Chitwan National Park

26/11/2008
I left Kathmandu yesterday morning at 6.30 on a bus headed to Chitwan National Park. Looking at the map, it doesn’t seem all that far away, so when they tell you that it’s going to take five hours, you think they’re overshooting a bit so that you don’t get upset if they hit traffic or something.
Traffic was the least of our worries.
Before even leaving the city, our squeaky bus had stopped many times. The driver wanted tea. The driver wanted a banana. The diver had mail to deliver to his friends. Once we were out of the city, the decision was made to stop to allow the passengers to pee. I hadn’t really expected road-side facilities for such activities, but was surprised that those who had gotten off of the bus didn’t at least walk around a corner or sneak behind a bush. Hm.
We stopped for lunch in a little town full of chickens. The vendors were all selling fresh fish. I figure they had gotten them from the nearby river, but I’m not sure what we were expected to do with a little fish once paid for. They hadn’t been cleaned or cooked at all...
There was no warning when the bus left again. You just had to be lucky to be looking in the right direction to see it pulling away. Luckily, the fish weren’t all that appealing, so I had chosen to stick close to the bus, and was able to hop back on when I saw that the driver was ready. We carried on following the long, winding road for what felt like a really long time. The seat was surprisingly comfortable! The little neck pillow was positioned in exactly the right place unlike every other bus or plane I had spent such a long time on. I was able to doze off several times despite the sharp corners, sudden stops when goats were on the road, and the shrill horn that was blown at every other passing vehicle.
We made it out of the little mountains at a much lower altitude and drove through the hot jungle for a while. We saw a whole bunch of waterbuffalo grazing away in the fields and standing around in the river.
After nearly six hours, we were close to our destination! We were crossing the last bridge, and everyone was surprised when we stopped. Like just about everything else, the bridge was built with enough room for one lane even though there is traffic flowing in two directions. Peering out of our windows, we spotted a broken tractor in the middle of the bridge. We sat on the bus for at least half an hour while some of the locals stood around and looked at the tractor. At least we got to watch the waterbuffalo wander around...we even saw some camels!
Arriving at the hotel in the back of a pickup truck, I was greeted with a cold bottle of coke and a plan to immediately go for a canoe ride. It was hard to decide if I should bring my camera; I was really tempted to since the country was particularly beautiful, but I opted not to since we were going to be on the water and we would probably be getting wet.
Hopping out of the back of the pickup truck again, I went down to the water’s edge with the other volunteer, Fred, and our guide. We shared a big canoe with a handful of Japanese tourists. We saw lots of birds and two species of crocodiles. The crocodiles were snoozing in the sun on the banks of the river, and we boldly approached them, very quiet to not wake them up. Some were floating in the water, and we were able to pass within a few feet of where they were swimming. I was happy not to have my camera since one of the Japanese ladies was quite nervous and kept rocking the boat a lot.
Fred and I were guided through the jungle for about an hour, seeing many more birds, huge termite mounds, then we even crossed paths with a large herd of spotted deer. We ended up at the park’s elephant breeding center where about 20 elephants were feeding. Nearly half of those elephants had babies with them, and they were all behind a fence to keep the tourists away. One of the current attractions is a set of two-week old twins; apparently it is very rare for an elephant to have more than one baby at a time. They cautiously walked around their mother’s feet and practiced picking things up with their little trunks. Walking down the line of mothers, we spotted two particularly playful babies near the fence. It was nearing dusk and all the other tour groups were long gone. Our guide offered his walking stick to the two elephants through the fence and called to them. One came trotting right over where we were able to feel its bristly little back. With surprising strength, it was nearly able to pull the stick away, so our guide took it back, and stepped away from the fence. The elephant was determined to play with it, so clumsily climbed through the fence to play with us. Its little elephant friend was not far behind, and had soon worked its way through the fence as well. The second one was more intrigued by the smells on our hands and sleeves, and took great pleasure in tickling our palms with its trunk. At the call of their mothers, the elephants lumbered away. That was the best two dollar admission fee that I’ve ever paid!
We returned to the back of the waiting pickup truck and went to the hotel for dinner. The next morning we were awoken very early for the elephant safari. The tropical garden where we sat in the 30° heat the day before was foggy and chilly. We got right back onto the bumpy truck, and drove to the place where our safari would be starting from. We passed a whole bunch of elephants on the way, with their handlers perched on their necks drinking tea. Who has ever seen an elephant tea party? Pretty cool.
Only one tourist bus leaves the park every day, so we had to quickly pack our things and get on the bus at 9AM. If I ever go back, I’ll stay for longer than one night so that you at least have time to absorb all the amazing things that you are seeing (especially when you don’t bring your camera to visit the elephants!) More of the volunteers for the December group should be arriving within the next couple of days, so I’m sure I can find someone to tag along with.
I’m starting to get bored with staying in Thamel....especially without any shopping to do. The traffic and people are always exciting, but exciting for the same reasons every day. I’m glad that the volunteering is going to be starting soon, and I’ll have something to wake up for in the mornings.