Chitwan National Park

So a couple's club had developed since the kayak competition. This club consisted of Paz, Hayley, and myself as the white females and Pradeep, Tarzan and pappu as the Nepalese males. With finding the other two couples back in fishling as Tarzan was doing a white water rescue technition's course we started to make plans. During the few days it consisted of practising kayaking - mostly rolling for myself; long distance and tricks for pappu and the two girls were introduced to kayaking slowly. However much fun this was the other couples had planned to go to chitwan national park for a visit. So loose plans were made and it was decided that we would go on the 11th. 

After taking a early bus ride back to narayanghat where we had stopped on the way to his auntys it was time to wait for the other couples. We had split up as they had stayed at tarzans grandmothers house the night before as it was her birthday (if it wasn't her birthday it was someone's party). After breakfast and chai we were soon with the others on another bus on the way to the park. 

Chitwan - means heart of the jungle, and is located in the flatlands of Nepal not too far away from the Indian boarder. Many tourists head to the park which has many activities on offer to cater for a wide audience. Upon arriving in our rickshaw with all of us piled in with out bags we were dropped outside one of the agents offices. Immediately the boys were on it with negotiations on somewhere to stay and what activities we were going to do. 

Hotel sorted, lunch ordered it was time for some chai and a chat. We went for a walk and found a nice rooftop cafe which served us some chai. Dahl Bhat was to follow back at the hotel shortly afterwards - much to my delight. I'd rather eat it once a day in the evening not at lunch but it wasn't a big deal. The boys then went to find out about the prices for the activities that were on offer - from trekking, 4wd safari's, canoeing, elephant rides, plus many more activites. We had a shock when the boys came back with the prices! As always it was fairly cheep for the boys with them being Nepalese however as all us females were foriegners it was nearly twice the price for us. We had looked prices up online before they went - but it was an outdated price list and it was nearly triple what we were expecting! 

So that threw a spanner in the plan. Despite the price increase we decided that we would do something seeing as we had traveled there - which meant we didn't necessarily have to come back. The question was - what did we want to do? The other couples had decided to stay for longer so they were not in much of a rush to make any decisions whereas we had decided just to stay the one night  - although the accomadation was fairly inexpensive we had a room back in fishling where we were spending a lot less for both food and accomadation than we were here at chitwan. So decisions had to be made - we eventually decided upon the elephant ride. I was always gutted because the elephant at beach camp in India had always decided to visit when I was on program somewhere or in Delhi so I never got to see it and I really wanted to. So elephant ride it was. We planned that for the morning of the next day - that evening we went to the cultural program that was being shown. 

The cultural program again we had to pay for but it wasn't expensive - the other couples had decided to stay back and chat so we ventured by ourselfs. This cultural program involved music and dancing that was traditional to the local area. Some of it involved men and sticks, others girls dancing, a little but of fire, or a made up peacock - which to me was the highlight of the dances. At the end everyone was invited to get up and dance which my little pappu did do and managed to get two of the girls to have their photo taken with him?! (His new Nepalese wives maybe?). Overall it was good to experience and see the traditional local dances. Who knows maybe one day I'll know some of them?! I would reccomend going to experience this even if it's just to see the peacock dance! 

The elephant ride - where do I start? I was a little apprehensive about it to start off with because I wasn't sure on how the elephants were treated but I had agreed and paid so I guess I didn't want to waste money. There were four of us sat ontop of the elephant - which I had found out during the ride that she was called Lakshmi - like the godess. She was a little bit stubborn but overall was a very good elephant to have the pleasure of sitting on for nearly two hours. It was fairly early in the morning when we went for our ride although there was quite a lot of people around and maybe about 20 elephants who were all setting off to take tourists on a walk through the jungle. We did manage to see some rhino, crocodiles, wild boar, monkeys and deer on our trip through the jungle - not forgetting the tiny frog that jumped ontop the other girls leg (who kinda freaked out a little bit) and the spiders and webs we went through - much to my pleasure!  

Apart from a few times where Lakshmi decided to stop for a snack, overall she was well behaved although that didn't stop the guide from hitting her - much to my displeasure although there wasn't anything I could do about it. Although I enjoyed it as an experience it isn't something I would necessarily jump at to do again - i would rather spend money doing something where the poor animal giving us a memorable experience doesn't get hit on the head several times.  I had a feeling but I guess that you live and learn after having the experience. 

