Capital to forests Kathmandu and Chitwan

 
The trip didn't start very well. Air India's systems were down for about 6 hours holding up check in and then the flight circled Kathmandu for another extra hour before we finally landed in Kathmandu. Surrounded by hills, the city is quite dense but cool even in summer due to the altitude. Roads inside the city are quite small and can be tricky by vehicle and driving there definitely needs skill. Having lost the better part of the day, we still made it to Patan square and took a quick walk before sun down and some drizzle. Being a weekend, the square was quite crowded. The series of earthquakes have significantly damaged the buildings but restoration is in progress. Did some birding from the lawn in Kathmandu as a cuckoo and a long tailed shrike were local resident in the garden

We left for Chitwan early next day, and after some heavy traffic on the highways, reached in time for lunch. The evening hike through the forest edge was a bit tiring as Chitwan unlike Kathmandu is on plains and is hot and humid. We saw a few birds near the river and a couple of gharials, crocs and even a rhino which we later learnt was reared by the local army folks stationed there since it had lost its mother. A cultural program with song and dance closed the day with the most memorable one being the peacock dance where one of the dancers mimicked a peacock in dance.

The next day was spent on canoe rides, elephant rides and a jeep safari for 4 hours. The domestic elephants seemed to be neglected and I regret taking the ride, but it is quite popular due to the proximity it can get you to the rhinos. The canoe ride though is better for the crocs and gharials. There are only a couple of routes within the forest - one for two hours and the other for four hours. The dense forest and tall grass makes it difficult to see many mammals other than rhinos, but we did spot a monitor lizard on the road, a jackal, deer and missed a sloth bear by a few minutes. The end point of the longer route has a gharial rearing center from which we turned back through the same route. The bird life was easier to see with the best being a lesser yellow naped woodpecker.