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Published: April 6th 2013
Hotel Westwood
My lovely room with hardwood floors. Early start this morning. Seems to be fairly common in Nepal, especially when trekking or taking a bus. Rabi met me at my hotel at 6:15AM to take me to the tourist buses. On the motobike. With my backpack. Brought back memories of Vietnam where I got quite good at balancing with a big pack on my back, but this pack was much smaller, thankfully. Rabi went the wrong way on a one way when we left the hotel, and he knew he did. The police stopped him and took his keys, but he talked his way out of it and turned around. And laughed about it. Today was the start of Holi Festival, so the police were out in force, including at the tourist bus lineup where he got stopped again and told something by the police. I have no idea what. I had no ticket (no sure why...) but that meant Rabi had to talk to the tourist bus guys, so he dropped me off, drove all the way back to the hotel to park the bike, and walked back to the buses. We could have just walked in the first place, but I didn't know what was going
on. I was well taken care of all week, so if you're looking for a trekking company to help you plan your trip, I have to recommend Adventure Discovery Treks once again.
The bus ride was okay and took about 5 hours to get to Chitwan. I wasn't on the side of the bus with the view though. We stopped at one point on the road because of a big accident. A big truck had hit a car and it had gone off the side of the cliff, bascially, down to the river. It was bad. Emergency vehicles were already there. I thought we would be stuck there for hours, but after a few minutes, traffic was moving again. The tourists had all stayed on the many buses that had accumulated here, but the locals all got out and ran over to the crash site and were looking over the side of the cliff. I really didn't know what to make of this. So when traffic started moving again, some of them continued to look and finally one of the guys who was working on our bus (there were three guys in addition to the actual driver) went and
Elephant ride
Quite possibly the most touristy thing I have ever done. told them all to get on the bus or we would leave without them. Or I imagine that's what he said, because they ran back and got on the bus pretty quick like.
At the bus station in Chitwan, there was a guy waiting for me with my name on a piece of paper. I was staying at Hotel Westwood, and it was absolutely lovely with excellent service. They took excellent care of their guests, but the best part was the room! Gorgeous hardwood floors, very clean, and a sparkling clean bathroom with a proper tub and shower, with a curtain! No wet floors! Yay!! That western bathroom, with hot water, was the best part of this room! Hotel Westwood has a beautiful courtyard as well and each room has a small table and chairs outside to relax. After lunch I made a milk coffee and took it back to my room to enjoy on the veranda. How nice! And then I took a nap! I never do that, but I was so sleepy after that bus ride. I decided to pass on the visit to the Tharu Village and the sunset. I've already expressed my disappointment in so
many sunset and sunrise viewings. I just wasn't in the mood to watch a sunset with a bunch of people I didn't know. The next day I found out that the 6 people who went to the village saw a baby rhino that had been rescued after it was attacked in the eye by a tiger and it's mother ran off. That I would have liked to see, as babies in any species are pretty cute, but the whole visit the village thing? I had my doubts. I've done this many times in many countries, and all of them seem kind of staged for tourists. Ugh. I just didn't have it in me. The only time I've ever not felt like a complete tourist nerd during a village visit was when my guide in Egypt took me to a Nubian village near Abu Symbel. That wasn't planned, it was the family home of his friend, they had no idea we were coming, and he explained how their very interesting homes were built and naturally cooled. Very cool.
Back to Chitwan. After my nap, I had my second meal at the hotel and then one of the workers at the
hotel walked me down the street to the Tharu Cultural Show. Can you say touristy? I can. However, it was interesting and the women in traditional dress were stunning! They did several traditional dances and the only instruments were a simple drum and another tambourine-like instrument. I think the staff at the hotel were a bit mystified by a woman traveling alone. One guy came and sat with me and said we would all walk back to the hotel as a group. He told me to wait outside. I said it was no problem, that I could walk back by myself. He was quite insistent that I wait. So I walked back by myself. It took two minutes.
The next morning at breakfast, I saw who I was going to spend my day with. A Chinese tour group of what seemed like rather daintily dressed women (for an elephant ride and elephant bathing?) and a lovely Indian family. After breakfast, I decided that while the hotel food was edible and included in the package price, I was probably going to venture out for lunch. Now off to ride an elephant!
This could be the most touristy thing I
have ever done, but it was more fun than I expected. Thankfully, I was paired with the lovely Indian family. We all climbed into our seats, with the father of the family holding the youngest daughter in his lap. About 15 minutes into the ride, she announced, "I'm happy!!" and then proceeded to fall asleep during the great rhino chase of 2013. The dad was so funny and that little girl was too cute and can apparently sleep through anything, including a rhino chase. I truly did not believe I would see rhino. I took a picture of one on the side of a watchtower because I thought it would be the only one I saw all day. Well, not only did we see a rhino, there were 8 elephants loaded with four tourists each chasing and surrounding the rhino! The handlers and the elephants had clearly done this before. I actually got some good pictures of it too. And the little girl slept and snored through the whole chase.
I have never felt more like a tourist in my life. I did enjoy it though. But I cringed every time our handler hit the elephant on the right
ear, for no apparent reason, with a wooden stick. There just seemed to be no reason to hit the elephant as there was no other direction she could go. There was one handler, very young guy, who had only a small wooden stick to guide his elephant, who was painted. He followed behind us for some time and I noticed he moved the stick when he wanted the elephant to change direction. He never once hit her and he didn't even have one of those sharp metal pokers. Later I watched him tap his elephant gently with two fingers and she raised her trunk over her head and he tickled her trunk with his fingers. I wish all the handlers were that way with the elephants, but I saw more than one elephant being hit, especially when they were removing the seats. The elephants were down on their knees just sitting there while the handlers removed the seats. Why on earth would they need to hit them? Then I watched the young guy with the painted one take her seat off. I don't know what he did to make her go down on her knees, but he definitely didn't hit
her. After he took the seat off, he just started petting her like she was, well, his pet. She was so sweet.
