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Published: July 18th 2009
Hello Everyone! Hope all is well. We have had 2 amazing days in Chitwan! It is hot beyond hot, but the continual sweating has been worth it and we are forever grateful for our air-conditioned rooms. Our guide from the Hotel Parkside, Gopal, is awesome and has done a wonderful job explaining some of the culture of Nepal. He told us about the 3 "isms" and said that tourism is just as important to them as Buddhism and Hinduism. The community thrives due to the travelers.
We started at the crack of dawn with a dug-out canoe ride through the jungle and saw 3 crocodiles...being in a canoe made me more nervous than the 10 foot long beasts. It was very peaceful on the river with all of the beautiful birds and peacocks. After that we went to an elephant breeding center and saw twin 2 month old babies. They are the first set of twins born in Asia and the 2nd in the world (in captivity, they are unsure about in the wild). They came right up to us and played with us. It was incredible! We went on a jungle walk and then bathed the most beautiful, friendly
elephant in the huge river. We sat on her back and she sprayed water all over us with her trunk. We were laughing so hard and it was so much fun! Then we got to scrub her while she laid in the water. I have to say, it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and it actually brought Dori to tears!
Later in the evening we were invited to have dinner with the family of the people who run the hotel in their home. We had Nepali traditional dahl baht for dinner and homemade rice wine. We had dinner with the elephants 10 feet from us! The people at the hotel were so kind and welcoming and we were very glad we chose to stay there. On top of the wonderful service, we found out that a portion of the hotel profits goes towards the education of poor Nepali children.
Our ride back from Kathmandu was interesting. We traveled in the van with a chicken, which is for the sister-in-law of one of the hotel managers and her newborn baby. He told us they need more protein to be healthy, so they needed the
chicken. They were going to put the chicken in the back with the luggage, but we insisted that she/he ride with us in front. They laughed at us and said okay. We named her Rupunzel and gave her water. We had to stop for a while because there was an accident and we drank Fantas in the heat.
The people here are so kind and life looks so simple, yet so hard. They cook from scratch, do laundry the old-fashioned way), and utilize resources extensively (i.e. turning elephant dung into beautiful paper goods). Coming here reminds me not to take health care, clean water, and schooling for granted. We are glad to have had these experience during the last few days before we start working with Autism Care Nepal tomorrow. We are very excited!
NEPAL=Never Ending Peace And Love (according to the locals). So far, we agree 😊
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Steph
non-member comment
Love the twin elephants! Amazing!