Not leaving ourselves much time to wash, dress and finish packing we left our cheap room behind and left just after six in the morning for our bus to Chitwan. The previous evening Djalma had bought a sweet, syrupy goop to have with bananas and biscuits, an excellent breakfast. Kate and Djalma managed to sleep a little on the bus but I continued reading my book, I can't remember what it was, there was a second-hand bookshop in Kathmandu which we got lots of books from, but it was quite depressing, it might have been George Orwell's 1984, not the most uplifting holiday literature I can think of. As a result I was tired and grumpy by the time we arrived at around two in the afternoon and I may have been a little bit stroppy during the usual hunt for cheap hotels. Why do we always go back to the one at the beginning?! It is not good for morale!
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
Having found a place and ruminated on the various possibilities awaiting us, we decided on a tour time for our elephant safari and other activities for the following day. After dinner in a good cheap Nepali restaurant we went back to our hotel for a welcome walk around the outskirts of the park, the same guy who booked us in took us round. We spent a good hour walking through fields with women picking long grass with a cotton like flower at the tip, traipsing over paths careful not to squash the legions of enormous bugs (I do not exaggerate) and looking at some “tame” elephants.
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
We stopped at a small holding area for a couple of full grown elephants and a “small” naughty baby who tried to grab and eat our cameras and hands. The elephants were chained and it was sad to see that in their off time they were so restrained, the little baby had chains round it's feet but it managed to be fairly quick with its rolling hobble walk. I dread to think the damage it would have done had it not been so slow, it would hobble up and reach out it's little, and surprisingly strong, trunk over the fence inviting a little stroke, when we reached out it would then whip it's trunk round to grab hold of our wrists or cameras (if we weren't quick enough) and open it's mouth to try and put whatever it had grabbed inside.
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
I nearly filled my pants when it did manage to get hold of my wrist, the strength of it's trunk at such a young age was mind-blowing, fortunately for me it was no match for frightened Sarah strength and I twisted my arm free and kept a safe distance after that. We all wished we had brought some bananas to give the elephants who looked so bored.
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
We walked passed patches and fields of marijuana which grew everywhere, literally like weed(s), it was quite amusing to see such a difference in attitude to the plant here compared with the UK. On the way back we decided to get a couple of beers and we sat outside our room in the little garden, covered in mosquito spray and chatted while drinking our rapidly warming beers. A young English guy, Eddie, was staying in the same hotel and joined us with his dinner.
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
The next day we were up nice and early, having decided on our very busy schedule we started off with an elephant back safari to see a one-horned rhinoceros or two. We were taken by a converted Jeep to the starting point where we joined Eddie atop our very own elephant. We climbed up a rickety wooden platform and anxiously waited our turn to climb aboard one of the slow leathery beasts of burden.
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
Climbing onto an elephant was a novel experience, they all had the equivalent of an upside-down table strapped to their backs and they backed up, rear end first, to the mounting platform where one at a time we stepped onto a remarkably solid back (I suppose it isn't that remarkable, an elephant is a huge sturdy animal) and then into this table of sorts where we sat with our legs dangling around an upended leg. Safely inside we lurched off and slowly followed the line of other similarly tourist laden nellies over a river and into the community forest.
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
We spent an hour and a half padding slowly and silently through the woods, sometimes along wide open paths and at others straight through the trees and into horribly sticky spider webs (makes me itch just thinking about it).
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
It was beautiful and so quiet, the only sound was the birds in the trees and the leaves and twigs slapping against our exposed legs. We didn't see that much in the way of wildlife, the occasional deer, the odd monkey and a peacock of two and just when I was giving up hope we walked into a little clearing where a one-horned Indian rhino was quietly minding his own business and munching away on some leaves.
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
We were the first to see it up close and only one other elephant party got close enough to see it at such close quarters before it bolted. It was rather exciting to see a rhino up close, apparently (I'm still not sure I really believe it although I'm assured this is true) the horn is not bone but hair all clumped together. Mental, I know – I still wouldn't like to be hit by it though. Not long after that we swung past the viewing tower where we had arranged to spend the night we sat and waited while the mahout (elephant driver) got off to have a morning whiz and then got back on in the most spectacular fashion – he stepped on the trunk and was raised to his place on Nellie's neck. We were soon back at the offloading zone, where we gratefully untangled legs and rubbed some life back into numb bottoms and climbed off with shaky legs.
