Day 41 & 42 (Chitwan)

I think that Chitwan may well be the place on the trip that I've felt most at ease and most relaxed so far, which is strange as it's where I started to be pretty ill (normally that'd be a major demerit for a place).

We arrived in the early afternoon having driven through some of the most phenomonally beautiful landscape I've ever witnessed on the way from Lumbini. On arrival at our digs for the night we were greeted by a mahoot with his elephant who greedily chomped on the bananas that Kim had picked up for us to have a go at feeding them with. The animal was huge, but so cute! I was nervous about handing over the banana but didn't get much choice when the trunk started moving my way when it had smelled out all the others and eaten them. It was one of the weirdest experiences of my life thus far, never in my wildest dreams would I have thought the day would come when I'm feeding an elephant and then patting it's trunk...very bizarre :)

The lodge we stayed in for the two nights was fabulous. We paid $75 per person to go to Chitwan (not quite sure if that was just for the activities and food or if it included our accommodation too – something I will ask about when I get myself a bit more organised). They had a raised bar / restaurant area that was like a tree-house for adults and the rooms were spacious enough to hang washing and have our bags strewn all over the place. The food they laid on for us was top class, very tasty and plentiful, nobody was going to go hungry there. On the rooftop of the building we were staying in there was a paved area for sunbathing, but it was way too hot to lie out for too long. I tried to give it 10 minutes to dry out after our activities but I was burning up after 5 and had to head back inside.

Activity wise we had a lot of stuff on, all of it was excellent and went a long way to easing the annoyance at the Corbett Tiger Reserve having been cut from the itinerary. After we'd settled into our rooms and the elephant had left we met with two local guides who took us out to see the village and show us the ways of Tharu life. One of them was pretty quite so I stuck with the other, Gopal for the most part so I'd get to see and learn as much as possible. He showed us native plants, animals, insects etc before taking us to the Tharu Museum to explain the history and the culture of the people and the Chitwan area. I saw a traditional stove (nothing like we use at home), a mousetrap and a whole lot more besides – what struck me was the simplicity of everything. The mousetrap was a piece of bamboo sealed at one end with a piece of string that catches the mouse once it walks in far enough..so simple it was crazy! The tour also took us into the houses of some of the locals to see how they actually live and we chatted to some of them before seeing their handicrafts (that I got sucked into buying of course!). From there we moved on up to the riverbank where the majority of the crew had been sitting for a while taking advantage of the happy hour in one of the bars there. Apparently shortly before we arrived one of the crocodiles in the river had eaten a dog who got a bit too close to the bank...this was the river we were to canoe in before washing the elephants the next day!

We went to see the local cultural programme where the men of the village performed the traditional stick dance..it was amazing. It reminded me a lot of Stomp the musical because the had so few instruments on the stage and were using their sticks to make the beat for the most part. I took lots of video clips and will post one if I can figure out how :) Then at the end they invited the audience to join them on stage, so yours truly (with an amount of rum and coke in her system) jumped up and started dancing like a crazy lady. Funny sight since I don't normally dance...it was brilliant craic and I was having so much fun I even broke out the D'unbelievables dance and got some of the others in the crowd to join in. After the music stopped and we were getting ready to leave, Sara and I wanted picture with the dancers so climbed back on stage. Then the encore dancing started with Una, April and I getting paired off and being spun around the dance floor. Quite the work out..and such great fun!

The next morning we were up early doors to get out onto the river in some wooden canoes. The guides were pointing things out as we went – I saw crocodiles, kingfishers, monkeys, deer and fish. Not a bad morning's work. From the canoe we trekked on foot through the jungle, again listening to Gopal talk about what was around us until we arrived at the elephant breeding centre. Here we fed the baby elephants and got up close and personal with them. They can pack away a lot of biscuits and aren't afraid to go sniffing them out let me tell ya! After that we went to bathe with the elephants in the river...now that was a pretty funky time. We had to climb from the bank of the river onto the elephant's back by stepping on their heads..then sit down until we were out in the water. When there a good portion of the crew stood up on the elephant's backs..I was too scared I'd loose my balance and fall off so stayed happily planted on it's back with my hand wedged in the rope around it's neck to hold me in place...or so I thought. After spraying us continually for a few minutes the elephant decided to lie down in the water sending Todd and I into the water and into the strong current. The mahoot grabbed hold of me and with a bit of effort got me shoved back up onto the elephant...hilarious! Later in the afternoon we went on an elephant back safari through the jungle where we got to see wild rhino and deer. There was a snake in one of the trees that we passed, but thankfully I didn't see it :)

Our final night in Chitwan passed in a blur of trips to the bathroom for me. I should really just have taken up camp on the floor in there but I hoped it was a temporary thing so struggled on...you'll find out what was wrong in the Pokhara installment.

So, the Nepalese adventure continues and just keeps getting better..let's see what else it can throw at us :)

For photos from Chitwan click here.