"Long road to Kathmandu"

Rented a van and driver that cost us 1200 RPS each but it was ok, way better than a local or tourist bus. We had to stop and get a new tire as the spare was blown, stopping at one place to get the tire then another to get the tire changed. Later we actually blew a tire and luckily we had the new spare stored on the roof. When we blew the tire we all got out and Brock......as it turns out had stepped in a big pile of shit. He did not know it but soon after we hit the road the smell filled the van. We all checked our shoes and everyone claimed to be shit free. It was only after we arrived at our hotel that Brock did a thorough check only to find he was indeed the shit culprit.

The road from Chitwan to Kathmandu is only 146 kms but it took us 6 hours! The road is bad, the traffic is worse, the accidents many! Once checked back into the "Hotel Ganesh Himal", back where it all started we looked out off the roof top terrace and relived the start of the adventure. Then lunch of beer and some thukpa in the garden before blasting out to the shops so Alan and Brock could load up on souvenirs. I decided to take it easy and not blow any money on kitch. We stopped into the "Tom and Jerry Pub" for a quick drink before meeting our Dutch friends Nink and Poop (Nynke and Rob) at the "Road House". The Road House is a great place and luckily they had made a reservation as it was filled. They had also already ordered us a bottle of red wine and a snack platter of blue cheese, humus, tzatziki, olives, bread etc and with just one sip of wine and a bite of the blue cheese I was in heaven! The place is famous for wood fired pizza and they sure lived up to the hype as the pizza was awesome. We had 3 or 4 bottles of wine and chatted the night away. We all did a bit of a wrap up of our trips sharing the best and worst points of travel and trekking the Annapurna Circuit.

We went out to a bar after dinner that totally sucked it was all that techno dance crap so we had one drink and headed back to the hotel for bed as the city closed up around us.

November 26/2009 Email home

"Elephants"

Hi Kitty
Yesterday we did our elephant safari and got to see 3 rhinos...pretty cool. This morning we got up before sunup and left for a place called 20000 Lake and did a jeep safari...it was so cool. We saw three types of deer...lots and lots of deer, a troop of Macaque Monkeys, Marsh Mugger Crocs, huge Storks, hundreds of crazy birds and we were on the trail of a tiger but unfortunately we did not get to see it just lots of fresh, fresh tracks....perhaps it was best that we did not run across it hahaha. WE are packing up our gear this afternoon for a trip into where we saw the rhinos yesterday and staying overnight in a tower overlooking the plain....Alan want us to play pin the tail on the Rhino...whoever loses a game of cards has to run naked down the ladder to pin the Rhino! hahaha. We have a van booked to take us back to KTM tomorrow morning and we are staying at the same place as we started at..The Hotel Ganesh Himal which is very good and we are looking forward to a day in the city and a night on the town before our flight out. Not long now...wow it does fly by when you are this busy...It has just been incredible. Can't wait to down load all the pics and see it all in order all come back.
Hope you are doing well and missing me haha.
Talk soon.
Love John

November 26/2009 Log entry

"Walk on the wild side"

Up early and gone in the dark at 6:15 am for a jeep safari to the 20,000 lake area. Our guide a driver and the 4 of us pile into the jeep, driving a fair way to a narrow dirt road with a checkpoint. It is all part of the park corridor and just inside the gate we spotted tiger prints which our guide showed us were very fresh, they were on top of all the other tracks, both animal and tire. We would see them allot and take paths to hopefully catch up and see him. No such luck but it made for a very alert and excited trip. We would see 3 types of deer, barking, spotted and a huge Simbar buck the size of a large elk. We also saw crocs and so many birds including some rare eagles and a huge white owl. It was a great trip and I enjoyed the whole experience. It really felt like we were alone in the jungle stalking wildlife.

Back at the hotel we did breakfast of awesome banana and honey pancakes. I was able to blast off an email and then went to watch the elephants come down to the river in front of the hotel for their bath. You can get on their backs and get sprayed, jump into the river and assist with the bath, we all choose just to watch. We had to get all of our gear packed and cleared out of the rooms, packing just an overnight bag for our trip to stay in the jungle tower. We grabbed a small bottle of rum and some snacks and the hotel packed us a full dinner of chicken curry, vegetable curry, rice and salad. The jungle was awesome, once inside we got out of the jeep to walk with our guide. It was a really exciting experience, quietly creeping up to a mother and baby rhino, we heard a noise to the side of us that turned out to be another huge male just in the bush beside us and the clearing. We slowly snuck around to an opening to get an even closer look, my heart was pounding. So cool! After getting to the tower we went for a long hike and soon saw a huge crock on the riverbank, the biggest one yet. We scared up a large group of peacocks that flew up in front of us, some crossing back over the river. We also saw all 3 types of deer. After our dinner on the tower deck we actually got to go hiking in the dark. Wow what a feeling walking through a dark jungle with only the moonlight filtered through the trees. We came across deer and heard lots of noises, the tiger was ever present in my mind. The night fog came in a made seeing anything from the tower almost impossible so we headed to bed around 9 pm and I slept like a rock!

