Hi all! In Kerala at the moment, so breaking this into two separate sections... the rest of our trip in Nepal and then our journey forward in Kerala. So, we caught a bus about an hour out of Pokhara to do our white water journey... there we needed to wait for others who booked in for the same adventure... the main road that the white water runs along connects Pokhara with Kathmandu... it is a narrow road that frequently gets traffic jams if a truck breaks down... the others were around 3 or 4 hours late as we found out later that a truck driver ran off the side of the road and all six people onboard were killed.
So, when the others arrived we got straight into it... I have never seen Davey laugh and smile so much on this trip as he did out there... my crazy little Croat! It was awesome fun!! Davey was sitting at the front of the raft as it needed a bit of manpower, he was fully getting into it and nearly feel out several times. I was sitting behind him so kept grabbing him so he wouldn't. He told me to let him go as he wanted to fall out and go down the rapids on his own! My crazy, crazy lil Croat! Anyway, it was really good and we were eager to camp on the beach for the night before continuing our journey. Mr Kumar, our guide, was waiting for us at the top wringing his hands as Davey and I were telling him how much fun we had and how we couldn't wait for more the next day when he said that there was a problem. He said that there was a "bandh" or as we call it, a strike, also common in Nepal, and no one would be driving the next day. No buses, no cars, no nothing. We would be stranded after white water rafting was over. We were so disappointed! But what can you do?! So we got a private car out straight away to Chitwan National Park to spend the extra day there.
We stayed at Baghmara resort... it was okay. The food was the equivalent given by a hospital, but the rooms were nice and clean. The next day we went on a dugout boat safari and saw a few crocodiles! We then went to the elephant captivity centre. I was really looking forward to this but ended up being pretty disturbed by what I saw. The elephants were chained up, and looked sad. It's hard to picture this magnificent creature not having the room to move about freely, it was also heartbreaking to see the baby elephants rocking backwards and forwards with vacant expressions in their eyes... definately not natural.
So we then had a rest before going on our jeep safari in the afternoon... it was pretty good! Probably about the closest thing to an african safari that Davey and I would do! There are around 92 wild Bengal tigers in the reserve, we didn't see any but walked through smelly mud to see one of the most incredible things! A one-horned rhinocerous with it's mother. Junior was massive! Davey was making Davey noises to get it's attention which made our guide pretty nervous! I was looking around figuring how high I could climb the nearest tree! Apparently they're extremely quick and, obviously, heavy footed. Not something you really want to experience! We also saw a wild elephant! Now that was a magnificent sight! Incredibly majestic as he dusted himself by the side of the river! We were extremely happy to see this!
The next day we went on an elephant safari! We were told by other tourists that 6.00 am was the best time to go, but our hotel guide said that 8.00 am was the best time. So glad we listened to him! All the other tourists were coming back by the time we got to the elephant safari so we had it all to ourselves! We also got "Moti"... the king of the elephants! He's the biggest male elephant in Chitwan in captivity at 10 feet tall. His ridr, Ali, would tell him off every time he got too boisterous! He would raise his trunk in the air and blow a trumpet-like call through the jungle! Because elephants are quieter than jeeps, and also in their natural surroundings, it gives a better opportunity of viewing wildlife up close. We saw another mother and baby rhino resting in a waterhole, langurs (monkeys), jumping from tree to tree and the spotted deer right next to us! It's also very peaceful being on top with the steady trod of the elephant making it's way through his domain.
The afternoon we had to ourselves so Davey said... "let's go on a couple of bikes!". Sounds like fun, yes? No! The dirt road into town was filled with rocks and the temperature was forty and humid! I resisted, Davey persisted.... Davey won (darn!). But it was fun getting down there, despite overheating and using a whole bottle of mineral water to splash myself down with to feel semi-normal! They had huts down by the riverside to rest under and get a beer, or any other beverage, and street dogs (all of them real mongrels over here) playing together along the river! We enjoyed watching them as they frollicked about in the mud.
The journey back wasn't as enjoyable for Davey as he started to feel his gluttonous maximus giving him a hard time! Serves him right. But all in all, was much fun! The next day back to Kathmandu where we shopped plenty and ate heaps of momos as it was our last oppourtunity (love those momos) and then said a sad goodbye to our guides and organisers at Himalaya Envpro before heading back to Delhi... they certainly made our trip in Nepal special! It was so nice to have everything done for us, and they did it in just a gentle and friendly way. We are planning on coming back again to do Everest base camp... now that we have done Annapurna, we know that we can conquer Everest as well!