Soon after we met up with the other couples and went for brunch as it was soon time for us to leave. Brunch was enjoyable on the water front when it finally arrived - it took a long time but our "two eggs any style with toast and "hash potatoes" and tea" was enjoyable even if it was missing the bacon!! After brunch we said our farewells for now and we departed for the bus back to fishling. 

Overall it was worth going to chitwan - however the price difference made a huge difference to the length of time we spent there and the activities that we did. In particular again the price difference for the Nepalese and the foreigners made a huge difference - as a foreigner getting charged three times the price I feel is unfair. What can you do though? It's a poor country that relys upon tourists income to make money. 

Up into the clouds

WeNot too far away from we are staying there is Nepal's only cable car. The cable car goes up over the river and up the mountain where there is a temple. Many tourists come to visit this temple as the goddess is known for making wishes come true. 

We decided one day to go up to the temple to visit - one reason was that Paddy had never been on a cable car before! We arrived and saw the charges - for Nepalese it was around 600rs (approx  £4) for a foreigner like me it was $20 (This is one thing that annoys me about both Nepal and India and I'm sure it happens in other Asian countries - if we were to charge different prices in the UK for foreigners then I'm sure there would be riots and protests! However it is what it is - we paid the money and there was a slight benefit to this as we were able to walk straight to the front of the queue and not wait in line. Bonus! 

The day itself was cloudy which I was a little bit disappointed at to be honest as I had wanted to see the view from the top of the mountain as I'm sure it would have been amazing but nevertheless we were sat in the car with another family and we were travelling up over the river, houses, trees and up into the clouds. The trip itself was going to take approx 10 minutes and whilst we were in the cloud it was hard to even see 10m out of the cable car. It seemed as if luck wasn't on my side as we kept gettin higher and higher and the cloud was still there. 

Fortunantly, for me my wish had got granted and we rose through the cloud and into a beautiful sunny day. Walking off the cable which had taken us to an altitude of 1,302m in a short time and we didn't realise how many shops and resturants there were. We walked trough street upon street selling the same jewlerry,souvenirs, flowers and pictures of the temple. 

As usual I had shouts at me in Nepalese saying "get her to buy this" or people getting me to try and eat at their resturant. I walked alone as paddy went to get the flowers, rice, coconut and incense which are traditionally given as gifts to the gods - mostly because he would have had to pay twice as much if I was with him! 

Whist standing for this photo a random stranger - again did something that really quite annoys me - taking a picture of me without asking. Even if they had asked I would have said no. It's not as if I go and hunt down the foreign people in the uk and take pictures of them - so why do it to me?! (Rant over!?) 

Even though we had arrived fairly early in the day, there was a long queue to get inside the temple - as in, so long we decided that we would offer our gifts and make our wishes outside the actual temple. Inside was a series of bells and a statue of the godess. So once we had had the coconut broken and tika put on our foreheads we lit the incense and made our wishes to the godess. 

People also bring live animals such as goats or chickens up to the temple to offer to the gods. Their heads get chopped off and then the rest of the animal put in a plastic bag and taken somewhere - maybe back with the family. We saw a few of these headless goats bleeding all over the floor near the temple - where people were walking bearfoot.... Thankfully I didn't take any pictures of these animals as I don't need a reminder of that. 

We stopped by this one shop to get a very photoshopped picture of the both of us with the temple in the background as a souvenir. The picture was taken in a few mintutes and we left for lunch to give the guy some time to edit it. After finding somewhere for lunch where we had some thukpa (a Tibetan noodle dish) which was nice - but took a very long time to arrive. We returned to the photo guy to be greeted by our picture which cost all of 100rs. 

It was soon time to head back down the mountain - however we had timed it badly as the cable car had just closed for lunch time. Which meant we were to wait over an hour until we were able to head back down the mountain. During that time however the clouds had cleared up slightly more and we were able to see some more of the mountains in the area. I think the most left more of a mystery to the day although I'm sure the view would have been stunning if it had been clear. 

Once we had waited for the cable car to reopen - again we managed to go straight to the front of the queue without waiting - whereas others had been stood waiting in line since the car shut for lunch. Whilst we were waiting we watched it get longer and longer and even longer! Overall it was an enjoyable day and worthwhile to go and visit. Now it's just time to wait and see

If our wishes do come true.....

