Nepal Day 3

Natalie and I woke up early in the morning to go on an elephant safari. Down in the Chitwan National Park Region is where some of the only remaining Bengal Tigers reside, as well as, Rhinos. Above is a picture of one of the men preparing the elephants for the big gaunt.
Riding on the elephants through the jungle in search of wildlife was both a little uncomfortable and beautiful. I really loved the fog created by the humidity of the area. There were three people who were riding on our elephant.

This on of my favorites of the morning as the sun was shining through the branches onto this tree. It is difficult to tell, but there were many banyan trees in the area. I think this tree is only covered in vines. Either way it was beautiful.
The elephants were so awesome.
After the ride Natalie and I got to feed a couple of elephants. This is our elephant "Lucky" locci after we gave her some cookies. She really loved them. It was really funny to watch Natalie feed the elephants. Their trunks move like snakes which is so unusual up close that you want to jump away. All of our breakfast cookies were thoroughly enjoyed by Lucky and her sister.
A couple of hours later after a great lunch in a little family restaurant we went for an hour canoe ride down the local river in the Chitwan National Park. We got to see the little baby elephant walking with their mothers. It was a lot of fun!
This is an additional picture that I could not delete of the post. You can't see the babies, but you do see the friendly water buffalo. At least they were friendly from afar.
The men who guided the canoe trips down the river, would then take the boats back upstream. They did a great job of getting those canoes quickly up the river.
After the canoe trip we did a two hour hike through the Chitwan National Park. The initial part of the hike was through the jungle. Then the second part was through the grassland areas. I actually loved the views of the wetland areas the most. We were unsuccessful at spotting the Rhino. Although, Natalie would have only been happy about seeing Rhino on the back of the elephants. I was particularly happy that we never spotted the tigers.

Here is Natalie being totally excited about the view.
I know that many of you out there are wondering when I became a fan of ASU, well Natalie went there and encouraged me to bring out my inner maroon and gold. It was a great visor. Thanks Nat.

All in all, day three was filled with great adventures...although feeding and riding the elephants were my favorite parts of the day!

Nepal Day 2

Day 2 in Nepal was new and exciting, yet not exactly picture worthy...or those pictures that were worthy were outside the other bus window. Natalie and I woke up early and walked to a local tourist bus station. We we accosted by the local taxi drivers who felt we had an inability to walk there with our packs on our back, but made it to the bus station with plenty of time to spare. Natalie immediately haggled an amazing bus fare price, of approximately $4.00 for our 6-8 hour ride to Chitwan National Park.

Natalie and I got the back of the bus. The entire back of the bus for the entire ride. We were completely unaware of how lucky we were during that period of time. There were some amazing scenes while driving down out of the Himalayas, but they all seemed to be on the other side of the bus. The majority of photos seen on the way out of Kathmandu.

Driving down the road I really enjoyed the Latin influence seen in the buses and semi trucks. Tassles are in....they are scene everywhere in vehicles in throughout the country.
I was taken with the rice paddies seen throughout the territory. They were breathtakingly beautiful. Although I have to admit that I was very appreciative to get off the bus. One very large headache later. I am much taller than the majority of locals and visitors. This fact lead to many insults to the head by overhead bins and bars. Painful!

Natalie and I walked from the bus stop into the small village. We had were able to find the most amazing and clean hotel called the Holy Lodge. The beds were clean and white, equipped with mosquito netting. We were able to wander around the village and collect some prices for adventures in the area. In town we found an amazing restaurant where we were the only clientele. A group of men were playing cards and offered us our very first "Momo" of the vacation. We were overcome by their amazing taste and spent the rest of the trip trying to find this delectable party in our mouths.

After paying for the next days adventures I was overcome by exhaustion. Poor Natalie was left awake to attempt to stay awake. Starting on this day I began my habit of falling asleep between 5-7pm and waking up at 2am. It was very effective for completing homework, but not really great for getting in three meals a day. It assisted Nat and I to change our dietary needs to 1-2 meals a day based upon sustenance demands. Just in case anyone was wondering, cookies make an excellent breakfast in Nepal. Onr meal of cookies and one meal of dahl, rice, saag, and other vegetarian curry delights are all you need to fulfill you daily requirements.

Nepal Adventures #1

Now most people must think that 35+ hours of travel to get to their destination would be all fun and games...well Natalie is here to show you that is all true. Much to our delight in the New Delhi Airport we found some amazing "sleeper chairs" and caught a few hours of shuteye between flights. Although, I have to admit that it is a little awkward to wake up surrounded by a whole group of people waiting to get on a 3am flight. The sacrifices that must be made for beauty rest.
Once in Nepal Natalie and I wasted no time going out to see the sights in Kathmandu. These photos are in no particular order, but I can tell you we went on a walking tour and we were rampaged by so many people grabbing us to buy things from them, and attempting to trick us into paying them money. It all started at the airport with no Nepalese money and a American $20....ripped off at the first few steps out of the building.
The above picture is just a random main within one of the temple sights along the walk.
I loved to see all of the fabrics and colors everywhere on the streets. Although, those were about the only beautiful part. Kathmandu is a very smelly, dirty place.
Above is one of the bells found outside one of the shrines. In worship people walk around the buildings clockwise and hit the bells as they walk.
A shot down one of the streets on Kathmandu. Stay clear of the crazy drivers...especially the motorcycles.
One of the candles lite at a shrine on the walking tour.
In worship the people put red powder all over everything. I know that when it is put on your forehead as a tikka, it is for protection. I am not sure if it is supposed to protect the Gods as well, but sometimes it ruins the beauty, instead of enhancing it.
This is a typical site at the temples and shrines. They have candles everywhere for lighting.
Above are some coins that are attached to some gnarly wood. They are donations to the toothache god. I was seriously happy I did not need to make a donation during my time in Nepal.


This man was just taking a little "cat nap" as we were walking around one of the temple. At that moment in time I was hoping that I might be able to join him.
Bad hair, bad clothes, bad picture....luckily Natalie saved the photo. There was very little sleep before this was taken and I am here to say that we walked back to our hotel after a few wrong turns and run ins with people wanting to be our guides. We promptly went to sleep at 3pm. Pure Exhaustion!
Some of the people in Nepal did have earlobes this long from the earrings that they used to wear...and some of them were men. Similar to here in the States.

Another Break

I am off to Nepal this morning for a little sight-seeing and some humanitarian work. I will post some pictures while I am there if I get a chance.

Shout Out to Ann

Would you prefer to buy your furniture in Baltimore if the store salesman sang like this?