and I will go back there again and again!

Namaste, won't you travel with me for 10 mins? :-) :-) :D

So, this is Nepal Tourism Year 2011, and there was such a lot of publicity from everyone at the beginning of this year. But now, it seems like everyone has gone to sleep or hibernate till this year ends.

But not me. Yes, I will act in my own way, in my small ways to make this year a success. I will visit Nepal far and wide, navigating its wildest rivers and densest forests, scaling its highest mountains and trekking in virgin territories...umm...okay enough of the dramatics already!

Although I truly wish to do all those things, it would require much more years than just one and much more money than I have right now (umm practically broke here). But anyway, what a coincidence that I got a chance to visit Chitwan and its National Park, all free and on Tourism Year. So I"m really promoting the Year even if no one is, and even if I virtually spent no bucks, someone did for me and my 8 other tour-mates. :-)

The Charm of Chitwan...had I been charmed for a few more seconds and kept at its path this mighty one would have crushed me like a beetle. Phew!

The national park is a UNESCO world heritage site, along with Sagarmatha National Park from Nepal. So the tag only tells how important a place this is. What makes Chitwan worth the "world heritage tag" is because of the immense bio-diversity in flora and fauna that is found here. I forgot how many species of what, although the person from Baghmara Community Forestry had so patiently told us. But what I'll never forget is how many birds I encountered their while on birdwatching. You won't believe it until you do it yourself, but it's so much more interesting when you see those birds out there in wilderness, getting lost out of our sight whenever they feel like it, than when you are getting a full view of them in zoo.

The Team (minus me) :P

 Also never forgetting is how we came upon an adolescent Rhino while on birdwatching, sleeping all by itself in a river. Birendra (our host) said that it was there because its mother had recently abandoned it and it was coping with the loss and growing up. Must have been sulking there, and it didn't give a hoot to all of us "tourists" gathering there from all parts of the forest to take a glimpse and hopefully shoot some nice "rhino" photos to show our friends back home.

Yes, a photo to burn the hearts of everyone back home or in "facebook"! All the same, nice photo gal!

Rhinos, alligators, and royal bengal tigers are the treat that you get in Chitwan National Park for your Jungle Safari in elephant's back, or your Jeep Safari through densest part of vegetation and your night stay in a shed like structure built near places where these fierce animals come for drinking water. On a jungle walk, you could be bestowed with sights of their "fresh droppings", scratchings on trees or something that shows evidence of their adventure the night before. We didn't really get on an elephant ride this time, but I'm sharing my experience from a previous visit. Smart me!

Since it rained, the elephants cut short their jungle safari and headed home...really like this sight!

In Chitwan, it is equally enjoyable to roam around the local Tharu village, visit their old traditional houses, the Tharu Cultural Museum and browse through various handicrafts that shows their skills in  weaving and painting.

The Awesome Paper Shop!

the finished product!

What else I want to mention expressly here, and have been bringing into chats whenever and wherever I get to open my mouth irrelevant of context is the, is the making of natural paper from Elephant Dung. Yes, you read me right. I was left open mouthed when Birendra first told me that they had a small paper industry running there which produced paper and paper products from Elephant Dung. Now that has to be the coolest thing that I heard and saw in there. We didn't get to see the actual steps that went into making "smell free" papers from the not so "smell free" elephant dungs because of the oh so commonplace "load shedding", but we did see the outlet. Wow, and Birendra said that they cannot fulfill the demand. Of course they can't with people nowadays crazy for everything "green", "organic" and "natural".

Bringing home the sturdy elephant grass...that's why my dung gives paper! :D

The reason behind successful paper production from dung is because of the elephant's daily intake of Elephant Grass, a grass way taller and sturdier than me that is the main food of those elephants and found in abundance in the park. These grass are also very useful in making local houses as they are way too sturdy (even elephants cannot digest them fully that's why the dung with partially digested grass or fibers can be made into paper. INTERESTING huh?). So when you visit Chitwan, you do want to pop in this wonderful shop and buy some "elephant dung paper souvenirs", don't you? Meanwhile visit them here on web for the time being!

Grandma didn't mind us!

Sauraha is the main touristic hub of Chitwan. The people there are very friendly. They know how to treat people, they don't gawk and they don't scoff even if we ask them a question 100 times about a product that they know we won't be buying. That was very nice of them, since in many hot touristic places of ours, it has become so that we are afraid of even stepping inside a shop for fear of being appraised by the shopkeepers as "kangaals" in comparison to the real foreigner tourists.

So, we were pretty pleased with the hotel owners, the shopkeepers, the local Tharu grandmas, the officials of the Tharu museum and everyone who were so warm to us. Sauraha is everything you would wish for in a good holiday destination. It is clean, beautiful, safe and peaceful or noisy depending upon what you wish for. If you go out on a Jungle Safari or lounge besides the river Rapati, peace is the word. If you want noise and action, go to one of the restaurants or music stations and even take part in the yearly sports tournament like World Elephant Polo Competition or Tanga competition or take part in the nightly "Stick Dance" which is full of noise and thrill.

Every time I go there, I bring back a sense of calm and harmony that only being in touch with nature can give you. Getting to know that there are all these creatures, fierce yet vulnerable, that there are all these fragile chains of eco-system which binds us to them and learning to give them a bit more respect makes me aware of my place in the world. At least for a while. So I will have to go back there again and again, to re-orient my sense of belonging in this natural world. And I will go back there again and again. Chitwan, wait for me will you?

Kayaking through the River Rapti in early morning

Can never resist a flower!

Others were bird watching, I was "drop" watching!