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Background: In 1951, the Nepalese monarch ended the century-old system of rule by hereditary premiers and instituted a cabinet system of government. Reforms in 1990 established a multiparty democracy within the framework of a constitutional monarchy. A Maoist insurgency, launched in 1996, has gained traction and is threatening to bring down the regime, especially after a negotiated cease-fire between the Maoists and government forces broke down in August 2003. In 2001, the crown prince massacred ten members of the royal family, including the king and queen, and then took his own life. In October 2002, the new king dismissed the prime minister and his cabinet for "incompetence" after they dissolved the parliament and were subsequently unable to hold elections because of the ongoing insurgency. While stopping short of reestablishing parliament, the king in June 2004 reinstated the most recently elected prime minister who formed a four-party coalition government, which the king subsequently tasked with paving the way for elections to be held in spring of 2005. Citing dissatisfaction with the government's lack of progress in addressing the Maoist insurgency, the king in February 2005 dissolved the government and assumed power.

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By Stephan and Klaudia
May 24th 2005

39) Rhino watching at Chitwan National Park

Asia » Nepal » Chitwan

Mother and child
Rhinos grazing peacefully in the lush jungle grass

It was not easy to leave India, not because we did not want to but because several obstacles were put in our way. Our plan was to reach the Chitwan National Park (Nepal) in one day, but as you can imagine it did not work out. Somehow we got the impression that national parks - be it in India or Nepal - must be hard to reach to give them an air of exclusivity. Theoretically Varanasi is a perfect starting point for Nepal, but due to the political problems tourist numbers are dwindling and it was difficult to find transport other [View Full Entry]

By kit_t
April 18th 2005

Way too close to the crocs

Asia » Nepal » Chitwan

We did get closer than that
I was too scared to pull out the camera when we were really near the crocs, so here's a shot of a baby croc - he's the real tiny thing in the centre.

Day two in Chitwan and today promised crocodiles and baby elephants. The day started early with a morning canoe down a river apparently full of crocs. Thankfully most of them were still sleeping, so there was no chance of us getting eaten while paddling down the river. Our guide was a bit too bold and decided to take us a bit too close to the crocodile holes - holes dug into the bank of the river in which the crocs slept. We actually got within a meter of full sized sleeping crocs. We could see their heads and noses sticking out [View Full Entry]

By kit_t
April 17th 2005

Chasing Rhinos in Chitwan

Asia » Nepal » Chitwan

Lets cram those tourists on the elephant!
Come on chaps, we can fit more than that, can't we?

Today was a day where we would get to chase rhinos while riding an elephant. Exciting huh... well, that's what the travel brochure said anyway. Royal Chitwan National Park is a national park in the south of Nepal where the British Royals used to hunt the poor animals for fun. Today it's a major tourist attraction and conservation park which promises the traveller the chance to get close to exotic wildlife such as rhinos, sloth bears and even the occasional bengal tiger. Due to major delays on the road to Chitwan (due to the Maoist terrorists) we couldn't take the super [View Full Entry]

By DMac
October 20th 2002

How to scare a Rhino.

Asia » Nepal » Chitwan

Our first day in Chitwan we got a room at Tiger lodge with the other westerners from the bus ride there - Micky (Isreal), a Canadian and an Assie. I can't remember the names of the others, but let's call them Bruce and Can - OK? We took a look around the small town and checked out prices and then booked a elephant ride into the Terai to see Rhinos, and a full day hike into the park as far as the Crocodile sanctuary, a night in a village there and back the next morning. The elephant ride was with the [View Full Entry]

By Born to travel
July 24th 2002

From 45 degrees to 15!

Asia » Nepal » Chitwan

Snake Charmer

Finally, after 16 months and 14 days on the road since setting off to sunny Rio de Janeiro, I am back home in Manchester and, yes, its raining! Our final few weeks travelling in Nepal and India were pretty eventful. I last wrote from Kathmandu where I was still sick from the dodgy Indian restaurants (what do they expect when there are goats roaming around in the kitchen?!). From Kathmandu we took an 8 hour bus ride to Chitwan National Park. On the way we saw three separate road accidents - very unnerving! Chitwan itself was wonderful. When we arrived, there [View Full Entry]

By Nikkilovestotravel
May 25th 2001

Love Your Health Care

Asia » Nepal » Chitwan

beautiful elephant
she looks like she's smiling, but I don't think she's very happy

Well, the altitude and dehydration caught up with me. I was eating dinner at a restaurant and I knew I was going to pass out. I made eye contact with a guy a few tables away and as he got up, I went down. I woke up to him and two other people trying to make me drink water. I must have been delirious because I told the guy (he's Israeli) that he looked like an angel! They helped me back to my hotel and I spent 3 miserable days with some type of stomach bug and I was weaker [View Full Entry]

By Omar L
November 17th 2000

Nepal: Hiking, White-Water Rafting, and Elephants

Asia » Nepal » Chitwan

Sheep

Nepal 2000 by Omar DeWitt (This is one chapter in a recently published book, The 23-Hour Day. Find out more about this book at http://23hourday.com) Sue and I joined a trip to Nepal run by Country Walkers to hike in the Annapurna conservation district. Our group, coming from various parts of the United States, was comprised of ten women and me, the token male. We met for the first time in the capital, Kathmandu. Kathmandu, like other third-world cities of its size and age, has narrow streets filled largely by people on foot. In 2000, vehicular traffic flowed somewhat on [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Asia » Nepal » Chitwan