Our Family Chitwan Trip!  By Janani…

I woke up early in the morning on February 14th, 2015. That was the day we went to Chitwan National Park. Chitwan is near the bottom of Nepal in the Terai region or the flatlands. We were visiting Tika Dai’s family so he came with us. We hopped in the car and drove away. The drive was very bumpy because we were going through the mountains. Even in Chitwan, the roads weren’t very good. When we got there, we saw that Tika Dai’s family all lived in one lane. First was Tika Dai’s house, then his brother’s house, then some neighbors and last, his parent’s house. When I grow up, I want to live like that.

At lunchtime, we had rice and daal (lentils) that Tika Dai’s wife, Ganga Didi, made. It was very yummy. After we ate lunch, we explored around the house. We found a swing, a ladder that goes up to a place full of hay and a ladder that goes up to a big attic. It was very fun playing there and I liked that there were ladders instead of stairs.

Then we went to Tika Dai’s parent’s house. The day before, baby goats were born, so we got to see 1-day-old baby goats. One was a girl that was brown with white spots and one was a boy that was just brown. I liked the boy because the girl just sat and pooped. The boy was more active and he was trying to find where to get his mom’s milk.

The next day we saw another goat give birth to 5 babies. There was a big orange sack coming out of her body and all the baby goats looked slimy and wet. It was so interesting. By the next day, they looked so different and soft. They were very cute.

On Sunday, our Dad went home. On Monday, my Mom, my brothers and I went to a very fancy resort called Kasara. We met two other families. They had four kids all together. Nitesh is 7, Maanav is 7, Sharanaa is 4, and Zoya is 2. There was nobody my age, but it was still fun.

We soon found out that we had our own private SWIMMING POOL! We couldn’t believe it! Unfortunately, the water was cold because it is February so it was hard to get in. Later, we went on a canoe ride. We saw so many pretty birds but in the end we saw about ten man-eating crocodiles. We were so scared! The next day, after breakfast, we went on an elephant ride. It was just like the last time I went to Chitwan with my class. It was so bumpy. We saw 7 or 8 rhinos and one was a baby.

Sometimes, when all the kids were playing, instead of playing with them, I would crochet with the moms. The other two moms taught me how to make hexagons and circles and they even taught me how to turn two hexagons into a sweater for a little doll! The last few weeks, crochet has been one of my favorite activities to do.

We also went on an ox cart ride. There were 2 oxen that pulled a cart and we sat on planks of wood in the cart. We rode to a museum about Tharu Culture. Tharu is a type of people. In the museum, we saw Tharu toys, fishnets, and a drum with peacock feathers on it.

That night, we saw a Tharu Culture dance. There were about 12 ladies dancing in a circle to the music of a 2-sided drum called, dholak. They were dancing with sticks and they could hit them with the sticks of the person behind them without looking back. It was amazing.

The next day, we went to the river. In the river, there were 4 elephants. I climbed on one and the skin of the elephant felt very rough. The man on it said some commands and suddenly the elephant sprayed me with its trunk! The water was much warmer than I thought it would be. I think that’s because it was warmed by the inside of the elephant’s trunk. I was splashed like 10 times! I didn’t want to be splashed anymore. But when I got off, I almost felt like getting back on.

Kasara and Tika Dai’s house are so different. Kasara is much bigger and it has a proper bathroom. But Tika Dai’s house is very small and they only have a squat toilet, no sink and no shower room. At Kasara we can eat as much as we want, but at Tika Dai’s house, we can only have firsts. If we ask for seconds, someone won’t get their firsts. But in the village, there are many things to play with. There is a swing made out of rope and wood. I found it very cool that the two grooves that were cut on the sides of the wood made it so that the wood could stay on the rope without falling off! There was also a ladder that went up to a pile of hay. We could climb up and look around. In Kasara there weren’t very many things to play with though. Village life is very different from normal life.

