Featured Photo: Village children in Sauraha, Nepal

In 1995 I traveled to India to visit a friend who was studying in Varanasi (Benares). I decided to make a side trip to Nepal and took a bus north to the border, where I switched to another bus to the village of Sauraha, the gateway to Chitwan National Park. Sauraha and Chitwan are located in the Inner Terai region of Nepal, a subtropical lowland area that is very different from the Himalayan landscapes that most people associate with Nepal. The park is home to rhinoceros, crocodiles, birds, and Bengal tiger (almost always referred to in the tourist literature as “the elusive Bengal tiger”).

I spent a few days exploring Chitwan and the surrounding area, including a trip into the forest on the back of an elephant in search of rhinos. We saw some just as it was starting to get dark. Unfortunately I wasn’t as lucky with the Bengal tiger, which proved to be elusive indeed.

On the day I arrived, I took a walk through Sauraha and soon found myself attracting a following of village children who wanted me to take their pictures in various locations. I snapped several shots until finally – this being before the dawn of digital cameras – I had to say “enough” in order to ration my precious supply of film.