BY AYESHA BİLAL (PSYC/III)
ayesha@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
Having arrived in Chitwan after a week in Kathmandu, we began the most adventurous leg of our journey. This is part three of a four-part series on our trip to Nepal.
Chitwan was hot. It was hot during the day and hot during the night, as you would expect in a vast, flat expanse of ground covered in jungle and drained by rivers. Chitwan National Park was a five-day segment of our trip, and for me, the most exciting and enjoyable part. We had our handy Lonely Planet book in our hands and were aware of the various activities and places we would be able to experience. After exploring the small town that lay in the national park and settling into our wooden hut in the delightful ecolodge we had chosen to stay in, we decided to rent some bikes and ride to places a bit farther in distance. We had heard about a huge elephant breeding and protection facility about a half an hour’s bike ride away and decided to start with that. It was not only hot but humid, and we took many breaks as we biked down a path with small village houses on one side and vast agricultural fields on the other. Having stopped at one point, we noticed that a woman who stood outside her house was calling to us. She didn’t seem to know much English but kept beckoning us to follow her as she led us around the back of her little hut. Wary about the belongings we had left in our bike baskets, we nonetheless followed her out back to a wire fence that served as a boundary for the jungle that lay only a few feet ahead. There she simply pointed, exclaiming, “Rhino!” Lo and behold, a beautiful rhinoceros stood grazing at the edge of the jungle. “Photo!” said the woman, motioning for us to take one. We took several and thanked her, and then headed back to the road.
Very soon, we had reached our destination. We had to cross the river first, in a small canoe rowed by a local man, who then led us to the entrance of the breeding center. There, we were thrilled to see numerous elephants of all ages being fed, frolicking in the water and playing with each other. Young ones were eager to literally dig into the buckets of food they were being given by their caretakers. We even got to pet them and feed them ourselves.
After seeing the center, we then biked further to a small village inhabited by the indigenous people of the area. They were nearly all animal farmers, and the whole village was teeming with various kinds of farm animals, which delighted me particularly.
The next day was probably one of my favorite days in Nepal, because of the exciting activity that started off our morning. It was called elephant washing, and we didn’t really know what to expect. It turned out to be better than anything I could have expected. Elephants stood on the calm side of the river, and the keeper helped us get on their backs. Then, upon the order of the keeper, the elephants sprayed water all over us till we were soaked. There was a lot of laughter and slipping involved, but the cool river water felt great under the heat of the sun. After that, we also got to wash the elephants. (I guess the term “elephant washing” had a reciprocal meaning.) We were handed a small stone slab to brush their tough skins as the keepers threw water over them.
The next day was perhaps one of the toughest in Nepal, yet completely worth it. We had booked an eight-hour trek in the national forest, deep into the jungle. We started the day by meeting our two tour guides, who took us to the forest via an hour-long canoe ride on the river, where we got to glide past crocodiles that rested on the banks. We got instructions on how to react appropriately if we came across various animals in the jungle; for example, we were told to run in a zig-zag pattern if we came upon a rhino up close. After reaching our starting point, we began a grueling day-long trek in a jungle that felt like an oven at times, since air seldom passed through the thick trees. What made this all worth it was witnessing countless rhesus monkeys, several huge deer and a great big rhino bathing in the river as we secretly watched from the other side of the bank. We had made the mistake of not bringing enough water with us, and by the end of the hike we were exhausted and thirsty. Upon heading back, we immediately treated ourselves to pancakes and fresh orange juice to restore our energy. The whole trek was, nevertheless, one of the most exciting and beautiful hikes I have been on, and truly an experience like no other. Observing various animals in their natural habitats as we trekked through the jungle feeling like Indiana Jones was an unforgettable memory.
We spent the remaining days in Chitwan engaging in several of the small activities the town offered, such as cultural shows at night. Soon it was time to head to our next destination, Pokhara – a big city with big mountains where we planned on mountaineering.
We sorrowfully bid farewell to the magnificent experience that Chitwan had been, and headed off to Pokhara, where we hoped the best adventures yet lay in wait for us.