🇳🇵 Chitwan National Park - Seeing Rhinos and Crocodiles
Spontaneously ending up in a PvE map
After arriving in Kathmandu quite late the night prior, I was surprised to bump into Max at breakfast in my hostel, a German guy whom I had met 3 weeks prior in Delhi. He pitched a tour to Chitwan National Park to me, famous for its wildlife. He got an amazing deal from the hostel manager, KK.
KK seems to be the most well-connected guy in Nepal, being able to book just about anything at short notice for an exceptionally good price. For this tour, we were quoted 225 USD for a pretty rammed itinerary (rafting, safari, jungle trekking, canoeing), with comparable tours online going for triple that. I imagine that by organising everything with locals and no middlemen, he can keep the prices low while ensuring that people get paid normal amounts. I don’t think I could get the price this low if I booked this all myself. This seems to be a common occurrence in Nepal - western companies charge a hefty premium for having an online presence and advertising budget. Just coming here and booking something on the spot seems to be the way to do it. If you ever come to Nepal, ask me to connect you with KK - he’ll sort you out.
The plan was a very spontaneous one, which is something that doesn’t come easily to me (although I’m trying to get better at this). After experiencing some anxiety-induced analysis paralysis in Kathmandu’s tourist district, I texted Max and agreed. It felt like it would be nice to have everything sorted for me for the next few days. I’ve also never done a proper safari or seen much Asian wildlife, so this opportunity seemed great.
While backpacking, you end up making plans with people you have just met without knowing much about them. I’ve had a few situations in the past where I ended up stuck with someone I didn’t quite get along with, which always calls for an awkward time. There was a risk that this would happen with Max, but he seemed easygoing, so I went for it. Luckily, Max was super sound, and we got along great.
Day 1 - Rafting
We came to the rafting spot by bus, which was also on the worst road I’ve ever been on. The quality of some of the roads in Nepal is shocking, and even Max mentioned that they’re the worst roads he’s experienced (and he’s seemingly travelled everywhere). Every few minutes, we got sent down a bump that sent everyone flying a few centimetres in the air. Morbidly, this was also the road on which a bus crashed a few days prior, killing 19 people. We actually rafted past the wreckage a little later on, and the Nepalis we rafted with helped pull the survivors and bodies out of the bus. The bus alternatives here aren’t great either, however. Nepal Airlines, for example, has an appalling safety record and is banned from various airspaces. They’ve even sacrificed goats on the runway in the past to fix a Boeing 757. Surviving every journey here makes you really feel alive.
We did white water rafting for a few hours with a bunch of guys who were somewhere between the ages of 18 and 20. There were 6 of them and 2 of us; I suppose there was nothing going on in the village that day, so many of them came just to kayak around. The head kid gave us a quick safety rundown, and we were off. No security waivers or anything - just if the boat flips and all our stuff gets scattered, put your feet downstream, and someone will help. The kids also let me and Max swim around in one-person kayaks, which the head kid seemed a little stressed by, but it was fine. I’ve not been in a one-person kayak before, and those things really react to your smallest movement.
After finishing the rafting, a guy who didn’t speak English was waiting in a Jeep to drop us off at our hotel. I didn’t get a photo as I didn’t have my phone on me, but it was a Tata-branded Jeep with just about the worst front-row seat setup imaginable. Sitting in the middle, the gear stick was in my crotch, and my right foot was narrowly next to the clutch. Every time the driver switched gears, he brushed my balls with the gearstick and grazed my foot with the clutch while seeming completely unfazed. Asian engineering.
We stayed in a pretty nice hotel close to the river, which was a lovely break from hostel dorms.
Sadly, as you can see from the photo, the smog is bad here despite being out of the city. The Nepali recycling plants (pictured below) might be to blame.
Jokes aside, people seem to love burning plastic here. It’s partially a problem of a lack of recycling provisions, and partially a cultural one - people are just used to burning their rubbish. Even while I was hiking later in my trip, I saw signs in the mountains encouraging people to recycle their plastic instead of burning it. Old habits die hard, I guess.
Day 2 - Travel to Chitwan
We met a group of 4 other travellers in the hotel who were also on a tour organised by KK. They rafted a day before us, but their raft capsized, resulting in two of them having a little drink of the river water, making them fall sick for a day. I’m not too surprised, as the river is also a rubbish dumping ground. We travelled to Chitwan in style, partially by bus and partially by the boot of a Jeep.
The hotel here was a little less extravagant and was surrounded by some curious flora.
We went for a little walk here and had beers by the lake, which is also home to omnivorous crocodiles. A decent way to start the evening, although a few sips of the Gorkha Strong made my lack of drinking since leaving the UK evident. Tasty beer, though.
We ended the night with Chitwan’s “Cultural Program”, which included some traditional Nepali dancing and a huge highlight - a performance by someone dressed as a peacock. Truly scratching the itch I’ve had to see some theatre since leaving London.
Day 3 - Canoeing with crocodiles
We started the day by canoeing over the river and going on a jeep safari through the jungle.
The last time I did a safari, I would’ve been like 6 back in Poland, so this was a fair bit of an upgrade. We saw some rhinos, monkeys, and plenty of birds. I found seeing the birds pretty cool after having watched Listers recently (a documentary on some American guys getting high one night and deciding to spend an entire year seeing how many species of birds they can spot - I highly recommend it). Anyway, the safari was an enjoyable time, but not something I’m going to go out of my way to do in the future.
Following the jeep safari, we canoed through the river. This was a little sketchy as the canoe was fairly unstable, and the crocodiles do attack humans.
Following this, we trekked through the jungle back to our start point. This was pretty cool, being able to get closer to some wildlife, and even seeing some tiger footprints from the morning.
While trekking through the jungle, the guide also mentioned that he lost his friend last year, who was another guide. The friend was doing a jungle trekking tour and wanted to get up closer to a rhino to show the tourists. He didn’t realise that the rhino had her baby nearby, so she charged at the guide and bit him in the stomach. The tourists ran away, but the rescue team had issues finding the guide. He was found dead 6 hours later after having bled out. While we felt somewhat safe with our guide armed with his big bamboo stick, things can turn quite quickly here.
Once we were back in the village, the hotel manager told us that there was a baby rhino in the army compound over the road. We walked over, and indeed, there was a baby rhino going about its business while the army was hanging up laundry. Turns out that the rhino’s mother died, and the baby would likely be killed by the males in the wild, so the army is keeping it as a pet.
That was about it for the tour - it was 4 days, and included quite a lot of downtime, which was much needed. I’m glad I did it as it was very varied, helping me figure out more of what I want to do for the rest of my travels. It was also cool to see how things can work smoothly in Nepal entirely on trust and WhatsApp amidst all the chaos. Maybe spontaneous plans aren’t so bad after all.
I hope you logged all those Nepali lifers on eBird