Day 5 (January 1):
For our safari we had to take a six hour bus trip. About halfway through we stopped for a break. The place where we stopped had a neat area to explore and so since we had time, Lauren, Chantel, and I explored. While we explored Lauren saw her yak that she had been wanting to see. We actually saw a couple yaks, but none of them had fur like pictures always show and only a few had the horns.
We finally arrived. Each hotel meets the buses and so our hotel had a truck to take us back to the hotel.
To welcome us the hotel staff gave us girls flowers and put the red on all the guests foreheads. I think they do it to bless us.
After our welcome and getting settled, we went on a jungle walk. The first place we visited was an elephant keep. These elephants are appantly the ones that the Nepalese government use and ride.
Day 6 (January 2):
The man in the red hat was our guide. He was the one that lead us on our walk and took us to the culture we went to the night before. He is a native to the area and so sometimes he is up front with the dancers, but not this time. This picture actually shows him leading us to our elephant safari pick-up point. The towers you see in the background are the platforms where the elephants get loaded with people.
This is the elephants and their trainers waiting to come up to the platforms and get loaded with people.
The elephant backs into the platform and four people climb on.
Each person sits in the four corners of the saddle like contraption. The trainer sits in front on the neck of the elephant with his feet under the ears. I think they use their feet to steer the elephant, they also have a stick that they use to help control the elephant.
We really didn't see a whole lot of wildlife on our safari. We saw monkeys, peacocks, roosters, a fox, deer, and the neatest thing was a mother and baby rhino. Being on the elephant we were able to sneak up on them and get pretty close. It was a really cool experience.
After our elephant safari we had to catch our bus back to Kathmandu. This bus ride was a lot longer, but we finally made it after a few close calls, but no catastrophes.
Day 7 (January 3):
Here is another picture of our delicious Momos. This was at a restaurant that is not really for tourists. It seemed to be a family owned and run place where the locals ate. We were the only white people in there I think.
Day 8 (January 4):
Our last day in Nepal we were meeting Santu for lunch before our plane was to leave. He works in the UN building in Nepal and so we got a taxi to take us there. We got there a little bit before our meeting time and so we sat on the sidewalk and played phase 10 while we waited. We got quite a few people to smile and laugh at us. A guard came over towards the end and asked us to stop playing cards because people might take pictures and put them online and this is the UN building. They seem very protective of their bridges and any type of government building and don't like pictures taken of them.
January 5:
We made it back to Dhaka just fine and made it back to the clinic after waiting at the airport for a little while. We did not get an early start to our trip back to Bangla Hope and so most of the day was spent sitting in the van heading back. We arrived late enough that is was dark already. After we had unloaded the van, Mrs. Waid had us all come to the cafeteria where Shati brought out a cake and they all sang to me. It was a nice ending to a long day, that did not feel like my birthday!
For our safari we had to take a six hour bus trip. About halfway through we stopped for a break. The place where we stopped had a neat area to explore and so since we had time, Lauren, Chantel, and I explored. While we explored Lauren saw her yak that she had been wanting to see. We actually saw a couple yaks, but none of them had fur like pictures always show and only a few had the horns.
The place we stopped was by a river and had a suspension bridge going across it. We decided to go across, it was a really cool bridge. We saw quite a few while we were traveling and we were excited to get to be on one.
We finally arrived. Each hotel meets the buses and so our hotel had a truck to take us back to the hotel.
To welcome us the hotel staff gave us girls flowers and put the red on all the guests foreheads. I think they do it to bless us.
This is where we went to ride our elephant and go on our safari: Chitwan National Park. Both days were here it was cold and overcast, but it was still a neat place to visit.
After our welcome and getting settled, we went on a jungle walk. The first place we visited was an elephant keep. These elephants are appantly the ones that the Nepalese government use and ride.
While we were leaving the elephant area and getting started on the real walk, a wild elephant was spotted. You can't see it well, but if you look closely in the middle of the circle I drew you might be able to see the dot that is the wild elephant.
While on the walk, we were also able to see a wild rhino.We couldn't get too close, but it was cool to see it not too far from us. We couldn't get too close, but it was cool to see it not too far from us.
Day 6 (January 2):
The man in the red hat was our guide. He was the one that lead us on our walk and took us to the culture we went to the night before. He is a native to the area and so sometimes he is up front with the dancers, but not this time. This picture actually shows him leading us to our elephant safari pick-up point. The towers you see in the background are the platforms where the elephants get loaded with people.
This is the elephants and their trainers waiting to come up to the platforms and get loaded with people.
The elephant backs into the platform and four people climb on.
Each person sits in the four corners of the saddle like contraption. The trainer sits in front on the neck of the elephant with his feet under the ears. I think they use their feet to steer the elephant, they also have a stick that they use to help control the elephant.
We really didn't see a whole lot of wildlife on our safari. We saw monkeys, peacocks, roosters, a fox, deer, and the neatest thing was a mother and baby rhino. Being on the elephant we were able to sneak up on them and get pretty close. It was a really cool experience.
After our elephant safari we had to catch our bus back to Kathmandu. This bus ride was a lot longer, but we finally made it after a few close calls, but no catastrophes.
This picture is of us in a restaurant we ate at three meals in a row. It is called OR2K. It is a purely vegetarian restaurant; it has a good variety and very delicious food.
Day 7 (January 3):
Here is another picture of our delicious Momos. This was at a restaurant that is not really for tourists. It seemed to be a family owned and run place where the locals ate. We were the only white people in there I think.
The last couple days in Nepal were very cold and we were bundled up consistantly. Especially as we were going to bed. Hotel Nana was a great hotel, but it didn't have any heat, actually I don't think many of the hotels there did have heat. The really nice thing about Hotel Nana (and Potala) was that it only cost 400 rps.(about $5) a night.
Our last day in Nepal we were meeting Santu for lunch before our plane was to leave. He works in the UN building in Nepal and so we got a taxi to take us there. We got there a little bit before our meeting time and so we sat on the sidewalk and played phase 10 while we waited. We got quite a few people to smile and laugh at us. A guard came over towards the end and asked us to stop playing cards because people might take pictures and put them online and this is the UN building. They seem very protective of their bridges and any type of government building and don't like pictures taken of them.
January 5:
We made it back to Dhaka just fine and made it back to the clinic after waiting at the airport for a little while. We did not get an early start to our trip back to Bangla Hope and so most of the day was spent sitting in the van heading back. We arrived late enough that is was dark already. After we had unloaded the van, Mrs. Waid had us all come to the cafeteria where Shati brought out a cake and they all sang to me. It was a nice ending to a long day, that did not feel like my birthday!
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