Today was one of the most exciting days in Nepal!! It was a silly early start, having breakfast at 6.45am... We went off for a canoe ride about a half hour later, which was VERY scary!! The water was so close from pouring into the boat... We saw a lot of birds, and a few crocodiles too!! Apparently there's 2 types - one that's super dangerous that there's loads of (they're known to kill humans, and go into the forest at night to hunt) and the other one that only eats fish that are endangered.
After the canoe ride, we got off the boat and went for a walk for about 3 hours, ending at the elephant breeding centre. I wanted to spend so much longer there!! I've worked out that my favourite animal is an elephant. I fed one of the baby elephants with some grass off the ground, and it took it, was so cute!!
We then took the jeep back to the hotel, where we quickly got dressed ready for... The ELEPHANT BATHING!!!! I put my bikini underneath some light clothes, then walked along to the place where the elephants were having their bath. There's now a ticket system - 50rps a person, and you have to wear a
Life jacket. Which I think is completely ridiculous. You hardly go in the water!! Me and Liam went on the biggest elephant there, which was VERY scary!! I climbed up first, then Liam behind me. The elephant stood up and I almost fell off!! The elephant sprayed us with water loads, then it sat down and shook us off into the water!! I went completely under the water the second time and got loads of water up my nose - yuck!! It went so quickly, and we dried off a little in the sun whilst the others in our group had a go. Our guide took loads of pictures which I'll upload to here when I get back to England. Next week!! Quite upsetting but also kinda happy :) been a long time!!
We walked back to the hotel where we showered and got in dry clothes, then relaxed for a bit before lunch. Lunch was soup (again) then a mixture of fried rice and veggies and a veggie enchilada, a bit wierd!!
After lunch we went straight out to look round some of the shops. Again, I bought way too much!! We went back to the hotel to drop some stuff off, then we ran down and almost missed the bus taking us to the elephant ride!! It was moving away and we had to jump on, but they stopped and let us on properly :)
It was a 10 minute drive to the place where we were getting on the elephants for the elephant safari!! Me and Liam's elephant was the same one that we first saw when we were driving to the hotel yesterday!! We had another couple on the elephant with us - a couple that speaks Spanish, I'm thinking they might be from South America, but can't work it out. On the safari, we saw more deer, wild pigs, peacocks, monkeys, and 3 RHINOS!!!! 2 females and one baby!! It was all over so quickly, even though the elephants move so slowly!! We tipped our elephant driver, and took a few photos (like the one on this blog post) then set off back to the hotel in the truck/jeep.
We had a couple of hours until supper, so we decided to completely repack our suitcases. We took everything out, and packed it all back in so that precious things were protected, and my things are in my bag, Liam's in his. Mostly.
Supper was then at about 7, which was tomato soup, then grilled chicken with rice, then "custard pudding" - cold lumpy custard in a bowl. Liam had mine. We then had a coffee each, then went upstairs and watched tv and chilled.
Fact of the day - PEACOCKS CAN FLY!!!! Neither me or Liam knew that before!! Until we saw one in a tree, and saw one fly later!! Crazy...