For dismounting, the process is much simpler. Once the elephant stops moving, the rider takes his or her feet out of the stirrups, bringing both legs to the same side of the elephant’s neck and turning outwards. The elephant slightly bends over to that side as the rider slides down its shoulder.
I gulped back my nervousness as I approached the elephant. I leaned over to grasp its right ear, and shifted my feet a little because the reach was farther than I thought. As I gripped the top of its ear, I felt surprised by how coarse and tough the skin was. After grasping the left ear, I lifted my leg up. Again, it felt a bit higher than I expected. As I placed my bare right foot on its trunk, I took another gulp and prayed that this elephant would be willing to lift me up. Then I leaned my weight onto my right leg and pushed up while holding myself steady with the elephant's ears. It started raising me up, but I clumsily kneeled down and crawled the rest of the way. This elephant seemed to be impressively patient with the unskilled students trying to mount it. As I crawled into the passenger box mounted on top of the elephant’s back, I squeezed in with three other students and straddled a corner of the box’s frame.
The elephant began walking, and I could feel my stomach sloshing from side to side. The long stride and slow pace of the elephant’s walk made the passenger box sway dramatically. I imagine that some people probably get motion sickness from the odd movement, but my stomach calmed down after a bit of walking. It’s an uncomfortable motion, but it’s very consistent.
