Wow! What a fantastic time we had in Chitwan. After a horrendous journey from Pokhara (13 hours in a stuffy bus), it was a welcome relief to be met by two guys from our hotel. They'd been waiting for us at the bus stop for 9 hours. That's dedication for you... or desperation for our cash! As we'd arrived in the dark, it was hard to know exactly where we were until the next morning. It was called Chitwan Paradise Hotel, which is somewhat misleading as it wasn't quite Eden! After breakfast, we headed out onto the river in a dug-out canoe. It was breathtaking, but Claire was a little concerned by the man-eating crocs that we saw on the riverbank. Our guide, Raj, was more knowledgeable than David Attenborough and reeled off the names of the local wildlife as we encountered them. We were impressed. Back on dry land, he proceeded to tell us some horror stories about rhinos and crocs almost having a tourist sandwich. Crikey. Glad he kept that one until we were out of the boat. A visit to the elephant breeding centre set us up for the day and after lunch we met Bashanti, the hotel's very own elephant! Trying to climb up her trunk on dry land was a bit of an unflattering ordeal, but we managed to perfect this the next day in the water. More about that later... Bashanti took us through the jungle and across the river. It was exhilarating stuff! We got to see the most amazing sights, including six wild rhinos, lots of deer, wild boar, monkeys, loads of birds and all manner of whopping insects! It was an experience we shall always cherish. The next morning we needn't have bothered to have a shower as Bashanti had her own agenda. She took us down to the river, where we plunged in headlong and plucked up the courage to jump off her back and climb up her trunk. Splashing around and playing in the water with her was easily the highlight of the trip so far. Neither of us had ever done anything remotely like that before, and probably never will again. After the bath, we headed back to the hotel for lunch. The afternoon held a jeep ride along the so-called '20,000 lakes' (of which there were only about a dozen!). They weren't quite how we'd imagined them to be. Barely visible through the rich plant life growing in them, it was hard to distinguish lake from jungle at times. Not as incredible as the morning's events, but still a pleasant afternoon. That evening we headed down to the river to watch the sunset and promptly bumped into 'Beauty', the village's pet rhino. She'd been orphaned and taken in by some villagers three years previously. It was amazing to touch her rough, armoured skin! After an evening meal at a local restaurant, we headed back to the hotel and found ourselves in the middle of a Nepali knees-up. A group that were staying there readily encouraged us to join in their evening soiree but it seems that we need some practice on the old Nepali dancing skills! Next morning we set off in yet another stuffy bus to cross the border into India. Little did we know what would await us.... More later.... love, the girls xx