Most people go to Chitwan National Park to trek through the jungle in search of wild Rhino’s, tigers, crocodiles, deer and to ride elephants.

We had thought about doing a trek but with a toddler who never stops talking, we figured we wouldn’t see anything anyway. We spoke to one of the guides at our guesthouse and he confirmed, A)kids under 10 are not allowed, B) it cost waaaay more than we could justify, and C) Being just after the monsoon there is ample food in the park so the animals are mostly staying deeper and sightings were less common.

And so that was it, thankful for the honesty of the guides, we decided it was no trekking for us! Instead, we chose to chill out at our guesthouse, watch the elephants bath each morning, let gypsy pat every elephant/horse/cow that went past, and relax for a bit.

Well hello there!
Thanks for coming to see us!!




Feeling inspired we decided to go for a walk along the river and bam! Crocodiles!!

He was so calm, it was easy to forget that he was extremely dangerous and could quite easily kill us!! We went back the next day and he was in a different area, again not fenced in but just chilling and doing his thing. Lots of locals were walking past calmly so we figure he must be a regular. How amazing that such a wild and potentially dangerous animal is able to just go about its business without invoking fear into everyone!

So, without trekking we managed to see Rhinos, elephants, and crocodiles!! Who needs to trek!?!?!

(Note, the people we met who had done treks said they were really worthwhile.)


But on a serious note, we are super happy Gypsy was able to see a wild rhino although she probably won't remember it. The truth is, they are becoming rarer by the day due to poaching and their habitats being destroyed for farming.  I truly hope the efforts being undertaken by places like the conservation centre in Sauraha can have a positive impact on their numbers and that Gypsy will be able to bring her children and grandchildren back in the future to see them again. 

One of the often overlooked expenses of modern day travel is accessing your money while on the road. Gone are the days of travellers cheques and even currency exchange. Nowadays its 99% ATM. Some cards charge a fortune for accessing your moolah, others charge nothing (repeat after me CITIBANK PLUS!) however, you also need to taken into account fees that the local bank may charge.

In Sri Lanka every bank we tried was free!! FREE!

And in India most banks are also FREE!! Bank of India was our go-to bank.It worked well with our “plus” card and sometimes would let us take out more than 10,000 rupees at a time.

 
Nepal on the other hand is a different story. Every ATM in Nepal charges a 400 rupee surcharge for international transactions. This means that, regardless of what your card costs are with your bank back home, you will be charged an extra 400 rupees. They do this by adding it onto the withdrawal amount. So if you are trying to withdraw 10,000 rupees, in actual fact you are withdrawing 10,400 rupees but the ATM only dispenses 10,000.  It’s sneaky and completely unavoidable.


To add salt to the expensive wound, every bank except Nabil bank (green sign) allows only a maximum of 10,000 rupees to be withdrawn at each time. That’s about $4 for every $100. Ouch.

Our beloved Nabil bank however, allows you to withdraw up to 35,000 rupees at a time for the same 400 rupee fee. Saving you about $10. That might not sound like much, but considering that $10 is more than we spend on food a day for a family of 3, it’s a lot here.

You know whom I’m talking about..

THAT traveller who complains about being over charged even though ultimately it is only by $1 or $2…

THAT traveller who walks out in a huff saying it is ridiculous and they are never coming back…

THAT traveller who cancels their order because it’s taken too long to arrive..

THAT traveller who complains when their food comes out cold or not how it was ordered, even though the restaurant is super full because it’s the only one open on a public holiday and they clearly just can’t cope with the number of orders…

Yep.. that’s us.. Somehow, for 1 day, we became THOSE travellers..

Cringe..

It all started when I (Robyn) asked if the veg burger (120rupees) had cheese or not. The staff member pointed to the cheese burger (160 rupees) and so I asked if it was just cheese or if it had a veg pattie as well. She said, and I quote “Ok, veg, cheese burger.”

It was delicious mind you, when it finally arrived over 2 HOURS later. Then the bill came. They charged us 280 rupees!! They charged us for BOTH a veg burger and a cheese burger, even though we had only been given 1 burger, and they could not see how ridiculous it was that we had to pay for an entire extra burger, just for a slice of cheese… Frustrated and exhausted after waiting so long, we stormed out in a huff.. (embarrassed and knowing everyone was looking at us with “THAT traveller” glares, but feeling like it was justified. It was after all, TWO whole dollars extra! (Which goes a looooong way here in Nepal.)

That night we went to a different restaurant. Actually the only other restaurant open as it was the final night of Diwali. We waited about half an hour to actually be served, and then ordered a veg curry with no chilli and waited and waited. Nearly 2 hours later (and with Gypsy already asleep), out came our curry. STONE cold and covered in chillies. We sent it back and were told it would take another hour to make a new one as they were so busy. So we cancelled our order and left. Again, feeling like “THAT traveller” but actually getting sympathetic looks from the other customers, some of whom had been waiting even longer than us..

Were our outbursts justified? After reflection we think they were, and they weren’t. It’s a yes and no. Yes, I believe anybody is entitled to complain when the service is soo slack, or when they are so clearly ripped off.  But No, to expect 2 restaurants to be able to feed the entire tourist population and to get it right was no doubt having too high of expectations.

Lessons learnt.

We hope to never be “THOSE travellers” ever again.

What do you think? Should we bury our heads in shame?

Diwali is known as the festival of lights. All over India and Nepal, for about a week beforehand, houses and shops started to be decorated in hundreds of fairy lights. It really is beautiful to see.

In Janakpur, Nepal where we celebrated the main day, as well as fairy lights, every shopfront and house was decorated with Banana tree branches, with bridges of bamboo stuck into it on which candles were lit. They also used a rainbow of coloured sand to paint intricate pictures in front of their shops and houses. It was truly beautiful and made even the dodgiest and dirtiest street look amazing.

Here are some photos. It was a really beautiful festival that we are thankful we were able to experience.