"Ride Elephants"

We opted for no activities for the morning and had a bit of a lie in. Jocko stayed back on the deck working on updating his journal while Alan, Brock and I went for a long walk through the village and beyond, just followed the roads and checked out the local ways. Nice walk. We stopped for a drink at a place with an upper deck and then had a look through some of the shops. Back at the hotel we had lunch and played cards until it was time to leave for our elephant safari. I had a great vegetable, mushroom patty with chips and a salad that was very good. We drove to the corridor section of the park where the elephants where staged. It was a bit too busy and had a bit of an "African Lion Safari" feel to it but it was cool and fun all the same. All 4 of us climbed onto the top of a very large elephant and set off on a very jerky ride, bouncing side to side and front to back. The elephants seem to follow the same path but the drivers know where the wildlife is or has been sighted last and so with a whistle they talk back and forth to each other sharing info and soon we take off in another direction. We come across deer then a bunch of peacocks, two of which take off and fly across a river. We cross the river, pretty cool as the elephants step down off the bank and into the flowing water. Soon we see a rhino on the other side near the edge of a tree line. Making a b-line over we get close and snap off some great pictures. In all we saw 3 rhinos, the last of which was truly huge. Some people we talked to saw as many as 6. We were all thrilled even if it was too busy. We headed back and had a steak dinner...well steak for here, which is a ground patty of something but it was good anyway. We played a few games of cards while organizing the next morning's plans. All very tired we called it a night.

"Rumours of my demise are greatly exaggerated"

Hi Kitty
Sorry for the delay...no power or internet until now.
I am in Chitwan after leaving Pokhara. I went paragliding from the top of the mountain and it was very scary but also awesome! I was over 2.5KMs high and we went for over an hour..I flew over the mountain ridge and could see forever! My legs were shaking when I landed. We just spent 2 days on the river, rafting down the Seti. It was awesome, we saw tons of crazy birds and scenery. We also saw a village of people burning a body as we passed...it was part of a funeral and they all smiled and waved as we passed. We camped on the sand beach under a tarp held up by the paddles...the food was excellent. We all got soaked but had a great laugh. I felt better the whole way and now I am back to normal...it was the water or food type thing..we have all had it but I got it last and worst. WE made it to Chitwan late yesterday and were up early for a dugout canoe trip and jungle walk then a jeep safari...CRAZY!!! We have seen so much stuff! We just saw a huge Rhino 15 feet from us and man are they big! We have seen many of two types of monkeys, two types of crocks, hundreds of amazing birds, wild boars, deer etc. We are going on elephant back in the morning. Jocko is still with us and still my roommate and has decide to stay and go with us to Katmandu on Friday and stay with us to fly out on Saturday..He has really turned out to be a good pickup. I am at a roadside stall that I walked up to in the village near the "Riverside Hotel" where we are staying. We are doing a trek to tower on Thursday and sleep in overnight in it overlooking the jungle...should be cool. I am having a blast and really love the Nepali people....warts and all hahahaha. The markets, the dirt, the noise the horns honking constantly everything...it's just so wild. Even in what seems like totally poverty and hardship they smile, they work hard just to exist and still they are smiling. You would find it hard to enjoy the lack of order and sanitation...you would starve!! hahahaha. Anyway I have to go for super now.....Chicken Sizzler????
I love you and miss you and can't wait for snacks and wine when I get home on Sunday..I will try to email again.
Love You
John

"Chitwan canoe, hike and jeep safari"

 Up early and straight into a dugout canoe. We were paddled down the river in the early morning fog while our guide showed us various strange birds including peacocks roosted high up in the trees and a huge stork, later a Gharial Crocodile. We set the canoe on shore way down the river and started our jungle hike. After only 2 to 3 minutes in the bush a crashing rhino was moving close by, we never saw it but a group of hikers near us did. While we walked we saw Languor monkeys and tons of birds. After lunch we took a long jeep safari which was very cool as Jocko and I rode on top of the roof. We saw kingfishers, storks, hornbills, peacocks, both Marsh mugger and Gharial crocodiles and both Languor and Macaque  monkeys, spotted and barking deer, wild boars with babies, parakeets, minas and hundreds of other birds. We then came into a clearing from the jungle, an area of very tall elephant grass and there right beside the path was a very large rhino. It was bigger than I expected and it just stood there eating while I stood on the jeep's roof top taking pictures. At one point it seemed to get annoyed and turned around in a huff, then started to run and crash back through the grass like a bulldozer on legs. Wow, what a day!

