Chitwan National Park
I just arrived back in Kathmandu this afternoon (Saturday, 9 December) after spending 5 days relaxing and "safari-ing" in Chitwan National Park in southern Nepal. Here is a summary...
Monday, 4 December:
Took the bus in the morning from Kathmandu to Sauraha, the main village just outside (north) of Chitwan. Checked into great little guesthouse right on the Rapti River. Went to explore the village. While exploring the village, I ran into a French guy that was looking for people to join a jeep safari on Wednesday. Kept the idea in the back of my mind as I tried to plan what 'activities' I want to do in and around the park.
Tuesday, 5 December:
I decided not to do anything the first day due to a little 'catch' they have with the *daily* entrance fee to the park, so I spent the day relaxing. As I was wandering into the village I saw some elephants heading for the river and relized it was time for the elephant bathing. People can get into the river and ride/play on the elephants as they squirt you with water through their snout - I was content just to watch however. Elephants are simply amazing creatures! They really look like dinosaurs with their slow, rolling gait. I decided to go on the jeep safari the following day so I went to book that trip. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in the guest house's hammock by the river. The temperature was perfect, and not hot like I was expecting. There also really weren't many mosquitoes contrary to what I read in my guidebook.
Wednesday, 6 December:
By 7:30 AM we were taking wooden canoe ferrys across the river to meet our jeep on the other side. By 8 AM nine of us plus our guide and driver were crammed into the 'jeep' (no roof) and headed off into the park in search of wildlife. The very first animal we saw was a 'red jungle cock' which despite my initial assumption that is was a sexually transmitted disease, turned out in fact to be a wild chicken. Then we saw, in order, peacocks (lots), spotted deer, barking deer, sambar deer, crocodiles (aka; 'marsh mugger'), 'one horned Indian rhinos' (partially obscured and from across a small lake), langur monkeys, storks, an eagle, wild bores, and numerous smaller birds. It was an amazing trip and we arrived back in the village at 6 PM. I didn't see any Bengal tigers, leopards, or sloth bears though. Can't win them all. It was crazy to see a peacock fly; that is a huge bird!! Then we all went out for a 3-hour long dinner. Good times. During dinner I was talking to a Dutch couple and we found out that we were on the same flight to Bangkok on 13 December. Small world eh!
Thursday, 7 December:
Again I watched the elephant bathing in the morning and in the afternoon I went on an 'elephant safari'. This is one of the most popular activities in Chitwan. 4 of us crammed into a wooden platform strapped to the back of an elephant, and the driver\trainer sat in front of the platform. The 1.5 hour journey started with great success. Not 10 minutes after leaving a small village, we saw a mother and baby rhino drinking at a small pond. We were perhaps 50 feet from it. That was pretty cool. Then we saw the standard fare of peacocks, birds, and deer, before getting a good look at another crocodile. Then we saw a whole heard (10) of peacocks. That was a cool experience, but as I discovered when I rode an elephant in Thailand, I really don't like riding on elephants! Frankly I find it a bit scary and at the very least, quite uncomfortable. That evening I had dinner with a Dutch girl, Nadia, and her mom, Anya, whom I met at my guesthouse.
Friday, 8 December:
Up until Thursday afternoon, I had planned to head back to Kathmandu on Friday, but I really wasn't ready to leave the relaxed atmosphere so I stayed another day with no particular plans for that last day. Friday morning I rented another piece-of-shit bike and rode the 10 or 15 minutes to the elephant breeding center. The problem with the bike this time was the seat and seat post weren't tight so once I hit the bumpy dirt road my seat tilted back at a 45 degree angle which is actually really painful!! But my shitty biking experiences aside, the breeding center was cool. Lots of mother elephants with their babies. And they even had a new born elephant that was 11 days old and still wobbly walking around. Funny little (relatively speaking) creature. Then I took the bike back and ditched it before going to catch the end of the elephant bathing (again). Spent the rest of the day reading and sleeping in the hammock by the river. Had dinner with Nadia and Anya again that evening.
Saturday, 9 December:
Took the bus back to Kathmandu. All bus rides in Nepal seem to take 6-8 hours and cost $5 regardless of the actualy mileage covered...
