It was a short ride of some 40 km from the suburbs to the Fort area. We rode down busy secondary roads to a ferry terminal, and immediately felt a difference when we landed on the fort side. This is an old neighborhood that has an island feel; less busy, more vacation and tourism activity.
The afternoon we arrived, we explored the area on foot. The local palace is not very elaborate, although it does have intricate murals portraying Hindu stories.
The following day was a rest day. A number of us signed up for a tour which offered a combination of visiting an elephant training camp and going for a ride in the back waters by boat, which turned out to be relaxing and interesting.
We drove out to a place where we watched a number of elephant handlers bathing four elephants; one mature male and three small ones. We even had a chance to pat a younger elephant. Then we drove out to a lagoon, where we boarded a large pirogue with a lovely hand-woven canopy, and were quietly poled around. Very peaceful, and fun to observe lake life from the boat. We had lunch in a funny old cabin on an island, catered by local women, and served on a banana leaf. In the hottest part off the day, it was lovely floating about, enjoying the breeze on the lake, although the poling crew had to work hard to keep the heavy boat on course.
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