"River to Chitwan"

Up early and on the river after breakfast. The rapids are bigger and more plentiful today and we had a blast. A snake was swimming in the water and it went towards us and under the raft, the guide tried to get us away from it as he said it would enter the raft through the gaps in the bottom. It did not get in! We had to help with the kayakers as they failed in the rapids, we all agreed we would like to do the kayaking if we did this again. When we arrived at the take out point we changed into dry clothes that were waiting for us, delivered from Pokhara. The guides made us another big lunch as we waited for the bus to take us the rest of the way. The bus turned out to be a local bus that was filled, dirty and slow but what fun I had. I sat at the back with the window open to the dusty air, so I wore my bandana as required. The bus stops for everything and anyone it seems, at one point it stopped for a 10 minute break in a village. Right away men with portable tables came to the bus to sell some strange looking snack. I watched for sometime as people would pick items from his table that was divided into square sections, each section containing some type of dry see, bean, rice or lentil type thing. Plus there were fresh items such as chili peppers, onions a bag of rice, bottles of liquid and some containers of spices. I watched intently and described the action to the guys as a very attractive Nepali girl was choosing her snack items. She caught my eye and we smiled at each other....the girls here are so beautiful. She nodded and indicated that I should have some of the "street snack". The next thing I knew she had made up a pack and had it poured into a cone of paper and offered it up to me in the bus window. I got out money to pay her but she would not accept it. It was a gift for me to try. Most of the guys would not try it as they were afraid of the "street". I however dug into the spicy treat and wow was it awesome, fresh, crunchy, spicy hot. I really need to find out what it is called.

We arrived at the hotel after driving through a huge market full of everything you could imagine. Our hotel was a pleasant surprise. We checked in at the Hotel Riverside and just spent the evening relaxing and playing cards over beers and then later rum and cokes while we planned our activities.

"Rafting the Seti River"

Up early as directed and raced to the rafting office only to wait and wait. Finally we got to the river via a bus taken from the bus park. We spent some time getting the supplies and gear down to river and loaded. Once on the river we had a blast. We all got soaked running the rapids. The scenery was awesome, the landscape has all changed again. Now we are in all bamboo, wood and thatched roof houses. The sides of the river are high cliffs with jungle plants. We saw tons of crazy birds, huge raptors, vultures and even some very wild green/turquoise coloured birds as well as many strange butterflies. Once we rounded a corner and on the bank a bunch of people were burning a human body as part of a funeral ritual. Only the flames and smoke were visible and all the people on the shore waved and smiled at us as we passed. We stopped for lunch on the beach which the guides made fresh, chopping up a ton of vegetables to make coleslaw that rocked! We made camp later in the afternoon. We slept under tarps open to the air. Before bed they served us prawn chips and hot chocolate as a snack and later followed a wicked soup with popadam chips then a huge dinner of cheese pasta, vegetables and excellent French fries. It was so much good food served fresh made on the beach. We ordered a beer each from a local village boy who delivered them to us later. Tired we all went to bed early just as a group of villagers started to sing, dance and play drums. Dogs slept in the sand beside us and something in the night woke them and us, they screeched and barked as well all woke up in a start. Our sleep was not the best as the ground was very hard with only a thin rubber mat. We should have moved out to the fire and slept in the soft sand.

"Pokhara, scared stiff paragliding"

I slept well, not sick! Had coffee and tea on the balcony then went to a coffee shop for a bit of breakfast. Alan, Jocko and I went to the paragliding place to catch the van way up to the top of the hill above the city. It is a narrow winding road all the way up to the launch point. They wasted no time with explanations or descriptions, they just paired us up, hooked us into the harnesses and away I ran off the edge. The take off was not as scary as I thought it would be but once we were in the air and searching for thermals and then circling around and up it became terrifying then awesome and then terrifying again. It was very cool, so incredible as we flew higher and higher reaching 2500 meters. We ran the edge and I could see the deep valleys on both sides and the Phewa Lake of Pokhara. Ajay my pilot did some loops and aerobatics before landing that scared the crap out of me. Once back on the ground my knees were shaking but I was also very pumped. We all then went back to meet up with Brock who was waiting at the pizza place near our hotel. It turned out to be the best pizza on the trip, just awesome with a beer. I feel so much better now.

We grabbed a taxi and went up to the Gurka Museum which was very cool. I bought a knife and a pin for my motorcycle vest. We all then headed out to the Busy Bee, where I got a t-shirt from the bike club, "Hearts and Tears". I even got to go inside their club house and take some pictures. The band was excellent and met up with Eleanor and Monty. They are leaving for Chitwan on Sunday. We had a great time.