Chitwan for New Year and Our return
  After all the lazy days over Christmas we decided to cycle out of the Kathmandu valley and down to the Terai, the flat lowland plains that border India. After the chaos of cycling away from the city we dropped down to the junction town Naubise and headed up a winding tarmac road to the hilltop town of Daman. From Daman we had fantastic views across to the Himalayas where we were able to see about 8 of the 10 highest mountains in the world. Our accommodation in Daman was basic and we had had to fashion a shutter for the open window from old cardboard and bags, cutting out both our spectacular views and the biting mountain wind. We ate a simple but tasty meal of Dahl Bhat washed down with hot water.
The following morning after 3 miles of climbing the road just dropped straight down to the Terai, another massive descent of 2000m in just 40 km! A Swiss engineered cable car loomed above us, the complex of cables used to ferry stone and building materials towards Kathmandu, the bottom of the valley was lined with Hindu temples and passing Sadhus.
Welcome to the Motel Avocado, sung to the tune of Eagles similarly named classic, popped into Jane's head as we neared the Motel Avocado on the outskirts of Hetauda. In the avocado tree lined compounds of the motel we met a fellow cyclist, 'J' from Turkey, on his way into Nepal. Our room was next to the massive hutch that contained rabbits, guinea pigs, ducks and an owl who we christened Mr Spatula (on account of his sticky out wing) so Chris was happy. Before bed we took an outing to explore town and buy some fruit and pakoda. The town was a bustling hive of activity especially around the many road side stalls and the market.
The next day we retraced our route into town. Our guide book had advised us to turn right at the statue of the King, unfortunately His Majesty was absent, possibly, because of strong Maoist sympathies in this part of the country. So, we turned right at an empty concrete plinth and headed west towards Chitwan National park. We managed to get a pretty good speed along the gently rolling road and we picked up a few local cyclists keen to show off their speed but dropped them quickly. Maybe the altitude training had paid off or perhaps the fact that their sit up and beg bikes weighed a ton (even with parts missing) had hindered them a smidge. We were able to cycle in T-shirts past villages cobbled together from twigs and straw and larger concrete towns to Tadi Bazaar where a badly kept track took us to south to Sauraha and the park entrance.
Passing trudging elephants carrying tourists on their way into town we were confronted with a vast choice of hotels and lodges. We opted for a nice family guest house as they had the word 'friendly' on their sign and accommodation was in pretty little huts with bamboo blinds and grass covered seating areas out front. The grounds had banana, papaya and avocado trees as well as a tiny cat we called Shimi, so once again Chris was happy.
Next day was New Years Eve. To celebrate we got up very early and waited for our guide to get up - Nepali timing! Eventually we all climbed aboard a wooden dug out canoe and paddled down the river Rapti which borders the park. The early morning mists gave an eerie feel to the journey like something Joseph Conrad would love to write about. We saw a few water foul, egrets, kingfishers and huge peacocks in the tops of the jungle canopy. After an hour, we paddled ashore by a little sandy beach where a dozen or so red monkeys were having breakfast. It was hard to keep a straight face as our guide ran us through the procedure for being chased by a rhino (climb up a big tree if there is one handy or run in a zigzag if on the open plain), sloth bear (don't climb a tree, stand together and look BIG) and tiger (don't look it in the eye and walk slowly backwards). No mention of crocodiles which, apart from monkeys, were the first animals we came across. Fortunately, they were sleepy crocs and not in the mood to eat us. We also saw hornbills and great hornbills (birds so big they sound like helicopters when they take off) and langur monkeys which danced and peed in the trees above us as we walked back to the river where we crossed by another dug out.
After a spot of lunch we were picked up in a jeep and taken to the communinty woodland, an area of jungle owned by the locals. At the woodland entrance we climbed aboard elephants, four of us perched on one howdah (wooden platform type saddle - wonky in our case). A convoy of four elephants set of into the Jungle where we brushed through the foliage, crossed rivers and climbed down steep embankments. The elephants were surprisingly quiet unlike the group of Indain men on the beast infront of us who only seemed to shut up when they puffed on their cigarettes. Thankfully we split up and quickly started spotting wildlife. We cornered a pair of wild rhino who seemed unphased by the elephants approach, we saw a stag the size of a bus, two types of crocodiles and then a small herd of rhino with a very cute baby rhino in tow. The ride was quickly over and we walked back into town feeling quite smug about all the rare animals we had seen.
A New Year food festival had been noisily going on for days and we decided it was time to give it whirl. We sat and watched the sunset with a beer and a bowl of pakoda whilst the live music kicked off behind us. Food was amazingly cheap and tasty with all the towns chefs involved. The music was loud and energetic, a local star gave her rendition of a song we had been hearing for days before a medley of artists sung us 'Welcome Welcome Welcome, Welcome to Nepal' a repetitive little ditty that was surprisingly catchy if not a little anoying in a Eurovision type of way. A busy day and plenty of god food had us sleepy by 9.00 and though we managed to stay awake a little longer, we were done by 10.00. We awoke to see in the New Year but dozed off again after the fireworks.
As our departure was fast approaching, we took the bus back to Kathmandu. After a frenzied attempt to pack below our airlines weight allowance of 60kg, we chilled out around Kathmandu before checking our exact 60kg bags and bikes in at the departures desk. We were ushered to the front of a huge queue and later offered a free upgrade to business class where unfortunately there was only one seat on offer but our patience was then rewarded when on the leg of the journey from the Gulf to the U.K we were both upgraded. Sitting in our fully adjustable pods, sipping champagne from stemmed glasses we waited for take off on the very last part of our journey.

Visit border cycling for more information on guided cycle trips.