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
We all had a big breakfast at the same place we had our dinner, Kate had the most amazing banana pancakes, a culinary effort which was sadly never matched during the rest of her time in Nepal, and we helped her out with them because they were so amazing (our breakfasts were more than big enough). After we finished stuffing ourselves we set out for the river where all the government elephants were being washed.
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
Djalma and Kate were on one as soon as they could get their shoes and socks off and hand me their valuables and then spent the following ten minutes in a permanent state of excitement as they were continuously blasted with river water straight from the elephants trunk as they were perched bareback on top.
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
I stood and took pictures marvelling at their bravery and the excitement, just as I was thinking that they must be getting tired the elephant knelt down and rolled over to one side letting them roll off just like Maltesers on a slightly wonky table. Having ummed and aahed the whole time I watched them, I decided that if Kate could do it, then so could I and Djalma the gent that he is got back on with me.
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
I can hardly describe the exhilaration and the fear. We were on a spot by the River with about twenty other elephants if not more and all of them had one or more white knuckled laughing tourists on their backs, the river was brown with all the churning. I waded out and hoisted myself, with a bit of help, and sat on Nellie's neck clutching the rope necklace, holding on for dear life. Djalma climbed on behind me with considerably more grace and then our elephant got up, an excellent test for nerve as well a muscle strength, and on repeated orders from his driver started hoovering up the cool brown water and blasting out of his metre long nostrils, straight into our faces.
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
Yes, we paid for this. It was so exciting, the feel of his wet, leathery skin next to our feet and his massively strong beneath us, there was no give at all in his skin, I thought there might be a bit of fat or at least all the loose skin would provide some kind of cushioning. I was so excited, I think you can tell from the picture, and so afraid (I think you can see that too) but after several jets of water in my face I was beginning to get a bit tired, our elephant started pitching forward and then down, I may have squeaked a little... and then to the side, I think I clung on for as long as possible, thinking that if I came off too soon I might fall under the elephant and then simultaneously drown and get squished to death (not really possible, just my imagination coming into its own for scaring me witless). We said thank you and paid a piddling 100Rs each for the most incredible, exciting, wet and wonderful ten minutes of fun. We waited for Eddie to go on an elephant and took some pictures on his camera for him and just as it was about to end, he back flipped off the back of his elephant. Yes, Djalma had to do it too! So he paid again and did his thing while I put my camera on burst for the best chance of a decent picture. We all babbled for the rest of the morning about just how amazing the experience was.
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
After a spot of shopping, some new flip-flops for Katie and some more water we got some lunch and walked back to our hotel to chill out for a bit.
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
Later that afternoon we set out for a canoe ride and a jungle walk hoping to see some crocodiles or alligators, I think it was the later but I can't really remember despite plenty of conversation about the difference and which one we could expect to see.
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
We climbed into a long flat bottomed canoe and sat on tiny little chairs less than two inches off the floor and were punted down the river. Kate took plenty of pictures and videos in the water using her super cool GoPro while I stuck with my Canon and snapped every flower and bird that I was quick enough for.
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
After a good half an hour we got off at a point in the river bank and started our “jungle walk”. We followed our two guides through the paths in the community forest, stepping carefully over more of the colourful cotton bugs we had seen the previous evening, and generally slogging along in the heat of the afternoon.
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
We didn't see much except a few birds and lots of bugs, I was quite relieved we didn't anything bigger, I was knackered form the heat and the excitement, I don't think I could have outrun a mouse let alone a rhino or a cat (not that we were quiet enough to creep up on any jungle animals!). After a couple of sweaty hours we were back at the hotel, with just enough time to pack an overnight bag and then head back out, this time in a Jeep, into the forest and the viewing platform.
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
We saw a group of spotted deer feeding by the road and as we approached the viewing platform, where we would be spending the night, a mother and baby rhino came into view – having their evening meal. We climbed up the steps, got out little plastic bags of veg fried rice and ate our dinner watching the rhinos eat theirs, it was quite surreal and very magical. Before too long the light failed and the rhinos wandered off, we had had at least an hour of undisturbed viewing time, incredible.
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
Just as we were sitting there and listening to the sounds of the night in the middle of a forest, fireflies started to light up the night. I'd never seen them before and it was beautiful, they sparkled like flecks of gold glitter twinkling in the air. Unfortunately they weren't the only bugs that came out at night and after such a long day we said goodnight to the mosquitoes and climbed into bed under our mosquito nets to get some shut-eye.
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| From Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
The next day we packed up, returned to our hotel in the Jeep, had a shower and breakfast and walked to the bus stand to get a bus to Pokhara.
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