The view from my hotel room balcony.
Getting off the elephant was a tad bit tricky – but look how cute he is!
The kids I played “crocodile and fish” with in the river.
The little sisters of my friend Santosh, whose Tharu home I visited.I have now been in Kathmandu for two days. It’s good to be back to the place where I first started to discover Nepali culture, but at the same time, my side-trip to Chitwan National Park in the south of Nepal was so great that it was quite hard to leave.
I left Pokhara on Thursday on a 7:30am bus. It was an anti-climatic departure from my family because it was so early and I was running late. It was probably also not as difficult as I would have thought because I know that I will see them again.
Anyway, I took a 5 hour bus to a town called Sauraha, which is on the northern border of the national park. My friend Prasanna and his brother met me there (they went by motorcycle) – I was so happy to have them because as soon as I got off the bus I was swarmed by people wanting me to come to their hotels. I was also happy I could speak even a little bit of Nepali because they left me alone to a much greater degree than anyone else.
Prasanna randomly chose one hotel, but it turned out to be the absolute best choice. We were given what we believe to be the BEST room in the entire town of Sauraha because we had a private balcony with a gorgeous view of the river and the jungle behind that. It was also a west-facing room, which meant that I was able to watch gorgeous sunsets each night.
After having lunch, we decided to go for a little walk in the jungle. This was made a little complicated by the fact that you need to have two guides with you and a park entry pass in order to step into the forest. The walk itself was interesting. At the fringes, the greenery looks very similar to forests you’d find in Ontario or Northern Illinois, so that wasn’t terribly exciting. But the sheer fact that, at any moment, I could come face to face with such ferocious beasts as tigers and rhinos certainly added an element of excitement that is not present during walks in Lake Forest’s “forests”. I remember three specific things about my walk:
1) There were these bright red-colored cotton bugs that covered the ground of the jungle – so much so that I felt like I had to look down at all times in order not to step on them, and that mildly hindered my ability to spot rhinos.
2) The buzzing of various insects was so intensely overwhelming that I at once thought that my ears would fall off and also that I was slowly going crazy. That helped me remember that jungles aren’t actually like the romantic, comfortable places that we imagine them to be. I was perfectly UNcomfortable during my walk, and that made me happy.
3) Our guide was perfect – he would frequently stop in his tracks to listen to the sounds of the jungle, or would climb trees to see if he could spot any predators. We rarely stayed on the path which was great, though I wished I hadn’t worn my flip flops!
After our jungle walk, we watched our first glorious sunset. Then we rented bikes and started to explore the surrounding villages. Bike riding is almost ideal here because of the breeze, the flat landscape, and the interesting sights – I just wish the roads were a tad bit less bumpy! I was so happy on that bike ride, though, especially because the sky was looking very crazy – a thunderstorm was brewing. And in fact we did see lightning later on.
The next day was Friday and we had booked an elephant ride so we had to wake up at about 5:30am. The elephant and his “mahout” (trainer) came to pick us up and we started our jungle ride. It was pretty uncomfortable on there because a) 4 people are stuffed in a basket with out legs dangling out, and b) an elephant’s stride is so large that he shifts greatly from side to side, making our ride very bumpy. Nonetheless, it was cool to sit up there and be able to get a different view of the jungle. I saw lots of birds, could see far off into the distance at clearing, and fearlessly covered a large part of the jungle. We also saw crocodiles sunning themselves on the side of the river and a peacock trying to find a mate by calling out in a very strange and obnoxious way. My friends complained that we didn’t see any rhinos or tigers, but I was actually quite content with our morning ride. I do, however, not know exactly how I feel about using the elephant like we do – they have to walk all day long in the heat, and the mahouts whack them pretty hard…
It was about 10am when we came back from our jungle ride, and Prasanna took me on an exhilarating motorcycle ride to a town about 20 minutes away. I am usually scared of motorcycles, but this ride was so pleasant, with the sun out, the towns gliding by me, and the breeze in my hair – I felt truly alive and began to wonder why I should leave that day on the 2pm bus.
By the time we’d gotten back from our ride, I had decided to spend one more night in Chitwan. I was in no hurry to get to Kathmandu, so even though the boys were going to leave that afternoon I would stay by myself.
