The Jungle

thats right bitches, i front flipped off of an elephant's back into a river :)

okay short synopsis of the weekend, ive been at this computer for WAY too long because it takes FOREVER to get things done on this awful connection

Tuesday:

4.5 hour bus ride to Chitwan, out of the mountains and into the Terai, the flat lowlying portion of Nepal, very close to sea level, very humid, very hazy, very jungly.

found out we had a jam packed itinerary that alotted us about 5 minutes in between activities to use the toilet basically and nothing else.

swept off to "Jeep safari" . . . meh, not as glorious as it sounds, a large jeep riding down a gravel road through the jungle, and then we turned back and came back the same damn way we first went. Saw some deer, cool birds, a crocodile from FAR FAR away. that was about it.

Dinner: MORE DAL BHAT!!! but it was really good dal bat with chicken, and LOTS of white meat, i ate a whole lot

Wednesday:
Canoe ride in a REAL DUGOUT CANOE (yes like the native Americans made in the old days . . . very cool . . . very peaceful . . saw more cool birds, a few crocodiles from a lot closer up,

Ended the canoe ride and walked a short walk through the jungle to the Elephant Breeding Centers . . . thats right, elephant sex. Okay, so maybe there wasnt any barry white playing and mood lighting, more like thatched huts with elephants under them, but it was cool nonetheless. There were adorable elephant twins and one of the babies tried to hump its mother that was at least 5 times its size.

After that, we went back to the river for the elephant bathing!!! slip a dude 100 rupees and he'll let you ride on the back of the elephant as they bath in the water and spray water out of their trunks ALL over you . . . such an incredible experience. Every so often I would be sitting on top and the entire elephant would roll over onto its side, toppling me over . . . but fear not I was not crushed by an elephant.

Elephant Safari (lots of elephants that day)
this is where adam, me, and two dutch guys (the freaking dutch are taking over the planet) got onto an elephant and rode through the jungle. . . this was the "real" safari:

Animal count:
4 Rhinos
Lots of monkeys
Lots of deer
crocodile
Peacock
Wild boar
birds (duh)
umm that might be it

but the rhinos are obviously the coolest, we got REALLY CLOSE, like 10-=15ish feet, they could care less that there's a crowd of elephants standing around them with white losers taking pictures of them, actually, im pretty sure i saw a zoolander face come out of one of them :)

Thursday:

Jungle walk in the morning, very cool and different perspective to see the jungle from, lots of cool insects, some deer and antelope,

then, my body decided it was enough fun for me, and i got sick, but luckily there was nothing exciting for me to see in the afternoon

so yes, im on cipro now, and im supposed to limit my sun exposure . . . ha. . .
but i woke up friday feeling better and the bus ride home was only marginally aweful because this freaking nepali dude in front of me (who crazily spoke dutch, im telling you, they are taking over) kept putting his seat back and crushing me

Now back in kathmandu, going to take a tour of the coke factory that produces ALL of the coke for Nepal on monday (just happens to be a 15 minute walk frmo where i am staying)

More updates soon!