Chitwan… By Sajjan…

The Departure
“Wake up!” my mom said, “it is time to go to Chitwan!” I got up sleepily and walked to the car. We drove for six hours on bumpy roads and alongside rivers. Finally, we got to Meghauli, Tika Dai’s village.

Meghauli
We immediately started exploring the fascinating village house. Sumi found an amazing swing. The swing was so resourceful because it was made from string and wood and was hanging from the attic. We played on the swing for so long.

Suddenly, Tika Dai’s mom phoned and said a goat was giving birth to babies. We all rushed over there in time to see a black goat give birth to five babies. They all looked slimy and goopy. The next day they looked so soft and different.

There were a lot of Dais (big brothers). We played football (American soccer) and volleyball for at least one hour every day. Higher from Tika Dai’s house, there was a huge, dirt, open land. Sometimes we played up there and sometimes we played down on the narrow road that led to Tika Dai’s house and sometimes we played in his front yard. The ball wasn’t very hard because they don’t have the materials to make them in the village.

In the kitchen, they used milk from a buffalo. It was very sweet and fresh. Unlike other village farmers, they had a refrigerator in their house because Tika Dai is working so hard in Kathmandu and earning a lot of money.

Kasara
It was a very long drive from Meghauli to Kasara. We had to ask at least five people which way to go. Finally, we got to Kasara. We sprinted to our villa and found out that we had our own private swimming pool! Unfortunately, the swimming pool was extra cold because we are still in winter.

When it was lunch time, we discovered that the food was very good. There even was a buffet. The popcorn before dinner time was also very good. Breakfast was my favorite meal because they had cereal every time and I really like cereal.

We went on an amazing canoe ride. We saw the long-nosed gharial crocodile and the deadly mugger crocodile. We were especially scared when we saw 3 deadly crocodiles slip into the water near our boat.  When we went to all of the activities, we rode on a jeep, but it wasn’t a normal jeep, it had 10 seats on the top with no roof so the wind blew in our faces!

The next day, we went on an ox cart ride. Oxen are white or brown. We went on a tour around the whole village pulled by two oxen!  We even went on an elephant safari. We saw a samba deer, a hug deer – the one with spots – and a crocodile. We got on an elephant like this – there were steps up to a platform but there was no slide, there was an elephant to climb on!

We saw the Tharu people do a dance with 4 parts. The first part was with a stick that produced loud noises to scare away the animals from eating up the crops. The second part was with this scarecrow drum. The third part was with two sticks. The fourth part was my favorite. It was played with an instrument that made the noise like a tambourine.

Trishuli River
On the way back home, we stopped at the Trishuli River. I wrote people’s names using black stones and another sharp stone. You use the sharp stone as a pencil and the black stone as a paper. When we got back home, it was so different from Kasara and Meghauli.

My Chitwan Blog… By Sumanth…

Chapter 1 – Meghauli
We woke up early because we needed to go to Chitwan. The drive was long. I had breakfast in the car. Finally we were at Chitwan. We saw Hari Dai’s dog, his name is Hero.

There were seven Dais – Tika Dai, Hari Dai, Milan Dai, Ram Dai, Lakshman Dai, Tika Dai’s younger brother and Hari Dai’s friend. I had so much fun on the swing. We saw a black goat give birth to five babies. After the two days at Tika Dai’s house, we went to Kasara.

Chapter 2 – Kasara
We had a private swimming pool! After 4 hours, our friends came. We played army! Finally we were at our rooms. We watched Motu Patlu in Maanav’s room. On the last day of Kasara, it rained. We ran to our villa. That next morning, we went to the café to eat breakfast. After breakfast, we went to our bus. The bus ride was so bumpy. Finally, we were at our first break. We ate vegetable cutlets – they were yummy! I had five of them. Finally, we were at our second break at Trishuli River. I found so much beautiful stones. I put my stones in a bag. After I found all of the beautiful stones that I liked, we went to the bus stop. Pema Aunty called the bus. Now the bus ride was not bumpy and not long. Finally, we were at our normal house.

The End…