Blogs from Chitwan, Nepal, Asia - page 22

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Asia » Nepal » Chitwan December 27th 2006

Finally finishing this entry. We woke up the next morning to a white and dripping world again- this is a very foggy time of year in the lowlands of Nepal. After receiving our lunch boxes (each containing 4 boiled eggs- maybe the kitchen staff thought we needed a lot of protein?!) we walked down to the river where we boarded the dreaded dugout canoes again. With 7 people ours was riding very low and the top cleared the water by about 8cm. The slightest movement made the thing rock wildly and for some reason I felt personally responsible for keeping it stable, although in reality my efforts to hold the thing still probably had little effect. This meant I was unable to relax for the full hour and a half we were floating and I soon ... read more
The first rhino
River crossing, Nepali style
Gharial crocodile

Asia » Nepal » Chitwan December 26th 2006

...but we made it eventually. Leaving Lumbini mid-morning, we were expecting to arrive at Royal Chitwan National Park by early afternoon. Flow-on from the previous day's bandh made the trip take twice the time it was supposed to however. It seems that anyone with a grievance in the Terai in the current political climate can just set up a roadblock, which is sure to get everyone's attention. We got as far as the crossroads at Bhairawa, site of some unrest the previous day, when a tractor that had been putting along in front of us suddenly turned across the middle of the road, nose to nose with a similar tractor, and then proceeded to...stay there. Really bad timing as had we got in front of the tractor we would have been fine. A gap between a ... read more
Dugout river crossing
Elephant breeding centre
Ele-babies

Asia » Nepal » Chitwan November 28th 2006

Ok- We went to Royal Chitwan National Park, as one of 4 tourists on a tourist bus that may as well have been a government bus, seeing as to make ends meet the driver stopped at every person standing beside the road the whole way there in order to hopefully pull in some passengers. Regardless, it still only took 4 or 5 hours to get there, which was much much faster than we anticipated. When we arrived, we followed the other travellers onto a taxi which brought us to a hotel which was not in the book (even though we promised we would swear by the book) which turned out to be the first mistake. I am going to try to cut the pissing and moaning down to a small paragraph, so that you can skip ... read more
Look at the wildlife!
Whee!
Rhinos

Asia » Nepal » Chitwan November 28th 2006

ahojdaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa domove :-) po kratke odmlce se zase pred kratickou odmlkou ozyvame... Posledni dny byly skutecne hekticke.......po odjezdu mistnim radoby autobusem jsme se vypravili na cestu z Varanasi do Sunauli. Sunauli je hranicni mesto s Nepalem, kde jsme si meli vyridit viza a alou dale na severovychod do Naranghatu.......................jo, to jsme jeste neznali poradne mistni autobusove dopravni podminky :-( Z puvodni 9hodinove cesty se najednou vyklubala 12.5hod. cesta.....jaky byl duvod zdrzeni???.....ano, "incredible India".......pry tam "z niceho nic spadnul most a tak, ze musime jet objizdkou" :-))))))) .....no, co jim nato mate rict, indianum jednem....tak jsme jeli objizdkou pres hory a doly pres totalni ale totalni polnacky. vysledek=3 naklepani "rizecky" z cech... Po vyrizeni viz jsme zjistili, ze nasledujici navazujici spoj nam samozrejme ujel at... read more
.......nosorozci parecek.....
......."mackanice" na slonikovi.....
.....zapad slunicka v Chitwanu...

Asia » Nepal » Chitwan November 24th 2006

The image of a Man riding a Male Elephant in the midst of intimate intercourse is a perfect symbol of modern wildlife. It appears that animals can no longer live without our approval or assistance. If human beings disappeared entirely, then no problem, the wild elephants would do just fine. But with the increased encroachment of human life, wildlife is in big trouble. And often the most endangered animals get angry. Recently in Nepal, a wild elephant went on a rampage and killed 12 people. Interestingly enough, Nepal has taken a bold position of protecting all elephants. The killer was not sentenced to death. After finally capturing the elephant, the punishment was to cut off half the tusks and then release the animal. It will be interesting to see how the elephant reacts. Unfortunately the root ... read more
Elephant Bath

Asia » Nepal » Chitwan November 2nd 2006

Tuesday October 31, 2006 - I woke up today at the ungodly hour of 5:45am so that we could meet at 6:15am to start walking to our bus. We arrived at the bus at 6:30 and it was scheduled to depart at 7am. We took our seats and once we got under way we all slept on and off the entire time. We stopped for the bathroom once along the way and arrived around noon. We were picked up at the "bus station" by a jeep from the hotel where we would be staying. Once we arrived at the hotel they showed us to our rooms. I had my own room with two beds and private bath. Not bad. Our first activity was lunch, but we had some time before that was ready so we walked ... read more

Asia » Nepal » Chitwan October 17th 2006

After our trek in the mountains, we hit the jungles of South Nepal. We stayed just two nights, but managed to pack in quite a few activities. On the first day, we visited the elephant breeding centre to see the baby elephants. The next day, we got up early and into a canoe for our first taste of the jungle. The canoe took us along a river filled with deadly crocodiles and onto the bank for a 4-hour walk in the wilderness; we didn't see much crazy wildlife on the walk unfortunately, just big red insects and wild chickens. The elephant safari later that day was far more exciting. We got the chance to meet and decorate our elephant before he pulled us up by his trunk, over his head, and into the Paolquin (seat). On ... read more
Decorating the elephants
The wild One-Horned Rhinoceros
Anyone for pud?

Asia » Nepal » Chitwan October 12th 2006

I didn't want to miss the elephant washing, so opted to take the Jeep back, rather than walk out of the village this morning. Unfortunately the Jeep was late & so the walking group arrived at the Crocodile Breeding Centre before us anyway! We saw an orphaned tiger who lives at the centre in an enclosure. Her mother had killed humans & fed the flesh to her three cubs, so after she was caught & destroyed the offspring had to be kept in captivity. Two of the three cubs died from malnutrition, but the third survived & will live out her days at the centre. It was really sad because she must be so lonely, but because she's tasted human blood, not even the staff can get close to her. We all caught jeeps back to ... read more
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Asia » Nepal » Chitwan October 11th 2006

Up early with packed lunch boxes, ready for our two day jungle excursion. It began with a one & a half hour canoe ride to the starting point of our trek, followed by a brief safety talk on what to do if attacked by various wild animals!!! Feeling confident, we split into two groups & headed into the jungle about twenty minutes apart. We saw a couple of crocs from the river bank before heading off, so that gave us hope of seeing more animals on the walk. The first fifteen minutes was pretty easy going, then we headed into the tall grass, which made things a little more interesting. I'd never been in such dense foliage before & began feeling claustrophobic. After five minutes or so of thinking positive thoughts, I began feeling more comfortable ... read more
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Asia » Nepal » Chitwan October 10th 2006

Back on our dodgy bus (that almost caught fire yesterday) for yet another long day of travelling. Had a few beers with lunch at the hotel, which made for an interestingly tipsy half hour push bike ride to the elephant breeding site. Had fortunately sobered up in time for the tiny canoe ride across the river to the centre. Felt sorry for the elephants because they were mostly chained up & Deb was so upset she decided to cancel the trip she'd booked to go work there next week. Dinner was at a local restaurant Hannah took us to, followed by (surprise, surprise), another early night...... read more
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