Today we got up early to go to Chitwan, a big national park with all kinds of animals. After a fresh fruityoghurt from our very good hostess we leave to the central busstation to meet Prakash, the ex boyfriend of Fenna. One year ago he was in Holland, where I already met him, so it is nice to see him again. Very strange how modern communication makes it possible to see the same person at a whole other place on earth on a fixed time.
In the bus on the way to Chitwan, Prakash tells us what’s the plan for next days. There is a canoe trip, an elephant backride, a cultural program and a birdwatching hike. Besides we might be able to go in the national park by jeep for a whole day if we are lucke and there is a possibility to stay overnight in a watchtower in the jungle. I’m quite excited about the things we might see here, like elephants, rhino’s, deer, boar, tigers and crocodiles. I never had such a wild animal experience before, except for the dutch zoo.
When we arrive in Chitwan it’s like 40 degrees Celcius, a lot warmer compared to Pokhara. We play a game of cards with Prakash, see some cultural things about the Tharu people that live in the village and in the evening there is a cultureshow, with Tharu people and a lot of sticks, performing a ritual fightdance. We even see our first crocodile (my first wild crocodile), that tries to catch a drinking dog. In the evening the muskitos appear, so we soon take it safe and go to bed (there the muskitos here could have malaria and we have a big clamboo to sleep under). Lets see what happend tomorrow in this jungle environment.