Date: 2013-11-10
To: Sara in Nepal: Part Two
Miles today: 0.0

After returning to Kathmandu from the Everest region my friend Daisy and I decided to do some sightseeing. We hired a private driver and I checked out several Buddhist and Hindu World Heritage Sites in the valley. A big Hindu festival was wrapping up and many animals were being sacrificed (with one swift blow from a a sword!). We also witnessed riverside cremations at a holy river that flows into the Ganges.I left my friend Daisy (she had an earlier flight) to spend my last few nights on safari at Chitwan Park. I organized a three day trip including food, transport, accommodations and activities for $105 US dollars. I had a seven hour sweaty bumpy local bus ride from Kathmandu to get to the park. I made friends with two kids on the bus and we shared coconut cookies and laughs together. My accommodations at the lodge were quite posh - I had my own cabin with electricity, fans and private bath room with hot shower. There were no shortage of activities. During my stay I visited elephant and gharial sanctuaries, participated in a canoe safari, walking safari, elephant safari, jeep safari and a night safari. During the safaris I saw crocodiles, gharials, elephants, deer, wild hogs, rhino, monkeys and tigers. The lodge also arranged a Tharu cultural performance on the last evening. It was touristy but I quite enjoyed the stick dances. A big group of men whacked large sticks together in time while dancing in a circle.I organized a private night walk with a Swiss girl and Spanish guy. This type of safari is was not sanctioned by the lodge and we had to sneak out. The guide and his helper were drunk when we met them outside of the lodge gates. They helped us dodge military patrols and hop fences to get into the heart of the park. His helper didn't speak any English and kept waving his bamboo stick like a baton. Despite the plentiful leeches he stripped down to a tiny pair of shorts and went barefoot. He went into the river and rubbed mud all over his body. I got two huge leeches stuck on me (stomach and calf) and when I pulled them off it made a big bloody mess. It was a full moon but it was quite dark trying to bushwack through the jungle. I had no idea where I was stepping and had to grab onto vines when faced with sudden descents. The helper guy would yell at us in his local language if we turned on our headlamps. We had specific instructions:rhino charges = climb a tree, elephant charges = jumping into the crocodile infested river, bear charges = stay together as a group and they will fight with bamboo sticks, tiger charges = back away slowly. We saw lots of animal (some unidentified) and had to do lots of running, crouching and hiding. After three hours of this I was thinking "what the frak". It was ridiculously dangerous. At one point we walked though an old abandoned lodge. The jungle had reclaimed it and it was overgrown. It felt sinister and I was glad when we passed by as quick as possible. After the walk the guide and his helper wanted us to have celebratory drinks for not being harmed but we were too tired since it was close to midnight (and shooken up!). In retrospect the whole ordeal was reckless and I would not have participated I had known it was illegal.An American girl staying at my lodge had her own car and driver so she offered a lift to the Swiss girl and I back to Kathmandu. I found out that the Swiss girl was an ortho surgeon so she could have assisted if we got our spines trampled during the night walk! My last night in Nepal was spent hanging out with the Swiss girl in Kathmandu. We drank beers and ate dumplings in the backpacker ghetto. She let me use the shower in her hostel to freshen up before I left for the airport and my long trip back to Canada.