Arrived from Gorakhpur at 6.30, an hour late but for once i rather relished being late. Meant i could just drop of my bag at the cloak room (sounds a lot fancier than the rat infested storage room it really is :=). Had my first banana lassi of the day.. Still looking for a good bookshop to exchange my Nepal guide for an India guidebook, loads of bookstores only open at 12 and my train is scheduled to leave at 11.45..
So what have we been up to in the meantime? Spending a couple of days in Chitwan National Park. Jungle walk - not that many animals to be seen. A drive with a jeep - spotted some more animals. And a ride on an elephant's back - plenty of wildlife! Especially enjoyed the elephant ride.
Our 'Super mega bad elefante' was called Shang Shang Kali. Kali being "Shiva's consort in her most bloodthirsty incarnation", also "an incarnation of the tantric goddess Shakti, a pre-Hindu deity linked to the worship of female mystical power". I'm just quoting this off the top of my head, of course. :) Quite a 'bigun' she was too, our 35 year old lass, and thanks to some inspired invocations ('She's a super meany! Evil Queeny! Shang Shang Kali! Rocks the tepee!') and more Shang Shang Kali chanting we won the elephant race and made it back first to the lodge.. Woohoo!
Also had quite a ball swimming with a rather grumpy elephant earlier that day (the name and age are still a mystery to me since the guy nearly didn't speak any English) but at least i had ol' grumps all to myself, which sure was a treat.
After the elephant walk time for a goodbye-and-fare-thee-well dinner with my Dutch and the odd Belgian co-travelers. Must say that over the last two weeks i've been quite taken by them. Nice bunch. That morning i had a listen to the cd of Frans, a doctor who also helped me out with an ORS solution during the trekking (back when i could really use some :) Nice record, very basic: two men on acoustic guitar, the occasional vocal/instrumental
flourish, a good helping of the ol' life affirming lyric. One of the songs featured the following refrain: 'En altijd de vriendschap als motor', which more or less translates as: 'And always friendship propelling us', which i found rather moving. I'd love to share it with you but i'm afraid i'll be forced to buy the full album first ;=)
The following day the bus dropped me a little along the way so i could board a bus for Bhairawa and then onto Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha. Arrived there just in time for a quick visit and a bit of cycling past monasteries and temples representing the various Buddhist nations and denominations. And then the sun went down and i back to my bit shabby hostel in a rather run down part of town (let's just say i visited some other places in the center - they were charging a bit too much) not too many brick walls among the shanty town shops and tea houses surrounding the hostel. But the dahl bhat/thali the place served was quite brilliant and i had some fun drinking tea with the ever present locals before that.
Well, must be off - to find me a good guidebook, have me a spot of brunch and catch me a train to Ajmer, where i hope to meet Bruno and co.
Next time i'll include some pics, and who knows i might even have started a proper blog by then.
Let's keep on dreaming, shall we :)
Loadsa luv,
-hx.
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