Immodium is a girl's best friend

I've been debating whether or not to share my personal, intestinal problems with the world at large, but I decided that, in the interest of science, I should not allow a sense of propriety to force me to omit details of my trip. In short, I'm pining for the days of SE Asia, where food must have been relatively germ-free and my intestine was functioning normally. I'm beginning to worry I will not pass anything solid till I get home--India can only make things worse. Don't worry, friends, I'm not in such a state as would require me to sequester myself in the hotel, but I have definite rumblies in my tumblies. But I persevere!
I went to the Royal Chitwan National Park on April 3. It's located in the south of Nepal, in the flat, hot plains. There were some communication failures that made it difficult to arrive at my final destination, but I eventually made it to the "Eden Jungle Resort: A place for romantic holiday." It was not quite as flash as the name suggests, but the staff was friendly and knowledgeable about the wildlife.
I had to take a local van part of the way and it was like a clown car. You would not believe it possible to fit as many people into one vehicle as they did. And when the inside is full, they put people on the roof. I kept thinking they couldn't possibly fit anyone else in, and then the driver would stop and we'd all squish a little bit more. My height is a liability in these situations. I kept thinking about a time my dad told me I had overloaded my car by taking 4 passengers and a full trunk up north. If that was overloaded, I don't know what to call this.
I went to the river to watch the sunset and saw two rhinos!!!!!!! Whoa. Without even trying, really.
That evening we went to a cultural dance show of the ethnic group of the area. It was very fun to watch.
In the evening and early hours of the morning, I had a cultural experience, and perhaps a taste of things to come, at the resort. There was a giant family of Indian tourists staying in the rooms next to me. They exercised absolutely no volume control. Inside voices? No sir. There was a guy up at 5 am yelling at all his friends. I can only imagine what he had to yell about at 5 in the morning. On the other hand, I'm sure you can guess what I had to yell about at 5 in the morning. Regardless, they were very friendly and I caught some of them taking photos of me.
We went on an "elephant safari" in the morning, where I briefly thought I lost my camera. I tried to remind myself you can't take things with you when you die, but I was really sad about losing all the pictures of my trek (I will download photos as soon as I get my USB cable--I didn't think it was necessary on the trek, so I left it, along with some other things, at my tour operator's house). Luckily, I found my camera and all was well again.
On the elephant safari we saw 2 more rhinos!!! A mama and a baby. We were really close to them and they were enormous. We also saw some monkeys and a deer.
Then came the real fun! The elephant handlers bring their steeds down to the river for "elephant bathing," ie "play with silly tourists for an hour." We got to help clean the elephants (they cover themselves with dust to keep of bugs and the heat, and if they don't get washed they can get skin infections) and the elephants played with us in the water. I got thrown off into the water and sprayed in the face from its trunk. It was fun to see everyone laughing with childlike joy. Sometimes I can be a stick in the mud with activities that involve getting wet, but I'm glad I've been forcing myself to participate anyways.
I went for a canoe ride and jungle walk in the afternoon. And saw another rhino! Crazy. We also saw a big turtle and a crocodile and tons of cool birds. And...fresh tiger footprints! But no tigers.
By the time I got back to the hotel, the large Indian family had been replaced by...another large Indian family. They were not as loud. One of the guys invited me to stay in his house when I go to India, but I politely declined. He could not believe I walked the Annapurna circuit when I told him about it. He told all his friends and then we had to take a photo together.
I'm getting the, "You're traveling alone?" "Yes." "You're not married?" "No." line of questioning more lately--not from other travelers, but from locals. I think I'm an old maid by their standards.
They were burning grasses in Chitwan and the air was shockingly polluted from it. The smoke obscured the sun when it was setting and made the moon a fiery orange color. It also made my sinuses ache. I've never been anywhere where I felt suffocated by the air, but you couldn't escape it.
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting a Spanish couple at the hotel and we chatted and came back to Kathmandu together today. It was nice to get another opportunity to use my Spanish.
Yesterday morning I went to the elephant breeding center, where I got to see the cute little elephant babies. They were cute. Then, I went and bathed the elephants again. I couldn't resist the fun!
Today, we did some birdwatching in the morning before getting on the bus to Kathmandu. I saw some cool birdies, but I couldn't tell you their names now.
One of the guides at the hotel told me India stands for "I'll Never Do It Again"--I think Vietnam was just a warm-up compared to the kind of aggressive hassling I'll receive in India. I'm trying to prepare myself mentally.
Today, I spent 7 hours on a bus that took me the 130 kilometers from Chitwan to Kathmandu. Needless to say, traffic was bad, stopping was frequent, and the pace (when there was actual movement) was slow. I've only seen about 4 vehicles here that were built after 1972. And that's a generous estimate.
It's strange to be back in Kathmandu. The weather is warmer and there are people everywhere. It's more polluted now than before--burning on top of normal pollution.
Tomorrow, I have sightseeing in the morning and then finally I will get to do some souvenir shopping. This cannot be overlooked. Sunday I fly to India.
I feel like my month here flew by! I think spending 3/4 of it in a meditative haze, brought on by walking, contributed to that.
I spent 3 hours writing my circuit blog and I haven't gone back to read it. I'll do that later and add anything I left out tomorrow. Allow me to apologize for any spelling/usage errors it contains.
Good evening!
Lauren