We left Pokhara at a reasonable time for what we were told was a 5 hour drive with a number of breaks. The times seem to get lost in translations occasionally - 15 minutes turns to an hour etc….so we were unsure whether it was 5 hours driving plus breaks or including. Some of our crew were worried about 5 straight hours driving without a bathroom break….it is funny how people from different countries view the length of driving….5 hours doesn’t quite get me from home to Wollongong! One of our stops - which apparently is a known half way point, had a rather good little coffee van and POOL!
The time on the road was interesting. We left the Pokhara valley and headed towards Kathmandu. At one point it was turn left to Kathmandu and turn right to Chitwan. The landscape changed then to roads that ran alongside a rather large river with steep mountains on either side. It was really hard to capture by photo. THere were suspension bridges across the valley and over the river to enable those that lived in tiny houses on the side of the mountain to access the road….had they not been there I can’t imagine what life would be like - the mountains were so very steep it would be impossible to walk on any flat surface at all.
The Park is located South-Central Nepal near the the town of Sauraha. It is the lowlands of Nepal…and quite different to what we had seen. Whereas the north had farming by terrace in every plot imaginable - wheat particularly - this area has acres of small plots planted with tomatoes, cucumbers, dragon fruit as well as rice, wheat and other general crops. The plots are small however many are butted against each other and dotted with small houses.
The buildings are interesting….it appears in towns the houses are designed around blocks of 2.5 x 40 metre rectangles - it almost seems they are shipping containers size…the rich houses are three story and a series of 1 to 4 containers joined….the side walls are cement pillars every 2.5 metres infilled with bricks. It is really common and I can only imagine it is something to do with ground stability and maximising rigidity.
Our stay at Chitwan is at the Barahi Jungle Lodge. The same hotel chain we stayed in at Pokhara. Quite upmarket…but this takes it to a new level. The rooms are individual or twin cabins constructed in local materials with minimal plastic and extremely environmentally friendly. The food is next level and all supplied. Coffee plunger in room as are jars of biscuits etc. It was unexpected and we all commented that we did not expect such luxury.
Our first afternoon we had a canoe adventure on the Rapti River. Our naturalist guide, Rajesh, quietly commented on the seen wildlife - elephant, endangered crocodile and a number of birds. Sliding down the end of the river powered by our ‘captain’ using a pole, we quietly observed the river banks. A few little rapids were evident and some submerged logs (that from a distance looked like crocodiles) were spotted. It was mainly bird life we observed.
At the end of our ride down river we were greeted with a sunset picnic to watch the sunset over the river and watch locals collect grasses and fish!
There was complimentary champagne and nibbles set up with deck chairs facing the river and sunset. Each group (and there were several) had their own private little area….there were couples who were obviously having a romantic time, while the larger cleared areas catered for the larger groups such as ours. They had even erected small washroom tents for males and females…it appeared everything had been thought of!
We all had a few laughs while drinking and taking ‘instagram’ pictures.
After the champagne sunset picnic…we were just about to leave in the safari jeep to return to the hotel when the clouds cleared and the sun glowed red low on the horizon…..the colouring of the sky matched the water and the local fishermen and boat silhouetted agains a glowing orange and pink sky….absolutely stunning!
On returning to the hotel, we then enjoyed a cultural dance be one of the two local tribes people. It felt very authentic and not touristy at all unlike many hotel cultural shows I’ve seen. We enjoyed a drink and then headed to a lovely buffet dinner. While we were just about to sit down to eat word got around that there had been a rhinoceros spotlighted on the other side of the river….we immediately walked down to see a very large beast refreshing his/herself beside the water. It’s a little hard to tell from the photos as it was night and the lighting was torch but you can still clearly see it.
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