Next we were off to bathe the elephants. Well, not so much us bathing the elephants as the elephants bathing whoever would sit on their backs. For a couple hundred rupees, you could sit on the elephant and have them spray water over you. I have to admit, it looked fun. They would even kneel down in the water and dunk you if you wanted. And not one elephant was hit by its handler in the half hour that we were there. That was a relief. One handler had an interesting way of making the elephant go backwards. He scratched her backside with a large, wooden, fork-like thing while he sat on her back. Hahaha. Part of me really wanted to do this. Get bathed, not scratch the elephant's backside. Or both. I admit, I was curious to do both. I really wanted to climb on and get soaking wet, but after seeing the state of that water, I just couldn't do it. But if was fun to watch. And the elephants were cute.
Back to
the hotel for a rest during the heat of the day, and a much needed lunch outside the hotel. I went for a walk and discovered KC's. I'd seen it earlier when we drove by and I was curious because their sign said 'beach bar'.
Wait? Beach? In Nepal? I am in Nepal, right?
I'm still not sure why they call it a beach bar, but I definitely made the right choice. I went upstairs to the outdoor restaurant, and had some gorgeous Indian food and beer while admiring the huge garden that was also part of the property. By huge, I mean about the size of a football field. There was, however, no beach in site, although I could also see a sliver of the river on the other side of the garden. I sat there for about two hours reading, writing, having another beer. And no one was there! It was great.
At 3PM we left again to do yet another incredibly touristy thing. A canoe ride on the river. And I got felt up by our Nepali guide. Hahaha! Sort of. It was funny. I had already been warned about the canoes and how
unstable they are. They are quite long, carved out of one large tree trunk, and very unstable. There were way too many people in ours and I think our canoe steering-driving person had been drinking a bit in celebration of the Holi Festival. I was the last tourist in, and then the guide from the hotel sat in front of me. There were at least eight people in this boat, some of whom did not speak English and did not understand every time the guide said, 'Don't move your body!!!' with a note of panic in his voice. One of the Chinese tourists did understand and after he said it about five times, she finally said, 'Why?' To which he replied, showing his full command of the English language, 'You mean you can't tell??"
BAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was laughing so hard, and really not moving my body, that I almost missed the huge eagle that was just sitting and looking at us from about 5 meters away. I got a pretty good picture of him too. He was huge. That was the coolest thing we saw on the canoe ride, along with several crocodiles that I think were real. One
of them was definitely moving, at which point the guide told everyone to be quiet, which the Chinese woman quickly translated. That lasted about 2 seconds and then the Chinese woman behind me, who had been eating chips the entire boat ride, started talking again. I had forgotten what it was like to travel with Chinese tourists. Especially ones with poor balance and an apparent inability to feel the sharp tipping of a very narrow boat.
So now I will tell you what our funny Nepali guide did about halfway into our boat ride. I was joking with him about how unstable the boat was, and I said, 'If I fall out of this boat and a crocodile eats my leg, you have to give me your leg.' To which he replied, 'I will give you my leg. I will give you my whole body.' and then he rubs my leg. I was wearing capris. This made me laugh near to tears. Fortunately, he couldn't 'move his body' to turn around and see how near to tears I was. And then I started to think maybe his command of English puns was not so good. 'I will give you
my whole body.' I'm pretty sure he didn't mean what it sounds like he meant. Too funny.
Next we walked through the 'jungle' for about 20 minutes where the most interesting things we saw were termite mounds about three feet tall, although I saw some in China that were three meters tall, and several trees covered in orchids that were not blooming yet. Orchids are a parasite. I did not know that. Termites are a pain in the ass. I do know that. I know this because they have eaten my house while I've been living in Kuwait.
We walked to the elephant breeding center where they house 22 elephants, including one baby that was only 23 days old and absolutely adorable. His mom had given birth to twin boys a year or two earlier. They stay with their mom for three years I think, and then the males are moved to a different facility, obviously. The elephants looked very healthy, clean, and the facility was clean. Several handlers were around doing various jobs. They live at the facilty. But the elephants were chained to metal poles with huge chains around one foot. I didn't know what to
make of that. Only the baby was roaming free because he wouldn't wander more than a few feet away from his mom.
Back at the hotel, I could not stomach that hotel food again and I was still full from lunch anyway, so I decided to skip dinner. I could tell this confused the guide from the hotel, but oh well. He asked if I wanted to leave in five minutes to see the sunset. Here we go again. I didn't want to seem unappreciative or antisocial, so I said yes, thinking this invite was extended to everyone. I don't know if it was or not, but I was the only one who went with him. He wasn't hitting on me, he wasn't inappropriate. I think he just worried that I was traveling alone and he wanted to make sure I got the full Chitwan experience. So we walked down the road to a place with deck chairs facing the river, and we watched the sunset while I ordered a banana lassi I didn't want. And the sunset? It was a sunset. Anticlimactic. But I proclaimed it beautiful and we left.
The next day I took the tourist
bus back to Kathmandu for my last two days in Nepal. Time was passing all too fast.
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