After spending such quality time in the east, I headed back towards the center, to spend some time in the hill country. I got a bus from Trinco to Kandy, but in the middle of the way, I decided to get off in Habarana. Munawwar told me that over there I can see elephants more than anywhere else. So I got off the bus and found myself a room, and headed out.

I wanted to see a close relationship between a mahout and elephant, for example while scrubbing it. Elephant by itself was not what I wanted to photograph, but the interaction between human and elephant was what I was looking for. So I went around and asked where I can see the daily bath, but I found out that it is done only in the morning, between 8-11 in a creek near where I was staying.

I came back to the guesthouse in the evening to sleep. But the room was stiflingly damp and humid. I didn’t want to open the window, as I was in the middle of a forest, and all sorts of nasty things would come inside. Instead, I put on the fan, and went to sleep. Next morning, when I got up, the room was so humid that I thought water had somehow been sprayed everywhere. All my clothes and books were moistened.

I headed out, leaving my iPhone and passport back in the room, as I thought I might get into water. When I came back I found that my iPhone was dead and not working. It was working before I left, but just during the last 3 hours or so that I was out, it died. The iPhone was dead for two days, but fortunately it came back to life!

Anyways, I headed that morning out, asking around to find the creek. It is right under a small bridge. I saw two elephants being scrubbed by their mahouts. I went down and asked if I could photograph them, and they agreed. Mahouts use the skin of coconut and cut it in a wedge-shape and use it to scrub the elephants. It is a very time-consuming task, given the massive size of the elephant. It was very nice to see, and there were loads of photo possibilities.

After some shooting, they told me to get in the water and scrub the elephant with them, and I obviously accepted! The skin is very rough and sparsely covered with thick hair. It was a nice experience, that I was looking for. Then, they asked me for money, but instead I gave them their photos. They got happy and didn’t ask for money again! In the end, I got a half-hour ride as well for 1000 rupees ($7-8), which is cheaper than what you would normally pay.