After lunch that day, Prasanna’s brother and I decided to go for an impromptu swim in the river. I’d been talking about it since the day before, because it was so hot and the river was looking quite inviting, but I think I had been partially joking since I had no swimsuit. But we went swimming in our clothes, and I ended up befriending several little Nepali boys who swim there daily (it’s their vacation from school). We started playing “crocodile and fish” – and guess who was the crocodile?
Those kids called me “crocodile” whenever they saw me for the rest of my stay.
My friends left after taking their post-swim showers, and so I went for another bike ride. I rode for two solid hours, exploring the villages, getting a nice workout, and listening to my IPod. I arrived home just in time to catch another gloriously relaxing sunset.
One of the employees of the hotel tried to convince me to go to this Tharu Cultural show (the Tharu people are the main ethnic group of this region) but I explained to him that I was interested in tourist attractions and that if I was to know about a culture, I wanted to see the real thing, firsthand. So he invited me to dinner at his house, which I unfortunately had to decline since I was leaving the next morning. But that got me thinking about if I really HAD to leave the next day…
After dinner and a little stargazing, I hit the sack – after my early morning and my active day, I was beat!
I woke up early on Saturday but stayed in bed listening to the birds all around me. My room was great for that because it had window covering half the wall space, so when they were all open I had a great breeze, great sunlight, and wonderful bird songs one after the other. At that moment, I decided to stay another day. This was a hard decision because my Bhauju was in Kathmandu at the time and wanted me to stay with she and her family until Monday morning, when she left for Pokhara again.
I decided to make Saturday a lazy day. I stayed up on my balcony most of the day. I watched some tourists take baths with the elephants in the river, I watched the kids swim, I read my book, listened to music, slowly breathed in the pure air… I was truly relaxed and content, and wondering why I hadn’t come here earlier.
At about 4pm, my new friend from the hotel came to chat. He told me to come with him, that he wanted to show me the elephant breeding center. So we rented bikes and rode to the center, about 20 minutes away. At the center there were just over 20 elephants – moms and their babies. I spent the next hour petting the baby elephants, feeding them, and getting kisses from their trunks. If you know me well, you know I was COMPLETELY happy and could have stayed there all day. The center is trying increase the number of Asian elephants in the park, because poaching and deforestation have drastically reduced their numbers.
After the elephant breeding center, I went for another bike ride and again made it back for my last sunset, which was gorgeous but melancholic since I knew it would be my last. I tried to soak in the moment so fully so that I never forget it – as I write this, the smells, sights, and feelings come flooding back into me so I guess I did a good job of capturing the moment.
At 7pm my friend (Santosh Chaudhary) took me to his family’s house, about a 10 minute motorcycle ride away. They were so welcoming and nice. They showed me their photo album and their 3-eyed, 2-mouthed baby buffalo (wow, what a sight!). His house is nice for this area, since most houses are one roomed homes made from mud and straw, but it was still basic, with no bathroom and only a manual pump for water outside. We left for a little while to go see that Tharu cultural show, which Santosh kept insisting I HAD to see (some of the dances were actually pretty cool, I admit). Then we returned to the house and ate daal bhaat, which the Tharu people make a little more spicy than other ethnic groups, probably because they’re close to the Indian border so have some of their culinary influence.
That night, I stayed up late, sitting on my balcony and listening to music.
Leaving the next morning by bus was actually sad because I enjoyed my time so fully and I knew that even if I returned I would never have the exact same experience as I had. Nonetheless, my new friend Santosh gave me the business card and promised that if I ever come again to Chitwan, all I have to do is call and he’ll make sure I get that same room with that wonderful balcony. Muna, if you’re reading this, we’re going there OK??
Anyhow, I arrived in Kathmandu on Sunday at about 4pm. I met Bhauju’s family members and spent the evening there eating yummy daal bhaat and relaxing. I really love Bhauju and Dada and only wish I’d spent more time with them in Pokhara. But they will be back in Kathmandu in a few weeks, so I’ll see them again.
Yesterday, my goal of the day was to find a nice hotel for me to stay in for the next month. I think I’ve managed to find it. It’s called the Mustang Holiday Inn and it’s at the fringe of Thamel, the touristy area. It’s a nice location because it’s close to the main road that will take me down to the center of town and up to both Prasanna’s place and Muna’s parents’ home by easy public transportation. Also, it’s not too far into Thamel and is in a quiet back alley, which means I don’t have to deal too much with the shopkeepers unless I choose to go farther into the area. The room itself is large if basic – it seems clean, though. And there is a nice little rooftop terrace for me to sit out in if I want to. All this for the equivalent of $6 CAD – I think I’m set!
