3/9/25 The Only Elephants Are Tchotchkes

Today we set out on our one “must do” adventure, and the day was stellar from beginning to end! The plan was to find the Gateway To India and take the ferry to the Elephant Caves. Who knew the walk would be as exciting as the island!? One of the main streets we took happened to be the “hardware section” of town, and it’s become clear that neither of us can stay away from unique hardware or any kind of brass trinket. Needless to say, we stopped at two ATMs and found some beautiful pieces to take home. 

The rest of the walk included cool architecture, a street market I plan to buy lots of clothes at while Christ is in the hospital, and all kinds of animals we were not expecting to see on the street. The Gateway to India was covered in bamboo scaffolding for repairs so it was a bitunderwhelming, but the ferry to the island was lovely. 

Once on the island, we followed the train track (yes a mini train actually runs on it!) to the entrance of the street market. Vendors lined both sides of an excessive amount of stairs leading to the actual entrance for the caves. As tempting as it was to sit on the litters available and be carried up the steps like kings, we decided to give our butts the workout. The stagnant air below the tarps was oppressive and I was sucking wind almost immediately, but we made it to the top and the caves did not disappoint. 

Starting in the Shiva cave, we were blown away by the impressive size and detail of the carvings, each one depicting a different story. One of the security guards offered to take a “magic picture” of us and successfully instructed us while taking panorama pictures where we show up in more than one place. He had it mastered, this was not his first rodeo. As we were taking our magic pictures, we could feel the presence of others closing in. We had made it almost ten whole minutes before being approached for a selfie with a stranger. 

Christ tried to make friends with the monkeys along our walk to the other caves. They were mesmerized by his beard dreads and his steadfast confrontation while most people flinched at their approach. We explored each distinctive cave and entertained ourselves with a myriad of photo shoots; including many attempts at our own magic pictures, a handstand pic (of course…it’s a requirement!) and a near miss fall from a structure Christ probably shouldn’t have been on top of in the first place. 

After bailing on the walk to the top of Cannon Hill, we descended the stairs and finally found Fanta in a can. Yes, we purchased more brass items on our walk down. (Keep an eye out if you’re ever in our houses, they are spectacular!) 

The ferry home was overly crowded but gave us time to reconnect with our new friend, Pushpendra. The language barrier was beyond difficult, but having made no effort to learn a single word of Hindi (contrary to both our customary prep for a trip), we were the ignorant ones. 

We decided to push through and walk the 6km back to the hotel. Most of the shops were closed and we only saw the usual cats and dogs, except for a half exploded rat I narrowly avoided stepping on and couldn’t bring myself to take a picture of despite Christ’s prodding. That brought our daily animal tally to: cats, dogs, goats, cows/oxen, monkeys, chickens, pigeons, crows, seagulls, an eagle in a little boys hands, and one dead rat. 

The last few kilometers were a struggle and the final few meters were a race against total collapse. We let out audible but exhaustion dampened celebrations when we turned into the hotel and required the elevator to get us back to the third floor. A cold shower and dinner inside brought just enough life back to write this. 

Full value day! Now on to lying with my feet up the wall and hopefully sleeping better than last night.