Photos of our Fabulous Adventure
Breakfast completed, bags packed and we are off at 8:15am for Chitwan National Park.
Today is the most important day of Dashain, blessings are given and tikka applied to the foreheads of those blessed. People are with their families and we see several gatherings along the roadside. The traffic is fairly light this early and the road is relatively straight and flat so we clip along at a good speed. I think Prem is anxious to see his family as he isn’t wasting any time! Those in the front say he wasn’t his usual cautious self.
We stop for a tea break, however the kitchen is closed due to the celebration of the Festival. Sigh…….we buy cold drinks, use the washroom and we are off once again. Within minutes we are in the hills with some pretty scary cliffs, how did that happen? And then as soon as we entered the hills, we exited them – very strange.
By noon we have reached Bharatpur which is the closest town to our hotel the Barahi Jungle Lodge. We reach one of the entrances for Chitwan National Park, and find out we have driven too far and need to return. Arrggghhh, Bikesh and Prem are not happy, but what can we do. After a call or two to the Lodge we are on the correct road and looking forward to arriving. Not so fast, half of the road is bumpy, bumpy gravel and it takes us until 1pm to get there. Finally we are here and can relax.
We say farewell to Bikesh as he is off back to Pokhara to guide a trekking group on a new route in the Annapurna region. We are all sad to see him go and will miss him. Prem is off to see his family and we will see him on the 22nd.
The hotel staff at the Barahi Jungle Lodge are amazing, greeting us with a lemongrass drink, explaining the programs for the next 3 days, and then showing us to our rooms. The rooms are unbelievable – luxury meets the Flintstones. The Eco Lodge and deluxe cottages are made from neutral coloured cement, bamboo and other natural woods. It has a very zen, calming feel to it, a rustic-Lux design.
We have 15 minutes to ourselves and then it is lunch in the dining room, which is very tasty and so filling. Following lunch we have a little over an hour until we meet for our River Safari – yikes I thought this was to be a relaxing stay, it is quite the program!
At 4pm, we head down to the Rapti River, don lifejackets and clamber into a shallow boat. Chandra, our naturalist guide is in the front and another fellow stands at the back of the boat rowing silently as we float downriver. The late afternoon air is filled with the sounds of hundreds of birds and an elephant trumpeting in the distance. We floated in silence waiting in hope to see a Rhino or crocodile. Not today, maybe tomorrow. We did see and hear several Doves, or love birds as our guide referred to them. With his accent I could have sworn he said leopard instead of love birds. I was so excited that we may see a leopard, and when we realized he was referring to love birds we quietly burst out laughing!
After an hour of floating we pulled over to the riverbank and got out as we are taking a jeep back to the hotel. We were directed over to a clearing and to our pleasant surprise, several tables and chairs were lined along the river’s edge looking towards the sunset. A small bar was off to the side, staffed by the people from Barahi Lodge so we could order our favourite happy hour beverage. While sipping our drinks, we chatted and watched as the setting sun lowered in the sky. And another lovely surprise, we were served yummy snacks grilled behind us. What a wonderful treat!
Time to make the short walk to the jeep and back to the Lodge. Next up is the Tharu (local people) folk show at 7:30. No rest for the wicked! The dancing was interesting and lively and we were then escorted in for dinner. Govinda briefed us on tomorrow’s schedule and we groaned as the meet time is 6:30am with a full day of Jeep safari and the elephant ride. We will need a vacation following this 😜.
As soon as dinner was completed we headed for bed. Quite the day!