Buddhist temple in Khatmandu
Searching at Chitwan Royal Park
White Rhinos at Chitwan
Hindu holy men
Claudia and Lew in Nepali attire
Mount Everest from a small plane
The highlight of our visit to mystical Nepal was an excursion atop an elephant chasing rhinos at the former Chitwan Royal Park. Our group of 11 mounted six elephants and set out across the Rapti River through a chilly morning fogbank. After fanning out through thick elephant grass we spotted fleeing wild boars and hog deer, then circled a clutch of rare white rhinos. Back in the days of the British Raj that would have meant a certain kill for a wall-mounted treasure, but our arms were only cameras. We then sought the elusive Bengal Tiger, however paw prints and claw marks on nearby trees were all we found of these magnificent nocturnal felines. The morning concluded with our elephants bathing and cavorting in the Rapti, fortunately after we had dismounted.
This was the final major phase of a 19-day adventure that began in Kathmandu, Nepal’s traffic-chocked, culturally diverse, and exotic admixture of Hindu and Buddhism coexisting in rare harmony. The striking temples and pagodas fetched the expected oohs and aahs, but the culture’s handling of death, though compatible with Asian mores, sorely tested our western sensitivities. We witnessed close-up the sacrifice of a water buffalo in a main Kathmandu plaza and the active funeral biers in a nearby town specializing in Hindu cremation rites. A counterpoint was the heart-warming daily greeting ritual where you say “hello” by clasping hands in a prayer-like gesture, bowing your head, and exchanging the Nepali greeting NAH-MAH-STAY.
The next phase was trekking with Sherpa bearers to a sanctuary lodge in the foothills of the Annapurna Range of the Himalayas. Eye-catching views of the storied Annapurna seen best from a swaying footbridge over the Modi River was the highlight there. Lew’s trekking was curtailed by a parasite he contracted, but Claudia did it all. Then we boarded rafts for three days along the Seti River, shooting rapids and exploring remote villages.
The trip concluded with a special flight aboard a small airplane for close-up views of Mount Everest, and a farewell dinner clad in Nepali wedding attire. What a trip!
