Washing and drying laundry in the Ganges
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Tourist area in old city
Tourist area in old city
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
Varanasi is a holy city in India for Hindis as it is on the Ganges and the site for pilgrimages and cremations, like Pashupatinath in Kathmandu -- but on a much larger scale.
The touts are aggressive and the rickshaw drivers are out to rip you off. I had my guard up here.
Sleeping on the train
Sleeping on the train
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
We caught the morning train (0500) to Varanasi. It was pretty cold, and we had unreserved tickets. I couldn't find the unreserved chair car, so I found a spot in the 2nd class sleeper car. Of course, we hadn't paid for these bunks, and we were chased out of the compartment by the ticket agent. Eventually, we were charged extra for sitting there.
Men wrapped themselves in thin blankets to keep the cold out. Even tourists, did the same. The train didn't get to Varanasi until 1100.
Leaving Nepal
Leaving Nepal
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
After a five-hour ride, we reached the border, exchanged Nepalese rupees for Indian ones, and caught a bus to Gorkhapur. We were headed to Varanasi, but we would have to stay overnight in Gorkhapur, a couple hours away.
Morning mist in trees
Morning mist in trees
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
Our last morning in Sauraha, we split from Simon and Annabel, who were heading back to Kathmandu, to catch a flight to Mumbai. We were headed to Sunauli, the border with India.
Armor-plated
Armor-plated
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
These rhinos were pretty amazing, and we got great views of them walking away.
Finally, a rhino
Finally, a rhino
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
We crashed through a lot of brush, Simon and I making jokes to each other since we were facing the rear and missing most of the action, when we happened upon a couple rhinos resting. The elephants all encircled these beasts, and they slowly got up and backed out of the clearing. It was a very slow process, interesting that the didn't take much alarm at being encircled by elephants, which weren't natural enemies to them.
Elephant parking lot
Elephant parking lot
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
We had sort of struck out with our all-day 4wd safari, so we slept in the next morning, opting not to go on a canoe ride and jungle walk in the cold misty morning. In the afternoon, we signed on for an elephant safari. I thought they meant we could hunt elephants, but they meant riding elephants around for a couple hours. I wasn't expecting much after the jeep safari, especially since there were five elephants loaded with tourists crashing through the brush of the park buffer zone.
Picnic spot next to the river
Picnic spot next to the river
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
Picnic on the sarong. We hadn't seen much this morning: wild boar, deer, monkeys, parakeets, crocodiles, storks, cormorants, but no rhinos! After lunch I got a post-prandial snooze in the bumpy jeep ride.
Elephant grass
Elephant grass
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
We were in a watchtower looking for rhinos. It's pretty improbable to see a tiger, but there are supposed to be many rhinos. There used to be 500 rhinos, but there are now about 300 due to illegal poaching. It seems, this is yet another toll of the Maoist uprising. Many of the troops protecting the park against poachers were reassigned to other areas in Nepal to quell the uprising. There were still quite a few checkpoints, but there were many abandoned ones too.
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