My plan was to head here and stay a night then grabbing some sun on the beach near Colombo before the flight home. I arrived off the bus on the main road but was quickly surrounded by tuk-tuk's. I grabbed one and headed off to Pinawalla, some 3km away from the main road. On the way the tuk-tuk driver suggested I check out the Millenium elephant trust, instead of the elephant orphanage that all of the guide books recommend. I thought i'd have a look, and the selling point here was you can wash an elephant!
On arrival, seeing their five elephants chained up and doing that repetitive motion thing that kept wild animals do was depresssing, but they all looked healthy. There's lots of information on how they were old temple elephants that couldn't afford to be kept, and there were several vet's on site (volunteers from around the world), which was comforting. The elephant I was going to wash was called Saliya - 45 years old. Saliya came down to the river and I scrubbed with a coconut husk, too lightly according to the keeper, who grabbed the husk and scraped as hard as he could - Saliya seemed to enjoy it!
Once finished I refused to ride Saliya and headed back to the tuk-tuk driver who was patiently waiting. He took me into the town. At the hotel it was dead - like no-one anywhere. Not another guest apparently! I dropped my bag and walked about with the camera: still no-one about but a dog who befriended me.
On arrival, seeing their five elephants chained up and doing that repetitive motion thing that kept wild animals do was depresssing, but they all looked healthy. There's lots of information on how they were old temple elephants that couldn't afford to be kept, and there were several vet's on site (volunteers from around the world), which was comforting. The elephant I was going to wash was called Saliya - 45 years old. Saliya came down to the river and I scrubbed with a coconut husk, too lightly according to the keeper, who grabbed the husk and scraped as hard as he could - Saliya seemed to enjoy it!
Once finished I refused to ride Saliya and headed back to the tuk-tuk driver who was patiently waiting. He took me into the town. At the hotel it was dead - like no-one anywhere. Not another guest apparently! I dropped my bag and walked about with the camera: still no-one about but a dog who befriended me.
Decided to go back to the hotel grab my bag and ditch to slightly north of Colombo early, ready to get to the airport. The hotel owner was very understanding. On the way out rescued a little bird that was stuck in the hotel and panicking like crazy. Grabbed a bus to the nearest town then onto a SERIOUSLY crowded bus to Colombo. Spent most of the journey standing in the aisle swaying about as the bus driver swerves and brakes - love it!
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