Lions and Tigers and Bears - Oh, My!

Chitwan National Park in Nepal was our next destination. After a very exciting bus ride down a typical Nepali road (involving an exhaust getting knocked off, the bus engine not being able to start again, and some other various miscommunications with the bus driver), we finally arrived at Island Jungle Resort. We were able to at least watch an awesome sunset.

Early the next morning, we saddled up an elephant to go "interact" with the local wildlife.

Getting ready for the morning commute

Rhinos, wild boars, and langur monkeys were going through their morning ablutions and eating breakfast.

The tranquility of the jungle was only disturbed by 20 people riding 4 elephants trampling through the thick brush. Really, the rhinos didn't seem to mind.

Afterwards, we walked through the jungle with a local tracker to try to find tigers and sloth bears, only the most feared animals in Chitwan. No, this doesn't sound smart to me either. The weapon of choice held by our tracker and guide: a big stick. We saw neither of these beasts, but did see tiger paw prints and sloth bear pits in the mud where they forage for termites. We were instructed to run up a tree if confronted by a rhino.

The elephant and Alan worked up quite a sweat walking (it was only about 36C/97F), so they both decided to take a bath in the river. 

An elephant sneezes on Alan.

The national park was relaxing and tranquil, but we wanted to learn a bit about the Tharu people who used to live in the area that is now the park. Most of the Tharu now live in the areas surrounding the park in Sauraha. We learned that the Tharu are descendants of the Rajasthani tribes who migrated to the area. (We're currently in Rajasthan in India, and we do see some of the similarities in the customs.)

Hot as it was, we rented two bicycles to explore the local Tharu villages. Most Tharu people's mode of transportation is bicycle, not elephant, not car.

Jennifer and her trusty steed. Check out the cool brakes and bling on the bike. Just needs tassles on the handlebars.

In the evening, we visited a local Tharu family to learn how to cook a typical Tharu meal. Guess what we cooked - dal bhat!! Sapana Village Lodge organized this for us, and it was definitely a highlight for me.

It's actually a pretty sweet deal for the family. We pay them money to prepare an entire meal for them. But honestly, we learned a lot and had fun. Hopefully they had as much fun as we did (I think Alan provided some nice evening entertainment) and enjoyed the meal we cooked for them.

Alan stirring the onions while sitting on a Nepali-sized stool. The Tharu ladies laughed each time he had to stand up to stretch. Poor Alan.

Alan plants some rice. He needs to go back in a couple of months to harvest now. Rice planting is typically done by the women. Yes, the little kids are laughing at Alan. Poor Alan.