Chomping on green mangoes, visa issues sorted out, this is as good a time as any to continue the tales of Nepalgunj...
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The caravan from Surkhet departed early in the morning. A brief meeting at the district office of the fellow travelers to collect the means of transportation and its handler and we move off.
It is my personal opinion that all journeys to the field should be conducted via elephant according to colonialist traditions. It is not more uncomfortable than traveling by car (especially with the conditions of the road), more environmentally friendly and infinitely more exciting. Both means of transportation need special handlers especially trained in the field of working in adverse conditions, both consume fuel of some sort (bet you it'd be cheaper to feed an elephant that to fill up a tank of petrol) and both attract as much attention. We didn't travel by elephant but I'm going to pretend like we did since the rocking movement of the car climbing over boulders, ditches and streams perfectly immitated the movements of a walking elephant. Placing a company logo on the elephant wouldn't be much of a problem either, and if Ncell can advertise phone rates using Kathmandu's local elephant why can't GIZ use elephants to transport its staff to the field? I'm sure there would be enough space and willingness to include a paragraph or two on animal rights next to our conflict sensitive and human rights policies. Probably shouldn't talk about this stuff on here.
Madan the mahout was an excellent handler. He coaxed the grey pachiderm over hills and protected him from the rocks of nasty children. After a long days's drive, the means of transportation was always wiped down and put to rest in a safe location away from curious hands and feet. Occasionally local children were allowed to play with Nissan and climb all over his grey back.
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