Floods

Was lucky enough to be asked to join a couple who had a car and driver taking them to an elephant sanctuary about 30k away. It seemed more like 50 as we rocketed our way through narrow single track roads negotiating buses,lorries, tuc tucs, millions of motorbikes, children on their way to school, endless potholes, goats, dogs and men with carts full of whatever they could not carry on their backs. We went through lots of rubber plantations as well as the usual coconut and bananas. The trees have to be 7 years old before they have the bark scored off in a spiral which allows the latex/rubber to run and drip into a handily placed cup which is emptied every morning. The journey out was fine after torrential rain, thunder and lightning during the night which continued until we left. The night was without fan and air conditioning due to a black out caused by an explosion and fire in one of the transformers lighting our area. The elephant sanctuary tries to rehabilitate orphans and older ones who have been mistreated. In the past tourists have been allowed to help wash them but not anymore - 'elf and sifety might have got to that place at any rate - so my change of clothes was unnecessary. However we started off homeward via a huge dam, a crocodile reserve and a deer park where they are raising deer to re-populate areas needing them for tigers! It poured down again and all my homeward pictures were taken out of the car window as it was impossible to get out. Many people on motorbikes had umbrellas up - looked very odd and we got stopped in one town where there was a political meeting being broadcast. The first speaker was haranguing us loudly and a much more moderate voice then took over, but he too soon found his voice and berated us or somebody or something. The vehicles all stopped, the motorbikes too and everyone listened without hooting horns - is this a first for every vehicle sounds their horn at everything else that moves or doesn't as in this case? We went through lots of floods and the final stop was at the fishing port again and we drove down through the moslem village which I had been too shy to visit before being a woman on her own. As I write this thunder, lightning and late monsoon rains now hold sway again.

Being fed a huge rice ball