Bardia

Bardia is the largest and most undisturbed protected area of the Terai region of Nepal. Due to the Maoist insurgency over the past ten years, what tourists the area may have had has dropped off to virtually nothing. There were army checkpoints everywhere along the road, still checking for weapons. We saw very few foreigners, so the local Tharu people were very interested in us being there. It was fantastic.

Due to it being harvest season, we needed to watch out for wild elephants. The first night we were there a woman was killed by an elephant. Two days later an elephant reaped havoc in the village. He was met with gun shots and flaming wood. The gunshots meant nothing by the way. These animals don't appear to be frightened of anything.

Rats gnawed on our mud hut walls in the early mornings and leopards roamed the streets at night. There was no doubt, we were in the jungle!

We spent all day everyday in the depths of the jungle. We spent our days tracking animals in the hope of catching a glimpse of them. There are so many stories to tell from this part of our trip, I honestly don't know where to start. I could spend another six months there. It was awesome!

x Lisa