We booked a package tour to Chitwan cos it was easier and cheap as. For $80Aus we got picked up at hotel and taken to bus stop, bus ride there and back, (7 hours each way) 6 meals, transfers at Chitwan, 2 nights accomodation, elephant safari, village tour, cultural show, dug out canoe ride, swim with the elephants and visit the elephant breeding ctr. The bus ride there was different to say the least.  Chitwan is about 50Km from Kathmendu as the crow flies but by road is ebout 180Km and takes about 7 hours. It is a long and winding road through the mountains .... we're talking winding mountain road .....in Nepal. Along the way we must have passed more than 1000 trucks coming the other way on a road that is barely 2 lanes wide. The road is also the main road from India so the supplies for 2 million people come up this road in old Tata's and when they breakdown they stay where they are til someone comes to fix it and everyone has to get around them. We saw a head on between truck and bus, (no one hurt) a truck on its side and a couple of other prangs. Every bus has a kid riding shotgun at the door so when you get to a traffic jam, and you do often, he jumps out and runs up ahead to sort out the problem then we are off again. We got caught in a Maoist rally at Ratnanangar so we had to go round through a couple of dodgy back streets to get around them. The difference between the city roads and the country roads is the country roads have bigger potholes. To go back a bit; the walk to the bus was  an eye opener. It was 6.30 and freezing cold and there were heaps of people out and about. The old rickshaw driver was sleeping next to his rickshaw in the street, a bit further up a couple of guys had set fire to the rubbish to keep warm and the old women were trying to clean up. When you get off the bus you are immediately surounded by touts looking for your business. ( I cant wait to got head to head with them in Agra)We stayed at JAWS, jungle adventure world, which is right on the Rapti river at the end of the main rd through Sauraha, and they were there to pick us up. It was a comfortable place to stay and I would certainly recomend the place. The meals were OK and the staff helpful. The village tour was Ok not outstanding but we saw how they live day to day and its not for me. They really do live in mud houses with grass roof, a couple of buffalo, a few goats, a water pump for drinking and washing and toilet anywhere in the back yard.. Part of this tour included the elephant breeding center. The elephants are chained to a post and most of them just stand there and rock back and forth or side to side. Anyone who knows me will know Im not a softie when it comes to animals, I think they are food, but I gotta say these elephants did not look happy at all. The next day our guide, Suman, showed up with a stick and said it was to fight off the tigers and rhino's. I said he shouldnt have bothered cos if we see one I will trip him up and run like hell. The dugout canoe ride was the most uncomfortable ride I have ever had. After about 10 min I was numb from the waist down and we had to endure 45 min. When it was time to get out I could barely move. Then we had our jungle safari which was walk back to camp. As usual we didnt see anything, it was the old "you shoulda been here yesterday". On the walk back to camp we went to another elephant breeding center. They had 3 babys that were not chained up and one got out to our side. That was kinda cool walking around and playing with a baby elephant. Then we took a jeep back the rest of the way cos we had to get back for a swim with the elephants. In the afternoon they bring a couple of elephants up near our guest house and you can swim with them. You ride on their back and they spray water all over you and they roll over to get you off then  you climb back up their trunk and they do it again. I dont think I got good pics of that cos I had a guide taking them and he was not very good. After lunch we went on an elephant safari. If you have ever seen the old pics of the tiger hunts on elephants it was kinda like that without guns. There were a dozen elephants lined up and we go up a tower and they back up to it and you climb on and sit in a frame. Just after we got into the jungle the mahoots spotted a rhino and calf so they surrounded it. Everyone got a pic then she ran off into the bush. Later in the safari we saw heaps of Dear, couple of crocs, couple of peacocks and some monkeys. We finished the day with a cultural show. The local Tharu tribe put on a dance show that was pretty good. It was short and sweet and didnt drag onlike some of these things can. The trip back to Kathmandu was fairly uneventful and after we arrived back I went for coffee with Julianna (from Columbia) who I met yesterday and she invited me to Kirtipur on Monday so that is where I will be on Monday. Sauraha is a really laid back town where you see elephants walking down the main street with ox cart and horse and cart. Simona (from Germany) was so impressed she left some stuff there cos she was going back as soon as poss. There are over 50 guest houses and bars are right on the water front. The weather is better than KTM. In Kathmandu we have been in windcheaters all day and freezing in the morning. Roughly 3-5 in the morn and somewhere round 15-17 max. In Sauraha the mornings were pea soup fog around 10 and in the day around low 20s