Team Cooper - Chitwan National Park

So after our epic trek, we figured that we'd finish off this adventure with some fun in the jungle.
We are on our way to Chitwan National Park and the roads are mental!! On the highway and the lorries just go anywhere they want...and there are huge craters in the road with very steep drops surrounding us. I definitely think we'll be thinking twice before we moan about the roads at home again. Haha.

Everything is so stoury as well, with every tree covered in dust. It was sad to say goodbye to our group last night, after what we've accomplished over these last few weeks, it was definitely a case of making friends for life...and thankfully social networking makes this so much easier. We now have a guy from Australia with us for this next part of our adventure.

At one point en route to Chitwan, our car stopped as there was a broken lorry or an accident...which is very common. Which is so easy to understand given the state of the roads. With the sun getting high in the sky, and the temperature rising...the car is getting very warm and stuffy.

 

 

 

After about six hours drive we leave the Nepal - Indian highway and head left towards Chitwan.

 

We arrived at the lodge that we are to be staying in for the next couple of days just on the outskirts of Chitwan National Park We made it in good time for lunch, which was perfect as we were feeling rather peckish.  It was quite relaxing just to sit and chill and learn a little about Chitwan, its a shame we are not allowed to stay inside the park which was the original plan.

We stayed here till 3pm before heading out to go on a tour of the village where we leaned about the local people and their culture.  It's sad to say that their culture is disappearing, despite the fact that they still live in clay huts.  

 

 

 

On the clay walls around the doors, you can see the markings from last years Diwali celebrations ( Hindus in Nepal celebrate the Diwali festival with bright lights, gift exchanges, fireworks, and elaborate feasts to welcome Lakshmi, the goddess of light and wealth. This year it will be celebrated on 13th Nov)

The entrance to the left is the kitchen and the small hole is where chickens stay.

 

  

Inside the kitchen there is no smell of animals, and this young girl was happy to let me see inside.

As you can see very basic, but clean. Evening meal is being prepared.

All the young ones help in the daily chores. This girl showed me how they husk the rice after drying.

They were very inquisitive  about Alistair

 

After walking through the village, looking at crops etc we headed down to the river and sat with a beer as the sun set before heading back for our evening meal.  Watching the sun set in such a beautiful and peaceful place was an amazing experience.  

We then headed back through the dark to the lodge where our evening meal would soon be ready before the evening show of dancers.

 

We sat and chatted to an American couple and enjoyed a pleasant evening with them just listening to all the wonderful sounds of the jungle that surrounded us before heading off to bed at 9.50pm.

Friday morning, its 7am and time for a shower...which sprays pretty much anywhere apart from the body

Breakfast is at 7.30am before we head off on our Elephant Safari at 8am...something we've really been looking forward too. :)

Its a short drive down to where we meet our elephant, we share a mini bus with a very excited crowd of Chinese people with all their camera gear.

We are put with our elephant with an American couple, as there is 4 people per elephant.

It was amazing being up close and personal with an elephant, but a bit uncomfortable at first, which one would expect...but you soon get used to it. :)

We see so many different animals, and it's so amazing to see them all in their natural habitat. Animals that we saw included monkey's, deer, crocodiles and birds.

We then go down the river ( where crocodiles doze) to where the elephants get bathed...to then get bathed by the elephants, something that they really do seem to enjoy!! :) It was fun, as you can see from the expression on my face, haha, and I got soaked right though. Good thing it's so warm.

We stay here for a while before going back to the lodge to have a shower

(although I think the elephant gave a better shower than the actual shower!!) and to dry before lunch and afternoon trip in a dugout canoe on the Rapti River, also a trek through jungle in the hope of seeing one horn rhino etc.

 

 

The canoe trip was great but to prevent boat tipping you had to be very still and the little wooden seats were hard. Our guide was very good at spotting many birds and able to tell us about them.

Our walk through the jungle was hot and humid, lots of termite hills and tracks. There was a couple of noisy groups ahead which spoilt the chance of seeing the larger animals.

Our guide suggested we stay back later to see if we would be lucky (A group the day before saw many) we stayed till the light started disapearing and only sign of rhino was a pile of dung and scent of urine.

We headed back in the very limited light to the elephant nursery where not only did we see elephants of different ages, we saw wild boar. After this visit we head back for dinner and chill, before bed.

 

 

 

Well its Saturday morning and we have early morning call for breakfast. We are leaving at 7.45 to head back to Kathmandu and our flight home this evening. After breakfast we say thank you and farewell to the staff.

Our journey goes well for the first few hour with some good views.

 

Being in Kathmandu we have certainly learned just how things really do just go with the flow...although we wish that the traffic flowed just a little bit smoother.

Traffic jams are something that is part of day to day living here....which was a bit of a nightmare when we got stuck in one on our way to Kathmandu after leaving Chitwan. We got stuck in a MAJOR jam about 20km from Kathmandu with the traffic all the way to the city. This was not good when we only had 6 hours before our flight and our cases were still at the hotel and weren't packed...nor had we checked in to the airport. EEP!! The police informed us that there was a very long wait and that we were on the only road!!

 

After about 3 hours we reach the outskirts of Kathmandu, but find the traffic goes all the way to the center. On hearing this our driver decides to go the back roads to save time. It also gives us views of people working in the fields.

 

 

 

 

We pass Swayambhunath temple popularly known worldwide as the  Monkey Temple

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thankfully though, after this little blast of stress, we made it in time. I guess people go through this all the time when visiting Kathmandu, and I suppose it's just normal for the people who live here!!
We arrive at the Raddison where I shower repack cases before leaving for airport.
I'm sad our adventure is over, but not to leave the dirty, noisy city of Kathmandu

We arrive to the very busy airport in plenty of time to do a bit of shopping and some coffee.

Hope you have enjoyed following our adventure, thanks for reading