Batman!

Today I went to the Bat Cave, as well as Mahendra Gufa, a separate cave nearby. Unfortunately this computer has a vendetta against me so I can't seem to get pictures to upload, so I'll have to draw you some word pictures.

I awoke to another beautiful day today and had another great breakfast at the Asian Tea House. From there I set off for Mahendra Gufa, a mere 6 km away according to the guide book. I took a bit of a roundabout route and walked an extra couple km (I think). When I arrived at the cave it was very busy with Indian tourists. The cave has a stalagmite (coming from the ground up) that resembles an elephant, so Hindus worship it as the elephant god (Ganesh, I believe). I was the only non-Hindu, so it was like I was back in India!

The cave wasn't really anything special besides the elephant rock thing, just a dripping wet, fairly high-ceilinged cave (I still managed to hit my head a couple of times). There were other Hindu shrines along the way to the final elephant rock, and most of the people would stop and say a quick prayer at each of them. Each was lit and had some offerings of flowers and other such things.

As I got to the back of the cave I had to wait in line to see the final stalagmite. There were some tricky stairs and a woman of about 40 tripped and grabbed on to me so as not to fall. I pretty much saved her life. If I wouldn't have been there she would have fallen face first down about 3 meters (10 feet) into rock. Yeah, I'm a hero I know.

After that I helped about 5 more women down the stairs, then got back in line. When I made it to the front I got the tilak (the vertical red line on the forehead), and saw the elephant-like rock. It sort of does look like an elephant, with a long trunk extending to the ground and ears turning into legs at the bottom.

I went back out from there and headed over to the bat cave. I found the entrance and went into the main chamber (after hitting my head a couple more times nearly crawling through one spot). It was a large area, with what they say was thousands of small bats on the ceiling. They just sleep, so it's not all that exciting, but it was kind of cool I guess. I was hoping they would all fly around me, I would have a life altering experience and then become a superhero, but they just hung there; taunting me with their laziness.

To exit the cave was pretty tricky. You have to do some decent climbing up some slippery rocks, and out through an entirely too small exit. I though as I exited that I imagine it's what being born is like, and I heard others say the same thing independently. Of course given my unusual (especially for here) frame, it was even more difficult. I emerged (barely) and looked up to see about 15 people watching me. They all laughed and applauded as I got out, stood up and brushed myself off. That part was less like being born, I think.

I took the bus back, and I've been figuring out my plans for the coming weeks. It looks like rafting is a go tomorrow morning, so that will be the next three days (away from any communications as well). Everyone except me canceled from the last trip, so this time 26 people are going instead of 11. It will be me, a French girl, and 24 Israelis. I hope the French girl speaks decent English.

I get back to Pokhara the night of the 13th, and then I plan to book an elephant safari (through the same agency) to Royal Chitwan National Park leaving the morning of the 14th. It includes transportation from Pokhara to the park (5 hour bus ride), 3 day, 2 night safari on elephant back, accommodation and food for...$55. It also includes a bus from there to Kathmandu (another 5 hours or so). It would be an 8 hour bus ride Pokhara to Kathmandu, so this breaks that up with a safari in between. I'm told there are a lot of Rhinos there, plus a small chance of seeing a tiger. It should be lots of fun.

From Kathmandu I'm now thinking I won't fly to South India. It's about $300 to the south, and there are a couple of places I kind of want to see on the east coast of India. So my plan now is Kathmandu, then a bus to the border and a jeep from the border to Darjeeling, India. Then I'll take a series of trains to Kolkatta (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras), and hopefully Madurai, then down to the southern tip of the subcontinent. Then I'll work my way up the western coast and back to Delhi for my flight home. That's the plan (for now), so I'll be updating when I get back from rafting. Enjoy the weekend.