Rafting on rapids, riding on elephants and ending life like a phoenix....

Sorry it took a little longer..... here are our stories about our last days in Nepal. We are currently on the border between Thailand and Cambodia, to hopefully escape the Christmas and New Year's holiday tourists.

In Nepal, we had the privilege to go on a rafting trip.... (photos are online already) spend some time with the Elephants in the jungle of Chitwan, and experienced some interesting and soothing last days in Kathmandu. (photos will follow) For the photos: you need to click your way through the folders (some will be added to the Kathmandu folder as well...just be a little bit patient), they are not all appearing underneath this text unfortunately! Enjoy reading (we hope) :)!

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At our trekking agency, we negotiated a 2 day rafting trip in between Kathmandu and Pokhara, on the Trisuli river. It's not the roughest waters you can get, but it is fun anyway! Good for beginners as most of us were.

An early start for a long first day, so at 06:00 we get up to meet our guide. Fashionably late as most Nepali, by 06:30 our pickup is not there. We decide to go already... Only 10 minutes too late we meet him on the street: no taxi, by foot. I guess we complained last time too much about the taxi ( to the busstop )not being included in the price. With 99% of all our stuff, it's a long walk :S

Thank heaven it is a tourist bus, more comfort, safe luggage storage and not packed with people. It takes us about 4 hours, only one longer than supposed to. That does included the ever-obliged Dal Bhat lunchbreak at 10 am. In the middle of nowhere we are tossed out. Rafting time!!! 
Armed with a spraytop (who needs a wetsuit with 15 degrees water temperature anyway :D) a helmet, lifevest and paddle we jump into our boat. the Chinese girl only interrupted 2x to ask for her iphone from the waterproof barrel; A short "commando" explanation and we are on our way! Santos, our guide, was quite fun, although it must have been hard for him with us 6 just speaking Dutch all the time. Our paddling (or listening) skills might have needed some imrpovement as well, as at some point he said: "next time when I say "forward", it means you all should paddle!!" But i think we managed fine. (It was by the way Mar's first rafting trip - Jan has done it a few times before.) No one fell out, we mastered a few rough rapids (one 3+, most only 2-3 levels) and we got just massively soaking wet. Found out again that Nepali communication is really great :S as we did stop for lunch on the way instead of at the end (despite asking). Shit.. Insuline is in the bag in the car..But we had some fresh!! vegetables for lunch, really good stuff and who cares about high sugar levels... Sigh....nice having fresh lunch at the water.... fantastic!

We gathered firewood on the way (which ended in Jolanda's back on the last rapid...) and made a huge campfire :). With fresh Dal Bhat, 4 tents already pitched up and our first whiskey of the trip underneath the stars (as whiskey is cheaper than beer!!:)), what could be better?! We even had a special toilet tent with!! toilet paper!  Real luxury!!

The second day unfortunately was a bit dull. We're woken up an hour before the promised time, breakfast is already served - maybe they are trying to make up for the hours they have been late :). I hate mornings in general, and especially mornings that work on a different planning than mine. We're glad that this was not our own tent, it was full of sand. And this one, we didn't have to take down ourselves!

3 people left for Kathmandu, so we were left with 9. It fits in one boat they say :S. They rapids are slow, we hardly get wet and most of the time the command "forward" is given only because the stream is to slow to push us forward. We're paddling all the way it feels.... But still a day on the water is better than a day in the.... :D.

We did get an unexpected lunch, but it is not as good as the day before. Maybe we're spoilt, but we're a bit disappointed. Anyway you never know what you get with those package tours. 
We got rid of our wet clothes, threw away the 2 euro second hand shoes we bought only for the rafting, and were put on a bus to Pokhara. Backpacks on top. Grrrr. The special raincover we bought is of course put on the wrong side, so it doesn't protect from rust or dirt at all... After 10 minutes of being scared that they fall off (Gee that is bumpy!!) my biggest fear is more about surviving. On the way to Syabrubesi, it was the 2000m drop-off next to my window that was scary. The way this driver overtakes really tops this. On top of that, our bus is falling apart. The few poles that hold up the roof, lift up the floor so you can see the ground anytime we hit a bump.....At least you can see the road under your feet whilst seated :D...

