Chitwan

Last week we enjoyed a six-day trip to Chitwan Nat'l Park and the Trisuli River (redux of the failed rafting trip that was supposed to happen on the 11th). Chitwan is southwest of Kathmandu and lies along Nepal's border with India. The weather was warm, the land flat, and the people kind. We met up with our friends Peter and Krish (who we strolled the Annapurna Circuit with) and had a great time being full-on tourists for a few days. We checked out the park via elephant, canoe, jeep, and foot; I felt a little like Mowgli amongst pythons, domestic and wild elephants, huge rhinos, a grizzly-sized sloth bear, bison, tigers, crocodiles, and more!

It also seemed like all of our friends converged in the park while we were there. In addition to getting to hang out Peter and Krish, we also ran into friends Bishnu (who owns Adventure Aves, a new rafting/kayaking tour company out of KTM) and Alex, a volunteer with NOH. Check out the new Chitwan gallery to see the pics...

On the roof of the bus between Chitwan and Trisuli (coming back towards Kathmandu) I managed to step on a backpack that had a few porcupine-ish quills in it. One of them pierced my foot right next to my big toe .. in one hole and out another! Although the thin fountain of blood that streamed out of the top hole was pretty exciting for a second or two, a bit of pressure stopped the bleeding in less than 45 seconds, and two tiny wounds are the only sign of the incident. So far I've had no swelling or signs of infection (although I'm taking a round of antibiotics just in case) .. and hardly any pain. Kinda weird to have such an invasive trauma result in such a minor wound...

After a night sleeping in a tent on a roof in the river-side town of Fishling, we joined Bishnu for a huge rafting trip he'd organized down the Trisuli. I safety kayaked while Ashley joined the 80+ Nepali clients paddling the rafts and having a great time in the splashy class II/III under a hot Nepali sun. We rode on the bus roof back into KTM, and due to increased highway patrols within the city limits had to lie down flat for a solid half hour to hide from the cops... NOT the most comfortable thing in the world, but kinda fun to evade johnny law.

We've been pretty busy volunteering with FoST and the hospital since we've been back, and are now in the midst of exit-maneuvers as we prepare to depart from what has become a friendly new home for us. The last few days have included of lots of goodbye's, yummy dinners, joining part of a Newari wedding, observing a leg amputation, and the beginning stages of packing.... More to come...