Chitwan National Park

We arrived at Chitwan National Park, in the south of Nepal, from Kathmandu on what we thought would be a "tourist bus," but which also included Nepali tourists - a bonus! At every stop, young boys tried to sell us fresh coconut and bottled water though the bus windows, and new passengers would clamber on and off the roof of our bus, where our luggage was also tied down. The scenery was stunning: we followed the Trisuli and Narayani Rivers for much of the trip, with vegetation that reminded me sometimes of home: plumeria, green fern understories, banana trees, papaya, white ginger. But nearly everywhere, in all directions, no matter how steep the terrain, waving fields of rice, in various stages of harvest, as far as I could see.

We are here during the second biggest holiday of the year - Divali - 5 days of honoring crows, dogs, cows, bulls and finally man, especially brothers and sisters, who give each other gifts. We saw dogs and cows festively painted and "lei"ed with flower garlands throughout our stay in Chitwan, and have seen mobs of women and children dancing and singing along nearly every footpath and highway we have traversed.

Our lodge, Murani Sanctuary Lodge, was located in Sauraha, a small village just across the river from the national park. This stop has been my favorite place on the trip so far - I loved the combination of spectacular wildlife and the small village atmosphere. Highlights included elephant bathing (see photo - as anyone who knows me can guess, being sprayed by water and then being shaken off an elephant's back into the river was not a silent endeavor for me. Rachel tells me the entire riverside was entertained :) and Dad - don't worry - no signs of leptospirosis), a wildlife safari atop an elephant where we saw 7 rhinos, including 2 mama/baby pairs from only 5 or 10 feet away, and a bird watching river float in a handmade wooden boat with a jungle walk back upstream.

And I think, even more than the incredible wildlife experiences, the sheer openness and friendliness of the people here overwhelms me. On our bus ride out of Chitwan en route to Pokhara, the bus was filled with local people traveling for the holiday. A young couple with two children sat next to us. I speak zero Nepali, and the smiling, talkative young mother spoke zero English. We babbled and smiled and pointed at each other unintelligibly for several minutes, until finally she handed her baby to me, and allowed me to hold him all the way until the bus stopped for lunch. It was a precious moment, and I wanted a photo badly, but didn't want to ruin something wonderful with a faux pas. When her family got off the bus at their stop, we waved and smiled eagerly, as if we had been talking the entire time.

I'm in Pokhara now, relaxing, and preparing for our 18-day Annapurna Circuit trek, which begins on November 3. Hope to write once more before I depart.

aloha....Kim

As seen from the bus

Photo 1: Green, green rice fields

Photo 2: Divali festival dancing

Photo 3: Looks like home

Kathmandu Photos

Kathmandu

Kathmandu is intoxicating: exhaust fumes, burning breaks, auto horns, plastic bottle bicycle horns on the handle bars of rickshaws, and drivers without horns twirping bird noises at you through pursed lips when you are in their way; a riot of Western trekker travelers, all believing ourselves adventurous, off-the-beaten-path, brave, and yet all happily, safely crammed in here in Thamel, the Waikiki of Kathmandu, eating "American Breakfast" and pizza with apple pie ala mode - apparently Nepal is famous for apple pie because so many apples are grown here - a funny, uncanny reminder of Julian, California, and the TNC field trips I used to run there a million years ago, or was that only last month? small pots of spicy, sugary, milky black tea that makes you slightly dizzy and makes your hands shake, but which seems atmospheric and essential, when nursed through a lazy morning spent basking in the sun on Helena's rooftop, gazing at the snow-capped Himalayas in the distance, or in the gated courtyard haven at Kathmandu Guest House - a place not unlike Hotel California, or possibly a grown-ups version of the Pink Palace in Corfu that you and Lindsley visited back when you were young, brave, thrifty European backpackers, except KGH is fully booked every night in high season (when, of course, you, too have chosen to visit), and you, silly, disorganized, last minute soul, booked only your first night here in advance, planning to extend as desired, so now you sleep in the less desirable Hotel Buddha around the corner with admittedly bright windows opening up to the largest jacaranda tree you've ever seen - a tree that always reminds you of your mother who says they remind her of HPA graduation, but you spend your leisure hours within KGH's calm oasis; raw meat in the streets - this morning, a whole goat's head with horns for sale, fruit and veges, and what you swear are flower leis laid out on filthy blankets on the narrow streets; wandering men peddling tiger's balm, flutes, a small stringed instrument you've never seen before, taxi rides, rickshaw rides, trekking packages, river rafting; and leering from the doors of every handmade paper, silver jewelry, silk and wool embroidery, felt and yak's wool shop, crammed tightly against one another like dusty, musty hardcover library books, an unctuous fellow, inviting you to step in after even the slightest hesitation, asking "yes, ma'am, where you from? we have many more inside, very good price, please come in?" already pulling five or ten pashminas down from the wall, proffering a starting price that is double or triple or more what he would actually be willing to take for something you don't really even want, but suddenly feel you will regret for the rest of your life if you don't buy, with your new-found obsession for passionately bargaining down a price in rupees which you could easily lose in the change compartment of your car at home, but which means the difference between a sale or no sale here; new traveling companions, 2 from Germany, 1 from China, whom you met on the airplane from Bangkok and in a shuttle bus to KGH, and who are, for the moment, your closest girlfriends other than Rachel (who is practically your other self, and who is subject to stream-of-conscious, unceasing, meaningless verbiage like this day and night), because you meet up for every other meal; cloud bursts of incense wafting from small roadside shrines caked with red and blue melted candle wax and teenage girls playfully ringing the guardian bells outside; a flash of desire to be wearing an exquisitely deep shade of emerald or fuschia, wrapped around your body in layers and layers of filmy sari silk like the women passing you on the street, on the other side of the bull, who is sharing the sidewalk with you; temptation to accept the invitation for a beer from the gorgeous Nepali twenty-something whom you know wants only to woo your American dollars for his trekking business, but what eyes, what incredible skin. Only a few days here, and you are exhausted from Kathmandu, but you love it, and have a feeling you will be drawn back, again and again, in years to come. Even as you are on the bus, winding and climbing in and out of the valley on your way to peaceful Chitwan, you crave Kathmandu.

