Well, I'm back. Chitwan was amazing, the whole four days was wonderful. Friday morning we all met to take the bus to the rafting location. The bus ride was uneventful. We get off, grab all our stuff, sign a waiver saying they are not responsible for lost or stolen items, and walk down to the beach without our bags. I didn't realize until later how funny this was. No one lost anything, but I still found it funny. We divided up into three rafts and off we went. The Trisuli is one of the closest rivers to Kathmandu that is raftable, and also one of the least exciting. There was one class four rapid, but what fun was had in the river!! Lots of swiming, backflips off the bow, lots of diving off rocks, water fights. I fondly recalled my days of boy scout canoe trips. One of the Aussie volunteers and I floated through a class three rapid, THAT was fun. While we were floating down, there was a few boat loads of Nepali guys also rafting. We ended up spending the night on a beach just up from there. They were having a bit of a dance party. We joined in. The beer we had drank encouraged us. After getting down with them for an hour or so, we crashed. Next morning we were up by 7 and packed and on the road waiting for the bus by 8. 8:30. 9:00. 9:30. 10:00. Do we have a bus? 10:30. Should we walk? 11:00. Finally our bus showed up, much to the chagrin of the shop keeper who's store we occupied.
We piled into OUR bus, it was only the 15 of us. Plugged along for an hour before the traffic jam. In Nepal a road is, by western standards one and a half lanes, by Nepali standards, it's relative to the size of the vechiles, but a minimum of three. Buses. This just doesn't work. Add land slides and road construction, and you don't go any where fast. We stopped, I hopped on the roof of the bus to snap a few pictures of the traffic, a few other volunteers joined, we began to move. ALL RIGHT!!! We rode the top of the bus 5hrs to Chitwan. All the locals would stare at the westerners on the top of the bus. It was really entertaining. At one point we pass in the opposite direction of a traffic jam that was about 6k (4miles) long and not moving. Poor bastards.
Upon arriving at the resort, we were in heavan. A/C, a swimming pool, no daal bhaat!!!! We hit the pool ( to wash of 5hrs. of dust and grime) and then relaxed. That evening there was a Tharu cultural show that was beautiful. The next morning was a 5:30 wake up call for the canoe ride. It was nice, but sitting in the boat after being up till 12:00 sipping Baileys was bad for some people. I was pretty lucky. One of the Aussie boys drank a bit to much from what they called the "Mug of Doom". Nasty. We did see a crocodile, but not much else. The jungle walk that followed was great. These enormous trees that seemed to wind around one another, it was beautiful. We also saw spotted and barking deer. At the end of the jungle walk we went to the elephant breeding center. We spent about an hour there watching these two little elephants smash into one another. From there we walked back to the river to take a "ferry" accross. When we got to the other side, the elephants from the breeding center were coming for bath time. What a treat that was!!! Watching them wallow in the water, blow water over their backs, submerge their heads and breathe through their trunks, amazing. Back to the lodge for lunch, then three hours of free time. There was a lot of discussion about swimming, but it ended up being three hours of nap time. Dragging ourselves up from the couch in the dining hall, Fatty (a 150lb aussie boy) and I thought it had only been 30mins. We rushed around getting ready for the elephant ride. You cannot really prepare your self for just how uncomfortable this really is. Especially after riding on top of a bus for 5hrs. The basket shakes around and you feel like a rag doll. HOWEVER, we did see rhinos. That was great. They look like huge armored tanks that just walk about eating grass. And they are not afraid of the elephants at all. Until there were nine of them. Then the mother and baby ran off, I got a few good shots of their bottoms running away. The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful, alot of TRYING to avoid getting hit by the trees. The mahoot (elephant driver) let Natalie "drive" the elephant the last 10minutes, that was fun, we all had a good laugh as it would not go where she wanted it to. Disembarking, we walked back to the lodge. Along the way we were peppered with requests for pens, chocolates and rupees. Having spent a fair amount of time here, we had come up with responses to these requests:
"One pen?"
"Copi dinus." Give me paper.
"Five rupees?"
"Chocolate dinus." Give me chocolate. Chocolate means candy, any kind. And it certainly does not mean actual chocolate.
"Gimme one chocolate?"
"Rupee dinus."
What was great about this was that they mostly got the joke. You want something, fine, so do we. They would smile coyly and run away. We were the kings. Or had at least turned begging into a game for all of us.
The next morning there was a shortened bird watching session due to rain and the lack of birds. And the fact that it was friggin' 5:30am (sorry pop, but this now is just to damn early). Pack up, eat and catch the bus. Then the adventure of bus travel began. We climbed up on top. The bus was about 75% full. We stopped, more people got on. We stop again, more. Now the bus in 90% full and there are 12 people on top. Lovely, we ride on top, they sell our seats again. Which didn't become a problem until later when it began to rain. Whoops. Everyone climbs in side and 5 of us are without seats. Oh well, I still managed to fall asleep while standing up. Reminds of the days at the Palindrome. The bus trip was wonderful, and by wonderful I mean long, and by long I mean s l o w. 10hrs to go 170k. That's a little over 100miles. But fun was had. We bargained for food with the locals at all the traffic jams, they loved the fact that we spoke Nepali. A bag of oranges that started at 100r was quickly reduced to 30r with a few words like: Deri mahango chha, "that is very expensive". Then they would reduce the price and we would begin bargaining. SO much fun. I love haggling.
Now I'm back in Kathmandu with six days left and only one teaching, during which I have to give exams. I don't like this, but it's the way it is. I'll bring cake for tiffin and they will love.
Here is a current list of Bandas that are taking place or will be in the near future:
Over the last few weeks, the Maoist leadership and a number of Maoist affiliated organisations have declared a schedule of bandhs and "actions" targeting both society in general and a number of identified industrial sectors. There has been some confusion and misreporting in the press on the timing and form that these will take. The following is a list of activities, as we know of them today, some of them remain unspecified.
1 - 3 June : June protest in the transport sector. This may lead to a total transport ban.
2 June : Country-wide bandh.
4 - 6 June : Protests in the garment and carpet industries.
6 June - ? : Indefinite closure of schools and educational institutions.
7 - 9 June : Protest in the tourism sector, including starred and non-star hotels,
lodges, guesthouses, resorts, trekking and rafting agencies.
10 - 12 June : Country-wide bandh.
Past experiences indicates a pattern of increased bombings and other acts of violence and intimidation in the lead-up to a bandh. You all are advised to exercise heightened security awareness during this period. You should also try to keep abreast of events through the local media. Nepalnews.com is a useful source of information.
Again, they mostly hurt the kids. Bastards. Should have pictures up later today. Happy B-day RUNT!!!!
