So the next morning I was packed up and on the bus back down the road we had ridden up for the last two and a half days before we turned off the Chitwan National Park situated in the south of the country.
I arrived at 7 pm and met our guide Yam. I was given a brief outline of the next couple of days it was then dinner time then off to bed for an early start.
The next day I was loaded up with a large Indian group and were were taken to the loading point for our Elephant Safari.
I was put at the back of the bus so got a great view of the elephant scratching it's arse on a tree!
Oh and a rhino
After we had disembarked from the elephants we were taken to the standard package tour favourite. A trip to a traditional village here we saw how life was for the inhabitants of the jungle region including the use of traditional farming tools and construction of wattle and daub homes.
I asked our guide Yam why they kept pigeons and he told me they are used for religious sacrifices so they breed and sell them but some are also eaten.
I think I gained celebrity status on the bus as they asked me what I was doing and showed them pictures of my bike and where I had been so posed for photos at the end.
In the afternoon I was annexed to an Indian family and we when to see where the captive elephants are kept and then on for a jungle walk.
Before we loaded up at the hotel, Yam confided in me that he didn't like the Indians as they would always do the opposite of what you asked and soon this was evident on the jungle walk.
He the family repeatedly to be quiet which seemed to have no effect so any animals were given plenty of notice that we were coming. We did see a snake or to be more to the point it's discarded skin which was unable to escape the noise but I did see the tail end of a couple of deer as they made their exit to the river bank.
Speaking of which towards the end of the walk we came across these fresh water crocodiles by the far bank.
We walked on a bit and then settled down to watch the sunset and people ignoring the no entry signs and paddling in the river.
I speculated with Yam where they were from and he gave me wry smile. I don't think they would have been there if they had seen what I had round the corner but it did make for a good sunset shot.
With it being the third day of Diwali we were entertained in the evening by some traditional dancers who performed with sticks which they hit we extraordinary speed and skill.
They finished the night with an invitation to join them for the last dance and with about 60 people to choose from you can guess they made a b-line for me as the only non Indian. I politely declined but once I saw that they were not singling out one person but a general audience participation I dragged up one of the brothers in the family I was sat with and we joined the throng.
The next morning I saw that I had my own activities scheduled for room 218 and was one to one with Yam for the day which I suspect from his comments yesterday he had engineered to escape the large group.
We grabbed the hotel jeep and headed down to the river where some dug out canoes were waiting and found a space with a few other tourist and their guide.
It was not long until we saw our first freshwater crocodile close up as we swept downstream. I asked Yam if they ever attacked humans and he said than some women had lost arms when washing by the river so I kept mine in the boat!
Round the corner we came across the elephant safari setting off who were wading up the river which made and impressive sight from low down as we passed them in opposite direction.
As we progressed we saw a few river birds and passed the boat men poling and pushing their craft back up the river against the flow to pick up the next group which looked like hard work.
We were soon at the finish and Yam explained that we would walk back through the jungle to finish with a visit to the elephant breeding centre.
We set off into the jungle which was a wonderful landscape with a mixture of forest and wetlands which Yam explained had been created by managing the water flow through the jungle . This is so the animals could remain in this habitat and not be forced to leave in the dry season some photos are in the slide show below.
There were lots of termite hills which grow to impressive heights when not attached by sloth bears who's dung you can recognise as it looks like caviar with all the ant head. In the dark area on the left photo is under construction with thousands of termites bringing fresh soil from under the nest to build it up.
I saw one with a perfect circle in which I thought was an exerordinaty feat of nature. That was until Yam shattered my illusion by saying someone had poked it with a stick, probably an Indian.
The walk was a bit lacking in wildlife but I got to speak with Yam who was the same age as me and had started working as a guide at the age of 12 and told of the early days when guests were not comfortable being led into the jungle by such a young boy.
He had no secondary education but had learned on the job.
Eventually we reached a bridge which took us across the river to the elephant breeding centre.
This was recently established as before they used to capture them from the wild or buy in from India or Myanmar.
It was interesting to learn about the breeding programme and how the centre is open to the jungle so the females are serviced by the wild elephant population rather than those in captivity.
This makes life easier for the centre as elephants like humans do not have a breeding cycle and also helps to diversify the gene pool.
After completing our visit we were waiting for our driver so I adding Magnum eating as an extra activity. This went down well with Yam l but I have to say the size and quality was pretty poor.
In the afternoon we headed off for a jeep safari and forded the river to get to the start.
We paid our entrance fee at the other side of the river and there were three Nepalese young ladies waiting by the office. Yam said they would like to join us for the trip which said yes that would be fine so we helped then into the open back of the jeep and we set off in search of more wildlife.
We soon came across the second rhino of my trip which was a bit further away across a river but impressive all the same.
As we progressed we saw some wild boar, lots of deer including a rare small breed who bolted long before I could get a shot and some impressive endangered large stork like birds flying into a march to feed.
Yam has such a keen eye and was incredible what he was able to spot as we rode along, one of the girls spotted some monkeys on the road who took to the trees and then became all camera shy but I didn't spot a thing.
We gave the girls a lift back to their village and then back to the hotel where I was told my bus would be leaving at 8 am the next morning so I headed off to pack.
I came to dinner to be told there was a change of plan and it would be a 1pm pick up so Yam gave me the option of bird watching ot another jungle walk so I chose the walk as I'm no ornithologists and enjoyed the last one so he suggested an early start to get more ground covered.
We started where we left off at the elephant breeding centre and headed over the bridge again past herds of deer who didn't seemed to be fazed by our presence.
I explained to Yam that we have deer back at home. We progressed further and were able to find something more interesting. More to the point it found me, as a leech attached itself to my leg and was having a good slurp when it was pulled off.
As we carried on and Yam pointed to a spot where a boar and a tiger had fought to the death a few years ago and neither had survived. He said he had not reported this to the military gamekeepers in fear that they would think he had killed them and their bodies had rotted away.
Suddenly there was an explosion of movement and noise as we saw a large wild boar which was close by disappear into the undergrowth. We set out in hot pursuit but it became the one that got away.
As we continued our walk we saw and smelt lots of fresh tiger prints activity and urine but I think thankfully not the real thing.
We did however come across some more monkeys who were more active when I managed to film them.
It was another lovely experience to be out in the jungle we saw more animals this time but still again the stunning scenery was worth the early start alone some more slides are below:
We headed back to the bridge towards the elephant breeding center in time to see the kids being taken out for a stroll.
And that was it safari over before I knew it I was back on the bus and heading to Kathmandu for a bit of rugby match and then back on the bike!
