Abhiyan09: September 2009

Chitwan National Park
From Kathmandu I took a 6 hour bus ride to Chitwan National Park, home of a number of interesting species and activities. While I harbored no illusions of seeing notoriously non-social animals like tigers and leopards, I was definitely hoping to see rhinos!

First up was a canoe ride in a boat carved out of a log and moved by poling- they were pretty tippy but the river was barely moving so tipping was only an issue when we got near a crocodile. I couldn't help but sit like I was in a kayak and therefore tried to correct the canoe like a kayak whenever it became unbalanced- but had no thighbraces to actually do anything but it was too instinctive not to try. We also saw a rhino- so I was pretty happy to see one on my first venture into the park- they are some prehistoric looking creatures!! We then visited an Elephant Breeding Center- here is mom with her 9 month old twins.

Next morning I went on an elephant ride. Despite them being incredibly large and tall animals I wasn't too worried since the rides and swims with elephants I had done in Thailand a few years ago were the most fun ever. I should have been worried- the temperament of these elephants was much different. They were not happy- growling, trumpeting, running off, rearing, stopping, and circling (all while there were 4 of us plus driver sitting on top of each of them in a wooden frame). The drivers would then hit them on the heads with a hooked metal rod to try and get them back in line and following directions. It was a horrible dilemma to watch them being hit while also wanting to survive the ride intact and getting back to camp. Once we got out of the deeper part of the jungle they seemed to calm down a bit, perhaps just the presence of other animals was upsetting them. PETA cringing aside, there were some interesting parts of the ride- we got to get up close to a couple of rhinos were they were enjoying a mud bath- something that wouldn't have been possible without being on one of the biggest animals in the jungle.

Later that evening I went back to the Park to spend the night in an observation tower with my guide Yogesh. We were being driven in to the tower by jeep when we saw that we were heading towards a rhino family- dad, mom and baby- grazing in front of us. We got out and watched them for a few minutes from about 200 yards away but we couldn't keep driving to the tower since they were in our way and would charge the jeep if we got too close. The driver wanted to go back and and get on an elephant to get to the tower. Yogesh suggested walking in on a trail that would divert us away from the rhinos. After the morning's terrifying elephant ride there was no way I was doing that again so I opted for the short hike. As we were walking in we kept an eye out for the rhinos to be sure that we weren't heading towards them. Our driver called and said that the male was following him in the jeep so that only left 2 near us, but of course the most dangerous being the mom protecting her baby. Yogesh told me that if we saw them heading towards us to climb a tree- making my selection of flip-flops as footwear for this excursion highly questionable. After a 50-yard treeless final dash we made it to the tower and up the stairs.

We watched deer grazing, saw wild pigs and monkeys and then the rhino family came back and grazed in the field behind us before wandering off into the jungle again.

It was really cool to hang out on the balcony watching and listening to the wild life below, taking pics and learning about the Park and Nepal from Yogesh. Around 8pm we heard the rhinos were back again. We couldn't see anything- the moon hadn't risen yet so it was pitch black except for the twinkling of stars and fireflies- but we could definitely hear them munching. I now present to you the most awesome photo I've ever taken. It doesn't look all that special on the surface but keep in mind that it was a shot in the dark- literally. I couldn't see a thing- just pointed the camera towards the munching and snapped and this is what I got- pretty awesome without being able to see a thing or focus or zoom. Between the camera flash and our cheering at the turnout of the shot in the dark we scared the rhinos away. They came back again in the morning but I didn't want to disturb their breakfast with the flash again so I just enjoyed watching them eat.

Bhakpatur
UNESCO World Heritage Site, temples and buildings built from 14th to 17th centuries, was once a powerful kingdom along the trading route from India to Tibet.

Nyatapola Temple
Highest temple in Nepal, dedicated to goddess Parvati, built in 1702.

The stairway is flanked by stone temple guardians- legendary Rajput wrestlers, elephants with floral saddles, lions adorned with bells, beaked griffons with rams' horns, and 2 goddesses- each figure is said to be 10X stronger than the figure on the level below it.

Durga Temple
Built in either 1672 or 1727 (depending on which inscriptions are right)- has mythical beasts bursting from the sides and multi-armed deities.