Monday, 4 December:
Took the bus in the morning from Kathmandu to Sauraha, the main village just outside (north) of Chitwan. Checked into great little guesthouse right on the Rapti River. Went to explore the village. While exploring the village, I ran into a French guy that was looking for people to join a jeep safari on Wednesday. Kept the idea in the back of my mind as I tried to plan what 'activities' I want to do in and around the park.
Tuesday, 5 December:
I decided not to do anything the first day due to a little 'catch' they have with the *daily* entrance fee to the park, so I spent the day relaxing. As I was wandering into the village I saw some elephants heading for the river and relized it was time for the elephant bathing. People can get into the river and ride/play on the elephants as they squirt you with water through their snout - I was content just to watch however. Elephants are simply amazing creatures! They really look like dinosaurs with their slow, rolling gait. I decided to go on the jeep safari the following day so I went to book that trip. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in the guest house's hammock by the river. The temperature was perfect, and not hot like I was expecting. There also really weren't many mosquitoes contrary to what I read in my guidebook.
Wednesday, 6 December:
By 7:30 AM we were taking wooden canoe ferrys across the river to meet our jeep on the other side. By 8 AM nine of us plus our guide and driver were crammed into the 'jeep' (no roof) and headed off into the park in search of wildlife. The very first animal we saw was a 'red jungle cock' which despite my initial assumption that is was a sexually transmitted disease, turned out in fact to be a wild chicken. Then we saw, in order, peacocks (lots), spotted deer, barking deer, sambar deer, crocodiles (aka; 'marsh mugger'), 'one horned Indian rhinos' (partially obscured and from across a small lake), langur monkeys, storks, an eagle, wild bores, and numerous smaller birds. It was an amazing trip and we arrived back in the village at 6 PM. I didn't see any Bengal tigers, leopards, or sloth bears though. Can't win them all. It was crazy to see a peacock fly; that is a huge bird!! Then we all went out for a 3-hour long dinner. Good times. During dinner I was talking to a Dutch couple and we found out that we were on the same flight to Bangkok on 13 December. Small world eh!
Thursday, 7 December:
Again I watched the elephant bathing in the morning and in the afternoon I went on an 'elephant safari'. This is one of the most popular activities in Chitwan. 4 of us crammed into a wooden platform strapped to the back of an elephant, and the driver\trainer sat in front of the platform. The 1.5 hour journey started with great success. Not 10 minutes after leaving a small village, we saw a mother and baby rhino drinking at a small pond. We were perhaps 50 feet from it. That was pretty cool. Then we saw the standard fare of peacocks, birds, and deer, before getting a good look at another crocodile. Then we saw a whole heard (10) of peacocks. That was a cool experience, but as I discovered when I rode an elephant in Thailand, I really don't like riding on elephants! Frankly I find it a bit scary and at the very least, quite uncomfortable. That evening I had dinner with a Dutch girl, Nadia, and her mom, Anya, whom I met at my guesthouse.
Friday, 8 December:
Up until Thursday afternoon, I had planned to head back to Kathmandu on Friday, but I really wasn't ready to leave the relaxed atmosphere so I stayed another day with no particular plans for that last day. Friday morning I rented another piece-of-shit bike and rode the 10 or 15 minutes to the elephant breeding center. The problem with the bike this time was the seat and seat post weren't tight so once I hit the bumpy dirt road my seat tilted back at a 45 degree angle which is actually really painful!! But my shitty biking experiences aside, the breeding center was cool. Lots of mother elephants with their babies. And they even had a new born elephant that was 11 days old and still wobbly walking around. Funny little (relatively speaking) creature. Then I took the bike back and ditched it before going to catch the end of the elephant bathing (again). Spent the rest of the day reading and sleeping in the hammock by the river. Had dinner with Nadia and Anya again that evening.
Saturday, 9 December:
Took the bus back to Kathmandu. All bus rides in Nepal seem to take 6-8 hours and cost $5 regardless of the actualy mileage covered...
posted by Dustin at 7:21 AM
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