A walk in Chitwan National Park

There, I discovered that I was the only arrival today, so I would be doing most of the activities by myself with a guide. The very nice guy who served me in the restaurant assured me that this was normal. After a very good lunch of vegetable soup followed by fried chicken, vegetables, rice AND chips (yes, Gill, it's a thing in Nepal, too! 😂), I had a few minutes to myself before meeting my guide at 4pm in reception. 

Laxman turned out to be a friendly and knowledgeable guide. He was quite happy that I was his only client, and he was very pleased that I wasn't Chinese, Indian, or Nepalese - his least favourite guests, apparently 😂.

After a short introduction about the activities for today and tomorrow, we set off for a walk in the national park. The entrance is just across the road from Eden Lodge. I was shocked that the first animals we saw were working elephants shackled in ankle chains to wooden posts. Laxman explained that these are government-owned and are used to transport wood and to help the park rangers do their jobs. It still made me feel uncomfortable!Read more