After two hours of trying to get some sleep, I give up. Impossible. The bus shakes and rattles like a bunch of stones in a tin box. It's louder than a plane. Jan dies a thousand deaths too....best is to watch the scenery and pretend we are in a safe bus. We pass by colourful houses that more look like shoeboxes that have been glued together. Like weeds they are sprouting; they are building everywhere. Some have the foundations for the second floor ready, but they stopped, as if the money ran out. I wish they would build on the road, it is worse than ever. This must be the crappiest bus and busride we've had so far. It's getting dark, and the driver turns on the colourful lights inside, that are decorated by middle east curtains from victorian times as it seems ..... I wish he'd turn on the headlights instead. Then suddenly on the ahead of us, a panorama opens up that makes it worthwhile: Annapurna range. Tonight we will be sleeping with a view....!!

Of course, the next morning it is cloudy. No mountain view, and actually a bit of rain! (we have been really lucky so far on the whole trip :) To get grip of the scenery hopefully and be able to relax for a day too,... we decide to hire a rowing boat on the Fewa lake anyway, to relax. Making our way through the many ladies that try to sell Tibetian bracelets (" we had to flee... this is my business... do you not want to help me??" ) we negotiate a fair price and hang out on the water. The only disturbance are the hundreds of boats with Indians that scream as if they have never been on water before....The sun sets, the clouds disappear and for a few moments, we have a clear sight on both the Annapurna II + VI as well as the Fishtail. It's beautiful, and it was definitely worth it.... stunning and relaxing at a time!! Nice day...

The hostel promised here everything is different than in KTM "hot water, no power cuts and clean rooms". We had none of those.....not really great if you start to feel a fever coming up.. :S At 22:30 the generator was shut off as well and we were left in a pitch black hole :) I wandered around the building, looking for someone that could give me more information about what happened, only to find an empty ghost-like looking house.....I freak out when a door opens and someone suddenly stands in front of me. Apparently there are not just tourists here, but a lot of people live permanently in the guesthouse. The guy promises to find the owner and get me a candle. I thought it was another Nepali with just a story to get rid of me, but 45 minutes later we are startled by a knock on our door (in the meantime it is around 23:30). Super nice, but with a breath full of strong alcohol, the guy tells me he had to go and buy me candles at the supermarket since he didn't find the owner! :) really cute but also weird, isnt it!?

The busride to Chitwan was averagely terrifying and annoying. Mar slept most of the time, feeling sick. At the busstation in Chitwan, we were immediately surrounded by 30?? Nepali, trying to sell us loudly a guesthouse. The story of the trekking agency ("it is all going to be full and really expensive") turned out to be bogus again, so we took the right decision to go on our own. After 10 minutes of screaming negotiations, we find a guy that brings us for free with his jeep to his guesthouse. 300 Rupees per night (around 2,70 euro). We're not 100% satisfied, but after walking around Sauraha for an hour and a half, we decide for the cheap option. The room is nice and spacy (like a bungalow), just the water isn't hot (as always), nor does it function at all when the power is off. But who cares :). We get a hot bucket on request! After the plumber from KTM!! of course didn't come, (as he probably never has been called or doesn't even exist...) a " Yes"  can mean very different things in different countries :DD.

The next morning we have our breakfast at the riverside. In the 2 minutes where Mar decides to take a bathroom break, the elephants arrive!!! In no time Jan is flung on a huge elephant! Bathing time! In Chitwan, they allow you to swim with the elephants for a 50-100 Rupee tip to the driver. It's magnificent! These majestic, mighty animals let you sit on their back, spray a full trunk of water at you with a really strong force and throw you off as if you weigh nothing but still they feel warm and soft! It's incredible, and we couldn't get enough of it! (Sauraha is home to many elephants; around 30 domestic governmental ones and 20 private owned Indian elephants. Anyone care to spend 5 million rupee (50.000 euro) to buy one? In the morning, these majestic creatures march through the village and bathe, around midday they go to the jungle, and in the evening they march back. It's an impressive sight :) ) Unfortunately, a wild elephant just killed 4 people, making the army on high alert status and searching for it in the woods. Hard to believe or imagine how violent such an animal can be whilst being so close to them....
 
