Blogs from Chitwan, Nepal, Asia - page 23

Today was a very tiring day filled with experiences in the jungle and small animals. This morning we took a nice peaceful canoe trip down the river and hiked through the jungle. Before we got into the canoe we saw a type of crocodile and some deer. In the river we saw some Kingfishers - beautiful birds. In the jungle we saw tiger prints, monkeys and rhino dung but not much else but jungle. I got leeched for the first time in my life on my ankle and after someone flicked it off ended up with a shoe full of blood (actually it was already bleeding when it was flicked). I had spring rolls and tomato soup - true Varanasi western food for lucn and then after a rest went out and got set up to ... read more

Chitwan - Part II Chitwan National Park of Nepal used to be the Royal hunting preserve of the kings of Nepal. While Nepal is more famous for its lofty mountains, the southern part of Nepal, which borders on India, is in the flat ‘Terai’ region, which is hardly 200 meters above sea level, and characterized by marshy grasslands, forests and savanna type land. Given these characteristics, it is no wonder that it supports diverse wildlife. It is mostly famous as the habitat of the Indian one-horned rhino. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terai The Rapti river demarcates the southern part of Chitwan from civilization, while the Narayani river forms the boundary along the southwest. These rivers also are home to marine and amphibian fauna like Gangetic dolphins, crocodiles and the ‘gharial’. The previous day, we had taken a ‘jungle safari’ ... read more

okay so here is the update on how our weekend was - after we stopped sweating.. wait that didnt happen - it was more humid there than any pace we had ever been. all 9 of us didnt stop sweating the three days that we were there, but we all dealt with it; there was nothing we could do about it anyways... so half way there we got off of the bus and rafted for 2.5 hours. they said it was a grade 3+.. it was our first time, but it wasnt too bad, it was really rough every now and again, but no one fell out (thank God). we took a break and went swimming too - the scenery, mountains on either side of us as we rafted down the river was absolutely amazing!! then ... read more

So we have just spent more or less 3 great days at Chitwan National Park in Southern Nepal. It has been absolutely fantastic with limitless food, great weather (though quite hot), friendly people and lots of animals. Our first day we visited the Elephant Breeding Centre which was one of the highlights of the trip so far for me. Not only did we learn lots about the role of elephants in Nepal and the creatures themselves, but we actually got to play with several baby elephants! It was soo neat to be able to pat them and feed them and just hang out, after only a few minutes it was very evident that they each had very different personalities. The funniest was a cheeky little fellow who kept misbehaving, pretending to charge us and never doing ... read more

I hate the phrase 'killing time', it seems such an affront to life, but we had 4 days left in Kathmandu before our flight to Bangkok and we needed a suitable contrast to our Everest trek. Since our return we had eaten enough steak to offend a great many Hindus, and we had realised that there are only so many times a street vendor can approach you and offer to sell you a huge wooden flute before you really start to wonder if perhaps you do need one. It was definitely time for a change of scene. Royal Chitwan National Park was established in 1973 - before that time it was the royal hunting grounds for kings and dignitaries, and the visiting British from India enjoyed big game safari in its grounds. Many wild tigers, bears, ... read more