Jungle Police Cars

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It was an early start for our bus to Chitwan National Park. We arrived at the Pokhara bus station in time to order teas and coffee and for the lads to buy some panoramic photos of the Annapurnas.
The bus journey was 6 1/2 hours and it was by far the bumpiest journey we've done on the trip. There were also a few nail biting moments in a long stretch of gorge road as there were sections with no barriers and a 200ft drop to the river below.
Bob got chatting to a 17 year old Nepali and they watched a comedy on his phone.
We arrived at the dusty Chitwan bus station and the taxi drivers were out in full force. I walked up and down the line looking for a sign for Green Park and the clamour of 'pick me' began. I was reminded of the seagulls in Finding Nemo, 'mine, mine, mine, mine'. In the end I announced to all of them that the hotel was sending a car for us and we were (almost) left alone. It's noticeably hotter here as we are at a lower altitude.
Green Park Hotel in Sauraha is our treat stay in Nepal and is far removed from the tea house in Dhampus. Manicured lawns and gardens and everything freshly painted.
We hit the pool for a couple of hours and then it was time for a walk with a guide down by the river. It was very hot and we took hats and lots of water. The open sided jeep was brilliant and we loved the breeze. Our guide was called Vishnu and he took us around the river where crocs waited in the shallows, to an elephant camp where the army use the elephants for jungle patrols to prevent poaching and logging, so they are effectively jungle police cars. This led us back round to the river where he showed us deer, storks and an extended family of wild boar, (I got booed off stage for my Dad jokes about little piggies going to market and pigs building houses...).
Everyone was hungry and thirsty by now so we hit the restaurant as soon as we got back to the hotel.
Bob, Tom and Ed are sharing a room, so Cas called them after dinner and, in a faintly German/Geordie accent, informed them that the last one in the pool was smelly. In our rush to the pool, Cas tripped over in the box hedging. That lady takes the gold metal for the most trip, slips and flips whilst we've been away. The stars were out and it was a cooling dip which then turned into a game of Stefan Paul. It was cut short by the pool attendant who fetched the English speaking receptionist over to politely inform us that the pool was closed and was being chemically treated ie hauls your bottoms out of there.

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