Nepal Day 7 Annapurna Trek to Chitwan NP

Saturday April 30^th

Up by 7:00 and had a quick ceremony where the owner of the tea house gave us all a silk scarf as a thank you for coming and trekking through the Annapurna trail. Then we were off on our last trek at 8:00. We had an hour and a half of downhill trekking to do along the rock stairs. Anil told us that when the monsoon destroys parts of the trail the whole community as a cooperative works together, with at least one member from each family helping to reconstruct the road.

When we finally reached the bottom we met our van, and I had a great time with a gentleman selling jewelry. He was nice with a good sense of humour and not pushy or obnoxious, and he was so happy when I bought the bracelet you can see on my arm.

Then we boarded our van and and set out for Pokhara. The ride was about a half hour. We returned to the Landmark Hotel to pick up the luggage we had left there, repack our bags and shower. After that we had two hours to explore the town of Pokhara. I found an ATM and withdrew some more money and then had a pizza lunch at a local restaurant.

Then we all met back at the hotel, and tipped and said goodbye to our porters and the assistant guide, Kerin, who were all excellent and lots of fun. Boarded the bus again and began a five hour drive to Chitwan National Park. The 'highway' is just a road with lots of traffic, houses and businesses on it and no shoulders. Frequently there were obstacles like cows, broken down trucks or potholes and the driver just worked his way around. It's much like a video game where you are dodging obstacles or oncoming vehicles. There were a few times when I thought it was way too close, but we survived. We stopped once for a local cup of marsala tea and a snack before continuing on. When we stopped I took advantage of the opportunity to photograph the little town.

After that we finally drove out of the hilly section of Nepal and entered the flat forested area. This is where Chitwan National Park is. We arrived at our safari accommodation, Sapana Village Lodge, by 5:30. We were introduced to the manager who gave us a history of the camp and an outline of tomorrow's busy itinerary. Then we placed our dinner orders, had an hour to get settled and returned to the open air restaurant and enjoyed a yummy dinner, perhaps the best of the trip. Afterwards we all had a drink and talked about travelling issues. I showed some pictures to Anil and when my computer needed charging I took it to my room. When I returned everyone had gone to bed, so Anil and I sat and enjoyed one last beer before calling it a night (beers here are 65o ml!).