I’m 24 yo! As with all birthdays, its funny to reflect on how I viewed 24 year old people when I was 19 or 20. It seemed like they had it all together. Slowly I’m realizing that, no matter the age, no one has it together! muahahahah “maybe its the next birthday when I’ll get it together” ad infinitum and then you’re dead.
In Chitwan we passed a quiet morning before shuffling to the river bank nearby. Unbeknownst to us, at 5:30 am a rhino barged through the fence outlining the perimeter of our beloved Chillax Hostel.
At the riverbank elephants began to lumber towards the water guided by handlers coaxing them with friendly words and backing up their verbal encouragement with a managing looking iron spike. We didn’t see the handlers use the hook on the elephants but I imagine it’s a pretty damn effective motivating tool.
Tourists eagerly paid the head honcho $1 or $2 to touch or mount the elephants in the water. The scene was extremely entertaining and almost amusement-park like. I spent the first ten minutes sitting in the sand gawking. Once I got my head on and justified my participation to myself I paid the guy my toll.
After dunking my head in the water and pretending to be an elephant with Louise on my back I scrambled on top of the tough skinned, gentle eyed elephant. Thanks to the commands of the handler nearby the elephant showered me repeatedly with water launched from his trunk. I must admit, despite the possible ethical issues, it was a thrill. The elephant rolled over on its side to launch me off and not-so-subtly signal that my turn was over. There was a split second where I thought the animal was going to keep rolling and crush me like a raisin. Luckily this didn’t happen.
The homies took their turns and we snapped photos. For lunch we grubbed another veggie burger while Sam retreated into diarrhea recovery mode. In the afternoon we met our guides for a jungle walk, Bikram and Bagat, and canoed across the small river to the national park on the other side. In broken English Bikram explained he was the “safety guide” as Bagat more fluidly announced that, on occasion, Rhinos charge groups and thus two guides are required. He went on to say that, if a rhino did decide to charge us, our best best is to drop our bag as a scent heavy distraction and GTFO.
With that in mind we started into the tall grass. Dry, powdery ground left tiger tracks that Bagat passively pointed out to us (Spoiler alert: we didn’t see a tiger). In the end we saw a handful of dry looking crocodiles, a wide rhino, two deer, and a group of monkeys lounging by the riverbank. By the time we got back to the hostel we were exhausted. A cold shower brought me back to life.
Side note: a podcast I was listening to recently was touting the health benefits of taking cold showers regularly (immunity boosting ish). I’ve more or less avoided sickness for this whole trip… maybe thanks to the cold showers? Who knows
For dinner we splurged and ate a Chinese hot pot restaurant. The fiery broth lit us up, and we debated if all men want to be leaders and if this is beneficial or detrimental to society. The conversation ended in a friendly stalemate. I maintained that more people vying for leadership positions is a good thing as, in theory, the cream rises to the top (except for instances of nepotism, biases, glass ceilings, etc… which play a large role)
In the am we got up at 5:30 and enjoyed a misty walk back to the river. We sat in silence. The hostel messed up our breakfast (woke up too late to prepare it) and I let this affect my mood until our bus to Kathmandu left and I was able to let it go. The bus
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