Bandipur and Chitwan

Once we FINALLY left Pokhara, we went to this really cute little village called Bandipur, which felt like we'd stepped back in time a few hundred years. The village was full of traditional Newari architecture, with paved streets (pedestrians only, so no honking for 2 days - bliss!) and cute little ragamuffin kids everywhere ready to say namaste to us and pose for photos.

On the way to Bandipur, we had to get a jeep which took about half an hour to reach the village at the top of the hill. One day, after a visit to the biggest cave in Nepal (not as cool as the bat cave) we jumped into the back of the jeep, and were followed by a further 16 people and about 10 bags of cement. Another 4 or 5 people were on top holding onto 5 boxes of day old chicks. It was mad! As we started chugging slowly up the hill, the jeep started to sound less and less healthy, and after about 15 mins, the jeep started to fill with smoke coming from the engine, and then ground to a halt. The driver and his friend tried to fix it, and got the jeep going again, but when they stopped for the second time due to all the smoke, we decided to make a run for it, much to the surprise of all the Nepali passengers who weren't fazed at all! Asia is definitely a baffling place at times!

Our guides who showed us to one of the many temples in Bandipur!

After we escaped Bandipur with all our limbs still intact, we went to a little homestay in a village near to Chitwan national park called Telluli. We were completely in the sticks, again in a funny little village that time had forgotten. The home was very simple - the shower was a hose pipe in the field, our room was in what looked like a double story barn, and of course the non-flushing squat was an outdoor treat! The second night we got a little too close to nature for my liking when two lizards dropped from the bedroom ceiling onto my head! The homestay manager Asharam doubled as our guide into the jungle. Inside the national park are rhinos, elephants, sloth bears, tigers, etc etc. All we had to protect us was Asharam, his mate and two sticks. It was a little bit scary as you may well imagine! We were well prepared for an animal ambush though with words of wisdom from Asharam - 'If a tiger approaches, look them in the eyes and walk slowly backwards. If a rhino starts charging, climb up the nearest tree. If an elephant approaches, run for your life'. Comforting words indeed!

Our homestay

Anyway, after the initial excitement had worn off, nothing happened for 3 hours. In fact, the most exciting thing we'd seen was two deer and a tortoise. Asharam had guaranteed us a rhino sighting, and by this point we were getting tired, hot and ready for another dal bhat lunch. Just as we had practically given up hope, we literally almost walked into a mother and baby rhino down by a small lake. Kiara grabbed onto my arm and we all stood there gaping until Asharam got scared and made us hide behind a tree. Seeing the rhinos in their natural habitat was incredible, one of the real highlights of the trip so far. Still no tiger sightings (except paw prints), but we were happy with what we got!

Hiding behind the tree after seeing the rhino (I'm supposed to be looking scared in case you were wondering!)

Rafting and volunteering

When Nikki returned, she brought an Australian girl called Kiara with her, who she did her trek with. Kiara is now staying with us for China at least, so for now we have a new travel buddy!

After a few days of doing very little but lounging around and drinking too much overpriced alcohol, the three of us set off on a 3 day white water rafting trip to Kaligandaki river, which is the holiest river in Nepal. It’s kind of the equivalent to the Ganges in India, as it’s the place to be cremated. When we were floating around the river we often saw the cremation sites, and we when past a funeral procession, where everyone from the village had come down to the river to pay their respects. There were a few vultures around which I think take care of any leftover body parts. Delightful!

The trip didn’t start off too smoothly as Nikki woke up on the day of departure feeling really ill. I didn’t think she was even going to be able to come but she just about pulled through. There were 7 of us in our raft in total, with 2 French guys and a Danish couple making up the numbers. We also had a really nice German guy called Max kayaking along with us. The food on the trip was surprisingly tasty, and they even made us up a delicious rum punch on our first night at camp. The raft was used at night to create a tent with, which was obviously rather draughty but good enough, I slept much better than expected!

