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Nepal...Nepal....beautiful Nepal! I have fallen in love with this country already! After another very uneventful border(so lucky with borders so far!) I set my tent up for the first time in 3weeks in the middle of what appeared to be jungle....surrounded by fireflies and dung beetles(?)! Tent whiffs a bit now! Oh the coolness...though it was short lived as we hit the humidity the next day in Chitwan National Park. The people here are the smiliest yet....so many gorgeous kids desperate for us to acknowledge them! Visited an elephant breeding centre on arrival and prepared for the next days activities with a cold beer and some buff momo's(dumplings with buffalo). Had an early rise for an elephant ride through the national park and wqas lucky enough to spot a horned rhino and her baby as well as numerous birds, deer, beasties, bugs, little mammals...etc,etc. So peaceful riding on an elephants back and so nice to escape any type of vehicle! Swam with the elephants and helped give them a wash in the river after all their hard work! Had a paddle in a dugout canoe in the afternoon and then a very wet jungle walk....leeches galore! Enjoyed macaroni cheese for dinner(oh what a treat) and another wicked sunset over Chitwan.
After much discussion and deliberation a group of 11 of us decieded to take a chance and go tiger tracking in Bardia NP in western Nepal! The journey was a long one with many unplanned stops due to road blocks....most were kind and let us through but a few took the chance to intimidate us....times like that i miss the security of the big orange beast! The first time in a while I felt truly remote....as a 4 wheel drive met us by the river to escort us to our resort (I use the term loosely...not a resort as we know it) surrounded by paddy fields, water buffalo, lovely mud huts and more elephants!
A long days rafting awaited us....rafts were interesting...i think I counted about 35 repair patches! Well we did stay afloat. Spotted some gharial crocs, varous types of deer, more rhino,birds, birds and more birds....great having Tom around as he is a professional bird spotter(no I'm not joking...he gets paid to bird watch) and spots things we would have no chance of seeing.We encountered 3 bull elephants eating in the river and had to pull up and watch and wait...and wait...and wait! We finally abandoned rafts as one of the bulls spotted us and got a little uneasy....when they finallycharged on land in our direction we all ran for the rafts covered in leeches and and paddled very quickly!!! Did I say the elies were cute? No tigers though!
Will, Danny, John and I went for a jungle walk the following morning hot on the trail of a tiger....fresh paw prints and some spraying of territory....I think we were 1hour too late....we had practised climbing trees by this point...just in case. Spotted some more rhinos though! The jeep ride that afternoon was unsuccessful also....but the thrill of being within a few kms or even a few metres away was enough....I will be back to spot a tiger when I return to trek to Everest base camp! I would happily have stayed a while longer in Bardia....forgetting about the rest of the world for a while! We learned next morning that some elephants had been in the village looking for food...not too far from our huts! Seeral villagers are killed by elephants every year arounfd harvest time as they come and steal food....might avoid harvest!
And so onto Pokhara we went! Had a blast celebrating Johns 40th birthday in busy bee cafe with very cheap cocktails! Rowed on the lake...well Will and I did as Polly sat back and admired the view....thought we were never going to get back to shore! Had to give up on the malaria medication as I got second degree sun burn to my hands and marking on my arms....so mossies....stay away!!! I now have the hands of a 90 year old women!!! Nice! Had the perfect hangover cure brekkie of BACON....was so excited....first since leaving home!!!! The rest of the group had been rafting and biking and all sorts while we were gone...another thing I'll have to come back for!
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