It won’t be quite as easy for me to write blog entries for the next month or so, so don’t worry if you don’t hear from me for a little while. I’ll be around, just busy doing other things!!
I left Pokhara on Thursday on a 7:30am bus. It was an anti-climatic departure from my family because it was so early and I was running late. It was probably also not as difficult as I would have thought because I know that I will see them again.
Anyway, I took a 5 hour bus to a town called Sauraha, which is on the northern border of the national park. My friend Prasanna and his brother met me there (they went by motorcycle) – I was so happy to have them because as soon as I got off the bus I was swarmed by people wanting me to come to their hotels. I was also happy I could speak even a little bit of Nepali because they left me alone to a much greater degree than anyone else.
Prasanna randomly chose one hotel, but it turned out to be the absolute best choice. We were given what we believe to be the BEST room in the entire town of Sauraha because we had a private balcony with a gorgeous view of the river and the jungle behind that. It was also a west-facing room, which meant that I was able to watch gorgeous sunsets each night.
After having lunch, we decided to go for a little walk in the jungle. This was made a little complicated by the fact that you need to have two guides with you and a park entry pass in order to step into the forest. The walk itself was interesting. At the fringes, the greenery looks very similar to forests you’d find in Ontario or Northern Illinois, so that wasn’t terribly exciting. But the sheer fact that, at any moment, I could come face to face with such ferocious beasts as tigers and rhinos certainly added an element of excitement that is not present during walks in Lake Forest’s “forests”. I remember three specific things about my walk:
1) There were these bright red-colored cotton bugs that covered the ground of the jungle – so much so that I felt like I had to look down at all times in order not to step on them, and that mildly hindered my ability to spot rhinos.
2) The buzzing of various insects was so intensely overwhelming that I at once thought that my ears would fall off and also that I was slowly going crazy. That helped me remember that jungles aren’t actually like the romantic, comfortable places that we imagine them to be. I was perfectly UNcomfortable during my walk, and that made me happy.
3) Our guide was perfect – he would frequently stop in his tracks to listen to the sounds of the jungle, or would climb trees to see if he could spot any predators. We rarely stayed on the path which was great, though I wished I hadn’t worn my flip flops!
After our jungle walk, we watched our first glorious sunset. Then we rented bikes and started to explore the surrounding villages. Bike riding is almost ideal here because of the breeze, the flat landscape, and the interesting sights – I just wish the roads were a tad bit less bumpy! I was so happy on that bike ride, though, especially because the sky was looking very crazy – a thunderstorm was brewing. And in fact we did see lightning later on.
The next day was Friday and we had booked an elephant ride so we had to wake up at about 5:30am. The elephant and his “mahout” (trainer) came to pick us up and we started our jungle ride. It was pretty uncomfortable on there because a) 4 people are stuffed in a basket with out legs dangling out, and b) an elephant’s stride is so large that he shifts greatly from side to side, making our ride very bumpy. Nonetheless, it was cool to sit up there and be able to get a different view of the jungle. I saw lots of birds, could see far off into the distance at clearing, and fearlessly covered a large part of the jungle. We also saw crocodiles sunning themselves on the side of the river and a peacock trying to find a mate by calling out in a very strange and obnoxious way. My friends complained that we didn’t see any rhinos or tigers, but I was actually quite content with our morning ride. I do, however, not know exactly how I feel about using the elephant like we do – they have to walk all day long in the heat, and the mahouts whack them pretty hard…
It was about 10am when we came back from our jungle ride, and Prasanna took me on an exhilarating motorcycle ride to a town about 20 minutes away. I am usually scared of motorcycles, but this ride was so pleasant, with the sun out, the towns gliding by me, and the breeze in my hair – I felt truly alive and began to wonder why I should leave that day on the 2pm bus.
By the time we’d gotten back from our ride, I had decided to spend one more night in Chitwan. I was in no hurry to get to Kathmandu, so even though the boys were going to leave that afternoon I would stay by myself.
After lunch that day, Prasanna’s brother and I decided to go for an impromptu swim in the river. I’d been talking about it since the day before, because it was so hot and the river was looking quite inviting, but I think I had been partially joking since I had no swimsuit. But we went swimming in our clothes, and I ended up befriending several little Nepali boys who swim there daily (it’s their vacation from school). We started playing “crocodile and fish” – and guess who was the crocodile?
