Local history and culture Nepal

Every day, the mahouts take their old elephants to the little East Rapti River for a bath, which they maintain with the money from tourists who come to interact with them. It's a moment of relaxation and play for the pachyderms, who squeal with delight. Visitors can massage him with a pebble (a sort of scrub to scratch him, he loves it) and then climb on (without a saddle) to get sprayed. The mahouts are members of a cooperative, the price is fixed per group, and it's a good alternative to an elephant safari without harming the pachyderms.

From the Place des Potiers, a street leads directly to the Hanumante River, a bathing and cremation place named Ram Ghat. Heading even further south, you leave the pure caste district and - in keeping with traditional urban planning, which keeps all activities deemed degrading away from the centre - head down to the ghâts, the platforms where cremations are carried out. On the other side of the river is the sanctuary of Surya Binayak, dedicated to Ganesh. Take the street adjacent to the temple of Bhairav, leaving it on the left. By the riverside, an open-air shrine is dedicated to Bhadrakali, represented by a simple stone. On the right, just before the bridge, temples, shrines and patti, these refuges for travellers, border the waters. Past the bridge, the road is paved: it is the traditional road that leads to Tibet. Through the countryside, it is easy to quickly reach Hanuman Ghat, located at the confluence of two arms of the river. Soon, a very large sculpture of linga-yoni (Hindu symbol of the universe and creation) stands in front of you, as well as a statue of Hanuman draped in a red cloak and an idol of Rama. Further south, behind a pilgrims' shelter (dharmasala), Ganesh and Buddha guard the entrance to a place where a silver-covered linga stands. Many are these shelters where the sick and the old wait for the end. When they die, their feet will be soaked in sacred water and their bodies will be burned on one of the platforms along the river.