Days 14 & 15 - Chitwan National Park

"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous"
Aristotle

Today we departed Pohkara and took a taxi to Chitwan National Park. It was a 4 ½ hour 90 mile (145 Km) ride. Traveling on the roads in Nepal is always very interesting. They are not well maintained, and are very bumpy and crowed. You’ll see some of the most interesting sights traveling via the highway.

At about the half way mark we stopped for lunch at Marsyangdi Restaurant. This is the place where we all had our first plate of Dal Bhat.

We arrive late morning and check into our hotel. The hotel is nice and is next to the Rapti River. The weather in this part of Nepal is very tropical, hot and humid. We had some lunch then walked around to get the lay of the land. We were surprise to be able to see a baby rhino up close. The trainer was taking it out for a run and we were allowed to watch and take pictures.

 

 

 

To my surprise our porter Ram showed up on a bicycle. He lives in this area and invited us to his home. We agreed, rented bikes and headed out into the country side to visit his family. What a great treat this was as we biked through rural farmland and villages. Once at his home his mother offered us tea and we sat and talked. It was very interesting to visit and see how they live.

Outside our hotel on the river bank you could, for a small fee, bath with an elephant. It looked like great fun for those that did it.



The next day we went on an elephant safari. It was pretty cool riding an elephant through the jungle. We did not see any wild animals just a lot of other tourist. Overall the park is nice, very touristy but, worth a visit.

 

Peace and Love, Tom and Donna