Since we finished the 3 passes trek in time we had a few extra days left before my flight was booked back to Canada. We weighed our options and opted for a visit of Chitwan park at the border to India. The bus ride there and back was excruciatingly long; it took the bus 8 and 12 hours to cover approximately 120 kilometer. I'm glad we took the tourist bus.
Chitwan Park was not quite as jungle-like as expected, but we got to see several rhinos, crocodiles, birds and two of the very rare Gavial (or gharial) - crocodiles with narrow and long snouts that are critically endangered. Tigers proved elusive although our guide pointed out tiger prints (rather small... could have been a mid-sized cougar) and a spot where a tiger attack had happened. It was fun to chat with our neighbors at the resort, a couple of bird watchers (or should I say: bird scientists) from the US.
 |
| Gharial |
 |
| If they come run! That's what our guide said. |
