Lazy days in the Royal Chitwan National Park

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It was a wiild ride to Sauraha from Daman. The first day continued to wind and twist its way down and through the mountains. We were, of course, 2 tourists on a bus full of locals who were almost ALL getting sick from the bumpy ride. It’s not the easiest thing to ignore, but we hung in there and managed not to get sick ourselves and managed to not have anyone get sick ON us (...this time).
And of course, things are never as easy or straightforward as they are at home and there was a lot of wondering about where to get off the bus and where to change buses and whatnot. But we managed to work it all out for ourselves.
The second bus was less comfortable but the road was much more straight, which means less sick people around.
We got dropped off on the highway and were quickly confronted by the driver of a horse drawn carriage to give us a ride the rest of the 6 km to the village. COME ON! Who is gonna say no to that?
About 25 minutes, and $2 later, we were in the small touristy town of Sauraha (at the entrance to the Royal Chitwan National Park).
The town itself is quiet, just a simple farming village who have a rush of tourists at certain peak times of the year due to the proximity of the nearby park.
We really just took it easy (as we do best), and threw in an elephant ride in the jungle just to be good tourists. The elephant ride was ok, though we had our hopes high up to see wild rhinos (as the ticket saleswoman guaranteed us) and we were sadly disappointed.
Though that morning we did have a nice intimate incident with another variety of animal. Though, not quite as pleasing as seeing wild rhinos in the jungle from the back of an elephant. On our way to the elephant ride start point, somehow we became the target of a wild, roaming (most likely rabid) pack of about 20 stray dogs.
It was really quite terrifying and we couldn’t seem to lose them. We stopped, they stopped. We turned, they turned. All the while they were barking, growling and snapping at each other. We were sure that we would be next. Finally we arrived at the office and walked inside. The dogs tried to follow us in but soon after the door closed they hung out for a moment or two then gave up and went away. PHEW. That was a close rabid call.
After the semi-bunk elephant ride we decided that the jungle was a bit expensive for us to explore and bit boring at that. Also, the repetitive menu of “veg. mush. spag.” Had us yawning, laughing and leaving us feeling sick.
So we left, moving on, Northwest, to the small village of Bandipur.

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Photos

The bus
They all pretty much look like this. From the outside they all advertise VIDEO COACH....i have yet to see a video on the coach

From the back of a horse drawn cart
good place to relax and check out the views.

Why?
Why do they have to give water bottles a catchy name? Oh well...we are not complaining...it gives us a few moments of entertainment

Uh....
Is this a trick?

So, you think its funny, Guillaume?
To order 'Veg. Mush. Spag' for my dinner?

New dangerous friends
Guillaume, you are hanging out with the wrong crowd

Its fun to cross rivers
from the top of an elephant (maybe not so much fun for the elephant)

Just the usual lunch
Elephants cruising by in the background

Horse drawn carriage ride
Round two was just as nice