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Sorry for the lack of updates in the last few days! This is partly down to not being able to get to an internet cafe, combined with a bit of a crisis (more on that in the minute!)
After Darjeeling we headed back to Delhi, via a toy train that took 10 hours, a rather grotty hotel, and then a 23 hour train journey sharing a cabin with Andrew and two random Indian men. I guess that's what you call the 'fun' of travelling!
After a night in Delhi, we flew to Kathmandu, and that's where disaster struck! After queueing for visas at Kathmandu airport (we were last as usual) we got to the baggage reclaim to find that everyone had retrieved their bags and there were two left on the floor- mine, and another one that was NOT Andrew's. Oh dear. After checking all the other baggage reclaim belts we spoke to a member of staff who was, to quote my good friend Daphne, as useful as a chocolate fireguard. Two hours later still no bag- the airline seemed to be unable to find out whether or not the bag had actually made it on to the flight, which renders the whole 'barcode on the bag' system useless. They were convinced that someone had taken the bag in error, which was a possibility as the other bag left was fairly similar to Andrew's. In the end we had to leave the airport with instructions to call them in the morning.
The next day we rang twice and got fobbed off with the same line of "wait for the next flight from Delhi to arrive and call back then". We went to see the tour company that we had pre-booked a tour with (that was supposed to have started that day) and they were really helpful- calling the airline and even taking Andrew to the head office of Air India to speak to someone in person. We decided to go on the tour the next day as Andrew was happy to go with the few bits he had plus some things he bought in Kathmandu.
So the next day we set off for the Chitwan National Park in the south of Nepal. When we got to the bus stop that morning one of the tour company representatives told us that the airline had called them and the bag had been found! We were so relieved! They said they would collect the bag for us and send to either Chitwan or Pokhara via one of their staff so that Andrew had his stuff for trekking. The bag arrived the next day!
Crisis over we were now able to properly enjoy the tour we had booked. Chitwan National Park is mostly jungle so the activities available are geared towards this. On the first afternoon we visited a local village and then went to the Elephant Breeding Centre. The next day started with an early morning canoe trip down the river (45 minutes sittiing on a tiny piece of wood- I couldn't feel my bum when we got off!) and then a 3 hour jungle trek in which we saw rhinos and monkeys. In the afternoon we went on a safari- by elephant! We had a rather 'adventurous' elephant that liked to take the unbeaten path, which resulted in us getting whipped in the face with branches and such like. At one point all the elephants congregated together so that the passengers take photos of a rhino, and an elephant backed into us and Andrew's leg was caught inbetween. His foot was squashed by an elephant's arse! Sounds amusing (well, I laughed anyway) but it actually hurt him quite a lot and he ended up with a swollen ankle. He doesn't seem to be having much luck! Thankfully it is better now so he should be ok for trekking.
That brings us up to today- we travelled to Pokhara by bus, which took about 6 hours. Tomorrow we are starting a 6 day trek in the Annapurna region (Google it!) Nothing too hardcore, but we're looking forward to the mountain scenery. The highest we'll climb to is about 3200 metres, so after that, Everest should be a breeze!
Obviously I won't be able to do any updates for the next week or so, as I doubt there are internet cafes along the proposed trekking route! I'll try to get to a computer when we get back to Pokhara or Kathmandu and let you know how the trek went.
Jess xxx
- comments
prem hello friend it is good to see your blog nice to see you your blogs my name is prem i am from nepal pokhara lakeside