Rhinos no, Elephants yes, at Royal Chitwan National Park

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We arrived in Royal Chitwan National Park after a pleasant 5 hour bus trip from Kathmandu. As it is only the very beginning of the tourist season we were surprised at the long line of buses waiting to depart Kathmandu - most were heading to Pokara. The closer we got to Chitwan the greener and prettier the scenery got. We weren't sorry to arrive as the buses were made for people much smaller then us - the seats and space between seats was very limited. We were collected by jeep and taken to the lodge we had booked - very quiet and set at the edge of a small village amidst the rice paddies. Later that afternoon we were taken on a tour of the village and told a little about the culture and traditions of the area. The houses are very traditional - elephant grass (like slim bamboo) wall supports that were covered with mud and animal dung. The roofs were thatched. Most villagers lived in these houses, with electricity but no running water. Few houses had television. Transport between villages was by cycle rickshaw, bicycle or horse drawn cart. There were hardly any buses and the only other vehicles were guest house jeeps. The ladies wore batik sarongs or long cotton mumu style dresses at home during the day, though the red saris and beads were still in evidence and were worn for more formal wear. The traditional dress of the people is a white toga style sari with black trim and undershirt. We saw it a couple of days after arriving at a 'ornament' festival. That evening we visited an elephant conservation centre - we saw lots of elephants, many with large tusks. After that we walked through the bush to the riverbank and watched the sun go down over the national park.
Next morning, after a night of light rain, we set off across the river by canoe into the national park for a jungle walk. Chitwan is the home of hundreds of species of birds and animals, and most people expect to see rhinos here. Over the years many people have been killed or maimed in rhino attacks, including some tourists. Last year a South African tourist was seriously injured by a rhino. We didn't see any rhinos during our walk but plenty of evidence that they were there - lots of new footprints in the mud and fresh dung. We also saw tiger footprints and dung from sloth bears. Both of these animals live in the park but are rarely seen by tourists though the locals see them regularly. You are not allowed into the park without a guide - we had two - and they are only allowed to carry sticks. We saw lots of barking deer and monkeys but nothing else. I was actually thankful as were were pushing our way through elephant grass over our heads - it would not have been fun to come face to face with a rhino! The weather was very muggy and we were lathered in perspiration after our walk - a shower was very welcome - even an icy cold one as there was no hot water in the resort. Later that afternoon another jeep took us to the area where we were to leave from for our elephant safari into the park. We were really looking forward to it as there is a 90% chance of seeing rhino. Unfortunately we were in the 10% that didn't see any.... Being surrounded by other elephants carrying noisy Indian and Japanese tourists didn't help but I really don't think we would have seen them regardless. Guests at our lodge saw them the day before and the day after so we were just unlucky. We loved the ride still - we were out nearly 3 hours and the grass the elephants were pushing through was as high as us on the elephants back. We were lucky enough to see snow covered peaks in the distance - a beautiful view with lime green rice paddies in the foreground.
That evening we watched a cultural dance performance. The local men - the Tharu - use sticks in their dances which they hit together in unison. They were great - the young men really got into the music and were almost in trances by the end of the dances. More rain during the night left it even muddier next day but we enjoyed a canoe ride along the river which is the border of the park. Very peaceful gliding along in the dug out canoe, listening to the movement of water past the canoe and watching the many birds along the bank. From there we went to the elephant breeding centre and had a great time watching the baby elephants play. This centre has the only set of twin elephants borne in captivity. They were born last November and were really cute. We hand fed them which was great fun - they were walking vacuum cleaners. The best activity came next though - we went to the river and joined in the elephant bathing. I think we were supposed to bath them but all they did was spray us as we sat on their backs. It was so much fun - I couldn't stop laughing! The elephant kept rolling and throwing us into the river from where we had to pull ourselves up onto his back again for another spray of water. Great fun.....
We were planning on leaving the next day but loved the area so much we decided to spend another day there. We were up early and had a long walk through the villages and rice paddies. The local people were wonderful - so friendly - and one man invited us into his home and gave us each a plate of smoked river fish to eat. They were all so poor but seemed very happy. The best part was that for the first time in weeks we had no 'one pen, one rupee, one photo' from the kids. They were just really happy to see us. The babies were all hanging in colourful muslin hammocks outside the houses, the women were all busy taking advantage of the sun and trying to dry their washing, kids were wandering down the roads on the way to school and the old people were just watching us and the world go by. Our last afternoon in Chitwan saw us attend a festival - the ornament festival. The teenage girls dressed in the traditional white saris, painted the old tattoo marks on their calfs and wore the traditional heavy silver jewellery. Heavy silver bands around their ankles, chains of coins around their necks and earrings and head pieces in gold. They danced and sang in groups, and were judged were judges by their elders. The following day all the married women would fast for 24 hours and pray in the temples for the long life of their husbands. In that regard life is no different from India, though the women seem to lead a more relaxed life. I watched groups of women grooming each other, combing and brushing each others hair and checking for head lice.
It was a great way to spend our last day in the area. It was still very hot and humid though. We were sad to leave next morning when it was time to go - we had even got used to the icy cold showers!

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Photos

The grasslands within Royal Chitwan Park
There's an elephant in there!