That is an Excellent Question, and to answer, I must refer to the impact a travel log through Lonely Planet had on me. The Universe's mysterious power to lead us in the directions it does continues to amaze me. So the story goes: I used the name ShivaFan, and logged in to help me plan for my upcoming trip in January 2008. Someone asked if there was anything wrong with taking elephant rides, and asked about training methods of elephants. Thinking at that time I knew quite a bit about elephants, based on my past tourist experiences in Thailand, Bali, Nepal, and India, I answered that I felt it all had to do with how the mahouts may treat them. I had come in contact with several mahouts, or elephant caregivers. Most, I would say were
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