Elephants, crocodiles and rhinos, oh my!

Well, after a very hot night, made worse by the fact that the fan in our room was broken, and the thunderstorms that reminded us that monsoon season is still upon us (but conveniently for us, so far it has not rained during the day), We got up, had breakfast, then went on a very calm canoe ride, where we saw only one crocodile, who was sunning himself on the banks of the far shore. We then walked with our guide to the elephant breeding grounds, where surprisingly, elephants are bred. It is actually one of the more successful breeding programs for Asian elephants anywhere. Daughter #1 bought some biscuits for feeding the baby elephants, and we headed in.

Now, this is not some overly tame American set up, ruled by fears of liability, where the elephants are stuck behind some fences. No, the baby elephants are unfettered, and come right done the path towards you. Picture you local duck pond, or the petting zoo where you might feed the goats. Only instead of a 10 pound goose or 40 pound goat, you have 700 pound baby elephants coming towards you. Or more accurately, towards Daughter #1, who is holding the bag of treats. And when the baby elephant wants his treat, he will start pushing you. And then others will join in. Fortunately our guides hit the elephants with sticks to make them stop before I had a crushed daughter to explain to the wife ("Well, you see dear, the elephants REALLY wanted to get the treats, and the next thing you know...")

We next go on a jungle walk, where we see a troop of monkeys and scare a crocodile into the pond. After lunch, I rinse our clothes in the sink, which is when I see a leech clinging to my sock. I mention to the daughter that she should check herself for leeches, but all she has is a bloody spot on her shin that is still bleeding from the anticoagulants in the leeches saliva. I change my clothes because (a) they are a little muddy from the jungle trek, and (b) the daughter is horrified that I have been wearing the same shirt for a solid week now (Hey, I shower and put on deodorant; but as soon as you step out of the bathroom you are already very sweaty). We have lunch, which like every other meal here consists of massive amounts of food. There will be a certain irony if on my vacation to the third world country I end up gaining more weight!

There is a little time before our elephant safari, so we head into town to do some shopping. OK, maybe "town" is a bit strong. More a collection of shanties and what in the States would pass for self-storage units, lined up along a dirt path. We get some souvenirs and learn how to play "Tigers and Goats", a Nepalese board game. Then we head back for the elephant safari. This is a much better ride than the one in Thailand. First is less relentless selling, second it is more than a walk around a track, and third we see several rhinos, deer, muntjac, wild pigs, and a jungle hen. The first cluster of rhino sighting was a mother and child in a pond. We are all wathcing them when there is a loud crashing from the forest and another rhino appears at the edge of the pond. He stops in mid stride, clearly a bit taken aback by the sight of 4 elephants and a couple of rhino in the pond already. He slowly makes his was over to get a drink where the mother rhino gives him some sort of grief ("Where have you been? And tell me you were 'working late' again, you smell of somebody's musk!"). He gets a quick drink then hightails it out of there.

After touring the jungle, we ride the elephant back to the hotel. The daughter stages a mutiny, kicks off the mahout and assumes his position on the elephant's neck. OK, actually he invites her to sit there while he scampers down the elephant's trunk and take pictures. It is the highlight of her trip so far.

Back at the hotel, they give us a room with a working fan, which turns out to be much better during the night. It was very easy for them to make the switch, since apart from one Israeli woman, there are no other guests at this time (Apparently, monsoon season is not the preferred time to be in the low-lying jungle. A couple of years ago, the rains caused such flooding that the tables outside were half submerged!). I finally get some buff momo, which I have been loking forward too since we started planning this trip. It is very good. We head to bed (with the fan keeping us cool) for the night.

In the morning, we head off to Pokhara by bus. Not some wimpy tourist bus with air-conditioning (because they don't run during monsoon season, which again, turns out not to be tourist season), but the local bus. No chickes, but it is somewhat disconcerting to see people riding outside the door of the bus hanging on with one hand for the 4 and half hour ride to Pokhara. There is a stop at a roadside dinner for snacks and drinks, and the option of some food. Really, it's not any worse looking than the gas station/truck stop food you would find in the states. I realize that the world apparently runs on Lays potato chips and Coke, since even in the middle of nowhere you will find these things. When the bus passes through other "towns", you can see the yellow chip bags and red coke bottles at every roadside stand.

We arrive in Pokhara, check into our hotel, and head to the main drad to arrange activities for tomorrow. Daughter #1 announces that she needs a break from me (I can't imagine why. What could be better than spending 3 weeks travelling with you dad as your constant companion? Especially when I'm the dad?) so she sets up a pony trek for herself in the morning, for which she will be getting up at 4 am so they can trek the ponies to see the sunrise over the mountains. We will do some sight seeing in town together with a guide. For all this, we will pay about 3000 ruppee (or about $50). Gotta love the prices for third world travel!