Rachel

I met Rachel on Santa Cruz Island in 2005, and she later joined The Nature Conservancy's Ventura office, which allowed us to become even better friends. By coincidence, Rachel left her job at TNC a couple of weeks before I did, and planned an epic trip to China, Nepal, Thailand, Laos & Cambodia. When I gave my notice, I invited myself onto the Nepal portion of her trip, and we managed to snag a few days together in Bangkok too! Rachel used to live in Thailand. She speaks some Thai, and knows a lot of cultural do's and don'ts, which has been so helpful!! Can't wait to come back to Thailand again after our time in Nepal! These photos are from our day in Ayutthaya - we rented bikes for $1 / day to ride around the city and travel between the different wats and ruins! The other shot i on the floating boat/dock where we had "Royal Tofu" for dinner. Thanks Rachel!!!

Bangkok

Spent today in Bangkok. Photo on left is Khao San Road - the traveler's gheto where we are staying right now. The photo on the right is me - taken by my guide Krissana at the Wat Pho, where I saw another enormous Reclining Buddha - this one was golden, and beautiful in a different, gleaming way than the one we saw yesterday. Rachel and I took the water taxi down the river to get to Wat Pho, and then split up to choose our own adventures for the day. I spent the afternoon touring Wat Phra Kaeo and the Grand Palace. There was an enormous Hilo-style rain storm while I was at the Grand Palace - came and went in 20 minutes. As you can see, I have only gotten nerdier while traveling. This outfit is straight out of "tourist day" from HPA Middle School Theme Week :), isn' it? Oh, by the way, in case I didn't tell you - I chopped 16 inches of hair off right before I left home, with help from my Nature Conservancy friend, Mika!! I am enjoying my stint as a boy look-alike. Less shampoo, no wet hair at night, and an interesting helmet look in the Thai humidity! I walked home through a beautiful park called the Sanam Luang, then got lost through the local university, yet another wat, and then a traveler's ghetto adjacent to ours before I finally figured out where I was on the map :) Rachel and I are heading out to soak up one last yummy Thai dinner before we head to Kathmandu first thing tomorrow morning....more from there!

Aloha, Kim

More Ayutthaya

This Reclining Buddha, draped in saffron cloth, was literally on the side of the road. On the other side, vendors were lined up to sell lotus flowers, hammocks, food, and practically anything else you can think of to local Thais and touristing farangs. Wish I would have gotten a photo of the Thai kids playing hide & seek in the cloth on the backside of the Reclining Buddha - beautiful!

Ayutthaya Photos

Both of these photos (and the bottom one in the last post) are from the same Wat Phra Mahathat in Ayutthaya.

Landed in Bangkok

After a typical Kim Giffin all-nighter of moving out of my apartment, cleaning, loading my car & packing everything into my storage unit at the Ventura Harbor, I walked over to the Ventura County Airporter, arriving at 8:29am for the 8:30am shuttle :) to LAX. Thanks to Tylenol PM and an awesome book about Annapurna (the region I'll be visiting in Nepal) from Sandi, my flights to Bangkok (via Tokyo) were actually pretty enjoyable. I also made a very nice Thai friend on my second flight, who told me to call her Khun Vaan -her daughter is married to a farang (Thai word for haole!) and lives in Madison, Wisconsin. Khun Vaan is my new authority on everything Thai.

Rachel was so sweet as to meet me at Bangkok Airport when I landed around midnight, and shuttle me to the guest house on Khao San Road (aka backpackers ghetto) which we've been calling home for the past few nights. Woke up early yesterday morning and took a humid train ride to the nearby city of Ayutthaya, which was formerly the capital of Thailand, and sits on the banks of the same Chao Phraya River that flows through Thailand. As you can see from the photo, I am flirting with a case of traveler's diarrhea on a pretty regular basis, but the food has been awesome so far!!! Ayutthaya is filled with ruins of ancient wats (temples) and a royal palace. I fell in love with the thousands of stone Bhuddha relics, many without heads. I'm still figuring out how to add more photos to the blog site, so hopefully I'll get more photos up soon!