How interesting can journeys get? Very, if you are headed to Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge in Chitwan National Park in Nepal.
I set out from Kathmandu to Tiger Tops, one of the few places to stay deep inside the forest. And possibly the best considering they have been the pioneers in wildlife tourism in Nepal for decades. The first challenge was finding Meghauli Airport. As I got approached Bharatpur, it was tough to find someone who knew about this airport. I was repeatedly directed to the more popular Bharatpur airport. Eventually though I did reach the correct one.
Tucked away in the forest itself, it seemed more a grazing ground for goats and cows than for flights to take off and land. I would learn later that only limited flights came in, almost exclusively for the elite guests of Tiger Tops. My car would go no further – I had to park it in a private garage of Tiger Tops at the airport.
Passengers and bags were then loaded onto antiquated Land Rovers, possibly dating back to World War II. It is a wonder some of these still run. A bumpy but exotic drive was interrupted at a river. For everyone and everything to be transferred to a boat steered by a long pole. And onto another set of Land Rovers waiting at the opposite bank. For a ride through thick forests. It almost felt like we were some kind of explorers – a tiger or a rhino could be a few feet from us and we would not know.
The 8 km journey from the airport to Tiger Tops took 45 minutes. It would turn out to be one of the many interesting multi-modal journeys I would undertake on the Great Himalayan Drive. Keep reading.
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Tapti River ?I remember kayaking down this beautiful river.