From the hills to the plains

We travelled from Nuwakot perched on its mountainside to Chitwan and its national park and surrounding villages in the plains of Nepal nearing the Indian border. This was the general area where flooding occurred in August, but we were not in the area that was damaged. This was about a 40ish mile journey. No sweat, right? Unfortunately, much of the road was being "repaired." Further more unfortunately, in its vast wisdom, the Nepalese government contracted the project to a number of Indian contractors rather than have their version of the Army Corps of Engineers do the work. I think it is safe to say this to s not priority one for many of the contractors. For the ones doing a good job, there was beautiful paved road. For those not (which would be a firm majority) the road resembled the ones traversed by covered wagons after the homestead act. 40is miles=about 5 hours! Not the promised completion date of the road...

On our evening of arrival, we again wandered the surrounding country and village. Being a plain with rice fields as far as the eye can see, it was hot. Think 95 and almost 100% humidity as irrigated fields evaporate. We met people playing, working, and moving and enjoyed a totally different Nepal landscape.

Ok, ok, here are the animals. In the morning, we entered the national park and later had the opportunity to watch elephants have their daily bath. Photos include rhinos and deer. Crocs were being shy. Every once in a great while, a Bengal tiger is stted, but alas not this day.

Yesterday, we covered a sign that was stolen by the Nazis - the swastika -- which has nothing to do with hate in Nepal. We also have been seeing another symbol that means EXACTLY what you think it means.

This is the symbol of the third most powerful political party in Nepal (Maoists) and is yet another sign of China's attempts at hegemony of southern and Southeast Asia as the Middle Kingdom expands. You can be sure that being neighborly is not the end game.

On that happy note, we will be starting our climb toward the Himalayas in the next installment!

Please excuse any typos. Typing while driving with autocorrect "helping"!