It has changed quite a bit as you can imagine. The river is no longer where it used to be as floods have created a new pathway taking it further away. Though the hati's still walk down the street, the street is much busier, though relatively peaceful by comparison to Kathmandu. It is still dirt and full of potholes...thankfully. The hotel I stayed at so long ago with a beautiful river view is now full of trees and so far from the river is hard to imagine that it was once so open and so well situated.
Pukar enjoyed the whole experience more than I did. In fact Pukar was thrilled most of the time, which was really fun and really cute. For me, it's always hard to go back somewhere and have it feel more overrun and touristy in a way that isn't nearly as cool as it was 13 years ago. There was even a bridge built over the river that we used to have to drive through to even get to Sauraha, the town. That in itself brings in much more traffic.
Nonetheless, riding elephants and seeing rhinos while strolling along the riverbank at sunset is thrilling. Enjoy the photos.
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| Chilling at the Jungle Lodge |
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| Pukar and his new backpack |
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| A real puppy to love...this was one of his favorite pastimes. |
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| Pukar and the Hati |
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| Whoa! |
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| Sitting Pretty |
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| Rhinos in the Jungle atop the Elephant. I missed the photo op by the river at sunset when I was walking. Pretty wild looking. |
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| Elephant Scenery |
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| Just very picturesque |
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| Mommy and Pukar atop our Hati! |
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| Elephant safari |
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| Pukar in his dugout canoe |
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| Croc filled waters...though we didn't see any due to too many clouds that day |
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| Elephant Breeding Camp |
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| Baby Hati...probably 8 years old. They live to be 60-80 +years I was told |
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| Working Hati...the smoke you see is little piles they burn to keep the mosquitoes off the elephants |
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| Elephant keepers downtime |
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| Like momma like baby, trunks in unison |
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| Little guy venturing off |
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| Scenes from an outdoor kitchen and washroom |
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| Dining room |
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| The blur of the Tharu people as we pass by in the jeep |
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