The second day was pretty tough for me as I got whatever Nikki had had the previous day, and felt really rough. I wasn’t too bad in the day, I had a little swim in the river which was really cold, and managed to survive 6 hours of peddling. By the evening I was feeling worse, and unfortunately we had to move camp as stormy weather meant that sand was blowing everywhere and the campsight was soaked by heavy rain. Instead, we hiked up a hill for about 30 mins to get to one of the guides’ homes. His family looked after us well, the food was supposedly amazing although I couldn’t bear to eat hardly any of it. I felt like I was going to die at the top of this stupid hill in the middle of nowhere! And when I came to need the loo, there was a massive spider sitting on the wall. Max came to help me bringing Kiara’s flip flop with him as a weapon. Kiara has really small feet, so when Max saw the spider he said ‘I think we’re going to need a bigger shoe!’ Thankfully though it just about did the job, although I spent the rest of the night on the family’s porch worrying that the other spiders were going to get me in the night as revenge!  

Happily I felt much better on the third day and so I could enjoy our final day of paddling, which had very few rapids so was easy going. Overall, the rapids were pretty tame, and although we got soaked a lot and had to cling on a few times for dear life, none of us did actually fall out. I really enjoyed the trip despite not feeling my best, and would definitely do it again somewhere else.


After returning from the rafting, we got going with the orphanage properly, and got ourselves organised to do craft activities with them, like making photo frames, a 2068 calendar and some masks. The kids were so adorable and we had a great time working with them. I found this orphanage to be a much more positive experience than when I worked in Argentina, as the kids were much better treated and had a higher standard of living. Although I felt sad leaving, I knew that they were being cared for, and didn’t feel guilty as I had done in Argentina.

Pokhara continued

I’m feeling pretty lucky to have ended up with so much spare time in Pokhara. I’ve resisted several people’s attampts to convince me to go trekking, and have spent the last few days exploring Pokhara and the surrounding villages.

Jason (the aforementioned Kiwi) and I hired a scooter for 2 days to explore the area around Pokhara, and we found so many picturesque villages, streams and rice terraces. The locals have been incredibly friendly, and at one village we were invited into a little shack by some kids to listen to them play music. They were part of a music academy for disadvantaged children, and soon enough half of the village realised that they had visitors, and bundled into the shack to sing and dance with us! Earlier that day, we’d visited two caves, one of which had 8000 bats in. It was pretty cool and luckily the bats were all asleep and not flying around into our faces!

The next day my mode of transportation changed to the local Nepali buses, built for people under 5’5’’ I think, seeing as my legs were completely crushed against the seat in front! After an hour’s journey and 2 bus changes, I arrived at Begnas lake, which is very similar to Fewa lake in Pokhara, except that it is pretty much untouched by tourism. It was really beautiful but soon after I arrived, it started to pour down. The bus station was a good 15 mins away and all I had to keep me dry was my pashmina. As I walked as quickly as possible in my squelching flip-flops, a Nepalese family in front of me noticed me and found my condition highly amusing. When we all gave up and stood under a tin roof, one of the boys started talking to me. He was very politically interested and kept telling me that Nepal needed to be developed so that the people could be happier. I tried to explain that although most people in England have more money than people in Nepal, it doesn’t mean that they’re happy. A pretty hard concept for a 13 year old Nepalese boy to understand as I’m sure you can imagine. Anyway, the family took me for masala chai and a chat before getting the bus once the rain subsided, and on the other end put me on the right bus to Lakeside. I thought that Indian people were friendly, but I think the Nepalese have the edge on them! And they are every bit as honest as the Indians – I left my camera on the table where we had chai, and a guy jumped on the bus after me to return it. I need that damn thing superglued to my hand!

Jason left for Chitwan yesterday, and I went for a horse riding expedition to Sarangkhot, which is a good viewing point for to see the snowy peaks of the Himalayas. I really enjoyed the going up part of the journey, which took 3 hours. By the time I reached the top, my legs and bum were getting pretty painful. As soon as I got back on the horse after soaking up the views, I was instantly in absolute agony! I could only take being on the horse for 1 more hour, and then I got off and walked the rest of the way home whilst my guide rode the horse back, yee-hawing all the way (literally).

My legs and bum are killing me today, so I’ve taken it very easy indeed. I finally got round to extending my visa, and other than that I’ve just moved from restaurant to restaurant, chatting to various people along the way. Its such a friendly place that despite being here alone now, I’ve not felt at all lonely. I just need to find something else now to fill my next couple of days with before Nikki returns and we start our volunteering. It’ll be nice to have something to sink my teeth into, and its been great being able to fully unpack my bag and feel at home somewhere for the first time in nearly 3 months!