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Published: February 12th 2015
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This will more than likely be my last post from here in Nepal, it will be a fair bit longer than my previous posts and I know this as I had already typed about a third of it before losing it all when the internet gave up.
Despite the fact that there is a much greater chance of seeing a tiger in the national parks in India, Chitwan was always top of my list of things to do in Nepal and it certainly didn't disappoint.
The journey there was a 6 hour coach drive, but the journey itself was surprisingly pleasant. I had decided to spend a bit more to get a tourist bus and i'm glad that I did. The tourist bus certainly wasn't fast but it was very comfortable and only about one third full. A local bus would definatly get you there quicker and this was evident everytime one would fly past our coach on the wrong side of the mountain road, heading towards a blind corner. Once I was at chitwan I spoke to two people who had taken the local bus and there was no way they were going to take it back.The journey itself
was quite picturesque, once we left the outskirts of Kathmandu we were surrounded by rolling mountains with a river meandering through the valley below.
I had decided to book a hotel in advance, I found a price on the internet but I called the lodge directly and they gave me an even better price. On first arrival I thought I had made a huge error as I was the only person from the 8 or so coaches to enter the jeep heading to my chosen lodge. Within seconds of entering the gates into the lodge I could clearly see this was no misjudment on my behalf, the lodge was much more attractive and the room far better than I was expecting. There had been a group cancelation which explained the lack of people at the lodge but it worked to my advantage as I was given a choice of rooms and the lack of people only added to the peaceful nature of the lodge. The lodge itself was magnificent, it was surrounded by beautiful gardens, hammocks and reclining seats under thatched roof gazebos. I won't do anything quite as mundane as post a picture of my room but I think
the lodge itself deserves a separate mention. I have never experienced such value for money and impeccable service and to add to all this the shower was hot and powerful, a rare treat in Nepal.
Chitwan national park is situated next to a small but somewhat traditoanl town that has managed to keep its culture and way of life despite the increase in tourism. The area has been inhabited by the Tharu people, their history is a little unclear but they consider themselves people of the forest and have been in the Chitwan area for many hundreds if not thousands of years. The Nepali government no longer allows people to live within the bounderies of the national park so some of the Tharu people were forced to live just outside. other than this little seems to have changed their way of life, they live in traditional mud and straw building and can be seen walking down the street with their working elephants.
For my first evening in Chitwan I was taken on a walk through the village and along the river which acts as a natural boundary into the national park. Despite the lodge being so quiet, I
wasn't the only one going on the walk and an English girl who had arrived earlier that day joined me and our tour guide. We saw a number of birds but the only other wild animal we saw was a crocodile. I was far from disappointed as it was a beautiful area, we had passed an elephant stable and the whole experience was a nice introduction to my time at Chitwan. That evening I went back into the Tharu village where the local people perfrom a traditional stick dance. Not a million miles away from morris dancing with regular clashing of sticks in an attempt to encouge a good harvest for the year. It was a great start to my time at Chitwan and I was really looking forward to heading into the national park.
My first full day at Chitwan started with a 6:30am canoe ride which would take us along the river and across into the national park itself. I was hoping for a glorious sunrise which would make the water glisten and shimmer but in reality it was a cold misty start to the day. The canoe ride took about 40 mins and on the way
we saw a number of different birds and some deer. The adventure really started once we entered the national park. I was the only one who was been taken on the jungle walk and for safety reasons there are always two guides which really made me feel quite special as they were both eiger to point out anything they saw. Other groups we passed on the way consisted of 6 people plus so it was a great privalige to be getting my own personal tour. My main guide was a gentleman named Krishna and with 25 years experience he could spot the most minute dot in the distance and immediate identify what it was. I would then spend the next 5 minutes looking through binoculars until eventually I could see what he was pointing out.
The jungle walk was a great success, within a few minutes we saw a Rhino, the first of a few we would meet on the journey and didn't seem to go longer than about 10 minutues without spotting deer, monkeys or birdlife. On route we passed some tiger tracks and a tree that had been used as a scratching post but alas no tiger (or
leopard or slot bear). Rather than consider myself unlucky that none of these mammals had revealed themselves, I was thrilled with the jungle walk and wish I could have extended my stay at chitwan to explore deeper into the jungle on foot.
The next day was another adventure into the national park, first thing would be an elephant safari which was rather expenisive as I had chosen the government run elephant ride rather than private. My main reasoning for this is that the government elephants only got out twice a day, carry less people and are left to roam within an contained area when not working, rather than being chained up. The government safari also goes into the national park whilst the private tours stay outside, something I didn't realise until the lodge manager explained all the differences to me. I had heard stories that the government safaris were on strike (surely this information is being spread so people can sell their own private tours instead) but I happy to find out that this wasn't the case.
During the elephant safari we mainly came across animals I had seen the previous day but the highlight was seeing a mother
and baby rhino, being on elephant back we got within about 4 feet of them.
Later that day was a jeep safari, not as exotic as the elephant safari but it would mean a journey much deeper into the jungle. Again a lot of the wildlife we came across I had already seen but right at the end we saw a wild elephant and the whole experience was very much enjoyable.
My last morning in Chitwan was another early start as the bus back to Kathmandu was leaving at 9. It was just me and the jeep driver so once again I had my own personal tour. The destination was the elephant breeding centre and although there wasn't an awful lot to see I feel like it deserves a mention as it receives mixed reviews. The breeding centre is open to the public in the morning and afternoon and during these times the elephants are tied up. This was not a overly pleasant site but they are taken into the park everyday and spend most of their time unchanged. The reason I feel this is a somewhat necessary evil is that some of these elephants will become working elephants
for the government. Without these elephants some parts of the jungle would be inaccessible, but using these elephants to access the whole park means there has been no poaching in Chitwan for a few years.
I was also very lucky to see a wild male elephant who had arrived, I was the only visitor at the time and apparently its a relatively rare site.
I enjoyed every last second of Chitwan and the staff and facilities at the lodge made my stay even more memorable.
I will now be spending the next few hours sitting in this coffee shop whilst I upload some of my favourite pictures for you to enjoy.
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