Meeting family

It was decided that we were going to visit his family. Now that the competition had finished we were free to do more stuff that wasn't training or practise for the competition. We had previously gone to the biggest local town with Paz, Pradeep and a few others from the competition. This has allowed us to eat something other than dal Bhat and have a change of scenery. 

 This change of scenery lead us to the confluence of the Trishuli and the Marsyendi rivers where we spent some time sitting. After this we went to the German bakery - although there wasn't anything really German on the menu - Israeli, Nepalese, Indian, Tibetan and Italian foods where all there but I didn't really see anything German food on the menu. 

However going to meet family was a different story - I was probably the first white person that was going to visit the village, they more than likely didn't speak English and apparently there wasn't anything to do there. I wasn't prepared for this really but I knew it was going to happen at some point as he had told me before that we would visit at some point. I know I shouldn't make assumptions however i guess it's easier for me to be prepared and expect the worst and then hope for the best. 

After a short bus ride, lunch, another bus ride, buying some sweets, another bus ride and a walk through the local fields we were nearly there - we just had to find the right house. 

We did find it eventually and met his Aunty, great uncle and nieces. I think they were Suprised to see him with me - I sat there and smiled as I didn't really understand a word that they said! That didn't matter though as we were both welcomed warmly even though we were unannounced! 

We ate fairly early as the power goes out early here for whatever reason. More dal Bhat was on the menu - which was good. Once the power was out there wasn't much to do apart from make our own entertainment. Which consisted of putting on head tourches and reading my book or playing games on my iPhone. The second night it consisted of some of the local children coming to sit in the room with me just so they could come and have a look at me..! 

There was a book I've finished already titled sold. This book was really easy to read and was quite eye opening at the same time. It followed a young village girls story who got sold to a women who then took her to India and kept her and sold her for sex. The girl thought she was going to the city to work as a maid to help earn money for her family so that he could buy a tin roof for their house. Being in this village seeing the young boys and girls and the houses made me think about this book whilst I was there. I am quite fortunant really with my upbringing and house I've grown up in and the oppourtunities that have been given to me. Whilst for these village children they might not ever receive a proper education or get that tin roof for their family.  

Anyway I digress - we visited more relatives of sorts - I have no idea how he is related as he didn't seem sure at times either. They have various houses some with straw roofs and some with tin roofs. Some with lots of animals some with less animals. There were also some young babies along the way who mostly cried when I got close to them - not that I minded because they were too small for me to want to hold or play with anyway - paddy on the other hand he seems to jump at the chance to play with the small children (I know who's going to stay at home and look after the children - IF - and that's a big If it ever happens! And it's not going to be me!). 

We also got on the local bus which took us to the nearest main road. On the way back whilst I was sitting waiting in  the bus which waiting for a few more people to get on board before leaving to go up the road - one of the bus boys - who collects the money for the ride looked at me on the bus - an then shouted to his friend in Nepalese "there's a white girl on our bus" - to which the friend came on the bus for the ride to look at me! I was completely oblivious to this at the time and found out after the bus ride. 

Again, before we left we went to visit a few more relatives - who have us some rice beer in morning - which left us both a little tipsy. Walking through the village the children and adults would stop and stare at me - I felt like sometimes that I should carry a load of sweeties around with me to give to the kids, maybe they would stop the stares?! Again, also when walking back to the house we stopped at the local shop to buy the little girl some food snacks - these spicy rice crispy things. Whilst we were waiting a small crowd started gathering and asking stuff in Nepalese and I stood and smiled at them - as I didn't understand a word that they were saying - I just understood the replies that paddy gave them. 

Soon it was time to leave but not before some dal Bhat and a few family photo's and some random photos which the girls took with my phone. We will be going back to visit again before we leave for India. 

Pokhara

Pokhara - Nepal's second largest city and popular tourist destination surrounded by mountains and the beautiful phewa lake. We headed there with Sunjay and Soham the two boys from Rishikesh, India as they had not been before like myself. Also coming along with us was Pradeep who was going to meet his girlfriend. 

We caught a ride with the Paddle Nepal guys who were heading there which meant it was a lot more comfortable and quicker than the bus. The journey still took a couple of hours to reach Pokhara and when we did we arrived in the dark so it wasn't until the next day we actually saw the beauty of our surroundings. 

We took a walk to the lake where you can hire boats and go for a boat ride - there's also a temple which you can only get to by boat but we decided not to go to it. The lake is pretty big and surrounded by mountains not too far away you have the Annapurna range and most people who trek in this region start from Pokhara. 

