Chitwan National Park

Getting on the elephants

Five hours of bad Nepalese roads (that's admittedly redundant) in the van and then a 40min Land Rover ride across trails, rivers, and streams, and we're in Chitwan National Park ready to head out on an elephant safari.  The coolest stuff to see in Chitwan is the Royal Bengal Tiger (well, the Bengal Tiger, but more on that later), the sloth bear, rhinos, crocodiles, and rare birds (booooring).  Our group saw everything but the coolest two, so that obviously means no tigers or sloth bears. We also tacked on some surprisingly ugly deer species, wild boars, and the kingfisher bird.

Self-Portrait

I am personally fascinated by the kingfisher because it is a bird, the most popular beer in India (get Kingfisher Blue - aka premium; the regular is a bit rough after a lifetime of premium American beers like Miller Light), and an airline.  I'm not sure about the history of these connections, but I'm thinking that the whole scenario is leftover from when birds used to rule the world.

I'll circle back to explain why there is no longer a ROYAL Bengal Tiger.  In 2008, the Kingdom of Nepal became the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.  In other words, the monarchy was abolished.  The then-king now lives in a normal 2-story house in the suburbs (probably smart keeping a low profile).  Well, the Nepalese decided that since the the government was no longer royal, nothing could be royal...  Royal Chitwan National Park = Chitwan National Park.  Royal Nepal Airlines = Nepal Airlines.  Royal Bengal Tiger = Bengal Tiger.  Clearly, there are many more examples of this.  I find it all mildly amusing.