Traveling from Kathmandu to Chitwan

Our second day started early in the morning because the bus we got to go to Chitwan left around 7, i think. We got up around 4:30 or 5 and had to get a taxi (well, an informal taxi. I think everyone knows someone who drives a car as a job and that’s who they often call) and then we had to go to a specific part of Kathmandu where the bus stops. It’s not really a bus stop, just a place where the bus stops. Here’s a picture of where we were standing in the morning:

We rode in a tourist bus, so it was slightly nicer than typical public transportation. They also stop at rest areas along the way that are a bit nicer than what is typical. We stopped at this nice place along a river where they had food. We got Kalpana’s cousin, Bikash, to buy us some food. They sold it to him for 20 rupees less than they had quoted her. I think it had to do something with her walking with a white guy…lol Here’s a video of the place. Just ignore the commentary. I don’t even know what i was saying.

There were so many cool things on the drive. I took a million pictures and several videos. It was a little bit extreme, but i was just surprised by how pretty it all was. Most of the drive was along that river. Here are a few pictures. You can click on them to see larger pictures.

The bus dropped us off on the main road near Kalpana’s house. From there we had to get another micro-bus to her house. It’s pretty amazing how many people can fit in there. From what I saw, they typically have two bench seats in the back, facing each other, with little stools in between the seats for extra seating. Here’s a couple pictures of the one we rode in back to the house:

While both Kathmandu and the main road where we were dropped off near Kalpana’s family’s house are super busy, the actual area where her family lives is pretty quiet. I wasn’t sure what to expect when we got there, but i was greeted with lots of banana trees, and yellow mustard fields. I just couldn’t believe how green everything was. I mean, we were getting to her house on December 31st. In Utah, where we live, it was in the 30’s during the day and in Chitwan it was in the high 60’s and low 70’s. Here are some pictures and videos from the area near Kalpana’s house:

A Commemoration of Our Marriage

Since we were so tired we ended up falling asleep for a little bit on the bed at Kalpana’s house. When I woke up Kalpana was telling me that they wanted to do a welcoming party, and also kind of commemorate our marriage together. It was similar to what they do when a couple gets married, but it was more of an acceptance party. We got dressed up in traditional clothing and many relatives and friends came and put tika (the red stuff) on our foreheads and put flower petals on the top of our heads and gave us money. A lot of what they were doing was a sign of respect and I was really touched by the whole thing. Here’s a picture of what we looked like. Click on the picture below to see more pictures from that night.

New Year’s Eve in Sauraha

After the ceremony thing we packed up and headed to Sauraha, which was about 20 or 25 minutes away. Her aunt and uncle live there with her cousin Bibek. They have a shop where they sell snacks and soda and liquor and stuff like that. They also have a street food stand where they sell grilled chicken. Bibek and his dad are always busy running the store. They’ve also invested in a hotel in town that they have started running. It keeps them very busy! Which means we didn’t see them as much as would have liked. I took a picture outside of the shop. The name kind of made me laugh:

Sauraha is right next to the Chitwan National Park. We had scheduled a safari for the next day so we stayed in Sauraha that night. Kalpana’s uncle offered to let us stay in the hotel, even though it wasn’t technically open for business yet. It was nice to be able to sleep that night on a real mattress. Here are a couple pictures of the hotel room:

We walked around for a bit around Sauraha, which is a touristy area. It was super busy because it was new years eve, and there were a ton of people out celebrating. However, we were still super tired so we ended up going to bed that night around 10:30. I woke up at a little after midnight because of all the noise outside of people celebrating the new year. It was a busy second day, but it was really great! I just wish i hadn’t been so tired.