Sunday 5 May 2013
Jungle adventure
Sunday 5th May
There was no blog on Friday or yesterday as I was on my jungle weekend. I had assumed wrongly that there would be no wifi at the Sapana Village Lodge in the Chitwan National Park and as I only took a couple of changes of clothes, toiletries and a huge pack of mosquito and sun screen stuff, I had no room for my iPad. So I took my phone to use as a camera. Any photos in this weekend's blog are courtesy of Barbara.
We walked down to the bus station, a bit of spare land with a shed in it. It was 6.40am and the lady street sweepers were hard at work flicking the dust from one bit of the pavement to another with their bunches of twigs and grass but they did have a very nice corporate uniform of turquoise and purple shalwar kamees. We got on a Greenline bus for the 5 hour journey and do you know, it was great. An old bus but comfy seats, aircon, a free bottle of water and a free lunch half way there. Once we were out of the city, the bus climbed up mountains with steep winding roads and no crash barriers. Usual potholes of course, made worse by breakdowns which caused big tail backs and much beeping. At one point, the people on a local bus with no aircon, I assume, all got out and stood in the shade but the scenery was magnificent. As we descended the other side, the road followed the river in the valley through the rest of the mountains. The tree lined slopes came right down to the pale grey water of the river Narayan, (I think ) with big rounded boulders along the edge that looked as if a garden landscaper had carefully placed them there. We stopped after a couple of hours for a loo break and I couldn't believe what we would call the service area. Beautiful little landscaped, terraced garden with drinks and snacks on sale and more importantly, clean loos. We journeyed on past brick making works, all hand made in the open air with huge tall chimneys for the kilns. Occasionally, the bus went through ribbon development villages, each with its own set of little, open fronted shops - fabric shops with a man on his old treddle sewing machine, food shops of course, green grocers, mechanic's shop with used tyres piled up outside and, curiously, a shop selling individual or garlands of brightly coloured pompoms.
We stopped for lunch and also to change buses. This service stop was even better. Self service free buffet Nepali style, lovely gardens with fountains and flowers and a swimming pool. From there on, you could see the countryside change. It flattened out and became a forested area and then more agricultural and more frequent villages with goats and water buffalo everywhere. The bus turned off onto a dirt track and arrived at a clearing where there were jeeps for various hotels waiting. Our hotel was about 10 minutes away down potholey roads and finally another dirt path. It was lovely. This was the other face of Nepal from the one we saw in Kathmandu. It was a traditional jungle lodge with ethnic furniture, lovely gardens filled with frangipani trees, canna lilies, verbena, hibiscus etc etc. It had large patios overlooking the stream where the elephants crossed on their way to work and on the other side, emerald green rice paddy fields. The staff were so welcoming and attentive, the rooms were spacious but only had a ceiling fan, which was a blow as it was mad hot, and the food was delicious. They guaranteed that their salads and fruit were safe to eat as they were all washed in bottled water and reasonably priced wine was on the menu. Barbara and I took full advantage of this and had a bottle delivered to us on the garden swing overlooking the stream as we watched the sun go down later. But before that, we were welcomed by the manager and discussed with him what excursions we wanted to go on. He also told us that Sapana means "dream" in Nepali. As with so many Nepali enterprises, there is a strong social conscience and they supported a local women's cooperative, poor children's education and as much as possible, they used local produce and handicrafts.
At about 4pm we set out on a guided walk to a Tharu village. We followed the stream for a while then went along a really narrow path between two rice paddy fields. There were a few inches of water round the rice plants and the heat rising from it was like a sauna. On the other side was the village. The Tharu people have lived in this part of the jungle for hundreds of years. There were many tribes at one time but eventually they died out because of malaria and only the Tharu survived. No one is quite sure why they were malaria resistant but the guide put it down to chillies and garlic and they did seem to grow everywhere. The head man's house was traditional, made of a bamboo pole frame with elephant grass woven into it and then plastered with elephant dung and dirt. It was a very pleasing beige, taupe even. The windows were about 6 by 3 inches. The guide explained that in the jungle, you need to look out to see if any wild beasts are prowling about but they should not be large enough to let the beast climb in. Of course the newer houses have bigger windows thanks to the invention of glass. Inside the ceiling is very low and there are a few bits of furniture, only a low table actually with a few pots on it. There were solid wood carved steps up to the first floor but we weren't invited to go up. All the houses are built with the front door facing south so that the blank north wall keeps out any winter winds. The windows are on the east and west walls so that the people can see by where the sun is, what time it is roughly and whether it's time to get up etc. There were no streets just mud paths between the houses and cows, water buffalo, goats, chickens, ducks everywhere. Even dogs, and they looked fairly well cared for. Everyone had a smile on their faces and didn't seem to mind us ogling them as they went about their lives. The guide says they find it interesting to see white people and our funny yellow hair and odd clothes, so I suppose they're ogling us as well. But the Sapana Lodge supports them and has built them a community hall and an outside toilet each so they don't need to do it round the back of their house. I have lots of photos if anyone is interested in seeing them.
