After what seemed like a few hours sleep, we were up again and wolfing down breakfast to leave at 6.30am for the bus. There were a few other people travelling that day as well, so Khem walked us all to the bus stop…like a mother goose with her offspring all in single file behind. We were the only ones travelling to Chitwan from our little group and once we found our bus, settled in for the ride. The bus we were on was a Tourist only bus, so all of the seats were reserved and there was no 'over-crowding' in the aisles. We settled in for the ride…..It took a while to get out of Kathmandu up a big hill, and then we started to descend into the Kathmandu Valley along the mountain road with a drop on our side of the bus which can only describe as a - hell of a long way down…I (Podge) was by the window - big mistake. By the time panic had set in, luckily, the bus turned a corner and the steep drop was on the otherside, where it was to stay for the remainder of the 6 hour journey. Time was easily passed reading, sweating and praying at times. The journey took us through many little villages of normal life, unaware of the panic aboard the bus coming from one person in particular (Podge!). The bus stopped twice - once for a toilet break (not long after we'd left) and then again for breakfast at a roadside café about a few hours in…neither of us were particularly hungry after a big breakfast (and also hunger somewhat subdued by mild terror)…On the way, we only hit a little bit of traffic, a slight collision between 2 buses …. It happened to be the bus going to Pokhara that our fellow guest house residents had boarded - not too much damage though, a missing wing mirror and some superficial damage, but enough for them to have to change buses. Excitement over we sat back and pondered how long it would take us to get there.

Well, you'll be pleased to know, we obviously made it in one piece - the only 2 people left on the bus at the last stop - and were picked up by our new guesthouse and driven the km or so back, sharing our ride was a man from Zurich…we didn't get his name and he wasn't staying with us…so we aptly named him Mr Zurich.

Upon arrival, we checked in and noted how quiet everything was…assuming that everyone else was out trekking or something. We were given the run-down of the activities provided, but decided to think on it as we were both a bit pooped after the journey (not just from Kathmandu, but still recovering from our flight here). Realising we hadn't eaten in quite a few hours, we ordered some spring rolls (unfortunately for James the momos would have taken about an hour) and headed into town for an explore…well there wasn't really much to explore and we failed at getting cash out of the ATM....so we went in search of beer. Found a little bar next to the river side and settled in, hoping to spot some wildlife. On the way into town incidentally, we'd been called up to the river bank to see a crocodile…there wasn't a croc there! But we did see 2 big elephants with their Mahouts wandering through the long grass - how lovely! Anyway, I digress, so there we are sitting minding our own business, having a beer and a chat, when James casually looked over to the river and saw…….a crocodile!!! It must have been about 5ft long and no more than 30 metres away from us (although there thankfully was a river in between us)…after wondering whether to run screaming home or not, we hung in there and watched it…do not much really. It stayed put for the remainder of our beer(s) and off we went back to the guest house for some dinner…Momos! It was quite clear that when we got back, there weren't actually any other people staying there…we were the only 2 residents. Very strange! Oh the mosquitos…it was definitely time to get the citronella oil out!

The next day we weren't really sure what to do, neither of us were particularly up for a jungle trek but we knew that we wanted to go and see the elephants at the breeding centre. We slept late and chilled for a bit and then headed into town for a wander and a drink (mango lassi and a Nepalese tea…mmm!). Later on we decided (once the rain had passed) to get a pony and trap to the elephant breeding centre - we had initially planned on walking and we're glad we didn't - it was a looong way! Once we were dropped off (our ride waited for us) we had to get a little punt across the river (the croc infested one) and up a small hill to the entrance (through long grass where there could have been tigers hiding)…we made it without seeing any dangerous animals though! Most of the elephants were in their little 'bed' area by the time we got there, quite a few little babies which were really cute! There was an electric fence in between us though, so you couldn't really get up close to them. As we walked around there were some elephants coming back from a day's work in the jungle. There was a one little baby coming back with its mother and it seemed quite interested and chased the group back a little - obviously wanted to play! Even though the mothers and babies are closed in for the night, apparently the wild bull elephants are free to wander into the park whenever they want - we didn't see any of those. It's for a good cause, but it's still not nice seeing elephants chained up. After a quick look around the little museum attached, we picked up our ride and headed back into town - on the way back we were treated to the sight of about 20 elephants returning home after a long day of trekking tourists around - such a beautiful sight! Love the way elephants just bumble along!!

It was Constitution Day and there were a few big crowds growing in town - the new constitution effectively is splitting Nepal into 7 districts, most of the people we spoke to seem happy about this, but there are some that aren't; they seem to be confined to 2 regions that border with India. From what we've managed to piece together - as they border India so closely, they have quite a bit of money flowing through (maybe from imports/exports?), with the new constitution, not only will one of the regions be split in half, it will also lose a lot of the money from India, effectively making them poorer. India seems opposed to the new constitution and seem to be making it difficult; they have apparently closed a number of the land border crossings (luckily we had planned to fly back into Delhi).

We stopped for a an early dinner near where a big crowd was, but it all seemed very 'calm' - although there was a small army presence, everyone looked very happy and were rejoicing - obviously this was going to be a good thing for the town of Sauraha (the town where we were staying). Luckily we'd taken the head torch with us as we ended up going back after dark, but all along the way everyone had marked out flags of Nepal on the ground outside their homes and businesses with coloured powders and had lit candles - all calm and peaceful and many miles away from any trouble. We joined in the celebration from our porch with a few beers by candle light!

On reflection, we'd made the trip to Chitwan a bit too early. Neither of us were up for a big trek through the jungle and we hadn't fully acclimatised to our surroundings - so the heat and mosquitos took it out of us a bit. Also, it now meant that we had to do the bus back to KTM (6 hours) and then get the bus to Pokhara and back (about 8 hours) a few days later. If we'd waited, then we would have been able to only do 3 bus journeys instead of 4 (saving ourselves around 10 hours of travelling - it's only 4 hours from Chitwan to Pokhara). About 4 hours of the bus journey to either place is along the same road as well! Oh well, we live and learn.

We were making the most of the chill time though as much as possible and hammering through the books we'd brought with us! We headed out for some lunch and got a plate of momos (told you it would be our staple diet!) - They were huge and super spicy! This was not going to do out tummies any good at all. Only a 6 hour journey tomorrow…eek. 2 more people arrived as well! Although they were on the 3 day set tour which meant that they weren't around much…ah well…time to pack up and head back to KTM - looking forward to hot shower, cooler temperatures, less mosquitos and more other Goros…infact just other people!