I am now at the end of my journey. It has been one crazy, incredible, unbelievable ride! First, a continuation of how I got to this point…
Hiking back from Pokhara. After a few hours of hiking, we reached the outer limits of the city. First though, we had to cross a river. Unfortunately, the bridge was washed out some time ago, so we had to cross the river. Like, wade through it. Honestly, though, after all that walking in the heat, it felt so refreshing to be in the water. The river wasn’t too deep, coming up to just above my knees, but some parts were fairly fast flowing, so it became a little difficult to walk through. I was one of the first across, so instead of standing on the bank of the river I just stood in it. It felt so nice.
At that point we were nearly at the Tibetan refugee camp, so as tired as we all were we went to visit/walk through it. It was cool, although nothing like what I expected a refugee camp to be. The whole place was open, with stable houses. It was a little difficult when leaving to demarcate the boundaries of the camp itself. After that little jaunt we all caught cabs back to the hotel where I enjoyed a nice, long hot shower that felt oh-so-good. I spent most of the day in my room, as I apparently missed out on the spa trip.
That night I went out to dinner with Keesler, Dee, and Ashe at some restaurant along the lake that was playing live music. It was fun, with some good conversation. Mostly though, it felt nice to relax with friends.
The following morning we got up early in the morning to depart for Chitwan. Again, we loaded up the bus and piled in. It was a long drive to Chitwan, although luckily we didn’t run into any landslides, bandhs, or anything else that would impede our travel. About time! The driver kept the A/C on most of the way, which made it a shock when we finally got out of the bus and were metaphorically bitch-slapped by the humidity (heat too, but mostly humidity).
One thing I must say- Chitwan was so much different from the rest of the country that I’ve seen so far, or at least seemed that way. Houses were still pretty basic, but larger than what we’ve seen in passing through villages. Also, they’re spread out. A final thing is that it’s so flat. I’ve been so used to being in the mountains and hills, it was a shock to get to the Tarai and have everything smoothed out.
So, once we unloaded the bus the hotel staff loaded it into a boat, which we had to take across the river to get to the resort. I was a little concerned as the wall of the boat didn’t come high enough up for my tastes. A couple of times I thought we were going to tip so far that water would start coming into the boat. Thankfully, though, we made it across without incident.
The Chitwan trip was so relaxing, I don’t think I opened my computer once (ok, I opened it twice, but just so Ashok and Kashish could read over my article). We had things planned, but didn’t officially have to do any of it. And in our free time we mostly hung out at the bar, talking or sleeping or playing cards (once someone found a deck).
A little while after we arrived at the resort, we met to go on our elephant ride. Nearly everyone went- it was so much fun. I will admit though, it got a little crazy at times. Our elephant driver took us through a lot of dense jungle areas with some very prickly bushes/trees/etc. I got a number of scratches, not to mention a nice tear in my pants. At least I made out better than Martin, who lost a shoe. I’m starting to think Nepal is just a shoe-killer. I think the loss of Martin’s shoe was the 4th or 5th one that we as a group lost, plus the number of shoes that we found in the river during rafting. We should have kept them all to ensure a steady supply, just in case.
Martin's lost shoe
Dinner was soon after we returned from the elephant ride, and a little while after that we had a cultural program- Tharu dancing. The program was short – only 3 dances – but it was really good. It’s amazing, the dancing reminded me a little of Morris dancing, that I did research on in high school. I think it’s true that dance is the universal language. Common factors in cultural dancing are seen in places as far away as Nepal and England. Towards the end the dancers invited the audience up to join them- of course Dee was the first one out from our group. I even got up for a little bit, although it was a little too long and tiring for me. Plus, I just felt stupid. It was a fun time altogether though.
The next morning we had a (very) early jungle walk, followed by boating. Before the walk our guide gave us a safety briefing on the 3 different types of wildlife we may see- rhinos, sloth bears, and tigers. So, at least now I know what to do in case I ever run into any of those three animals. I think the guide’s description of the sloth bears is the best: “They don’t like human faces so they will maul them.” So reassuring. I think I’d rather have a run-in with a tiger.
Unfortunately (and I think I was the only one that thought so), we didn’t get to see any animals on the walk, which I felt defeated the purpose of it. At least we saw rhinos the day before, and got to see tiger footprints while walking. The boat ride was nice, although basically the same as the ride to the resort. After we got back we ate breakfast, and then went to rest for awhile. I finally got to talk with Ashok and Kashish about my article, so I can work on getting that (finally) published.
After our resting time, we set out to bathe elephants! It was really just more like bathing with elephants, as we didn’t actually do any sort of washing. We went two to an elephant. Eugenia and I were on one elephant. When we got on, the elephant tipped to the side, where I promptly fell off. Eu managed to stay on like a champ. After the elephant stood back up, I was still standing in the water wondering how I was going to get back on. The elephant driver saw me, and motioned that I should get on by grabbing the elephant’s ears and climbing up its trunk. I felt so bad, but the guy was insistent so I did it. The elephant actually boosted me up once I put my front on its trunk.
Me and Eu on the elephant
Watching everyone else was absolutely hilarious. Martin and Ashe went together, and made absolutely ridiculous elephant trunks for themselves (with their arms, of course). Everyone was screaming, laughing, and having a good time. We hung out in the water for a little bit after the elephants left (and once the piles of elephant poop floated by), where Ashok (who else?) started a splash fight. I think that was the most fun I’ve had so far.
The rest of the day was spent showering, playing cards, and relaxing. After nightfall Dee brought out a couple bottles of wine, one from the resort and one she bought in Pokhara. The wine from Pokhara was quite interesting. The label was all in Nepali, so Kashish translated for us. It was so crazy- about having a juicy and moist heart, and some other crazy stuff that had absolutely nothing to do with the wine. It may be for a reason- to distract the person from noticing just how weird the wine is. Everyone had their own opinion, but I think it smelled (and tasted) like a combination of apples and barbeque sauce. Weirdest wine ever.
