Hello! So right now I’m in Pokhara, which although I haven’t seen much of yet, seems really beautiful. Set on a lakeside with the mountains rising around you (so I have been told, the clouds are too low today). So I will go exploring shortly, since finishing the trek and going to Chitwan I’ve adopted a ‘take-it-easy’ lifestyle, but I have plenty on time!

Chitwan was beautiful and a really nice change from the hustle and bustle of Kathmandu. The landscape is amazing, very lush and green, rice paddies and Banana trees everywhere. It’s a lot flatter than around Kathmandu, the area is known as the ‘Terai’, lots of farmland and terraced rice paddies. Also, the buildings themselves were interesting, there are the usual but also a lot of homes made from Elephant grasses and mud. It was so so hot down there too, about 35 degrees when I got there and quite humid. Not as hot as Aus sometimes I know but compared to last week being below 0 it was quite a difference!…I became a nice shade of brown…depending on your interpretation of ‘Brown’!

When I arrived in Sauraha (the town, Chitwan is the area) I got picked up by the manager of the Guesthouse I would be staying at in a jeep, so we bumped the 3 km’s back to the lodge, which was beautiful, nice gardens and pagoda’s to hang out in and all for about AUS $7!

So while there I went for a canoe ride, saw some Croc’s (none man-eating thankfully as we were quite close, though I took this with a pinch of salt!), then to the ‘Elephant Breeding Centre’. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this, but I went anyway and it was as expected. Great to see the Elephants as they are such amazing, beautiful creatures, but it was so sad to see them in this unnatural environment. There were around twenty I guess, including the calves, and although the calves were able to run around in the enclosure, the adults were chained up to posts. Some of them with only one ankle tied, some had both front feet chained together and when I asked why this was I was told it was because those particular Elephants were more aggressive. It was quite sad, I didn’t enjoy it and just wanted to leave, although it was fun to watch the calves playing, they were play fighting and throwing dirt around, then they would come up to me and try to grab my feet with their trunks. It was nice to watch!

I also went to see the Elephant bathing. The village I was staying in was situated along side of a river, so most of the lodges backed onto the river and I could just walk out the back gate and watch the Elephants bath. So my guide took me down to watch and I had heard of people being able to swim with the Elephants but I got the impression that I would just be watching. Anyway we got there and suddenly I was asked if I could swim and to get on the back of an Elephant! So I got to swim with them, which was really exciting! They lift you with their trunks and throw you off into the water and shower you with their trunks! It was really fun and the area around the river is just like being on a beach, nice (ish) water, pagoda’s with thatched roofs, reclining chairs etc. So naturally I spent the rest of my day there watching the Elephants and drinking tea! I met a couple of guys from Germany and Belgium there too, so at the moment I’m traveling with them. I also took an Elephant-back Safari and all I can say is don’t do it and if you do go with friends. I was on for about 10mins and decided it was a really bad idea. I felt awful for doing it, that poor Elephant, but I couldn’t get off as we were in the middle of the Jungle and it’s quite dangerous in there. Apparently it’s really hard to see any wildlife, but we saw about seven (including the young ) of the endangered one-horned Rhino, we got up really close so that was nice. Didn’t see anything else except Stag and birds. Only four people went (that’s all that can fit) and you sit on this square wooden platform type thing. It’s really really uncomfortable, plus I was squished next to this (excuse my choice of words) fat, smelly guy who spent most of the time on his mobile, smoking, leaning back on me and pushing me into the thorned bushes. So I just got really grumpy unfortunately! At the end the Elephant started growling too, it’s a strange noise, not one I expected, more like a Lion’s roar. And our driver started hitting him with a stick because he tried to run off. It was horrible, I hated it and later I went back to the riverside to kick back and watch some more Elephant bathing with the German guys, but this time I really watched. I watched the handlers and how they treated the Elephants and it was appalling, I nearly got up and left, it was horrible. I was disgusted with myself for being a part of it the day before. But what’s done is done I guess.

So now I’m in Pokhara…5 hours on a bus here. Or 5 hours on the roof of a bus should I say! It was good fun, great views, but boy my butt at the end! Over the past 3 days my choice of transport has really taken it’s toll! Elephant back, jeep, bike-riding and bus roof-top riding!

So another long entry, I keep thinking of more from the trek too, but I’ll save that for another time! Dave keep up the star-spotting!

Love Katie xx

P.S. I think i broke a bone in my foot! We'll see how that goes!