Amber Fort Elephant Ride
One of the highlights of a visit to the stunning Amer Fort is the chance to ride an elephant up the hill to the main entrance. These wonderful animals are painted with traditional designs and almost effortlessly transport visitors up the steep slope to the fort. The Amber Fort elephant ride is fantastic experience but visitors must arrive early and expect to suffer an amount of tout and tipping hassle.

Tourist Information Amber Fort Elephant Ride
The Amber Fort elephant ride costs for Rs 1000  for two people and it takes approximately 15-30 minutes (depending on elephant traffic!) for the elephant to slowly trudge up the hillside to the main courtyard. These rates are fixed by the Jaipur government so touts who try to sell more expensive pre-booked rides are simply ripping visitors off. There are approximately 80 elephants, who carry up 900 visitors per day. The number of trips each elephant can do in a day has been limited so it is best to head to Amber Fort early in the day (before 9) to guarantee a ride and avoid the queues. During the tourist season most of the elephants have finished their quote of rides by 11:00. As there is such demand for the rides there is no chance of haggling the price down.

On the way up the driver will ask for a significant tip either for himself or to feed the elephant, while a photographer will appear to take a photo and pester the tourist later. The elephant rides are only one way heading from the car park to the main courtyard. The welfare of the elephants has significantly improved but the tourist facilitates have not. Some visitors many find themselves stood for a long time under the baking sun.

Amber fort Elephant Ride Welfare of the Elephants
Amer Fort Jaipur

The Amer Fort in Jaipur
The conditions and treatment of the elephants has greatly improved over the last the years. Originally the elephants would walk up and down all day and carry four passengers plus driver, today the elephants are limited to five trips and carry only 2 passengers. The Jaipur government also ensures the animals are healthy and conducts routine inspections. Things are still not perfect as herders can be aggressive with the animals and do hit them while the hot summer weather is punishing for the animals. The attitude to animals in India is not the same as western values and certain visitors may be disgusted.