simrongodh: bardia national park

Bardia National Park in Nepal

We visited Bardia National Park in October this year. We chose to go to Bardia instead Chitwan as the latter has hundreds of tourists going each day, thus the experience is not as if in a wild jungle.

We arrived in Bardia from Banbasa/Mahendra Nagar border crossing from where we took a bus to Anbassa which is 12 kilometers from the park. Small tip on the border crossing - be careful how much you pay for the visa. 30 days visa to Nepal should cost you 40 USD. We got charged 42 and weren't aware that an official at the border might be cheating. In 2011 as it'll be a tourist year in Nepal second entry visas should be for free (not even sure if the fee is lifted at all).

If you don't want to go to a more expensive resort it's better to get to the village by yourself not with the arranged jeep that'll take you to one of the most expensive ones. This is what happened to us. There was a false guide (extremely nice) already at the border, who talked us into going with a jeep of his friend. We ended up late in the evening in the Jungle Base Camp, which wasn't too bad, except we didn't have much possibility to bargain. If you arrive in the village when it's dark, there are literary no lights. People walk with the head torches and you don't see a thing, thus you cannot know there are plenty of other lodges all around. We paid too much for the accommodation and the guides there were not the best.

The best way to get Bardia is to take a bus to Anbassa that is 12 km from Thakurdwara village where there's entry to the National Park. You'll be surrounded by dozens of guides that'll try to take you to their lodge saying that it's far and there's no bus. Of course there are plenty of buses from the crossroad that go to Thakurdwara village just 0.5-1 km from the park entrance. If you walk you'll get to the lodges were prices are better (a double room should be 200-300 rupees). What is more you can visit a few, check them out and bargain.

That's how we found an amazing place - Bardia Kingfisher Resort that is run by Jack who is also an excellent guide (his phone number is at the board in Anbassa; he's also at CouchSurfing). Jack is a guy that needs to be liked instantly. He's running his small hotel and helping village kids to go to school. What is more his English is very good so staying at his lodge gives you a great chance to find out interesting things about Nepal. You are treated as a friend there.

We went with him for our second walk in the jungle and it was an incredible experience. Jack is extremely passionate about Bardia and wild nature. He feels in the jungle like a fish in the water. Knows every inch of it. We followed the steps of wild animals, smelled leopards, climbed a tree to escape from a rhino with a 4 days old baby, ran through a river chasing another rhino. It was great fun and we really felt like being in the wild. What is important we felt totally save with him. First walk we had with a guide from Jungle Base Camp was ordinary. Nothing special.

We'll come back in March to Jack and Kingfisher Resort to see a tiger as we didn't manage this time. In March the grass and trees are dry and the village people cut the grass so the chance of spotting the great cat will be even higher.

Giora

02-Dec-2010 20:38
Posts: 1,642

One of the most annoying of the touts who hangs out in Ambassa works for Bardia Kingfisher Resort, and I know one guest who was unimpressed with the guide he got at the hotel (his guide was the Ambassa tout, and his knowledge of the jungle seemed limited). For these reasons I would absolutely not reccommend it, though I will admit that I don't think I've ever met Jack.