There is no doubt about it, arriving in Nepal was accompanied with a huge sigh of relief. The border crossing from India was as hectic as every other aspect of Indian life appears to be, and if it were not for the concerted and assertive jostling for position that our drivers seem to have mastered we would probably still be sitting in the queue spitting distance from Nepal.
Entering Nepal you immediately perceive that the place is less polluted, a little cleaner, a lot more relaxed, and a whole lot prettier than its neighbor. The scenery changes more-or-less immediately with India's arid vistas being replaced by a far more lush tropical landscape, but the most noticeable change is in the topography. Despite being in the Nepalise lowlands everything is relative, and here you are within spitting distance of the highest mountain range the world currently has to offer. So whilst the immediate landscape is flat the skyline is dominated by majestic peaks. A welcome change from India's pancake landscape.
Aside from a transitional bush camp our first real stop in Nepal was Chitwan National Park. Chitwan is home to some impressive wildlife including tigers, leopards, wild elephant and rhino. From a tourist point of view only the last of these is less than rarely seen and thus rhino spotting is the main purpose of a safari here. Of course if you are lucky there is also the opportunity to see crocodiles, monkeys, wild boar, a range of different species of deer and a selection of different bird species (probably amongst a host of others).
Unfortunately, we arrived here to discover that the park had been closed for a couple of weeks. It turned out that the park wardens had caught a poacher in the park and whilst in the process of interrogating him had inadvertently beaten him to death. Oops! They had been duly arrested - as you may expect - but park staff across Nepal had apparently gone on strike in protest. I am not sure of my facts here and so won't comment further, but the park was closed and looked unlikely to reopen. Luckily, the park has a buffer zone - presumably to provide separation between wild-life park and human-life farm - and, as a result of most wild animal's having a notable inability to read signs, it is possible to go on safari here and see many of the same creatures. So we did.
Elephant safaris are the order of the day here which was an exciting prospect. Riding the back of an elephant, as it turns out, is not a luxury experience. The typical saddle is a wood/wicker basket about 3ft square which you sit in with three other people. Unless you are lucky enough to be endowed with the personal space of the average canned fish you are gonna find this claustrophobic. You do sort of get used to it, however, and quickly the thrill of the experience takes over. A lot of Chitwan is covered with reasonably dense tropical rain forest and although paths have been cut for the elephants this has been done largely at ground level. 15 feet above ground - which is approximately where you sit - the trees are less accommodating and it is pretty usual to find yourself being dragged through overhanging trees and spiders webs etc. Whilst you are fending off vegetation and invertebrates you don't really have the bandwidth to animal spot, but the elephant pilots are past masters at spotting the denizens of the forest and will enthusiastically point them out to you when they turn up. I think there is no doubt that the density of wildlife is less in the buffer zone than in the park proper, but the safaris are longer and so you do get to see some stuff. In the course of three safaris we were lucky enough to see three rhino, two crocodiles, and assorted other creatures of note. To be honest, though, even without the wildlife the experience of riding the elephant through the jungle is worth the money by itself.
Aside from the safari experience, Chitwan is a very pleasant and pretty place to hang out and was a very welcome break from cities. Chilling out in the bar by the river watching the sun put on a fine finale over the ever present Annapurna was an experience not to be missed.
Entering Nepal you immediately perceive that the place is less polluted, a little cleaner, a lot more relaxed, and a whole lot prettier than its neighbor. The scenery changes more-or-less immediately with India's arid vistas being replaced by a far more lush tropical landscape, but the most noticeable change is in the topography. Despite being in the Nepalise lowlands everything is relative, and here you are within spitting distance of the highest mountain range the world currently has to offer. So whilst the immediate landscape is flat the skyline is dominated by majestic peaks. A welcome change from India's pancake landscape.
Aside from a transitional bush camp our first real stop in Nepal was Chitwan National Park. Chitwan is home to some impressive wildlife including tigers, leopards, wild elephant and rhino. From a tourist point of view only the last of these is less than rarely seen and thus rhino spotting is the main purpose of a safari here. Of course if you are lucky there is also the opportunity to see crocodiles, monkeys, wild boar, a range of different species of deer and a selection of different bird species (probably amongst a host of others).
Unfortunately, we arrived here to discover that the park had been closed for a couple of weeks. It turned out that the park wardens had caught a poacher in the park and whilst in the process of interrogating him had inadvertently beaten him to death. Oops! They had been duly arrested - as you may expect - but park staff across Nepal had apparently gone on strike in protest. I am not sure of my facts here and so won't comment further, but the park was closed and looked unlikely to reopen. Luckily, the park has a buffer zone - presumably to provide separation between wild-life park and human-life farm - and, as a result of most wild animal's having a notable inability to read signs, it is possible to go on safari here and see many of the same creatures. So we did.
Elephant safaris are the order of the day here which was an exciting prospect. Riding the back of an elephant, as it turns out, is not a luxury experience. The typical saddle is a wood/wicker basket about 3ft square which you sit in with three other people. Unless you are lucky enough to be endowed with the personal space of the average canned fish you are gonna find this claustrophobic. You do sort of get used to it, however, and quickly the thrill of the experience takes over. A lot of Chitwan is covered with reasonably dense tropical rain forest and although paths have been cut for the elephants this has been done largely at ground level. 15 feet above ground - which is approximately where you sit - the trees are less accommodating and it is pretty usual to find yourself being dragged through overhanging trees and spiders webs etc. Whilst you are fending off vegetation and invertebrates you don't really have the bandwidth to animal spot, but the elephant pilots are past masters at spotting the denizens of the forest and will enthusiastically point them out to you when they turn up. I think there is no doubt that the density of wildlife is less in the buffer zone than in the park proper, but the safaris are longer and so you do get to see some stuff. In the course of three safaris we were lucky enough to see three rhino, two crocodiles, and assorted other creatures of note. To be honest, though, even without the wildlife the experience of riding the elephant through the jungle is worth the money by itself.
Aside from the safari experience, Chitwan is a very pleasant and pretty place to hang out and was a very welcome break from cities. Chilling out in the bar by the river watching the sun put on a fine finale over the ever present Annapurna was an experience not to be missed.
posted by Al at 11:13 pm
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