26th - 28th November, Chitwan National Park, Island Jungle Resort (www.IslandJungleResort.com)

Dangerous Jungle walks: 3
Rhinos seen: 3
Crocodiles seen: 2
Nearly pooed our pants: Around 3 times
Pee'd on: Once
Yaks seen: Still none

It was a very early cold morning in Kathmandu when we left to get the bus, as it's now winter here and almost as cold as home, due to Kathmandu being 1400 metres. Of course, this meant that the driver had to leave his window wide open so we felt the benefit of the lovely polluted, dusty cold air. The experience of being driven by bus was extremely terrifying as usual, especially when you have front row seats. After 5 hours, to our disappointment, we arrived in the middle of a very noisy polluted city at what we thought was our Island Jungle Resort. Thankfully, we were reassured that this was actually the posher sister resort, Bharatpur Heights (thank God we weren't staying there!).

We were to stay for lunch before catching another bus to the Jungle Resort. It was a little worrying about our choice of all inclusive resort when our lunch was served. Firstly there wasn't much of it, I think they were calling it A La Carte, secondly, it was only just edible, which was disappointing as we hadn't eaten that day and were starving.

The bus load from Pokhara turned up so we were all ready to get the second bus which took us straight to the petrol station. Why do they do that? They always seem to fill up with petrol after they pick people up. Don't think we've ever visited a petrol station whilst in a bus back home. Anyway, we had a worrying moment about their method of filling up with oil and petrol while keeping the engine running, when we had an eureka moment that the bus wasn't exactly running properly and would probably stall. It did. It took a few local lads to jump start it again. Obviously, this didn't give a good impression of the resort we were about to experience.

It only took an hour to get to the river bank after going through, what we think was the most idyllic traditional villages we'd seen in Nepal. It was like stepping back in time, as you saw them gathering the hay around their mud and straw houses.

Traditional wood boats were waiting at the shore to take us over to 'our' island resort. They were a bit 'shallowly' built and when we all piled on they sat centimetres from the water. Vik was a bit scared (see picture) and "don't rock the boat" came to mind. As we crossed the fast flowing river, little did we know at that point, that it was infested with man eating crocodiles!

We were pleasantly surprised how nice the resort was. It was situated on the banks of the river and was surrounded by jungle. The accommodation was basic, but the resort is sympathetically designed to its surroundings.

Our activities started straight away by going for a walk (with a guide) along the river bank and a boat ride, to watch the sunset over the river. Best sunset so far on our trip. Beats the ones in Agra (as there's no pollution).

That evening we were entertained with traditional Nepali Stick Dance which was really nice. It's a bit like Morris Dancing but without the flowers and bells. Dinner was served straight afterwards and we were glad to find it was a buffet (much as you can eat!). We were still starving as the beer and prawn crackers we gorged on at the bar didn't satisfy us.

During dinner we heard a rumour that there was a night walk in the jungle, so we eagerly (stupidly) decided to join the party. Before setting off the guide instructed us on survival methods if we came across the following animals:

1. Rhino: Run away very quickly in a zig-zag motion
2. Tiger: Whatever you do don't turn yer back (didn't instruct us any further)
3. Sloth Bear (most dangerous): Gather together in a group and scream and shout

We both quickly jumped at the offer of carrying sticks! The guide took us (without letting us use our torches) around behind camp and into the jungle.

We didn't see anything (thank God) at first, but the suspense was enough. With our hearts pumping fast we jumped at every sound as we knew we could come across anything even nasty little wild boars. Fortunately, or unfortunately (whichever way you look at it), we only saw a wild cat up in the tree. We must have scared it as it pee'd all over us - much to the amusement of the guides.

Vik awoke that night to the feeling of something jumping across the bed. It was pretty damn scary, but we think Vik scared the creature more by jumping about in the bed. Never found out what it was but we surmised from our location that it could have been one of the following:
1. Mouse
2. Rat
3. Frog
4. Lizard
5. Tiger

We concluded that it must have been a tiger.

We were really excited about our elephant ride into the jungle, as this was our main reason for booking the resort. We were initially smug when we realised we had the biggest elephant, but soon realised it wasn't such a good thing when we were constantly battering through the wet trees with our heads. Talk about being dragged through a hedge!

