Lumbini

First of all, we DID see a Rhino! A mother and baby, it was amazing!

Yesterday we had a chill day, because we've all been feeling a bit tired, hot and dirty. We went on a crocodile-watch in the morning, and then napped until midday. In the afternoon we went to the Elephant Breeding Centre in Chitwan, where we saw two twin babies and one tiny elephant, only 65 days old!

Today we took the bus at 8am to Bahirauwa(?) for about 5 hours, and the sweltering heat made it almost unbearable. From there, we changed to a local bus. I can now say that I have experienced the REAL Nepal. Tourists got seats, but we had people on the roof, hanging off the sides of the bus, sitting on top of each other and in the aisle. By the time we got to Lumbini, we were all exhausted. The sun was blazing down, and we just tried to find any suitable hotel as soon as possible. Once we had organized our rooms, we checked out the Lonely planet and realized that we were about 3km out of town. Thus, we strapped on our packs and walked to the town centre in the blazing heat.

We hadn't eaten anything all day, so we went to the only restaurant recommended by our guidebooks. Most of our stomachs are feeling a bit funny by now, so dinner was dry bread. Yum yum yum. Currently sitting at a computer powered by a generator, because there has been another power cut. Definitely time for bed :)

Sauraha

We arrived in Sauraha yesterday, which is just at the entrance to the Chitwan National Park. Our lodge has tiny little cottages, and has a pet elephant, Pinky, which likes to wander around. After our arrival, we were told our hotel would take us "sightseeing" and that we could wear flipflops, big mistake! The monsoon cam pouring down on us as we were strolling through the jungle, we got covered in leeches and most of our sandals broke and got stuck in the mud. After drying off, we went to see the Tharu people's national stick dance, which was a lot more exciting than it sounds.

Today after breakfast we went for a jungle trek, this time fully prepared with hiking boots. We saw monkeys, antelopes and ate some medicinal leaves, but sadly did not see the famous greater one-horned Rhinocerous. Maybe we'll see one on our elephant trek this afternoon! After our trek, I got some specia treatment and our guide let me feed and ride the hotel elephant by myself down to the river. At the river, we bathed and splashed, and gave her a massage by walking around on her belly :)

All in all, a great day so far!

Pokhara

I'm currently sitting in an internet cafe in Pokhara, Nepal. We arrived here on Monday, after a 7 hour bus ride on dodgy "roads". We've done sooo much so far, including a sunrise trek in the Monsoon rain to Sarangkot, visited a Tibetan village, had insaanely cheap full body massages (the guys got shaves), did a six hour pony trek to the World Peace Pagoda (got horribly sunburnt), visited and climbed through a bat cave, and went paragliding this morning. Initially I was terrified, but it turned out to be an amazing experience.

Nepalese people are so incredibly happy and friendly. the staff at the school are amazing and so helpful with everything! 

Tomorrow we are off to Chitwan National Park, to do elephant safaris, spend a night in the jungle and wash the elephants :) So excited!

Leaving London

I spent the last two days in London. After an epic journey from Heathrow to Kentish Town yesterday due to some tube malfunctioning, I spent the rest of the day window shopping on Kensington High Street. Today I got to see Katie for lunch!!! We did our traditional Yo! Sushi & Starbucks combo, and now I'm back at Rici's packing up all of my stuff. Flight goes at 8.45. Wish me luck!

First post!

I'm sure you've all deduced from the title of this blog that I'll be using this outlet to document and share my Nepali adventures with those of you who remain in Austria/UK/Poland/USA/Sweden. Who did I miss?

Last week, Alex, Katrin, Victor and I spontaneously decided to drive over to the Czech Republic. My first post will therefore give you a little summary of last week's 24h trip to Prague! 

I’m having a bit of a packing nightmare so I'll let our amateur photography speak for itself. Use your imagination!

Good company.

Good food.

Good beer.