My family has now been traveling with me in Nepal for the last 7 days. Feels nice to not travel alone and to have someone to share everything with. So what have we done so far? Well, on our first night together we went out for dinner with my volunteer friend Mike. I got some real food (pizza) and my family got to experience the touristy Kathmandu by sitting on the floor eating vegetarian food.
On day two we woke up early and took the bus to Chitwan. Got off in Narayangarth and went by taxi to my first host family in Rampur. My host family were very excited about us visiting and thought my family was "rambro chaa" = very beautiful. We also went to the orphanage where I spent my first month in Nepal and I have really missed those kids. Felt awful to leave them when I knew this time it would probably be the last time.
Day three we had a goodbye ceremony at the orphanage for me and then we said goodbye to my host family. We all got necklaces made by flowers and we were given enough tikka to make us look like warriors. We left Rampur for Fulbari and the monastery in which I taught for three weeks. We played games with the monks and gave them a few books which my family had brought from Sweden. I also left a folder for volunteers to use in the future. The folder contained a lot of material from my colleague Pia (thanks Pia!), and a few notes on what we had done with the monks previously. I also left one folder with each monk's name on it, the folder is to keep all the work each monks makes in class, to make it a bit easier for future volunteers to know what they have worked with earlier. We left the monks at 4.30 and went by taxi to Sauraha, more known as Chitwan's National Park.
Day four started with elephant riding at 7 O'clock. We got to see deer and birds but no rhino. Fortunately, our hotel manager were waiting for us at the end of our elephant ride. He knew there were rhinos not far from there and ordered our elephant rider to turn around and take us there, so he did! We saw two rhinos drinking by a small water hole and we were really close. They were big but not as big as when you see them from ground level. After lunch we went on a jungle walk. We walked for four hours but it wasn't until the very end that we saw a rhino. The rhino had made it all the way to the shore of the town, which apparently is very uncommon. After our long jungle walk we had dinner at a fancy restaurant and were picked up by our hotel manager, Raju. Raju drow us to a cultural show which I had seen last time I went to the national park. Unfortunately the show was full, but luckily we had Raju with us. Raju managed to get us the best seats by carrying a bench from outside into the middle of the aisle. We ended up with the best seats and the show was great, just as I remembered it!
Day five was the day we went to Bandipur. Bandipur is a small old Newari town on the road from Chitwan to Pokhara. We went there by bus and got there by lunch time. We had lunch overlooking the mountains which surround the town. The entire day was spend just wandering around and eating. We watched the sunrise from the top of a mountain and could see the sky turn orange and pink while the sun dissappeared behind the mountains.
On day six me and Maria got up at five to watched the sunrise. We walked up the same mountain as yesterday and watched the sun go up behind the mountains. Even though it wasn't as impressive as sunset had been it was a great view. We could see more and more mountains in the far distance and the valley looked like a big lake due to all the fog. Walking down we met a lot of Nepali people who were on their way up to the temple, on the top of the mountain, to pray. People stopped to take their pictures with us, because even though Bandipur is a touristy place it is mostly used to Nepali tourists. Later that day we took the bus to Pokhara, because the taxi we had ordered couldn't fit all our bags (even if the Napalis seemed to think it would...). We got on a tourist bus and had to sit up in the front because it was full, I do however think we ended up with the best seats because the view on our way to Pokhara was amazing.
Today is day 7 and we have spent the day preparing for tomorrow and shopping. We have also been to a Tibetan refugee camp and watched small monks falling asleep during the ceremony. Tomorrow we'll leave for our Poon Hill trek. The trek is only five days and is said to be one of the most touristy treks but still I'm so excited about getting up in the mountains again. I can't wait for tomorrow!
On day two we woke up early and took the bus to Chitwan. Got off in Narayangarth and went by taxi to my first host family in Rampur. My host family were very excited about us visiting and thought my family was "rambro chaa" = very beautiful. We also went to the orphanage where I spent my first month in Nepal and I have really missed those kids. Felt awful to leave them when I knew this time it would probably be the last time.
Day three we had a goodbye ceremony at the orphanage for me and then we said goodbye to my host family. We all got necklaces made by flowers and we were given enough tikka to make us look like warriors. We left Rampur for Fulbari and the monastery in which I taught for three weeks. We played games with the monks and gave them a few books which my family had brought from Sweden. I also left a folder for volunteers to use in the future. The folder contained a lot of material from my colleague Pia (thanks Pia!), and a few notes on what we had done with the monks previously. I also left one folder with each monk's name on it, the folder is to keep all the work each monks makes in class, to make it a bit easier for future volunteers to know what they have worked with earlier. We left the monks at 4.30 and went by taxi to Sauraha, more known as Chitwan's National Park.
Day four started with elephant riding at 7 O'clock. We got to see deer and birds but no rhino. Fortunately, our hotel manager were waiting for us at the end of our elephant ride. He knew there were rhinos not far from there and ordered our elephant rider to turn around and take us there, so he did! We saw two rhinos drinking by a small water hole and we were really close. They were big but not as big as when you see them from ground level. After lunch we went on a jungle walk. We walked for four hours but it wasn't until the very end that we saw a rhino. The rhino had made it all the way to the shore of the town, which apparently is very uncommon. After our long jungle walk we had dinner at a fancy restaurant and were picked up by our hotel manager, Raju. Raju drow us to a cultural show which I had seen last time I went to the national park. Unfortunately the show was full, but luckily we had Raju with us. Raju managed to get us the best seats by carrying a bench from outside into the middle of the aisle. We ended up with the best seats and the show was great, just as I remembered it!
Day five was the day we went to Bandipur. Bandipur is a small old Newari town on the road from Chitwan to Pokhara. We went there by bus and got there by lunch time. We had lunch overlooking the mountains which surround the town. The entire day was spend just wandering around and eating. We watched the sunrise from the top of a mountain and could see the sky turn orange and pink while the sun dissappeared behind the mountains.
On day six me and Maria got up at five to watched the sunrise. We walked up the same mountain as yesterday and watched the sun go up behind the mountains. Even though it wasn't as impressive as sunset had been it was a great view. We could see more and more mountains in the far distance and the valley looked like a big lake due to all the fog. Walking down we met a lot of Nepali people who were on their way up to the temple, on the top of the mountain, to pray. People stopped to take their pictures with us, because even though Bandipur is a touristy place it is mostly used to Nepali tourists. Later that day we took the bus to Pokhara, because the taxi we had ordered couldn't fit all our bags (even if the Napalis seemed to think it would...). We got on a tourist bus and had to sit up in the front because it was full, I do however think we ended up with the best seats because the view on our way to Pokhara was amazing.
Today is day 7 and we have spent the day preparing for tomorrow and shopping. We have also been to a Tibetan refugee camp and watched small monks falling asleep during the ceremony. Tomorrow we'll leave for our Poon Hill trek. The trek is only five days and is said to be one of the most touristy treks but still I'm so excited about getting up in the mountains again. I can't wait for tomorrow!
Yes lovely memories ! Remember also the crocodiles, marabou, white egretts, turtle and working elefants. Kram mamma
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