We saw some "Bambi" deer which were lovely (obviously tiger food). Then we went further into the jungle and found a waterhole with a Rhino having a morning bathe. We all gathered around and disturbed the poor chap who got out and watched us through some branches.

The Rhino led us into a clearing where the (sharp spiky) grass was as tall as the elephants. It was like being in the jungle (the jungle you see on TV). We got quite close (as it's quite safe being on an elephant) and got a few piccies, before allowing him to go on his way.

When we finished the trek we had an opportunity to pet the elephants. Carl even climbed up the elephant's trunk and sat on its back.

The rest of the morning was spent walking through the jungle which was a bit scary as we knew for sure that there really were Rhinos on the island. On our way across to the river we came across a Bengal Tiger print. Vik didn't think it was real at first cause how often do you come across a real tiger print? We looked closely at it but didn't really know what to look for, so just decided it was real as it would be a bit daft to fake it. We did learn later on that there were three Bengal Tigers on the island, one male and two female.

We got to the river after an hour's trek and spotted two crocodiles on a sand bank close to us. Our guide informed us that one was a rare harmless fish eating Gharial crocodile, whilst the other was a (man eating) Marsh mugger. We didn't know there were crocodiles and it was quite hard to digest when thinking about our pending boat journey back.

We took the boat back down to the camp and saw some Shell Ducks, which migrated from Siberia. We know that they can be found in Scotland but are quite rare. Other birds spotted include Egrets and a White-Chested Kingfisher.

During our lunch we spoke to some people from another group that was literally just behind us during our walk. Apparently they had come across a Rhino which was obviously pretty pee'd off as it charged at them. They all scattered and someone even attempted to climb a tree! Luckily they all lived to tell the tale at lunch.

After stuffing ourselves with pasta, mash potato, pork and veg, we went down to the river bank to see the elephants bathing. Carl joined in (can see the photos) and spent most of the time in the water rather than on the elephant's back.

In the afternoon, with the Rhino story in mind, we went on another jungle walk but little did we know this time we were seeking Rhinos. We found a Rhino which was damn scary as we knew we were on foot. Luckily another group on elephants were close by and were called over by the guides. Feeling quite protected (even though the elephants could have flattened us) we got really close to the Rhino. Vik however was compelled to stay very close, in fact so close to an elephant that its belly hair was tickling her face (was practically under the elephant at times). Some of our group we too scared to go any further, so another guide took them back to the camp.

It was a little unnerving when the elephant group disappeared into the undergrowth and we were left with just one guide in the middle of the jungle. It seemed we were now on a hunt to find the elusive tiger. Did we want to? Kinda yes and no. We knew that the tiger wouldn't attack us (unless they had a cub) as they would probably be snoozing, but still, it's not something one does when sane. Luckily the tiger stayed elusive but we did see more paw prints as we went deeper into the jungle.

That evening, after a few beers, we watched a slide show on the history and animals of the park, and ate popcorn (a standard snack in Nepal). The beer must still have been affecting our judgment as we agreed to go on another night walk after dinner.

We walked along the river bank (knowing that crocodiles feed at night) not sure where the guide was taking us. Suddenly we heard lots of quiet shouting as the guide turned and told us to run. Apparently he had startled a Rhino drinking by the river. Then the guide stopped us and told us to run towards the Rhino! (Were they mad?) Luckily we were high on the river bank and the Rhino had got into the water so he must have felt threatened to run away. We chased the Rhino as it pounded its way through the river at an amazing speed. We were torn in our minds to chase the Rhino, we didn't want to but at the same time we couldn't be left alone from the group, so we ran following it down the bank until it came out of the water and made it for the cover of the jungle.

Before leaving for Kathmandu we had a big breakfast but didn't think it was necessary to go on another walk as it was at a stupid time in the morning.
Our bus (a different one) took us back to the sister resort then finally we got the bus back. It should have only taken us around 5 hours but ended up being a bum numbing 10 hours! We didn't really know why there was a stupidly long traffic jam. We'd heard that they some time can last for 19 days! Maybe there's just a permanent traffic jam and everyone just jumps the queue all the time (as we did).

Now we are in Kathmandu about to go on a 3 day biking tour around the valley.