February 24th. Chitwan NP

Today we made a side trip to the beautiful village of Laxmibas near Madi to see the health clinic there. This village is in the "buffer zone" surrounding the park, the the people there have a vested interest in maintaing the ecosystem and protecting the animals.

We set off around 8am in two vans - the kids were left behind to do another elephant safari and a hike to the surrounding lookout towers. The weather was very misty and it was hard to see any hazards ahead. Sure enough, after about 20 minutes we saw the faint shape of a huge rhino blocking the road. We waited a few minutes until the rhino slowly moved into the undergrowth, and then slowly proceeded. Upon passing the rhino we noticed that she had a baby with her. "This is not good!" said the ranger who was accompanying us. Suddenly we heard a huge snort and the mother rhino started to charge us. The driver immediately accelerated the vehicle but was having a hard time outrunning the rhino. Eventually, however, she got tired and slowed down.

This is the rhino which charged us

Once we left the park we headed west a through the many villages in the "Madi" area of Chitwan district. Although equally poor, these villages differed from the squalid roadside settlements we witnessed the day before. The villagers all looked happy and wore colorful dress. There were many school children walking or biking to school, all wearing clean blue uniforms. The houses were simple but clean, consisting of maybe a couple of rooms and an outhouse, a large stack of hay, and a couple of goats. This area subsists on farming, but there was no sight of any modern farming equipment - we saw maybe one tractor the whole journey. The electric grid has not reached this area yet (although there was a radio station), and the villages are completely cut off from the rest of Nepal during the 3 months of the monsoon season. As it was, we had to drive through many rivers to get there.

Once we got to the health clinic we saw that all the community leaders of the village had come out to meet us. It was very touching as they each presented us with a traditional silk sash and a flower lei. They seemed genuinely happy that westerners had made the long treck to come and see their village. We all introduced ourselves and at one point Dr Erica asked how many had cellphones, and literally everyone raised their hands.

Next we observed a few clinic visits with the doctor seeing mostly older patients. Despite the primitive conditions, she showed a connection with her patients that is not often seen in todays modern society. In all we spent about 3 hours at the village during which time we all fell in love with the people.

On the way back we stopped for a picnic lunch inside the park which seemed unadvisable given the events of the morning! We reached the resort at 3pm and met up with our children who had had a great day. Next it was time to get in an open topped truck for our afternoon safari and river boat ride.

After driving for half an hour through primitive back roads we reached the river. All 8 of us piled into one boat, and we set off down the crocodile infested river. We were reassured that the crocodiles fed mainly on fish, resorting to eating people only when there was no other food.

On the way back from the river boat ride, who should we encounter but Mr Rhino - standing right in the middle of the road. There was a tense moment of silence as the Jeep and the Rhino played a staring game seeing who would back off first. Sammy and Owen looked genuines scared. Finally the rhino moved off into the woods and we were free to go.

Back at the resort we sat through another naturalist talk, had dinner, and then went back to our cabin. Prior to visiting the resort, I had checked it out on tripadvisor.com, and while everyone gave it 5 stars, one reviewer mentioned that sometimes the cabin attracted unwanted visitors!

Of course I didn't tell any of the kids until after we left!

February 23rd - Kathmandu to Chitwan National Park

We left the Hotel at around 8am, piling into the three vans that had been hired to take our party to Chitwan. More Kathmandu road craziness, and then a spectacular cliimb out of the valley. The air was unfortunately quite polluted and we were not able to see the distant Himalayan mountains. Most of the drive was through terraced farmland, however the roadside poverty was unbelievable. These people live in houses that are precarously balanced on the side of a 1000 ft shear rock face above the river. A common sight was women sitting next to huge piles of boulders, attempting to turn them into gravel using a tiny hammer. Often the husband would be there too, usually asleep.

We stopped for lunch at a fabulous resort where we met some of the other WWF staff. Then another three hours driving. The Maoist inssurgency in Nepal ended in 2006 and the country is now relatively safe for travellers. Never the less we saw armed soldiers at every intersection, and had to pass through numerous army checkpoints. At the entrance to the park we were escorted by a Jeep in order to keep us safe in the event of any animal attacks.

The Tiger Tops lodge is the only resort inside the boundary of the National Park. It consists of a large traditional round room in which meals are served and talks are given by naturalists. Most of the accomodation is on stilts to protect the guests against animals.We ended up in one of the non-stilted cabins, and therefore required a couple of armed guards outside our room all night.

The park is home to a large percentage of the remaining population of tigers which until recently roamed most of the Indian subcontinent. Widescale hunting during the early 1900's, and more recently poaching has decimated their population.

After checking in, we emarked on our first elephant safari. Elephants are frequently used inside the park because they are non-agressive, yet large enough that they are unlikely to be attacked.



Riding the elephant was remarkably uncomfortable as every step pushes you up and then drops you. Having just come off of a 7 hour car journey along winding roads, it was not the most pleasant ride, but more than made up for by the view and the chance to observe animals in the wild.



February 23rd - continued

Our elephant safari took us across the shallow river bordering the resort, and then into the thick undergrowth. Monkeys could be seen in the trees on the way to the river. The visibility was not great due to the many fires that had been set to control the height of the grass.

We covered several miles over two hours, and were able to get fairly close to several Rhinos, spotted dear,wild boar, and an Asiatic black bear. We returned right at sunset and got a spectacular view of the sun setting over the river.

That night we were treated to a traditional Nepalese dinner served in the round house around a wood fire. Then returned to our cabin where the beds had been pre-warmed with hot water bottles. Got the best night sleep of the trip (so far) drifting off to sleep to the strange sounds of the jungle.

