Our big day of jungle adventures started with breakfast at the hotel where they bought us way too much food then we met Bikram at 7.30 to begin our day with a canoe trip down the river to see marsh mugger crocodiles & a variety of birds. Still a little cool it was an enjoyable hour as we slid through the shallow water past flowering lilys & locals cutting grass on the shore. We ended near the Mississippi bridge & the horse and cart whisked us to the elephant bathing area at the river. Huge pacheo derm retraced their daily steps to the river where they were striped of their seating frame & lay down in the river to be scrubbed with river rocks. With our life jackets on we helped scrub the bristly rough skin of a relaxed looking elephant. They seemed far less intimidating when they were laying down and seemed to enjoy every moment. After cleaning the huge area & tipping the owner $5 for all of us we had a few hours to clean off, do some window shopping and get lunch before we met Bikram again at 12.30 to join our Jeep Safari. Down by the river we met our guide and were ferried across to the otherside of the river in a dugout canoe to meet our jeep and head into the jungle of the Chitwan National Park. It was a hot afternoon and for the first few hours we saw nothing but some distant spotted deer. Around 3.30 we stopped at the Guarial Crocodile breeding centre for a quick 15 minute look then it was off again bouncing along the dirt tracks in the open jeep with eyes peeled. We did see a couple of rhinos off in the distance then realised that there was one crossing the track just in front of the jeep parked in front of us. We saw some wild boar and Sanur deer before finally getting back to the river crossing about 6pm. It was quite a long hot five hours but a good experience for about $16. For dinner we had been invited to Bikram's to make Dhal Bhat so we walked back to his office & arranged to meet him in 20min so we could rinse off and get some vegetables and soft drink to take to dinner. It was about 10-15 min walk past thatched & mud houses of the Tharu village and on arrival we came to realise what it really was to live & cope in poor Nepal as he set about preparing an outside fire and had us cutting up vegetables on a straw mat on the dirt at the front of the house as they had no electricity at this time. The vegetables were washed in the water from the hand pump which made me a little nervous. Having only the one fire to cook on they did the rice first, then the curry, then the lentil, then the dhal. It took about an hour and half to cook it with only my torch and some light from the government office next door so we ate after 8.30pm at the wooden table they had dragged outside. Bikram's brother and sister in law waited until we had eaten so we soon set off walking in the dark back to Bikram's office, then our hotel. We all reflected at how much we take for granted, even the most basic things like running water and 24hr electricity. It almost felt strange to slide into a comfy bed, under clean sheets with a hot water shower and toilet at our disposal mere steps away.