Namaste friends! We've been busy, busy, busy since our last post.
After lounging around Pokhara for two weeks (with some intermittent walks and runs), we said goodbye to our friend Prim. Yet another (get that Ron?) waiter who took a shining to Nick. Look at those two fellas linking arms in a common Nepali demonstration of camaraderie. It's quite usual to see grown men in business suites walking down the street, their fingers intertwined.Our guesthouse in Pokhara sold us a tour to Chitwan National Park which included bus tickets on a "tourist" bus. The tourist bus was actually a tourist-local bus, so the door was kept ajar the entire 7 hour trip (brrrr), and the bus stopped for every person waiting on the side of the road, eventually packing the bus quite full. We were introduced to local buses with Sangram and really don't mind them, unless of course we're paying a premium for a "tourist" bus. :) This one made us rethink and take back our earlier complaints about the Kratie bus which is now a Bentley in our minds.
We were happy to see that the guesthouse included with the little trip-package was pretty decent, the staff friendly and the weather warm. As a reward for our butt-numbing buss ride we thought it apt to treat ourselves with some more sitting - this time on our guesthouse balcony. That is, until we heard the buzzing...You know how I feel about flying, stinging insects.
Okay, Nick on the blog now. Ty's tired of writing, so I'm taking over. Tag-team!Day one of our package ("packages" are lame by the way, we're not doing them anymore, that's final) included a guided tour through the Tharu village near the hotel. We thought it was going to be a little boring because the village appeared only to be a string of tourist shops. That is, until we saw our first large mammal! Having never seen a camel, we were struck by how prodigious they are! They rival the height of elephants.
Their fleshy padded hooves remind me of my dad's "paws."
These are pigeon houses. "Why do the Tharu people keep pigeons?"
Well, for food of course! Although not served in restaurants, some people in Nepal buy pigeons from the owner of pigeon coups like this, and will prepare them at home. Yummy.The pigeons can come and go as they please, and have a pretty easy existence here with plenty of food and all the mod-cons, so they keep returning, despite the inevitable and maudlin end to their fowl lives.
In the Thamel district of Kathmandu, shifty-eyed, creepy pot dealers are as ubiquitous as rickshaw drivers. They approach nervously in the dark and speak in a voice that almost feels physically violating. "Hashish, Purple Haze, smooooooooke, fly high in the sky for you?"
Usually a simple but stern, "No thank you, I don't smoke" is enough to abate their attempts. One particularly persistent fellow had quite the strong sale. First, he discredited marijuana as a "real drug" and then went on to list the numerous health benefits which we later de-euphemized to hungry, happy, stupid, and sleepy. When that didn't work, he used a vacation vs. business approach. "You, are here to have fun, not to work brother, so smooooooooooooke?"
"No thank you." Since arriving in Nepal we've been shocked at how many times we've had to have this conversation. Could selling a plant really be that lucrative? Is it worth the risk? It is illegal you know!?
And then we arrived in the town of Chitwan. Turns out the overhead is pretty low on the old MJ here ultimately making the profit potential pretty high.
Elaine, we will not need your botany skills to identify this one.Ironically, the only place where we were not hassled by the drug pushers was here. Apparently the drug ceases to be all that exotic when it's reduced to just another shrub to trim.
Besides the myriad of fascinating and intoxicating flora and fauna, we also saw animals on our first walk.These are domesticated k-9s. Well, we're not going to start with the charging rhinos. It's all about suspense.
The Tharu folks of Chitwan make their traditional homes of reeds, dung, and mud. They only last for about a year or two, but they go up in as little as a day.The colorful hand prints were everywhere. They are part of the festival of lights that takes place annually.
This appears to be a duck, and quite frankly not a pageant duck.
More dung huts. I think they're pretty cool. This one was literally built in one day.
Chickens and smaller chickens...
Our guide informed us that this local elephant is crazy. Hence the thick chain, the blunted tusks and the deranged look in his eye. Steer clear of this one.The hot Terai region of Nepal looks nothing like the rest of the country.
I'm not that into birds, but our guide was. He had good binoculars and pointed out quite a few species. This one was close enough to view with the naked eye. It's a Spotted Dove. Very big deal.
Also, on our first day, we got our first glimpse of one of the super stars of Chitwan. The One-Horned Rhino! Although they're vegetarian, they have a reputation for crankiness and they've even been known to charge and impale tourists - especially when protecting their babies. I was comfortable with this distance.
These dug-out canoes are carved from a single tree-trunk. Remember the red tree that was Sangram's favorite? It turns out it's called a Silk Cotton Tree and it has many uses. This is just one of them.
Ty and our guide, Ishar. Ty thought he slightly resembled Tupac Shakur, which must be the reason for that big silly flirty grin on her face. Step away from my wife, Pac. =)Our evening concluded with a Tharu cultural show. Here's a little glimpse of some of the stick fighting / dance hybrid thing these guys do. Quite rhythmic for just some sticks and a bongo.
