We had arranged to spend three nights at the Riverside Hotel in Suaraha, the tourist town just outside the park. All of the lodges inside the park were closed for the moment, and Suaraha was much cheaper.
All the hotels in Suaraha offer a similar program including hikes, jeep rides, elephant rides, and other attractions. Although it's all rather touristy, it was a great place to warm up and see a little wildlife. We were pleasantly surprised at the quality of our hotel's naturalist, who was very knowledgeable and committed to the preservation of the endangered wildlife. One morning we took an elephant ride into the buffer zone jungle. Animals are used to elephants and not afraid of people riding on top of them. Using this rather archaic mode of transportation, we were able to see peacocks, kingfishers, three types of deer, and one rhinoceros.
After a few days of this, we had our flight back to Kathmandu on the afternoon of December 8. We were a little worried, because the Maoists had announced a nationwide strike for the 9th and all the roads were clogged with truckers trying to get to town. But the plane flight was uneventful and our taxi driver managed to thread through the traffic. We enjoyed dinner at the best indian restaurant in town.
