Sophie's travels 2011-2012: 5/3/2012 Lumbini to Chitwan National Park, Nepal

We had a bit of a sleep in (compared with other mornings) and hit the road around 8:30. We stopped at the temple of Buddha’s birth place which was amazing. The park it was in was very pretty with lots of colourful flowers (including bottle brush!) and monkeys playing! We wandered around the temple grounds, through mazes of prayer flags and chatted to visiting monks from all around. It was a very peaceful place – could have sat under a tree in there for ages!

From Lumbini we had a 4 hour bus ride through the villages and countryside and up into the hills of Nepal – it was spectacular! As we drove up into the hills we overtook a public bus which was overcrowded with locals on their way to a wedding – it was unreal, there were probably about 100 people on the roof of the bus let alone inside! As we went past they all waved and cheered, looked like they were having a great time!

We stopped at a café in the hills for a pit stop with an amazing outlook into the valley (the toilet in particular had a good view!).

We arrived at Sapana Village Lodge, just outside Chitwan National Park (Sapana means dream in Nepalese) around lunch time. The hotel was amazing, right on the banks of the river and in a peaceful paradise setting. There were elephants just next to the hotel which we could hear honking as we went to sleep!

We relaxed on the couches by the river for a while then got an open air truck to the elephant sanctuary where we watched the elephants being fed. The elephants were chained up which the guide said they do only over night to ensure they don’t roam through the village etc. During the day time they are free to roam through the jungle and graze.

In the evening we relaxed on the open air couches with a few drinks and watched a cultural performance with fire dancing etc which was great to see – we also got up and had a dance which was a bit of fun.

When the sun went down a fire was lit on the veranda with all the couches around, next to the river and we chilled out there for a while listening to the frogs and crickets etc before heading to bed – very very relaxing!

The view from our hotel room in Lumbini

Packing the bus

Our hotel in Lumbini

Driving to Buddha's birth place

The entrance to Buddha's birthplace

Walking to Buddha's birthplace

Walking to Buddha's birthplace - monks on the way back from their visit

Walking to Buddha's birthplace - a taste of Australian in the gardens

Pancha Sila in English

Pancha Sila

Walking to Buddha's birthplace

Buddha's birthplace

Buddha's birthplace - These are monks on pilgrimage from Thailand and asked if they could have a photo with us, so we also made the most of the opportunity!

Buddha's birthplace

Buddha's birthplace - cheeky monkey!

Buddha's birthplace

Jasmine in the garden around Buddha's birthplace

Buddha's birthplace

Waiting outside Buddha's birthplace

The drive from Lumbini to Chitwan National Park

The drive from Lumbini to Chitwan National Park - cricket match

The drive from Lumbini to Chitwan National Park

The drive from Lumbini to Chitwan National Park - loaded bus!

The drive from Lumbini to Chitwan National Park - Hundreds of people on top of this bus on their way to a wedding all cheered as we over-took them going up a hill into the mountains!