We are in Kathmandu right now after finishing a 2 day overnight rafting trip. Highlights include:
- Nobody understanding our incredible quiet, monotone, and apathetic sounding tour guide explaining safety instructions.
- Our guide dangerously tying a large metal pump to the top of our bags in the middle of the raft. We joked about smashing our teeth into it during a big rapid but actually a British guy did end up smashing his head into it and getting a pretty nasty bump.
- On our overnight stay we slept underneath a tarp with no tent or mosquito net. This meant that if you had your head lamp turned on you were getting swarmed with insects. I woke up the next morning with a nasty open wound rash thing on my leg that was apparently caused by a spider squirting venom on me sometime during the night (says the guide).
Afterwards we continued on to Chitwan National Park which feels more like Africa than Nepal. It has jungles as well as wide open flat land covered with elephant grass up to 8 feet tall. It’s the most popular national park in Nepal and is famous for its rhinos, tigers, crocodiles, birds, and lesser known mammals such as the sloth bear.
In Chitwan we took a canoe ride through the river which was nice despite the fact that the canoe was a traditional skinny one and it felt like it was going to tip over at any second. I asked the guide about it and he confirmed that yes, if we hit a rock or the people in the canoe have bad balance it can tip over. We saw a rare ultra-skinny crocodile which I don’t care enough to look the name up during that excursion.
My favorite part of Chitwan though was the elephant safari. Chris and I rode on an elephant through the jungle and ended up spotting 5 rhinos and countless deer. Elephant bathing was also great. The elephants come down to the river and you climb on top of them and wait for them to spray you with a trunk full of water. Most of the time this knocks you off and you climb back on again for a repeat.
I am loving Kathmandu right now. It is well known for its budget yet quality eateries. Our first night back I had one of the most incredible steaks of my life for 8 dollars (by far the most I have paid for a meal on this trip). It tasted extra delicious since I’ve been close to a vegetarian for the majority of the trip thus far.
Here are the second half of some of my favorite Annapurna Circuit pictures.
Check out the full slideshow here.
wow. everything sounds amazing…except for getting that rash. keep safe! hey, maybe that elephant gave you a nice free bath! hehe. cool. that sounds fun. love you!
Do you tire of being told how much your blog is appreciated? It sure is.
Is the spider wound healing? Sounds scary. Huh. Like that is the only scary thing you’ve encountered!
Totally amazing scenery. What sort of food have you been eating mostly? It doesn’t look as though many vegetables grow in that part of the world.
What, no pictures of elephants and rhinos?
Have you heard that Michael Jackson has gone to the great beyond?
He was 50.
The spider wound is doing much better after a couple nasty days.
On the trail we would be eating a lot of rice and noodle dishes mainly with vegetables. You’re right though, this time of year not too much was growing so we would be eating this same spinachy thing over and over again mostly.
Pictures from Chitwan will be on the next post. This was a Annapurna Circuit overflow picture post.
Yeah, we heard about Michael Jackson as well. People have been playing his music all over the place here
Thanks for speedy replu. Will you be online more frequently now that you’ve returned from Annapurna?
Keep on keepin’ on!
We enjoyed your pictures so much!
It is really hard to sufficiently express my appreciation of these amazing accounts and pictures!! Thanks so much and stay healthy and safe!!
Can you fix my typo in previous post? I am aghast at such a goof!
Dood you never replu to my messages. Just kidding!
glad you survived the bugs, spiders, savvy raft guides, etc.
Annapurna rocks my face!!
It needs to be said that the beard you are sporting is pretty sweet.
All I can say is…………..
SLOTH BEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your photos are unbelievably beautiful. The sharp features of the mountains, the bright blue sky and narrow, winding roads perched on steep hillsides make me yearn to travel. Thanks for the wonderful slideshow! — Aiyanna