My Asian and Australian adventure.: 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!