Wildlife & Buddhism & Rural Nepal

Kingfisher, Chitwan National Park

The only acceptable foto of the wildlife we saw on our jeep safari in Chitwan National Park is this beautiful Kingfisher. This bird is so famous that they even named a beer after it...Our Safari was a success as we could see the very rare, giant black sloth bear eating on termites only 20 meters away! Other animals we saw: crocodile, dotted deer, colourful peacocks and several other bird species. However we could not see the endangered one-horned-rhino which is one of the main attractions in this National Park.

Elephant riding, Sauraha (Chitwan National Park)

In Sauraha, the gateway town to the park and our lodging place, we enjoyed ourselves so much riding on the biggest animal on the earth!

Every day the elephants ot the town are going down to the river for their daily bath and whoever wants can join them to have fun in the cooling water. Oh yes, it was so refreshing to fall into lukewarm water, as the air was around 40 degrees.What we also got to feel is that elephant skin is much rougher than human skin...




Stufabi in front of the World Peace Pagoda, Lumbini

Next destination was Lumbini, Lord Buddha Siddharta Gautama's birthplace (563bc). It is a pilgrimage place for Buddhists and Hindus as Buddha also is a reincarnation of the important Hindu god Vishnu.
The widespread development zone around birth site where Buddhist communities from all over the world build their monasteries and temples really is worth a visit. The white World Peace Pagoda for example was built by Japanese monks, the colourful ornamented door which Fabi tries to open :-) belongs to the Tibetan gompa and the huge praying roll Stufi is moving is located next to the German temple.
The effort of maintenance of the buildings and gardens varies a lot...some are in a very poor condition which is quite sad, but others are very well kept and it is a big pleasure to walk through the neatly arranged surroundings.

Man selling spices in a street in Pokhara

Stufi asking for directions, Pokhara

Here and then we rent some old style Indian bicycles with one gear...we love to explore the surroundings cycling! As the maps often are basic or rather not useful we count on the help of locals. Asking for directions using hands and feet can happen anywhere, even in the middle of a junction ;-)

Market, Tansen-Palpa
Escaping the heat, a winding road took us up to the medieval hill town of Tansen. Most parts of the old town are traffic-free because of the narrow and steep alleys. This fact requires the people to carry all the goods themselves.
Tansens main business is the weaving of a unique material which is seen all over Nepal. We visited one of the factories and were surprised how complicated the weaving-looms are built and how quick the workers handle these machines. At the market area you could buy all kinds of bags, clothes, hats, shoes etc. made out of this fabric.

Plumeria, Fabis favourite and all beloved flower...

We are very happy to still have three weeks left to continue our travels in this marvelous country.
The encounters with these beautiful and friendly people are always an enrichment, we truly love what we get to see and experience here.