to Jungle Lodges Dubare Elephant Training Camp in Coorg. Coorg is an area of Karnataka (our state) in the Western Ghats (a mountain range in southwest India). The camp is about 5 hours by car from Bangalore, so MB, Leah, Damian, Selva and I all jumped in the Balero and took off for an adventure with elephants. On the way there we stopped a bunch of times to try to break up the long journey. Our most interesting stop was a Tibetan Buddist Monastery. That's right, a Tibetan Buddist village right in our state of Karnataka, India. The town is called Kushalnagar, it is a large piece of land given to Tibetans in the 1960s as an exile after China's invasion of Tibet. The most important attraction on the premises is the Golden Temple. The Temple is beautifully constructed and similar to the buddist temples in Thailand in that they were garnished with lots of gold and hundreds of colorful paintings. We ate lunch in the village at a small house/restuarant called Olive Restaurant. The owner of the place was of Tibetan descent, but born in India, and was about our age. We talked with him for over an hour about the village, his parents life and his life perspectives. It was really interesting to hear the story of how his parents traveled from Tibet all the way to Karnataka with absolutely nothing to completely start over. The Indian government, while they did not have much themselves, has helped these people by giving them land and livestock. I wasn't aware of the restrictions put on traveling to Tibet, but apparently he is not able to travel to Tibet at all without paying an arm and a leg. In addition to the cost and the rigorous Visa process, he must also have a Chinese guide with him at all times regardless of where he travels. Despite the problems with China, he and his family are very happy in Karnataka and are enjoying a simple Buddist life.

The Elephant Camp was a righteous experience. We pulled up to the beautiful Cauvery River around 4 PM. Across the river there were two elephants taking a swim in the water. To get to the camp you park your car and hop aboard a boat to cross the river. The camp itself is very nice and exceded all of our expectations. There are about ten cottages, which are large with two twin beds and airconditioning, western style bathrooms with hot water, and a small porch. The service was exceptional, and the food was delicious. Needless to say, we weren't really "roughing it". After we were settled and had some tea, we got to take a jeep safari through the Dubare forest. The knowledgable ecologist and the head of the camp, Prasad, came with us to point out any wildlife and tell us about the camp. We came close to seeing an elephant in the wild, but he was just out of sight, we could hear him walking through the thick bamboo away from us and the jeep. We did see deer, peacocks, bison, kingfisher and an large owl. I personally also enjoyed seeing what the forest of the western ghats was like. After the relatively uneventful and bumpy jeep safari, we popped open a few cool kingfisher premium beers for an evening of sitting around the campfire with new friends and good conversation.

The next morning we all got up early to a peaceful misty morning fog over the camp and the cauvery river. After yoga and meditation (for some) and coffee for me, we took a short coracle ride. A coracle is a round bamboo boat. We saw several kingfisher birds, which are really beautiful blue and red birds, but unfortunately are also rather elusive so we could only see them flying away or from a long distance and therefore didn't get any good pictures. Breakfast was filling and then we were off to the elephant attraction. The Dubare forest has 13 domestic elephants which are part of the elephant attraction. We all hopped right in the water with the elephants and started to work on scrubbing and rinsing their thick skin. It is a highly unique experience getting to spend such an intimate time with these majestic creatures. The mahouts (elephant trainers) get them to lay down on their side in the shallow water, while you scrub all over their body with a loosened coconut shell. I think the elephants rather enjoy the special treatment. While they are on their side its hard to tell how big they are, so you are scrubbing away and feeling pretty comfortable. Then the mahouts ask the elephants to stand up and all the sudden they are these massive intimidating animals. There was even a baby elephant (only 2 years old) as well as its mother, who is pregnant again with another baby, in the group. Once the bathing is complete, we watched as the mahouts fed them big balls of moist oat mixture. This is meant to subsidize their diet during the dry summer months when there is less food available. Elephants eat 275 kilograms (605 lbs) a day, so they basically eat all day long. To cap off the morning experience we all went for a safari riding on the elephant's back. It was sad to leave the elephants and the Jungle Lodges Camp, but after lounging in the hammocks for a couple of hours we were back in the car headed back to the big city.

Our only stop on the way home was Mysore. Mysore was the capital of the Mysore state before the country was reorganized into its current states. It is known as the city of palaces. We stopped at the main Mysore Palace and did a quick tour. Then we stopped at a high end hotel for some continental food and cocktails.

The short trip was packed full of fun experiences. The highlight of the trip for me was getting to spend all morning with the elephants in a beautiful natural habitat. I recommend this Jungle Lodges Retreat, it's top quality. The roads from Bangalore are not that bad either, they are working on a couple of sections so when that is finished it'll be smooth sailing all the way from Bangalore.

MB and I really enjoyed having Leah visit with us. Her energy is rejuvinating. We wish her luck with the album and in her future endeavours.

Check out the pictures in the gallery.