Days 20-21 (March 20-21)
This morning we left the house in Kathmandu to drive to Chitwan,
Nepal, which is approximately 70 miles away toward India. It was a very long,
uncomfortable, and excruciating ride. Kathmandu, as usual, was filled with
smog, dust and all – so, we were hoping to get some fresh air once we left the Kathmandu
valley. As we cleared the last ridge and looked into the next valley, we saw
more of the same – smog. The air never cleared. This is the main highway into
Kathmandu from India and so we were constantly passing trucks made by Tata
Motors bringing goods into Nepal. All of the trucks were diesels and they were
spewing out soot as they climbed the mountain toward Kathmandu. There is no EPA
in this part of the world and so the diesel engines are definitely not clean. One
part of the road was being widened and there was dust everywhere. The area
where they are working is a winding two lane road cut out of the side of the
mountain. To widen the road, the contractors are using large excavators which
means that when the excavators are working, cars cannot pass. As such, they
shut the road down from 11 am until 3 pm everyday. If you do not get to the
beginning of construction by 11, you have to wait until 3. This meant that everyone
was rushing to meet this deadline. When we got into the construction area, we
were part of a 5-mile long traffic jam. One large truck had broken down closing
one lane. This meant that the only open lane had to be shared but only one
direction of traffic could pass at a time. Total chaos was the result. It took
us 6 ¼ hours to get to our destination so we averaged just over 10 miles per
hour. This was one of the worst driving experiences we have ever had as you
were stuck in that traffic breathing smog from every passing truck and the
temperature outside was 85 degrees. However, we finally made it to the hotel in
Chitwan named “Center Park Resort.”
We were pretty wasted by the time we got here. The hotel was
nice, the matrass in the bed surprisingly comfortable, and we had a fabulous hot
shower available. We enjoyed some quiet time in the afternoon and relaxed, had
dinner, and went to bed early.
Day 21 had a very full schedule. After breakfast, we drove
to the park to secure tickets for our elephant ride. On the way, we saw some
elephants with their guides riding on top walking down the road. Our car
stopped and I (Ute) got out because I wanted to touch the elephant. The guide
nodded his okay and I touched this wonderful being for the first time. I was
able to rub her trunk and to talk to her. I was surprised how rough the skin
was and that it was covered with thick, beard like thinly spread hair. The elephant
was very calm and cooperative, though, and I had a magical experience with this
wonderful creature. I was very touched!
We then continued our drive to the next city to meet some
staff at the local cancer hospital – which is the biggest one in Nepal. We
talked to the chief administrative nurse first who lead us to a room where 3
others joined us as well. We talked about holistic healing and the head nurse
was in agreement that healing is not just the body. She knows that a spiritual deficit
is part of the problem too. We then explained the simple technique for a
healing prayer. Afterwards they gave us a tour of the hospital. There is a sign
out front saying the funds for the hospital were donated by China.
After that we went to another hospital where Aparna knew the
director who had founded it many years ago. Here we were lead to a classroom
full of young nursing students who were about the graduate. What a wonderful
group of people these students turned out to be. Their hearts are clearly in
the right place. Again, we taught the healing prayer and practiced with them. Another
fabulous experience sharing God’s love unencumbered by any religious strictures.
We then went back to the hotel, had lunch, and drove to the elephant sanctuary where we had tickets for an elephant ride. Four of us climbed onto the seat on the back of the elephant and the guide sat in front – basically on the elephant’s neck. The sitting arrangement was less than comfortable. The elephant walked very slowly and it took a lot of muscles for us to keep up with the movement. We walked through the forest, crossed grassy areas, and a river. On our way we saw many deer, a rhino mom and her child, crocodiles, monkeys, wild birds. Unfortunately, my camera got jinxed and didn’t function properly until I got back to the hotel where I could get on the internet and get instruction on how to fix the problem.
Our elephant ride took a little over 1.5 hours. Then Aparna
suggested we go to the breeding area for elephants. A baby elephant had just
been born on Saturday – which was a couple of days ago. To get there we had to
cross a bamboo bridge. The area around the breeding grounds was green and filled
with water buffalo who were grazing and enjoying the water. When we came to the
breeding area, I was shocked to see the elephants chained to a pole on a very
short chain that didn’t give them much room to move. They all had a roof over
their heads, but could not walk freely. As such, it was hard for me to watch. I
don’t know what happens during the day – we were there after 5 PM. Aparna said,
that they get bathed in the water every day. Still, seeing these amazing and intelligent
animals chained like that was a little more than I could handle.
Even though it was a sunny day, we had not seen the sky for
days due to smog. And, they tell us you can see mountains from Chatwan but we
have not been able to yet. The smog is too dense even in the morning.
Back at the hotel, a friend of Aparna’s, Raj, came with his
wife, son and daughter to have dinner with us and learn more about the healing
prayer. It was a nice evening and an enjoyable end to the day.
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