Nepal 2000

Eric and I visited Nepal for a month in october/november of 2000. The rest of this page is a description of our trip, including excerpts from my diary and photographs. For a brief and practical description see this page. Click on the images on the right to see the enlarged photographs; the links within the diary excerpts all lead to the same photographs. Back to: Arrival in Kathmandu, October 10^th and 11^th 2000 Annapurna Base Camp trek: October 12^th to October 28^th 2000 Royal Chitwan National Park: October 29^th to November 1^st 2000 Rafting Bhote Kosi and culture in and around Kathmandu, November 2^nd to November 7^th 2000
Sunday October 29^th, 2000 We spent the morning reading, as we were sick and didn’t dare venture too far from our hotel. After that we arranged our trip to Chitwan and hung around in the Lakeside area, did some shopping, and sent a few emails to the folks back home. I believe that the surest way to be certain you’ll never see someone again in Pokhara is by agreeing to meet at the internet cafe – they’re everywhere! It seems like every other door leads to a few computers, and although the price is expensive compared to Kathmandu (7 rupees per minute versus one, at 72 rupees to a dollar) it’s nothing compared to an overseas phone call.
Monday October 30^th, 2000 The manager of our hotel, who had booked our trip to Chitwan for us, had done a good job. The busride was comfortable and well-arranged, and a jeep was waiting for us at the park entrance to take us to our lodge. We drove into the park, crossed a river (the water was about 50 cm deep), and arrived at the Machan Wildlife Resort. The lodge looks beautiful, and we were smoothly guided right into the activities program.
Tuesday October 31^th, 2000 Royal Chitwan National Park lies in the Terai, the flat regions close to the Indian border, and supposedly the jungle harbors a diversity of wildlife including rhinoceros and Royal Bengal tigers. “Supposedly,” as we saw neither, despite our ventures into the forest and onto the river using various means of transportation – on foot, by jeep, via canoe, and on an elephant. I didn’t really mind not seeing these wildlife specimen. Just looking around the jungle, enjoying the peace and quiet and watching the occasional deer or wild boar was good enough for me.
Wednesday November 1^st, 2000 Our stay in Chitwan was not very long – nearly all of today was spent on the bus back to Kathmandu. We sat next to an American family, with an eight-year-old son, who are travelling around the world for a year. Particularly on the trek, we found that many people we met are on long trips, of upto two years. There were also many women travelling alone for longer times, but we didn’t meet other kids. We also got the impression that many of these long-term travellers were Americans and Australians. Most Americans get few days off in a year (compared to my 39 days); this probably plays a big role.