Elephant crossing

Turns out I didn’t get my own personal guide. I was included in a group of three British medical students. They were nice enough, but I’m kinda mad I didn’t get what I signed up for. The walk itself, at least on day one, was alright, and we saw quite a bit of wildlife: 3 crocodiles, 8 rinoceres, 1 sloth bear, a bunch of barking deer, some bison, and a ton of peacocks. The place isn’t really a jungle, because the trees are very sparse, and there is much tall grass (elephant grass). In fact, in some parts it almost looks like Africa.

That night we stayed in a rustic jungle lodge, and I had my first dal bhat, Nepal’s national dish, and the food I’ll be eating for three weeks on my trek. It was very good, consisting of rice, bhat (lentil soup; you pour it on your rice), spicy vegetable curry, and spicey pickle, served on an Indian metal tray.

The next day was a bit of a fiasco. We walked for two hours (and saw another sloth bear), then had lunch in a tower. Then played cards. They played the impossible Nepali game “lions and goats.” Four hours later I complained that I was paying 700 rupees for this, and wanted to get moving. So we walked two hours back to where we stayed the night before, and got there an hour before sunset. Day two was a waste. Dal bhat again for dinner.

The next day I rode a bike around. The terrain here is flat, and the elevation is low, so biking (and walking) is easy. It was kind of neat passing elephants as I rode through town.

Every restaurant in the tourist village is a variation on the “eye” theme: Hungry Eye Restaurant is next to Two Hungry Eyes Restaurant, and Third Eye Restaurant is across the street. And every store selling CD’s plays a Tibetan monk chanting song continuously.