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Published: February 19th 2008
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Well, where to start really? We’ve had quite an eventful week!
We left for Chitwan National Park on Thursday morning (6.30am start!). The 5 hour bus ride was not the best thing to experience that early in the morning, for Sarah at least! That's where the sickness started. We travelled on a Tourist Bus, which made the journey slightly better - there were no locals crammed inside the bus or on the roof at least! The main highway of Nepal is probably the equivalent of a small pot-holed country road, full of twists and turns, and the bus feels like its about to topple over at any point! The first mishap was when we suddenly stopped behind a queue of traffic, for about 45mins, and we found out there had just been a bus crash (luckily no-one had died)! We passed a few other vehicles on the way which looked like they'd been involved in a few scrapes! We were nearly at Chitwan when Sarah's sickness finally materialised (luckily into a plastic bag!). We got off the bus to find there was no-one to pick us up from the hotel. Apparently the hotel we were staying at was 'under construction'
and no-one was staying there!! After much trouble and harassment including people trying to steal our booking info, we managed to grab a free jeep ride to see the hotel and its 'construction'. We were then taken to a nearby hotel, where they tried to work out whether we could stay there. After several phonecalls and discussions we were taken again to another hotel- the Jungle Safari Resort (as opposed to the Jungle Safari Lodge where we were supposed to have stayed!). The hotel was actually really nice in the end, there was a nice big garden and we had hot water. The meals were really nice, but the waiter did like his pepper and garlic (I'm sure we stank lol!).
After lunch in the garden (spaghetti- see later) we were taken for a sightseeing tour of the area by our guide, Govinder (who had the campest laugh ever!) to a couple of little museums about the animals in the park. One of them had loads of interesting things pickled in jars and bottles, including foetuses of elephants and rhinos! We also saw our first elephants on the walk AND we managed to see our first rhinos without even
going into the park - they were chasing each other around (it was Valentine's Day after all!). We then went to the river beach to watch the sunset, which was beautiful. The sickness began to resurface again at this point and we returned to the hotel. Phil went out for dinner and traditional Tharu dancing (the native people of the Terai region), meeting a lovely French guy who was on our bus to Chitwan, whilst Sarah remained being sick in the hotel room. The lovely waiter brought a pot of hot water and a basket of fruit (he was a little strange but nice!). But this is when Sarah's spaghetti re-emerged (into the bin full of holes, where the spaghetti got trapped - ugh!). Phil returned to clean up the sick (the bits where Sarah had missed the toilet) and we went early to bed that night!! We left the bin outside the room and it was still there when we left Chitwan!
A new day, a new start and no sickness. An early wake up call and breakfast at 7am was followed by a canoe ride with Govinder and our new guide Bishnu (as some of you can
imagine this is a sure way to make Sarah sick again!). Phil loved the canoe ride and we did get to see a lot of birds and a gharial (very rare crocodile), but Bishnu and Ludo (the French guy) thought it would be funny to rock the canoe!!! Sarah held on tightly at this point, whilst Phil and the others enjoyed all the sights standing up in the canoe. The canoe ride was followed by a jungle walk, where we saw monkeys, a marsh mugger (crocodile), more birds, wild boar, wild chickens (!) and an elephant! After lunch was the most exciting part - the elephant safari! Four of us were crammed in a small wooden frame, but there were cushions to pad us, on the back of 'Sureskali' (our lovely elephant!). Ludo fed her lots of bananas before we got on, I think this gave her a taste for food as she kept getting sidetracked on the safari by plenty of trees to rip up and carry with her!! On the safari we saw loads of one-horned rhinos (the speciality of Chitwan), spotted deer, lots of langur monkeys, a peacock, more crocodiles, a snake and more birds and wild
chickens!!! We both made it to dinner that night, where Bishnu and Ludo got very drunk on only 3 (large) bottles of beer!! We had several interesting conversations about the mating rituals of different animals(!) then we went for a walk to the river beach before bed.
Another early rise the next morning at 6.30am, where we had the best milk porridge ever for breakfast. Bishnu then informed us that due to a strike in the Terai region we wouldn't be able to get to Butwal that morning as no buses were running! (Phil's relatives live in Butwal and we were planning on going to see them). We had a short jeep ride, followed by ANOTHER canoe ride (which Sarah was sure wasn't necessary but Bishnu insisted upon!) to the elephant breeding centre. We fed rusks to a small baby elephant, who was very greedy and cute! Ludo and Bishnu even kissed her on the tongue eeeurgh!! We decided to remain in Chitwan (well we didn't have much choice really!) so we went to the river beach, where we watched elephant bathtime and spent a lazy day there reading/discussing what to do! Eventually we decided to come to Pokhara
if the strike wasn't lifted the next day, as we didn't want to waste more time. Sure enough the strike wasn't lifted, so we got the bus to Pokhara, another 5 hr journey but without the sickness this time!
We arrived in Pokhara on Sunday, and are staying in the 'Yeti Guest House'. They also do milk porridge! Pokhara is quite like Thamel, but much quieter and it's by the side of a beautiful lake. There are still lots of touristy shops and restaurants selling Western food, along with lots of German bakeries. Yesterday we walked up to the World Peace Pagoda, a steep climb through paddy fields and forest to the top of a large hill above the lake. Some Japanese monks built a large stupa here in 2001 for World Peace. Its a nice spot with good views, but unfortunately it was a bit misty yesterday so we didn't get the fantastic views of the Himalayas that the Peace Pagoda is famous for. There's plenty of time still though! On the way back down we went via Devi's Falls and the Gupteshwor Mahadev Cave, where Phil LOVED the amazing rock formations!!! Sarah thought they looked 'nice'. Phil
went through the tunnel to the back part of the cave behind the waterfall to see more rocks, but Sarah didn't want to look at more rocks! We also visited the Tashi Ling Tibetan village, and a carpet factory there, which was more interesting than we thought. We went to the Boomerang Restaurant for dinner, which has a cultural show in the evenings with traditional Thakali dancing. The food was also pretty great there!
Today's been a bit of a relaxing day, just catching up with things and looking in the shops. We're off to Butwal tomorrow as the buses are running from Pokhara, despite the strike.
Until next time.......
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