I spent the past Friday through Sunday exploring Chitwan National Park with six girls from Canada who are in Nepal as part of a summer volunteer program. Though my decision to go with them was a bit spur of the moment (2 pm on Thursday for a 6:30 am Friday departure), I’m glad I went. It was a fantastic experience and one of the most interesting places I’ve ever been.
Chitwan is located in the Terai region of Nepal, which covers the entire length of the southern part of Nepal and is known for its farming capabilities and its position as a Maoist stronghold. Because of where we were, we saw little Maoist influence anywhere, but it’s definitely still active here. Nepal is divided, more or less, into three geographic zones: the mountains (including Everest) to the North, the plains and hills (including Kathmandu) in the middle, and the Terai in the south. The Terai is much like the Caribbean – very green, lush, and humid.
The Park itself is huge. It is one of the last refuges of the one horned Indian rhino, and has a considerable number of tigers, leopards, Gangetic dolphins, spotted and barking deer, and wild pigs. It was heavily deforested until the government stepped in a few years ago and created buffer zones around the park where residents could use forest resources while learning how to protect the environment.
The Tharu ethnic group was the first to settle in this region after being forced to flee another part of the country. Chitwan was, at the time, marshes, grasslands, and swamps. The Tharu people cleared the land and developed an immunity to malaria (based on their diet). Though the area has changed a lot since they first settled here, they’re still the major ethnic group in this region.
The trip was scheduled for us by a tour guide, and since we were the only people staying at the Lodge (only crazy people come to Nepal during summer months because it’s so ridiculously hot and rainy), we were very well cared for:
Day 1: arrival (6 hour bus ride), lunch, rest, walking tour of local villages outside park, watching sun set over Rapti river, dinner, attending local dance performance
Day 2: breakfast, canoe trip down the Rapti river, hike through the jungle, visit the elephant breeding center, help bathe an elephant, lunch, rest, 3-hour elephant ride through the jungle, dinner
Day 3: bird watching, breakfast, departure
I had to skip the bird watching and breakfast on Day 3 because my stomach and I got into a fight and I lost. However, I participated in all the other activities.
Bathing an elephant was, in my opinion, the best part of the trip. They are so happy when they’re in the water, and it’s so much fun. You climb up on the elephant from the side or from the trunk then hold on for dear life while it settles into the water, sprays itself, and rolls around. I was able to ride on an elephant twice during the bath. Apparently, I have mad elephant riding skills, because I was complimented on my ability to get on and stay on the elephants.
Lisa Bower, Elephant Rider.
Perhaps the most disgusting part of the trip was watching 9 and 10-year old boys flinging elephant poop at one another as they played in the water by the elephants.
Another fantastic part of the trip was the cultural dance performance that we attended on Friday night. The performance consisted of 5 or 6 dances performed by maybe 15 guys. All 7 of us fell in love with the same dancer because he had so much energy onstage, and also because he dances with fire and who doesn’t love a guy that dances with fire?
Anyway, during the last song, they invited audience members onstage to join in the dancing. Four of us (myself included) went onstage and busted out some Tharu dance moves. We didn’t attend the show our second night in Chitwan, but our lodge was located right next door to the performance hall, so we sat outside listening to the beat of the drums and talking about the show with our travel guide. When one of the girls in my group, Janna, told our travel guide about our favorite dancer, he promptly walked next door and pulled the guy OFF STAGE DURING THE PERFORMANCE to come talk to us. Not only did he then invite us backstage to watch his fire performance again, but 5 of us (myself included, again) slipped onstage during the final dance to bust some Tharu dance moves for a second night in a row.
Lisa Bower, Tharu Cultural Dancer.
I have so many hidden talents!!!
One of the other girls has photos, so I’ll post them when I get them.
Excluding my time with former roommate Lilian, this trip to Chitwan was the only interaction I have had with Western females since I arrived in Nepal. It’s incredibly strange to go from spending the majority of your day with Nepali men to hanging out with a bunch of women as pale and energetic as you are. It was like entering a parallel universe.
This trip was also my experience with air conditioning since I’ve arrived in Nepal. I know you all think the Southern U.S. is hot, but I can definitely say that Nepal is by far hotter. So hot and humid that I swear I’ll never complain about heat in the U.S. again. While in Chitwan, the temperature was, on average, 45 degrees. Plus humidity. I sweated through every clothing item that I brought with me within 5 to 10 minutes from leaving my room. While the AC was so nice to have, the load shedding schedule often left us sweltering in our rooms without any relief. I wasn’t feeling so great this trip, and the temperature certainly didn’t help. They said the average temperature in the afternoon while we were there was 45 Celsius. That's 113 Fahrenheit. Plus humidity. I'm lucky I didn't melt.
Thinking that it would be very hot (correct), I packed a couple of tank tops and then several light colored, light weight short-sleeved shirts for this trip. Unfortunately, however, my shirts of choice were white and yellow. Which, as it turns out, are colors that make rhinos angry, and thus, should not be worn while walking or “elephanting” through the jungle. Fantastic.
We did not see any rhinos during our walk, but did hear a barking deer (it’s exactly like it sounds) slowly meet it’s demise, and then saw 4 rhinos hanging out in three separate areas during the elephant jungle walk.
Though I did enjoy it overall, the elephant walk was not my favorite.. First, because it was incredibly uncomfortable to sit for three hours smooshed into a tiny wooden “crate” with three other people. Second, because elephant drivers are not always nice to their elephants, and it makes me angry. Our elephant got a little feisty a couple of times, and was made to suffer for it by our driver. At one point, the elephant drivers started provoking the elephants to throw sticks at the rhino. Seems like a fantastic idea, right?
On our canoe trip, we saw both types of crocodiles in the park: the fish-eating crocodile, and the “man-eating” crocodile who, according to our guide, only likes to eat white people. Fantastic. All odds were against me on this trip.
Anyway, sorry for no photos. I'll post them soon. Or not, depending on the attitude of the internet and when I'm back in the office again.
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