Chasing Rhinos in the Dark
My Nepal adventures next took me to Chitwan National Park.
Rivers, mountains in background, jungle, wild animals, beautiful birds, wonderful people….. It was really fun. I had a tour booked that included the ~6 hour bus ride from Kathmandu, hotel, food, cultural show, elephant safari (which I planned on not doing), canoe ride and jungle trek. The bus ride was on the side of a mountain most of the way, which was treacherous, but also made for really pretty scenery the whole way!
hillside, on road to Chitwan
road out of Kathmandu
mustard!
on road b/t kathmandu and chitwan
mountain town
Our tour guide was Madan – he was so nice, he knew everything about birds and the other animals in the area, and he helped take care of my leg❤️. Madan took me to the town Doctor (in Sauraha), and the doctor fixed me up. It took agonizing pain by his hand, where I almost passed out, and poor Madan was fanning me because I started sweating, and my blood pressure dropped…. sheesh! But that doctor was sooo nice. And he was neatly dressed, spoke perfect english, witty, etc. He gave me medicine, fixed me up, met with me the next morning to dress my wound for me again, and with antibiotics, bandages, antibiotic cream, and seeing him twice, it only cost $24. I was so relieved because I don’t have travel insurance. If you are ever in Sauraha, Nepal, and you need a trustworthy doctor, I know who you can go to😊.
I stayed at the Hermitage Hotel, and it was really nice, right on the river.
on the hotel grounds
Rapti River, next to hotel
river next to hotel
woodpecker… and I can’t remember the other one😁
The first night I saw a cultural show… couldn’t get many pictures, but it was fun to see. Also fun to see/hear the local audience react to different things. THERE WAS AN AWESOME PEACOCK GUY! Best costume I’ve ever seen. My pics were all blurry😢
cultural show dance
peacock man!
I told myself I would never do an elephant ride because I think it hurts the elephants, but I went ahead with it in Chitwan because it was part of the itinerary and what I paid for… Must’ve been karma because halfway through the ride, the elephant got PISSED and was trying to throw us off. Before that, it was great – saw rhinos in the wild😳
crossing the river
rhinos!
peacock!
selfie for Paula
on jungle safari
lots of elephants
before death scare
deers
and deers
eagle
kingfisher😍!!!!
fishing i guess?
she is happy the ride is over too
after she calmed down
‘i’m alive and back on solid ground’ celebration
For the trip, I was in a group with three sweet, fun girls who were in Nepal volunteering, two at a hospital and one at an orphanage😍. After the elephant craze, we had a canoe ride and a jungle trek.
canoe ride
pretty brown ducks, from Siberia
river
croc
rhesus monkey
floridian + swiss + polish/british + moi
lake on hike
water buffalo
hiking
wild boar
elephant breeding place – 1 month old babeee
bridge
Then, that night (or maybe it was the night before?), our guides found birds for us in the trees😂
most adorable owl ever
owl
night owl:)
great(?) hornbill
And then……….. Madan, one other girl, and I took a walk down the beach…. around 10pm….. and waited…… hunting for rhinos…….. I thought Madan was just kind of making it up, “Oh, I think I hear a rhino.” “The rhino may be crossing the river, I think I hear him in the water.” -he said. I thought, “Sure, sure…” then, after maybe an hour of sitting in the dark on the beach alternating between talking and being quiet – Madan whispered, “Shhh! I think I hear him!” and he pointed to the top of the little sand dune, about 15 feet away. AND THERE HE WAS. A huge rhino, glistening in the full moon light (he was wet because he had just crossed the river). I froze… THEN tried to take a picture (didn’t turn out), and the rhino looked in our direction, made some loud breathing noises, walked a few feet forward, went # 2, and then walked down the dune on the other side, into the village. I’m kind of glad the photos didn’t work because I’m keeping the memory instead – something I’ll never forget. Coolest thing!!!!!!!
Next up: Best Trek Ever 💙 Nepal
Hello Nepal❤️
My favorite destination so far😍
Ahhh, Nepal. I love you so. There is a reason I’ve wanted to go here for so long. Nepal natural beauty 👍🏼 & Nepal beautiful people 👍🏼👍🏼
My Nepal itinerary: Kathmandu > Chitwan > Kathmandu > Pokhara > Kathmandu.
Kathmandu isn’t the prettiest city, but the people are really nice, and they are going through a lot right now. There is a fuel crisis because India is blocking fuel getting over the Nepal border because some of the politicians don’t agree with the new Constitution that Nepal just put in place. It means that you either wait in line (hours and hours – sometimes an entire day) to get fuel, or you buy it from the black market, which is marked up 10 times more than normal price. Needless suffering, and so unfair to the people who live here who are just trying to live.
The earthquake damage can still be seen, primarily because many houses in Kathmandu have exterior wooden supports that they have put in place to hold up the structures.
many of the houses in kathmandu have supports holding them up
I met the nicest family who invited me for tea and showed me the house they’re living in. It’s a series of small residences that were built since the earthquake happened to help accommodate the people who lost their homes. Their house was destroyed, and they lived in tents for six months while they were trying to find a new place to live. Now, they have a much better place, but still, it has no running water, a tin roof, is really tiny, and gets super cold at night.
baby – kitchen in background
❤️
They were so lovely, and I had the best Chai tea that exists, made over the fire with boiling water, milk, sugar and fresh tea leaves and spices❤️.
real chai – sooo good
Sanjay also showed me his art school, where he is painting and learning because he wants to be a teacher there in a few years. He paints mandalas that are sooo beautiful and intricate and some with gold leaf❤️.
painting with yak hair brush
More of Kathmandu:
kathmandu
kathmandu temple
boudhanath stupa – partially destroyed by the earthquake
women using prayer wheel by boudhanath stupa
nepali army
fuel line
small square
I met the best tour company manager when I arrived in Kathmandu, Shankar, and he set me up with an itinerary for Nepal. His company, Great Vision Treks, is my favorite Nepali company😍. After two days in Kathmandu, I ventured out to other parts of Nepal!
Next up: Jungle Safari (Chitwan National Park)
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