Kasara
This is approximately three kilometres to the west of Sauraha
along the Rapti River. The park’s headquarters as well
as the Gharial Breeding and Conservation Centre is located here.
This is also the base for the Nepalese army in Chitwan. Kasara
also played host to George V and his entourage during their
hunting expedition of 1911.
There is a small, unimpressive display in the park’s
headquarters, of Chitwan’s wildlife. The Gharial Breeding
Centre is much more interesting, if you can stand the rather
fishy smell. Here you can see the gharial from egg to adult.
You can get there by canoe from Sauraha.
Elephant Breeding Centre
This government run centre is situated at Khorshor, about
three kilometres to the west of Sauraha. It not only breeds
elephants for Chitwan, but trains them to carry tourists and
goods. Started in 1987, there are 16 elephants, of which one
cow was pregnant at the time of writing this. All the elephants,
including the babies are chained. The babies are really endearing,
but even a gentle shove administered by their trunks can topple
you over. Do not get too close to the adult tuskers (with
a beautiful length of ivory); some are known to be temperamental.
There are about a 100 attendants to the elephants; feeding
them is a mammoth task. Each elephant requires 120 pellets
(elephant grass wrapped around a doughy pulp of wheat chaff
and barley, about the size of woman’s vanity case) every
day. They’re also taken to the Rapti for a swim at 11
am and are back only at 3 pm.
The breeding centre encourages elephants to mate (the photograph
adorning the walls of many Sauraha lodges and illustrating
the phenomenal reproductive attribute of the male elephant
was taken here). The gestation period of an elephant is about
23 months. Open to visitors from 9 am to 3 pm daily. Entry
Rs 100.
Baghmara Community Forest
This forest is to the northwest of Sauraha and was developed
to promote environmental regeneration. Immensely successful,
the forest now covers 400 hectares. It shares its wildlife
with Chitwan and is known to have rhino, leopards, deer, sloth
bears, monkeys, wild boar, crocodiles and possibly a few tigers.
It is administered by the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation.
Private elephants will take you around, ask at the lodge where
you’re staying. There are a number of pleasant walking
opportunities around Baghmara. It takes about five hours to
walk around the circumference, but take a guide with you.
Bishazaar Lakes
The name means ‘20,000 lakes’ and is a day’s
excursion from Sauraha. The area is surrounded by sal forests
and is generally a marshy expanse. During the rains though,
the lakes fill up. The lakes attract a wide variety of bird
life and is generally very popular with birdwatchers. The
only disadvantage with Bishazaar lake is that at a distance
of 14 km it is too far from Sauraha for a comfortable walk.
You will have to cycle or take a vehicle.
Parsa Wildlife Reserve
Bordering Chitwan National Park, this reserve is thoroughly
uncommercial. It covers an area of about 500 sq km and is
believed to be a habitat for tiger and elephant. It is not
really open to tourism, though it may be possible to make
day visits by jeep if arranged by your lodge or hotel. The
reserve’s office is its entrance, located just off the
main road (Tribhuvan Highway) at the village of Amlekgani,
south of Hetauda. Admission, when available, is Rs 650.
Tharu Village
The Tharus are the Terai’s dominant ethnic group. They
are said to originate from the Thar desert in Rajasthan, India.
They fled north to escape persecution by the Muslim invaders
in mid 19th century. All hotels in Chitwan arrange visits
to the Tharu villages. They may not be of as much interest
to Indians as they are to foreigners, since their lifestyle
is no different from villagers in India, specially Rajasthan.
A
ll married women wear tattoos (a surefire way to reach heaven,
they believe). Original Tharu huts had no windows, since they
could let in evil spirits. Over the years, they have wised
up to the benefits of ventilation and you will rarely come
across a windowless house. The extremely spicy diet of the
Tharus, it is believed made them resistant to malaria in an
area that was the hotbed of this disease. So much so, that
for centuries, no other tribe settled in Chitwan and for years,
they remained Chitwan’s indigenous ethnic group. The
historical domination of the Tharus changed, following the
malaria eradication programme of the 1950s when mass migration
brought other ethnic groups, notably Bahuns, Chepangs, Chhetris
and Tamungs, from all over Nepal into Chitwan and the surrounding
areas.
Organised tours of a traditional Tharu village are becoming
increasingly popular as a diversion for visitors to Chitwan.
While the villagers may benefit financially from such tours,
the idea of organised gawking at people going about their
daily lives in and around their houses may be more embarrassing
than educational.
Cultural Programmes
This is generally part of the package deal, and provides a
decent break in the evening, when there is little else to
do. The Tharus put up music and dance programmes most evenings
in season and occasionally during the off season months in
several of Sauraha’s lodges. Only men perform, and most
of the dances are with sticks. The movements are brisk and
lively as they parry each other in graceful swerves and with
spilt second timing. The dance is very similar to the Naga
dance of India, where sticks are used to stage mock battles.
Performances are held every evening in the high season at
one or more venues (check with your lodge) and at just one
venue in the off season.
The original purpose of the dance, it is said was simply
to make a racket to keep the wild animals away at night. It
still forms a traditional part of Tharu celebrations of Faagun
Purnima (the full moon of February - March). Probably the
only drawback is the announcer who presents the programme.
His English if you could call it that, is so accented in Nepali
and so broken that you will fail to understand a word. But
even that can be quite entertaining. The Nepali Culture House
on the main road has nightly singing and dancing shows in
season. This is a smallish hall with benches on either side
of a narrow aisle with the stage in the front. The Tharu Cultural
Program Hall, in Sauraha village, hosts a nightly culture
show featuring regional music and dance for tourist consumption.
Tickets go for Rs 50 a head provided your hotel has not included
it as part of your package cost.
Activities
Rafting
You can take a raft down the Trishuli River with a visit to
Chitwan. Most trips start at Mugling and finish at Narayanghat.
Prices depend on what the package you’ve chosen includes.
Make sure your tour operator is an established and reputable
company.
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