The next day, Mar was feeling really bad (no need for details, but I can tell that having no running water is not such a nice thing at these moments....), and decided not to join the jungle walk. (it is not such a good idea to go on a 8 hour hike where you might be needing to climb into a tree when you encounter rhinos!). And a loooong jungle hike it was!!!! Of course, with 2 guides and  5 people (that make a lot of noise!!) it is hard to see tigers, and also the rhino's didn't show themselves. But... lots of deer, monkeys, butterflies, birds, plants and not to forget: a rock python!! Jan was exhausted :) Unfortunately, during the civil war (which ended only 2009/2010!), lots of the animals in the park were killed by poachers for flesh. The army was too busy doing other things, and they were pretty much unprotected. Now, the army is on every corner, and rangers keep a close eye on the wild elephants, Bengal tigers and Rhinos. There are 50 tigers again in the park, which is awesome! but really hard to spot.... our troup only managed to see the tracks! See pictures :))

The day after, we managed to get onto the elephants again :) this time with an elephant safari. Amazingly enough, although there are loads of tourists doing this, and people are loud!!! the animals don't seem to care! We ran into a mother rhino with her baby, and even though we were on only max 5 meter distance they didn't go away or cared being surrounded by 7 elephants!!! Something completely different than when exploring the jungle on foot.....A succeeding crocodile canoe trip was obligatory :). On a small  - quite instable - long boat, with only 10 cm between us and the water, it is quite exciting to pass by the large mud masher crocodiles, that lie sunbathing with their mouths open!

We slept the evening in the middle of the jungle in a tower, surrounded by the sounds of nature and the jungle. It was magnificent, but really scary to go the outdoor toilet when it is pitch black outside and you don't know if there is a rhino waiting for you.....Before we laid our heads to rest here, we went on another little explorer hunt. The mother and bay rhino appeared again, and another male showed up. We jumped from bush to bush to remain unseen. A rhino's sight is not good, but they can hear and smell really well. We could see their ears pointy ears turning towards us....searching for where the sound came from. When they disappeared into the woods, we followed their trail. Our guide picked up a stick for self-protection. Not a bad idea, and we followed his example. With our hearts beating loudly in our throats, we sneaked up behind them, but didn't get another glance. We only managed to hear their snorting sound; something between the sound of a bull and a wild boar; it was utterly exciting! 

And then it was time to return to Kathmandu again......another 7 hour trip for 120 km... tiring. This time we negotiated better on the rooms and stayed for half the price than the first nights :) but with hot water!!!!! and a TV!! We spent the rest of the time learning a bit more about the Hindu culture. Nepal is home to many Hindus; just like in India, people don't necessarily eat cows, the kaste system is still in place, most people have arranged marriages and when they die, people are cremated in public. Pashupatinath is the place where these cremations take place in Nepal. Home to the Golden temple, next to the river that flows into the Ganges, many "burning platforms" are situated next to each other like in Varanassi in India. The higher the kaste, the higher up the river......Many people from all over the country gather to this place to purify the dead and set their souls free for reincarnation. We witnessed a few of these pubic cremations and all the rituals around it; quite a sight for us westerns. I can't say I really like it, but it is definitely intriguing, and I know that I will never set fire on my parents (if a father dies the eldest son has to lit the fire in his mouth!!! and if the mother dies the youngest has to do so!! Each day, around 30 people are burnt here 24/7/365), their ashes pushed into the river. Life and death go hand in hand here; next to the cremations, the children "fish"  for jewellery, given to the dead as whatever and are now recycled by those kids.....  to be able to buy food. It's also home to many monkeys (not like the Swayambunath temple), but the place is filled with them. I had one jump (or fall?) on my shoulder....brrr...

And so we left Nepal, with a bit of love-hate feeling.
Lost: 1 telephone, 1 green metal drinking bottle, 1 hat (but found again!), 1 kg of bodyfat, about 45 games of Uno, our 4 travel companions whom we travelled with for about 4 weeks :)
Gained: each about 2 kg of winter clothes (very convenient for a hot south east asia); around 1600 photos (after selection), a ton of impressions, stories and good memories, further improved bargaining skills and stiffened legs :)