Are elephants rides at Amber fort available in the monsoon?

moosemanskate

Hi,
I am in Jaipur in mid july and i am planning on going to Amber fort. One of the main reasons for the visit is to go on an elephant ride. anyone know if these are available during this time of year?
any help will be much appreciated
thanks

mridula

Can't think of any reason why they should not be!

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mridula

http://www.gonomad.com/traveltalesfromindia/

moosemanskate

cool that sounds promising. I was just wondering because everywhere i plan on going, everything seems to be shut or quiet due to the rains.

mridula

It does not rain much in Rajasthan, though even a small downpour can clog the streets of Jaipur for a few hours!

dhans

They will be available, but given the way these elephants are treated, I would not hire them.

Hans

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catherinew

We were there just last week. When we arrived at the fort, the elephants were all walking down the hill away from the fort 'too hot' we were told - so whether you approve or not, there wasn't an opportunity to ride an elephant up to the fort that particular day.

Catherine

mridula

Thanks for sharing that Catherine.

pinkyparker

Hi - just to let you know....... the elephants at Amber Fort have regulated working hours and during the summer are not allowed to work during the hottest part of the day. Additionally, they can take no more than two trips up to the fort each day. Their mahouts have been trained to use a bamboo stick rather than the steel ankush (which has been banned) and great strides have been made for thir care and feeding. They have been receiving free veterinary care through the charity -- Elephantfamily.org.

If you want to ride an elephant up to the fort, your best bet would be to go early in the day.

mridula

Thanks again Pinkyparker. Had no idea about the regulated hours or the NGO too.

crvlvr

PP is right.. It is quite difficult to get on an elephant at Amber because they have cut down on the number of hours each elephant works. All these new procedure follow an incident where a tourist and mahout were killed by a pissed off elephant -- they think the camera flash had some thing to do with it too. You will find a lot of location selling tickets in advance for the elephant rides. purchasing those tickets do not guarantee anything. Go early in the morning to the where the rides start from, check to see if there is availabilty and then purchase your ticket.