Our second day opened with a misty canoe ride down the river where we spotted some more interesting avian-life.These beauties are Siberian ducks. It's a heckuva commute to Chitwan from Siberia, but it gets pretty cold there I suppose.
A bird of prey atop one of those trees we discussed earlier.
This is an Egret. You having fun yet?
Again, I'm not that into the birds, but was still kind of fun looking at the vast variety of them. Apparently something like 50% of Nepal's birds live here!
And this is Bambi.
And this eats Bambi.Throughout our trip, Ty and I have seen and interacted with a lot of pseudo-wild animals that have been tamed down in usually semi-captive settings. Chitwan was particularly exciting because the animals we saw here were wild and roaming free. Fantastic.
Speaking of roaming free. This is our second encounter with a rhinoceros. Unfortunately, this time it was much, much closer and in the middle of our path. The guide motioned us to get a little closer. Really?
Anxious to win a Darwin award, we did just that.The thing about Rhinos is they have terrible eyesight and no peripheral vision. As long as your far enough away and to the side, they probably won't see you. This one sauntered it's way out to the path, slowly turned it's head and made direct eye contact with me. It then proceeded to square it's shoulders, pivot it's back legs to face us and initiate a charge. Our guide, at this point, kindly told us to RUN!
It should be said that minutes before all this excitement Ishar was giving us Rhino protection lecture, "Rhino's tend to run straight. So if one charges, run in a zig-zag motion and find cover by climbing the nearest tree." Ya seeing all the trees? Me either. It should also be said that no one ran in a zig-zag motion.By the time we all stopped the rhino had disappeared again. The Swedish people with us were officially ready to be done with the "nature walk" portion of the package at this point, "how much longer is the walk sir?"
That's me on the bridge wielding that ferocious stick. Hey, I had just escaped a rhino attack people! A bit of bravado was inevitable.
Safely back in town, we were able to stand on the side of the road and marvel at the size of the elephants here. They seemed bigger than the ones we rode in Thailand.
Speaking of Elephants, this is the day of our big elephant safari. Consequently, I chose safari attire and thought I looked pretty damn cool too.
Ty wasn't impressed with the look overall and even used the word "dorky."
And then to add insult to injury, she found this guy.She said it's "like looking into a crystal ball." Did we really need the exact same outfit on?
Here's my best interpretation. I have to keep working on that rice-gut.
Indian dude on an elephant.
Caucasian couple on an elephant.
Unlike Thailand, Chitwan's elephant program was a little more theme-parkish. You actually climb those little platforms in order to "board" the attraction.
These rhinos made it all worth it though! This mother and baby rhino emerged from the woods for a drink just in time. Thankfully this time, we were high above the earth.Interestingly, you could tell the rhino was alert and very aware of our presence (how could you not be) but it stood it's ground. The baby retreated quickly back into the safety of the woods while mom just kind of sat there and watched us.
They truly look like something from a different time. Crazy.
So this was the seating arrangement: four people + one driver crammed atop a hard wooden platform. It was about as comfortable as it looked, but hey, we saw a baby rhino which made it all worth it.
Check out the size of this buck! For frame of reference, you can see the elephant head on the right side of the picture.
These ladies of Chitwan wear too much make up.
There are two kinds of crocodiles in Chitwan, the first kind from above is very aggressive and has even jumped into Canoes for "snacks." This kind, thankfully, isn't so aggressive although I wouldn't want to be much closer.
Another variation of the Silk Cotton Tree - this time in a stunning orange color. The locals use the cotton from these trees to stuff pillows etc. They use the trunks for canoes. And the elephants even eat the branches!All that and they're beautiful too! What a tree.
Our few days in Chitwan were great fun and added a touch more adventure to our trip! Who can say they got to pet baby tigers, get bucked off of a stampeding elephant, and charged at by a wild rhino?! We can! (what are we thinking?). After Chitwan, we made one of the most arduous trips of our travels out to Lumbini to see the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha). The trip took 8 hours but was on a bus with steel seats and about a hundred people. It was the most physically uncomfortable I think I've ever been. Unfortunately, there was nothing to see in Lumbini short of a stone that "marks the exact place where the Buddha was born." There may have been more to see, but the town was so dismal that we saw the stone and organized the next bus back to Kathmandu the following morning at 6:00 A.M. sharp! So here we are in "yet another" Kathmandu guesthouse still awaiting our epic walk through the Himalayas on the 10th. Very excited! After the trek, it's 12 more days in Nepal then it's off to our last destination, Thailand where we will be meeting our dear friend Kyle for three weeks of fun in the sun! As for all of you folks, we miss the dickens out of you and will see you on May 27th. Cancel your Memorial Day plans and come to the airport! =)
Misses,
Nick and Ty