Other than the lake and the temple there is a range of shops selling a range of items from books, clothes and souveners. There is also a wide range of resturants, bars, and cafés serving a range of Nepali and continental food. 

We took a walk around the shops which were priced considerably more than outside of the city - again as it's one of the biggest tourist area's it's one reason to add service charges and ask for more money for items which have no marked prices. This is where good bartering comes into effect - or if your a white girl with a bunch of Indian and Nepali guys you sit and wait somewhere else as the fact that I have white skin means they will at least ask for double to start with than if it was just the boys by themselves. Moral of the story is - go drink some tea and tell the boys what you want and hope that they get it for you. 

We spent the evening checking out the nightlife - at Silk Road we played pool and listened to live music which was pretty good. There was free Wifi here also which meant I was able to check in with people back at home which is important to me. This is the place were most of the raft guides and kayakers hang out or so I was told but it was pretty empty - probably because everyone was practising for the rodeo on the Trishuli. 

It was only to be a short trip though and after two nights we left early in the morning to catch the bus back to the Trishuli. The boys needed to get back and practise for the competition sort out boats and whatever else they needed to do. Hopefully we will come back and visit again as I felt I didn't have enough time to explore the area. 

The Trisuli

The trisuli river is where the Himalayan whitewater festival is being held at the end of November. It is the biggest whitewater competition in Asia. We were headed here so that Paddy could practise for the competition, as he would definatly be competing. I on the other hand would sit the competition out after a back injury during the summer got aggravated by the rafting trip. 

There were a few boys already there practising on the wave for the freestyle competition. I don't really know much about the names of tricks and so on and to me it just looked like they were going for a wash... Without soap or shampoo! 

A few days into our stay here we had two of the boys from Rishikesh, India turn up. Both of whom I had met last year during my stay in India. I was happy to have more company as I wasn't very good at sitting on a rock all day watching the boys have fun - and there wasn't enough boats - 'proper boats' (not a small playboat) for me to go kayaking myself. It was ok though as we were to take a few days break and travel to Pokhara - which will be another post.

Anyway after our trip to Pokhara it was back to practise - the boys from India had managed to get some boats and they were ready to get practising. I got asked if I wanted to go rafting with a few people to do part of the upper section which I had not done before. I obviously said yes and persuaded Paz to come and another girl called Hayley also came. It was pretty cool we had started to build our girlfriends club and as we were all western and not taking part in the competition we could all talk to each other which was great. 

The rafting was great only a short section but we had some bigger rapids to go down - we also unintentionally flipped the raft on a rapid named upset - which was interesting! Kind of fun after being sucked down a few times but everyone was ok just a little wet! 

Soon the small town had more and more people turn up for the competition - the GRG crew as well as the other boys representing the Ganga Kayak Festival had arrived and the competition was soon underway! 

There were various events such as slalom , freestyle, boater cross, down river race and rafting race. The boys were looking good and much cheering was to be done from the rocky bank. 23 - Ayodhaya  37 - Sunjay, 38 - Soham, 50 - Veeru & finally 57 - my Pappu were the ones I made sure to watch out for and give the biggest cheers to. 

Ayodhaya qualified for the slalom final which was great news for team GKF. Soham unfortunatly had a nasty swim crossing from one gate to another where there was a big pour over so he took a swim unfortunantly. Pappu again in the same place got tipped over rolled twice and then gave up on the rest of the race.  

Pappu and Veeru qualified in the top 20 for the freestyle - of which then pappu qualified for the finals on the last day of the competition to then come 6th overall - which was pretty impressive. 

The boater cross Pappu and Ayodhaya got to the semi finals with pappu being knocked out and Ayodhaya finishing in second Place. 

The down river race Ayodhaya came in first out of the boys out of the GFK but unfortunantly was not a medal in it for him during this race. The slalom finals however he placed 3rd overall bringing home his second medal for himself and the only two medals for the GFK team. 

Overall the competition was fun with lots of people to meet and make new friends with. There were plenty of events to keep spectators and competitors entertained with live music, plenty of local food and drinks to try and fun to be had both on and off the water. 

Hopefully next year I will be back and so will my boys and we will all try again and compete hopefully to do better than this year. However for now it's time to turn the focus to the Ganga Kayak Festival being held in February, in Rishikesh, India.