After our trek we arrived back in Pokhara and then traveled on to the Chitwan National Park. We had an eventful journey there as there was a road block on one of the main roads. This had been set up by some villagers because some children had been hit by a bus and their parents wanted compensation. So this led to a long negotiation between the police and the locals before the traffic was allowed to move again.
Chitwan is a National Park known for it’s Wild Elephants, Tigers and Rhinoceros, and it’s possible to go on foot into the park to find the animals. You have to take two guides, one to tell you what you’re looking at and one with a big stick to fend off animals that might want you for lunch. We didn’t see any of the large creatures, but we did see lots of birds, some of them very beautiful. Also at Chitwan is an Elephant Breeding Center, where you can meet and touch some of the small ones (see pic), and can also go on Elephant rides, which we know from experience is not a comfortable experience, but very worth while as we did see rare Asian Rhinos out in the forest. For some reason they don’t mind being surrounded by Elephants as they’re used to them, even though they have contraptions full of tourists on their backs.
From Chitwan we headed to Katmandu, a very nice city but very like India it’s become very hectic with lots of motorbikes charging through the streets. We were there on the weekend of Holi, a Hindu festival. During this festival people throw water and paint at each other (we’re not sure why) and this is a license for youths to go around and cause mayhem. All day you have to avoid paint and water (some of it thrown off the tops of buildings in plastic bags) and it all gets very wearing. As most things are shut, most tourists’ shelter in their rooms until it’s all over, although a few enter into the spirit of things and get completely covered in paint.
To read more on Nepal, click here. Click here to see our pictures.
From Katmandu, we flew to Calcutta, one of our favourite Indian cities, where we spent a few days. This hasn’t changed that much, rickshaw men still pull people through the streets and there are still families living in makeshift tents on the pavements.
For the last few weeks of our trip we decided to go back to Goa for some sea and sun. We flew there on one of India’s new start up airlines, Kingfisher, which is owned by a brewing company. This has to be one of the best flights we’d been on for years, real luxury when you compare it to what you get in Europe these days, a very pleasant experience.
In Goa we have been relaxing on Anyuna beach, watching the sun go down and planning our return to the UK. We shall be heading back to Delhi for a few days before flying back to London on March 30th. Two years to the day from when we first set off on our journey. See you all soon.
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