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Just spent about 30 minutes typing when the browser disappeared. So this is going to be shorter and sweeter than intended.
We are now in Delhi. Back in hot, sticky, down and dirty India.
But ... about a week ago we finally left Kathmandu after the national transport strike had ended. We caught the first bus to Dumre and from there walked/rode the back of a tractor full of gravel to the mountain village of Bandipur. Bandipur was beautiful. Really beautiful and the people extremely friendly and welcoming. We filled two days there with walks and short hikes and an excursion into the largest cave in all of Nepal. We were a little sad to leave, but time to move on.
Next stop was Pokhara. We got out of that little tourist trap pf a town as quickly as we could. I mean the surrounding area is beautiful, but not visible this time of the year and it was the kind of place you really have to work hard to find a meal of local standards (both quality and price). We did explore quite a bit while there. Walked to some nice Hindu temples and saw a couple
of small caves.
Royal Chitwan National Park. Jungle. We had fun the first night in our bungalow chasing 2 of the hugest spiders I have even seen. Those flies on the wall must have been rolling in laughter. Planned three days of activities. First afternoon we rented bikes and went around to local villages and the Elephant Breeding Center. Saw some tiny, well tiny for an elephant, babies. Next morning, up before dawn for a full day jungle walk with guides. Introduction talk was full of reminders about how dangerous and life endangering our walk would be. Don't worry, the guides carried bamboo sticks to fight the jungle beasts. Sadly, due to poaching there is not an overabundance of wildife. We did see rhinos, monkeys, birds, many insects, butterflies, a wild boar and a lot of deer. Was a lot of fun... The next day we watched the elephants being bathed and in the afternoon went for a jungle walk on the back of an elephant. Now that was cool. We were able to approach the wildlife within feet of where they stood. We got very close to three rhinos munching on jungle grass. It was amazing to be
so close to such a dangerous creature. The driver let both Andrew and I drive the elephant. That was pretty exciting. That was about it.
Anyway that was the best place to end the trip. We were pretty tight on money, but found a local woman with a small restaurant to cook us local food for a local price and not what was on the menu. We ate all our evening meals at here shop. We also made some friends there with the neighboring shop owner and his young daughter. So it was a great experience overall.
Headed to the border town by bus. Once at the bus stop in Bhairawa it was a 4 km walk to the border post. We resigned to walk. Then lucky as we are a bus approached and said we could ride on the roof. Yeah, a great way to exit.
So now we are back in the heat and craze of India and it was apparent by the honking horns, yelling people and revving engines from the minute we crossed the border. That is about it for now.
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Dad (or Dave)
non-member comment
Glad to see hear from you
I'm glad you decided to ride the elephant and not the rhino! And Andrew, hope you didn't pay too much for that haircut. :) Just kidding. The pictures and stories are great. Take care..