After a shower, we went down into the other village which is a bit more up to date in Nepali terms, to a Tharu cultural centre where there was a dance show. Those Tharus can really dance. First the young men in white traditional costumes did a stick dance at such a furious pace that one false move would have resulted in a fractured skull for someone. Then the girls came on dressed in white, with lots of jewellery sang and did a kind of stamping dance which reminded me more of an African tribal dance, nothing like the dancing we have seen in Kathmandu. Then there was a very strange dance by someone dressed as a peacock and the grand finale was everyone doing a stamping stick dance. They came into the audience and tried to get us up to join them but I didn't fancy a bit of concussion on my weekend off.
Back at the Lodge after another shower we had a lovely meal with a bottle of white wine. It was still steaming hot but we met a very pleasant Dutch family and whiled away the evening with them.
Early start today at 6.30am to go on the elephant ride. Cannot spell the elephant's name but it ended like all female elephants names do in Kali which is a goddess. Similarly the male elephants' names end in Ganesh, the elephant god. This makes their names extremely long however the elephant boy/man/rider/driver? was called Suri so that was easy. We climbed into the box on the elephant's back and 2 large Dutch people got in behind. I don't think it would be unfair to say that they had much more than their fair share of the box as Barbara and I could hardly breathe. The elephant swayed gently through the jungle's edge, through a couple of streams and it was so peaceful and quiet. I think this is only the second time in my life I have experienced total silence for a few moments. The other was while skiing above the tree line on a deserted piste. Suri took us to a pond where a rhino was enjoying the cooling water. He never batted an eye as the elephant approached the edge of the water. We also saw some monkeys and a wild peacock strutting his stuff to the plain little hen. Suri told us interesting things as we went, but I was so captivated by the scenery and the peacefulness, I don't recall much. When I offered Suri a tip, he said, "Give it to the elephant". So I dismounted, went round to the front end and offered the note to the elephant. She sucked up the note with a very wet trunk end and passed it up to Suri and then we got to pat her trunk and ears and look her in the eye. So wonderful to so close to a magnificent animal.
Quick shower, lunch, a lovely salade nicoise, and out into the garden to participate in the bathing of the elephants. Now I have not been to an elephant bathing event before and I thought I was just riding an elephant to the stream and getting off. But the elephant continued into the stream and lay down in the water. The Dutch girl I had been riding with and I slid gracefully off the elephant's back. Apart from the fear of jigger worms in the stream, I have to say that the water felt wonderfully cool. Suri pulled us back onto the elephant to stand on her back as she revelled in the cool water. Then we tried to sit on her back again but as she rolled over, off we went again. On the second attempt we struggled on and Suri gave her the command to fill her trunk with water and spray it over us, which she did on cue. She then sauntered back up the bank of the stream and we dismounted after posing for photos. I think this was probably one of the moments in my life which will stay with me always.
Another shower and change of clothes as I was looking like Miss Wet TShirt ( pensioner category) and following lunch, we were off again on a 5 hour jeep safari into the deeper areas of the jungle. First we had to cross a small stream in a dug out canoe to reach the jungle proper. On the banks there was a newish resort with a couple of hotels, a deck chair lined river bank and swathes of gorgeous water hyacinths. I really wanted to see a Bengal tiger but no luck. We drove along paths lined with elephant grass which was maybe 10 feet tall so you couldn't really see much. But in a clearing and around a pool, we saw rhino, bison, crocodiles, a wild boar, monkeys, a stork and lots of other birds. On the way back, we called in at a crocodile rearing farm and saw them at all stages from hatchlings to 8 year olds. The other wildlife we saw was in the hole in the floor toilet which had about a dozen little wriggling worms enjoying the urine. Barbara diagnosed them but I can't remember the name of them but the bottom line is they had exited a human bottom.
When we got back, hot, sweaty, tired and with hair like wire wool, another shower was the most important thing. A lovely dinner with a bottle of wine and popcorn on the garden swing followed by an early night. I promised myself a lie in but there was so much activity with other guests getting up early to enjoy the morning coolness and so many cockerels crowing that I got up at 7.15am. We were due to leave at 11am but still had time to walk into the village called Sauhara for souvenir hunting. As it was very hot again, we got a pony cart back, which was really nice.
The Lodge management took us to the airport as we had decided to fly back. We checked into the desk of Yeti Airlines and then waited to be called into the women's security check cubicle. A very nice police lady asked me to put my bag on the table and unpack it. She was not much interested in my clothes or toiletries but admired my jewellery at length. Not so much of a security check as a girly snoop at your stuff. Barbara said that her makeup bag was thoroughly poked about in. The aircraft came in, a 20 sweater twin prop which was spick and span, on time with a beautiful hostess in national costume. She handed out sweets and cotton wool balls for your ears. After take off, she came round with cups of water and shortly after that, we made the descent for landing. Twenty minutes in all. I couldn't get the bus to Waltham Cross in that time. No customs to negotiate, so we were straight out and met by a driver to take us to the hotel
From start to finish, this was one of the best weekends I have ever had. Scenery, tranquility, genuine tradition and culture. If you are tempted to go, do it now while it is still largely untouched by large scale tourism. I can imagine that in the next 10 years it could become like Thailand which would be a huge shame, even though it would bring prosperity no doubt to the area.
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