February 22 - Bangkok to Kathmandu

We all woke up early again, giving us plenty of time to pack for the next leg of our journey. The Hotel car took us to the airport where we checked in and then met up with Dr Erica and her family, with whom we will be travelling with for the rest of the trip. It was a fairly quick 3 hour flight to Katmandu, but we unfortuntely had to wait another hour to land due to air traffic congestion - not something I would have expected in Nepal. The exit formalities were insane involving multiple forms - although what used to be three different lines has not fortuntely been streamlined into a single line. Once we got to the front we learned that Owen needed to be in a different line since he was under 10. Somehow we got through, payed our Visa fee, and got the visa and our passport stamp. An hour later we left the airport and took the van to the Hotel.

Immediately on leaving the airport it became obvious to everyone that Nepal was very different from California (or even Bangkok). Streets were narrow and dusty, mostly unpaved, and filled with people, traffice, carts, dogs, cows, and anything else you could imagine. Sammy asked me if they had different traffic rules in Nepal, and I replied that they did not have any rules. I didn't see a single traffic light, although cars just plowed through intersections with barely a concern. There were policemen everywhere, some direcly traffic, and some just walking around.

In the afternoon we met with the World Wildlife Fund who were going to be our hosts for the Chitwan visit. I am very impressed with this organization - most think of their purpose in terms of saving endangered species, but they are also firmly commited to improving the lives and health of the people. They are strongly pushing the use of biofuel stoves for cooking, which over the years has prevented the destruction of countless acres of forest. Areas that were once barren have now been reforested, and WWF has been able to use the carbon credits from this to fund new projects. They have also been trying to create corridors connecting the national parks so that the animals can freely move around rather than being imprisoned in one area.

Back at the Hotel Owen had fallen asleep again so Cathy and Owen had a light dinner in the room while Sammy and I and the others ate at the buffet. Again we all fell asleep really early.

February 21st - Bangkok

Today was our rest and "jet lag recovery" day. Despite not getting to sleep until 2am, we all woke up really early. It was a sunny day but you couldn't tell by looking at the sky which was a murky brown color. We ordered breakfast, and then headed down to the pool. We grabbed the last cabana/beach temple thingy and dumped our stuff there. The pool was a refreshing respit from the hot humid weather outside, and the kids spent the time jumping from pool to pool. Sammy made friends with a young Korean boy who spoke perfect English, and they ended up playing a game of baseball on the grassy area.

Cathy booked her massage for noon and afterwards we had a light lunch. Cathy and Owen then took a nap while I took Sammy out to see one of the temples. We rode the water bus from the Hotel, watching the hectic life go by on the river. We quickly left the fancy hotel area, to see a more traditional and less affluent example of life. Rickety warehouses and homes build on stilts on the water, all of which looked like they could have fallen in at any moment. Barges and river boats plied up and down the river carrying anything you could imagine. One barge had a traditional Thai house built at one end, in which the workers presumably lived. Our boat was packed full of tourists and locals and we barely had room to stand.

Leaving stop number 8, we had to navigate a narrow and crowded wooden walkway surrounded by shops on either side. Once on the street the temple complex could be clearly seen on the other side, with no obvious way to cross the busy traffic. We eventually followed the other tourists and  risked our lives by running for it.

Wat Pho is one of the oldest temple complexes in Thailand. Unlike in Christianity where a place of worship usually comprises a single church, the Buddhist sites are more like campuses containing gardens, courtyards, and multiple temples. I have visited many temples in Japan, and was struck by how ornate the Thai temples are. Everything is covered in gold leaf and reflecting tiles.

Sammy had a look of amazement on his face on stepping into the complex - he had never seen anything like it. Each of the temples consisted of a large Buddha statue, and a carpeted area at the front for praying and meditation. A smaller Buddha statue was nearer the front and one could pay 20 Baht for a small package containing gold leaf with which one could adorn the small statue.

The temple is famous for containing the "Statue of the reclining Buddha" which is one of the largest Buddha statues in the world - about as long as a football field.

Finally we made our way back to the Hotel looking forward to a nice meal at the outdoor Thai restaurant overlooking the water. Unfortunately poor Owen had fallen asleep so we ended up ordering room service. Sammy and I then took another quick swim, and everyone was asleep by 8pm.

February 18th - San Francisco to Bangkok

Long day of travel. Left our home at 9am and arrived at the airport at 10am. Our 15 hour flight to Hong Kong left at noon. Flight was comfortable - we had four seats together. The kids did amazingly well despite a period of 10 hours between lunch and dinner when there was no food to be found anywhere. Mostly played computer games, watched movies and slept. The flight took a northern route over Alaska and Siberia and then down passing almost direcly over Beijing. At one point we passed over a cool and barren mountain range in northern Sibera. We finally got to Hong Kong at 7pm giving us under an hour to make it through security and on to our next flight to Bangkok.

View from the plane passing over northern Siberia

At Bangkok we successfully made it through customs, despite our large box of 600 toothbrushes (destined for Bhutan by request of the Ministry of Health). We finally found our ride to the Hotel. At night Bangkok looked just like any other city - although the extreme heat hit us in the face the moment we left the airport. Took about an hour to get to our Hotel by which time it was midnight. Checked into one of the most amazing Hotel rooms we will ever stay it - situated right on the river on the 31st floor. Sammy and Owen were so happy to be not travelling any more and immediately started running around checking out the place. Since we were still hungry we ordered some Chicken Sate and then finally got to bed around 2am.

Sammy and Owen outside the Peninsula Hotel

TV in both our bathrooms