Animal fun in Chitwan National Park

Journey so far: .. Taiwan > Hong Kong > Beijing > Harbin > Yanji > Songjianghe >Changbai Mountain > Dandong > Dalian > Dandong > Chengde > Beijing > Datong > Hohhot > Huitengxile > Hohhot > Taiyuan > Zhengzhou > Xi'an > Lanzhou > Zhangye > Jiaugyuan > Jingtieshan > Jiaugyuan > Dunhuang > Urumuqi > Kanas Lake > Urumuqi > Kashgar > Tashkurgan > Karakul Lake > Kashgar (Kashi) > Hotan > Qiemo > Ruoqiang > Shimianquan > Golmud > Lhasa (Tibet) > Gyantse > Shigatse > Shegar > Everest Base Camp (Rongbuk) > Zhangmu > Borderlands > Kathmandu (Nepal) > Chitwan National Park (Sauraha) ...

Chitwan National Park, just south of Kathmandu.


Nepal is fantastic. Everyone is so warm and friendly and even the most uneducated, elderly man speaks English. Not that you'd ever need to speak Nepalese in Thamel, Kathmandu! This small area in Kathmandu spoils western tourists with everything one would find at home, of course at a price. So we have stayed here for a week and feel ready to leave, after having our fill of wonderful western food!

The tiger balm, rickshaw and taxi boys are driving me nuts with " Sir, you want? very good price, best price?" The streets are narrow and filled with choking pollution spewing from taxi's and motorbikes. In a country that relies on tourism and international aid for economic stability, I can understand Thamel. The people have developed tourism well here and you can escape this shopping centre with ease.

Busy, narrow streets of Thamel, Kathmandu. You just want to scream with frustration at some of the drivers’ intent on running people over!


The recent (November) Peace Treaty was signed by the Nepal Government and Maoists rebels, the agreement includes monitoring and management of arms and armies in the presence of U.N. officials. The sad news is that over 13,000 people have died in the decade-long insurgency.

Nepal - a turning point in history? (BBC NEWS)

Not with a little inference from the U.S on how the agreement should be realised, reassuringly the Nepalese opted for a different strategy. This certainly opens the door for both parties to start running their country together with tourism expecting to expand once again. I hope so.

Peace celebrated across the nation this month! :o)


We had had enough of Thamel after a week, not the food though! And hopped on a bus for Chitwan National Park, south of Nepal.

We went trekking in the jungle and our guide, his name is Bishnu, was so interesting and engaging. He had loads of experience guiding in this jungle and knew so much about birds that I was instantly hooked, binoculars in hand! He could even name them by their call or notice a baby eagle perched high in a tree that took us some time to spot with his finger pointing.

I loved all the open space and quiet creeping up on animals. We were really lucky
because the second guide walking in front heard a sound of a one-horned rhino. With his hands cupped around his ears to get a clearer sound and accompanied with Bishnu, they motioned everyone to stay still. We looked at each other, puzzled. Then we heard it too! These animals are wild and dangerous, roaming free in the jungle and they sometimes charge, so at the beginning we were instructed to find a tree (thick one is better) and stand behind it and if it runs at you, climb over six feet. The guide whispered that there were two in the bushes somewhere and they could smell us!

We saw a rustle in front of us then nothing. Bishnu walked forward, with only a stick to protect him and saw round the corner the rhino had popped out onto the path. He motioned for us to run up, we did, cameras in hand and trying to be quiet. We came round the corner and in front of us was the biggest, baddest rhino arse ever! He looked around at us, ears twitching and decided to walk off. We followed at a distance and he disappeared again into the jungle. To our surprise Bishnu then started squawking. The second guide told us this was the sound of a baby rhino, he was trying to lure it back out again.

Go on, I dare you, run!


And that was the fullness of our rhino encounter, we spoke to all the other groups at the checkpoints and we were the only ones to see it. It's a rare and amazing privilege. Rare unfortunately due to poaching, as the Maoist insurgency disrupted the armies efforts to police the area. :o(

The Bengal tigers on the other hand are harder to escape, all you can do is shout and scream and hope they have already eaten! They are really shy and thankfully we saw none running for us, we only saw one captured that had been turned into a man-eating-tiger by it's mother. Better behind bars, but a sad thing to see a wild tiger like that.

The tiger we saw had a mean stare and was frightening even in her cage,


Also during our stay we washed an elephant (her name was Basanti), one thing they love to do. We rode into the lake on top of her, having got on by being lifted up on her trunk. She stood in the lake like a giant and then rolled over with us on top, throwing us into the cold water. We played with her for some time and fed her some bananas before going back to the hotel to shower off the lake water and elephant piss from our bodies!

Another day Kate, Emiko, Chris and I rode a different elephant (also female as bulls are too dangerous) into the jungle to spot more wildlife. However this was soon forgotten when the elephant got spooked and went a little crazy. Kate, being from South Africa knew how dangerous they could be, so she started freaking out. This concerned me! I had thought they were timid, gentle creatures, but the shear strength and speed of the elephant was scary.

The driver bashed the elephant over the head with his metal pole, this did not hurt the elephant as its skull is thick and the driver grows up with the elephant from a young age so he can predict her movements. It's still disturbing to watch.

The elephant was 'growling' (a kind of low grumble that I could feel with my feet through her skin) and refusing to walk forward. Then she trumpeted loudly and started running up and down the path, turning quickly looking behind her. This continued for a while. The driver only spoke little English but kept repeating "dangerous!”

Us four on top were being bashed about and feared it might rear up or even start to charge, smashing us into tree branches. Thankfully it calmed down and we got home safely. The experience shook me up and Kate amazingly took a shaky video of the elephant trumpeting and reeling from side to side with another disturbed elephant.

Luckily we made it back to town safely and the elephant began to calm down. We got back to the hotel and discussed why it had got spooked, all night.

This elephant is part of the elephant breeding program which we supported by going to the centre and getting close up to the elephants during feeding time. Amazing creatures.


After the previous days of excitement we took the rest of the stay more leisurely and only took bicycles to "20,000 lakes". I loved the eventual relaxation and fine weather.

20,000 lakes, wetland north of Chitwan National Park. There aren't actually that many lakes, maybe one or two big ones that have been broken up.


After Chitwan we headed for Pokhara, with Gorkha and Bandipur as stops along the way.

To be continued....

For a full account and extra details on Chitwan, Kate has her story to tell:
Kate's Blog

MC