Lumbini is the final stop. Groggy and bleary eyed we stumble off the bus at some ungodly hour and check ourselves into a guesthouse. We spent most of the first day in the room, Charlie playing nurse while I puked into the bucket that we were supposed to wash ourselves with.

The following day we managed to get out and have a look around the world heritage sight of Buddhas birthplace. At which we saw the EXACT point where Maya Devi gave birth to this deity who now has over 300 million followers.
Later that day we made our way west to Bardia national park to get our David Attenborough on.

The bus journeys in Nepal have categorically been some of the worst both myself and Charlie have encountered. The bus that we were originally on broke down, not a complete calamity we understand. However, we get on the rescue bus which is at full capacity apart from the back seat, so at least we have a seat right?...wrong. There is a reason why nobody sits at the back of the bus in Nepal. It's bumpy. The first hour we spent embracing the bumps but were becoming more frequent and a lot more.....bumpy. One of these particular knocks left Charlie and I readjusting ourselves, leaving us vulnerable and without an apparatus to hold on to. This was ample time for the driver to hit a pot hole and send the whole of the back row hurtling in the air, each one of us smashing our heads onto the roof. Semi conscious Charlie staggers to the front and explains to the driver in her best English to 'slow the f**k down' and for the most part of the journey the driver, 'slowed the f**k down' and managed to get us to Bardia in almost one piece.

After a night of wildlife watching in our room, a rat, a lizard and a few spiders sighted at very close range, we set out on a real safari in the afternoon. We shared the jeep with two kiwis, Mike and Victoria. We made our way round the 980sq km of unadulterated nature porn. We spot red headed vultures, bee-eaters, Drongos, long tail monkeys, spotted deer (think bambi), an eagle, we see wild elephants bathing in the river.
There was something very enchanting about watching an elephant slosh it's way through the water un-peeved by its audience.
However, as beautiful and amazing as these things were they all seem futile when you compare it to witnessing the Royal Bengal Tiger taking a drink in the river to cool off from the sweltering midday sun. We approached with caution through the canopy, camouflaged by jungle. Spying on one of natures most beautiful creatures. Crunching leaves and whispered voices were enough to deter this majestic animal from its watering hole. We watched as it slid surreptitiously back into the dense jungle from once it came.
Our guide explained to us that because the grass and soil here is so rich there is an abundance of deer and therefore the tigers flourish. The circle of life materialising around us.
(Que circle of life lion king song). We made our way through grasslands on foot, we traced the tracks of tigers and swam through rivers fully clothed to reach the banks on the other side.

After sunset we make our way back to the guesthouse in the jeep and celebrate the sighting of the tiger with some home brewed rice beer.
We make arrangements to return to Kathmandu the next day.