Chitwan-dering

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AKA Travelling! #4: Chitwan, Nepal

Day 4: Driving through the hills, cricket, large animals, traditional dance, and food

The next day, we headed off to Chitwan early in the morning after saying a fond farewell to Kathmandu.  We were lead by a new tour guide that would be travelling with us all the way to Pokhara, Raz.  He was ready to tell us everything about Nepal, and our driver was ready to get us everywhere.  I can't really express how amazing the views were on our drive, and I'm not sure my pictures do it justice either.  We drove along the side of a river with huge mountains (or as the Nepali would call them, hills) on either side, terraces carved out of their sides wherever possible for farming.  Occasionally there were catwalk-style suspension bridges at least 200ft long stretched across the river, and at this time of year with maybe a tenth of the water in the river, they were about 50-75ft above the ground.  There were also little cages strung on wires across the river for pulling stuff or people across.  Needless to say, I was glued to the window for the whole ride.

Chitwan is a bit different than much of Nepal.  It is in the southern part of the country where the ground is flatter and the temperatures are higher.  This makes it actually a bit of a jungle, with elephants and rhinos and unglimpsible  tigers.  After settling into our hotel (putting down our stuff and playing cricket with a couple Nepali kiddos) and eating lunch (our fellow guests were all Chinese, the new year is prime travel season for them), we headed out for a hike and a sunset viewing.  We saw our first elephants -- the males are only used for breeding so we saw them at their posts.  After some awesome field, jungle, and river scenery, we ran into our first RHINO!  It was hanging out on a riverbed while flocks of tourists came from all directions to take pictures.  Eventually it clambered up the bank, sending people running, but luckily we hadn't annoyed it enough for it to charge.  We kept walking to a riverside restaurant where we relaxed and watched the sun go down.

After eating at the hotel (including buff -- water buffalo, as they don't eat beef -- which was really tasty), Uncle Simon and Haejung 이모 went to bed, but the three of us were treated to a traditional dance show.  This consisted of a group of young men dancing around in a circle, hitting wooden things in time to the drummer and singer.  For the last dance we all joined in, trying to copy the movements of the dance troupe guy in front of us.  It was one of those great moments where I realize I'm doing something I would be really embarrassed to do at home in the US, but that's the magic of a YAV year!

Day 5: Elephant ride, three strange noises, canoeing and crocodiles, jungle walk, and food

The next day was the biggest tourist day for us.  First up, elephant ride!!  We took a jeep from our hotel, and sure enough, when we got there, there was a whole row of elephants waiting to accept passengers from raised platforms next to them.  Haejung 이모, the Annas, and I climbed onto one.  Uncle Simon took the next elephant, the plan being that he would get pictures of us that way.  The plan immediately failed, as our elephant driver started us off, leaving Uncle Simon behind with an elephant waiting for more passengers.  Right away I noticed the first strange noise (of three) of the day: elephant rumble.  It seems to come from deep in the elephant somewhere and sounds like a mix between a T-rex growl and some kind of engine.  I never figured out what caused it, only that it happened more often when we were stopped.

Riding on an elephant is peaceful, a little uncomfortable, and fun.  Crossing a river was especially cool -- my ATV is an elephant!  On the other side we struck out on our own into the jungle, coming across some deer in the underbrush, monkeys in the trees, and peacocks in a clearing.  The sound a peacock makes is the second weird noise of the day, maybe you have already heard it at a zoo, but I hadn't!  The peacock leans down, straightening its body into a line, and lets out a noise best described as about a 7.5 on a scale of goose honk to mac truck horn.

Our driver got wind of some rhinos, so we headed off to see them, running into Uncle Simon's elephant on the way!  The plan was a success after all!  It turned out there were two rhinos already ringed by tourist elephants and seemingly resigned to being gawked at for the afternoon.  We joined the circle for some choice photographs, and then headed back out of the jungle as the rhinos gave up and lay down for a nap.

That afternoon we went on our jungle walk, which actually started out with an hour-long canoe ride down the river.  The canoes were interesting; they were each carved out of a single tree trunk, with platforms on each end for the guide to stand and pole the canoe along (the water doesn't get more than waist deep).  As we float along in the peaceful, sunny warmth, our guide starts pointing out crocodile holes.  Then holes with crocs in them, hissing at us as we pass.  Then bigger crocs on the bank, then bigger crocs, then two different kinds, then even bigger ones, and on and on!  So yeah, we didn't rock the boat.

Next on our walk was the actual jungle walk.  We some deer that our Chinese counterparts couldn't get enough of, but the high point was definitely the lake at the end of the hike.  It was beautiful, with some sort of pink water plant and extremely calm water.  It's also where we saw our last rhino, bathing in the middle of the lake.  We headed back to the hotel and finished up the day by doing some shopping and show and tell with Haejung 이모.

Day 6: Bird-watching, animal sightings, leaving for Lumbini, and food

The next morning was our last in Chitwan.  We got up (very) early to go bird-watching with Buddha (the owner of our hotel), before eating breakfast and leaving for Lumbini.  We didn't really see many interesting birds (sorry Judy), but I did get some neat morning fog pictures, so it was worth it.

Animal counts as we left Chitwan: (Many means more than 10)

Chickens	Many	Oxen	Many
Ducks	Many	Water Buffalo	Many
Small finchy-type birds	Many	Storks	1
Stray dogs	Many	Owned dogs	3
Cats	2	Crocodiles	Many
Rhinos	4	Elephants	Many
Cows	Many	Teal-backed Kingfisher	1
Deer	Many	Eagle	1
Goats	Many	Tigers	0

After bird-watching, it was time to say good-bye to Chitwan towards Lumbini!

To turn north to the mountains -- you know, the Himalayas -- Click here: And now, for the rest of the Nepal story...