I managed to get a good lie in before leaving for chitwan national park, we left at 8:30, which was amazing after the early starts. There was plenty of fog around which seems a common theme for winter mornings for both India and Nepal. The bus driver seemed quite aggressive, he kept hitting his son as he wouldn't let him listen to his music, personally I think the driver should be concentrating on the road especially with all the fog, nevermind the music that can wait till you get to chitwan.

We arrived early afternoon at our hotel and after the journey I was still feeling really positive about Nepal. Yes, Nepal seems a very nice country to visit, it is definitely less intense to India I haven't had to count the number of different turds on the road in front of me, or try to distinguish which animal they are from, including humans. The roads are less busy, they still drive like idiots but at least they don't have as many cows to dodge. The hotel is bob on, so far all the hotels in Nepal have been great. I felt like I was receiving special treatment when I entered this hotel. The hotel was set in gardens and had an outside bar which sold Belgian beer for westerners that didn't want to feel to far away from home. I did opt for a couple of Everest beers, they taste ok, I can live with it.

We did manage to go out on the bike ride which wasn't the jungle safari I thought it was going to be but instead was around the villages. They were quite cool I managed to get involved with kids although it ended when they wanted money for pictures.

I'm getting eaten alive by the Mosquitos in this place, I'm sort of wishing i could get to kathmandu so it would end, but I'm enjoying the experience. I've got 100% DEETs with me, and I know it works as I've used it before, unfortunately through past experiences it burns your skin and melts anything that it has contact with, so it's probably better to get bitten. The b******s have bitten me all over my face, the only place not covered. Ive got swollen lumps all over, it's pretty bad. I've also been bitten by Mosquitos during the daytime which from my vague knowledge these are the mozzies that can carry Dengue fever, so it could be something to worry about if I start to become I'll over the next couple of weeks.

Sleep that night was a bit interrupted, we had a stray dog outside our door that persistently growled. It was quite scary, it felt really close, at one point I thought it was in the room with us.

In the morning we took a Canoe ride down into the chitwan national park. It was quite a scary ride as the canoe was very narrow so any slight movement and you felt like you were going to capsize. I wasn't so bothered about going in the water but as I had all my valuables with me so I didn't really fancy it. Also the seats on the canoe were horrendously uncomfortable and there was little space to put my legs so I couldn't wait to get off. The canoe ride lasted around 2 hours. We did manage to see quite a lot of crocodiles, kingfishers, storks, lapwings and other birds too.

Immediately after the canoe ride we took an open top jeep deeper into the jungle. The trip used to allow you to trek for 8 hours through the jungle, but last year someone on a tour was killed by a stampeding rhino so the company stopped trekking in the jungle. I was quite glad we were in a jeep as I wouldn't have fancied walking through it as the grass was very high, maybe 4-5 meters tall, so you would have no chance if you stumbled across a rhino or tiger. We were lucky to see 4 rhinos, lots of deer, jackals, monkeys, but unfortunately no tigers. As the weather was overcast and bit cooler the reckon it was probably putting off the wildlife.

We stayed overnight in houses across from the jungle, the accommodation was basic but was very pleasant. Spent most of the evening by the fire and watching 2 stray male dogs eying up a female.

In the morning we took the jeep back into the jungle for more wildlife. It was back to being really sunny and warm, which is typical, now that the jungle excursion was nearly over. We did see more wildlife but no more rhinos, mostly deer and jackals.

As we returned to our hotel I got my first glimpse of the Himalayas in the distance, they look breathtaking, I can't wait for next trip. We go to kathmandu tomorrow and the tour leader has told me that the bus goes through the mountains and you can get good views of Annapurna.