Nepal

---

I arrive in Nepal knowing that my onward trip to Tibet has been cancelled due to problems with obtaining the appropriate Visa - ie China had put a stop to tourists visiting Tibet at this time! So armed with the Lonely Planet I spend a few days in Kathmandu chilling out and coming up with a plan of action for the next few weeks. I, first, decide on a bit of sight seeing of the local area and take a long walking tour of the city visiting many shrines which are scattered everywhere. The main city square is filled with more religious buildings, lots of people and a tourist market where each stall sold the same things! I also climbed the many stairs to reach the Monkey Temple. I decide to then head off to Chitwan National Park and stay in a small hotel where my room overlooks the main river and where I get to wash an elephant. On my arrival I head off to the riverside bar and meet 3 other people who have also arrived that day. We all want to do the same sort of thing so decide to do a two day trip into the park. We head out early to take a 4 hour canoe trip where we were lucky enough to see 5 crocodiles along the river bank - the marsh mugger and the gharial . We also spot monkeys and many, many different types of bird including a very stern looking stork. We then head out on foot, spotting wild boar, various deer and wild chickens! We stop for lunch at a lookout tower which gave great views over a lake where a rhino was cooling off. Taking a closer look we head to the opposite bank where we also spot more crocs. We continued our trek and as we turned a corner saw this single elephant sauntering across a clearing - we stop to take pictures but then see our guides waving us on and running off to a nearby tree - we stop taking pictures and follow suit! Apparently the elephant could have just decided to charge but it didn’t take any notice of us what so ever - luckily. We finish our day at another look out tower to watch more crocodiles and rhinos and just before leaving were really lucky to see two sloth bears which really made our day. We head off to a local village for dinner and a beer before getting an early night ready for our jeep safari the following day. The next morning we head off back into the park and see more wildlife - and being in the safety of the jeep got closer to the rhino which proved very exciting and daunting at the same time. The next day we are all due to leave but due to a strike we’re stuck in Chitwan for another day so we take the opportunity to head back inside the park for an overnight stay in a look out tower where we get to see even more wildlife. Upon nightfall we hear rustling in the forests behind us - the rustling was so loud that it sounded like some huge dinosaur - so we decide to shine our torches together to see if we can spot what is causing all the noise and to our delight we get to see another sloth bear! A great end to out time in Chitwan.
I then head to Pokhara where there are beautiful mountains - unfortunately due to the cloud I never got to see them in the four days I was there! I did manage to take a walk around the lake and nearly get chased by this huge cow who for some reason took a disliking to me - I thought I was going to have to hit it with my bag but I was worried I might break my laptop, fortunately one of the locals stepped in and chased it away! On my return to Kathmandu I take the opportunity to take a scenic flight and finally get to see some mountains - the main one being Everest! A fitting end before flying to my next destination - China.

---

Photos

Where's the baby bundle?