Chitwan

After exploring Kathmandu a couple of days our city contact Geljen decided to take us on a 4 hour drive through Nepal to the very south of the country in order to visit another national park, Chitwan! It was so different than where we were for the rest of our trip! Chitwan, with its elephants and tropical terrain felt like another country. We stayed at this safari lodge that led us on a two day excursion that included elephant rides through the jungle, wild rhinos, bathing with elephants in the river, canoeing in crocodile filled rivers, bird watching and giant spiders (see the images below)! We had an incredible time!

The spider in one of the pictures below was found in our bathroom about 5 minutes after arriving in Chitwan. John and I were scared to do anything with it for fear that it was poisonous! We told one of the men who worked there about it and he went into our room and attempted to grab it with his bare hands but it jumped so then he hit it with a broom to shock it, then preceeded to grab it with his hand and threw it outside!! I was glad that he didn't kill it, but amazed at his attitude, no big deal it is just a GIANT SPIDER after all!!

I also should add that John and I remained stomach healthy throughout our whole trip! The pepto saved us! However, in Chitwan when we had the elephant bath, I inhaled and swallowed a lot of water from the river (which I later found out was a tributary of the Ganges River!) and within an hour was incredibly sick! OOPPPS! I did so well up until the last days of our trip! It wasn't too bad although it did cause a lot of stomach pain that lasted over a month even after our return home! I must say that it was worth it! Bathing with elephants in the river was one of the neatest things I have ever done! Knowing the result, I would have still done it - maybe just tried to not laugh and smile so much and keep my mouth shut!!

What a once in a lifetime experience we had in Nepal! From 18,500 feet to below sea level. From rocks to rhinos! The diversity in Nepal is incredible! I hope you enjoyed following us on our adventure! I loved reliving it all over again through these posts! Until the next great adventure, Bon Voyage!