Those kids called me “crocodile” whenever they saw me for the rest of my stay.
My friends left after taking their post-swim showers, and so I went for another bike ride. I rode for two solid hours, exploring the villages, getting a nice workout, and listening to my IPod. I arrived home just in time to catch another gloriously relaxing sunset.
One of the employees of the hotel tried to convince me to go to this Tharu Cultural show (the Tharu people are the main ethnic group of this region) but I explained to him that I was interested in tourist attractions and that if I was to know about a culture, I wanted to see the real thing, firsthand. So he invited me to dinner at his house, which I unfortunately had to decline since I was leaving the next morning. But that got me thinking about if I really HAD to leave the next day…
After dinner and a little stargazing, I hit the sack – after my early morning and my active day, I was beat!
I woke up early on Saturday but stayed in bed listening to the birds all around me. My room was great for that because it had window covering half the wall space, so when they were all open I had a great breeze, great sunlight, and wonderful bird songs one after the other. At that moment, I decided to stay another day. This was a hard decision because my Bhauju was in Kathmandu at the time and wanted me to stay with she and her family until Monday morning, when she left for Pokhara again.
I decided to make Saturday a lazy day. I stayed up on my balcony most of the day. I watched some tourists take baths with the elephants in the river, I watched the kids swim, I read my book, listened to music, slowly breathed in the pure air… I was truly relaxed and content, and wondering why I hadn’t come here earlier.
At about 4pm, my new friend from the hotel came to chat. He told me to come with him, that he wanted to show me the elephant breeding center. So we rented bikes and rode to the center, about 20 minutes away. At the center there were just over 20 elephants – moms and their babies. I spent the next hour petting the baby elephants, feeding them, and getting kisses from their trunks. If you know me well, you know I was COMPLETELY happy and could have stayed there all day. The center is trying increase the number of Asian elephants in the park, because poaching and deforestation have drastically reduced their numbers.
After the elephant breeding center, I went for another bike ride and again made it back for my last sunset, which was gorgeous but melancholic since I knew it would be my last. I tried to soak in the moment so fully so that I never forget it – as I write this, the smells, sights, and feelings come flooding back into me so I guess I did a good job of capturing the moment.
At 7pm my friend (Santosh Chaudhary) took me to his family’s house, about a 10 minute motorcycle ride away. They were so welcoming and nice. They showed me their photo album and their 3-eyed, 2-mouthed baby buffalo (wow, what a sight!). His house is nice for this area, since most houses are one roomed homes made from mud and straw, but it was still basic, with no bathroom and only a manual pump for water outside. We left for a little while to go see that Tharu cultural show, which Santosh kept insisting I HAD to see (some of the dances were actually pretty cool, I admit). Then we returned to the house and ate daal bhaat, which the Tharu people make a little more spicy than other ethnic groups, probably because they’re close to the Indian border so have some of their culinary influence.
That night, I stayed up late, sitting on my balcony and listening to music.
Leaving the next morning by bus was actually sad because I enjoyed my time so fully and I knew that even if I returned I would never have the exact same experience as I had. Nonetheless, my new friend Santosh gave me the business card and promised that if I ever come again to Chitwan, all I have to do is call and he’ll make sure I get that same room with that wonderful balcony. Muna, if you’re reading this, we’re going there OK??
Anyhow, I arrived in Kathmandu on Sunday at about 4pm. I met Bhauju’s family members and spent the evening there eating yummy daal bhaat and relaxing. I really love Bhauju and Dada and only wish I’d spent more time with them in Pokhara. But they will be back in Kathmandu in a few weeks, so I’ll see them again.
Yesterday, my goal of the day was to find a nice hotel for me to stay in for the next month. I think I’ve managed to find it. It’s called the Mustang Holiday Inn and it’s at the fringe of Thamel, the touristy area. It’s a nice location because it’s close to the main road that will take me down to the center of town and up to both Prasanna’s place and Muna’s parents’ home by easy public transportation. Also, it’s not too far into Thamel and is in a quiet back alley, which means I don’t have to deal too much with the shopkeepers unless I choose to go farther into the area. The room itself is large if basic – it seems clean, though. And there is a nice little rooftop terrace for me to sit out in if I want to. All this for the equivalent of $6 CAD – I think I’m set!
It won’t be quite as easy for me to write blog entries for the next month or so, so don’t worry if you don’t hear from me for a little while. I’ll be around, just busy doing other things!!
