Chitwan - There and Back Again
Trip Start
Nov 20, 2010
1
5
24
Trip End
Jan 29, 2011
Sauraha, Chitwan, Nārāyanī Zone, Nepal
Sunday, December 5, 2010
On this ride we stopped for breakfast in a small town, this is where we met a Chinese girl who was brought to the bus with us that morning and therefore assumed she should join us. She couldn’t understand Nepali or English and despite the efforts of us and our "guide", she couldn’t understand that she wasn’t actually part of our group. This ended up getting her a free breakfast, but her lack of communication also led her to the horror (for her) that she would have to go river rafting. It was pretty funny for everyone, particularly the Nepali river rafting guides, but I’m pretty sure she had quite a memorable day. The lunch break she gave up the rafting... and disappeared.
The rafting was quite something; we went down the rapids with a group of about 20 Americans who were here as part of their drug rehab program, 8 in a raft. The rafting was surprisingly intense, with a couple people getting smashed out the boat in what are apparently grade 3 rapids. I found it really enjoyable; and we did it all in some of the most amazing scenery, with the river positioned in a beautiful forested valley. We spent about 3 hours rafting and covered just over 20km.
I drastically under-packed for the 4 days, leaving most of my stuff in Thamel and taking just my day-pack, but this did end up benefiting me a little just after the rafting. We (me and the two guys I was with from RCDP), got into a local bus going to Chitwan. The bus was very crowded and uncomfortable (but more so for those with big bags). The 3 hour journey to Chitwan was further extended by over an hour by an accident between a bus and truck up ahead on the narrow mountain passes. The one hour wait and the rest of the cramped drive lulled the mood quite a bit. Eventually (and after much complaining), we did arrive and a short ride on the back of a beat up jeep got us to the Chitwan Park cottage, where we were met with a good dinner and by far the most comfortable bed I’ve had so far in Nepal.
The next morning was another early one. This time we took a short canoe ride across a small river to have a walk in the jungle. The walk was great, in a dense forest, with our guide desperately trying to track down some rhino. We didn’t end up finding one, but we saw a few monkey and some deer. Our guide also (unsuccessfully) tried to get me interested in the birds; although, that said, I did find the idea of spotting “Wild Chickens” pretty funny. We got back for lunch and had to move out of the cottage and into the cottage’s owner’s (Krishna) house.
Krishna took us around the village that afternoon. It was pretty interesting, going to a small museum about the local Tharu people. Krishna also got into telling us about the current political situation in Nepal, which was really interesting. Apparently Nepal has effectively been without a government or constitution for five months now. After taking a look at another small museum, this one a museum about the local animals, Krishna took us to the river bank, so we could have a drink and watch the sun go down. We got more than that; as when we walked up to the river we were met by a growing crowd that was watching two rhinos grazing on the other bank. They were quite close and everyone there, tourist and locals, seemed pretty mesmerized. It was quite a nice evening, involving an amazingly long, intense and enjoyable conversation – which grew from finance to the question of free will. That ended when we went out, with one of the guys working at the cottage, for a few drinks at a local restaurant.
Saturday ended up being largely a sour day. That morning we went for an elephant ride in the jungle. Despite the beauty of the forest, I couldn’t help but spend the entire time feeling sorry for the elephants. At the end of it, I found out I wasn’t alone on this. I couldn’t imagine these elephants being trained in a remotely humane way. Unfortunately, this view was confirmed later on in the day when after a nice long relaxing canoe ride we arrived at the elephant breeding centre. Here I saw chained elephants and posters explaining the torturous training. It was pretty brutal – the Australian in our group (Ed), even refused to go into the centre.
Luckily the day ended on a higher (and pretty touristy) note with us watching some local cultural dancing in a small hall. It was pretty amazing dance, involving rhythmic stick fights (or something like that). The guys involved could definitely make use of something like: Nepal’s Got Talent. That night I went out after dinner to a local restaurant for a few drinks. For the first time I met some South Africans here. They were two guys out here to train the locals on how to manage rhino poaching and particularly on how to analyze a poaching scene. It sounded like interesting work and it was pretty pleasant having a conversation with South Africans. It was also the first time in my life that I really noticed a South African accent.
Sunday morning we rose to hear that a rhino had got trapped when it broke and fell into the septic tank of the cottage. Apparently the night had involved a whole bunch of soldiers and two elephants involved in clearing the scene of the other rhinos. The rhino got out eventually. I slept through all this commotion, which occurred just a minutes walk down the road. I’m sure it would have been worth seeing. At nine we left Chitwan, without Ed who is doing his volunteering in Chitwan. It was a 6 hour bus ride, but at least this time I was awake most of the time in order to appreciate some of the views from the mountain passes we drove on.
It’s hard to believe that I’ve only been in Nepal for two weeks. Feels like a life time. I’ve also said goodbye to my other hostel mate (Arne) as I’m spending the night in Thamel, while he is back at the hostel in Kalanki. Tomorrow morning I’m going to be moving in with my host family to begin volunteering. I’m fairly nervous about it, but pretty sure it’s going to be amazing. Can’t say I’m particularly glad to be back in city either.
Comments
Hi Don
Nice posts. Enjoying watching your progress. Those South African's should spend some time here in SA to teach people how to handle Rhino poaching!!
Dear Donald, Your father sent me your blog address. I have enjoyed reading about your travels so far and wish you all the best with the volunteer work. What kind of work will you be doing? Make the most of the trip. Jeanette (2nd cousin)
A smile ran across my face after you mentioned hearing the South African accent for the first time. Hopefully, you see the amazement we had with.