"Bardia – Is it worth visiting" Top 5 Page for this destination Nepal Travelogue by into-thin-air

Way back in 1998 I was lucky enough to raft the western bend of the Karnali River, This trip ends at The Japanese Suspension bridge close to Bardia national park – So I thought then that it would be a nice place to visit – 12 years and six more trips to Nepal later I Finally fulfilled that ambition – Was it worth it ? Read on to get my synopsis !!

Bardia Adventure Resort

Bardia is both difficult and expensive to get to, From Kathmandu you have a choice, either a Very Long bus journey, around 14 hours, or a domestic flight to Nepalganj followed by a drive (Bus or pick-up depending on what arrangements you have made with your chosen safari camp)

We opted for the more expensive option of the flight, This cost around $148 with Yeti Airlines, then we were met at Nepalganj Airport and transported to our safari camp, Bardia Adventure Resort by car. This all worked very well, we took the morning flight from Kathmandu, this should have departed at 08.45 but it was delayed for about one hour, so we landed at Nepalganj about 10.40. We were out of the airport and into the awaiting car quickly and arrived at Bardia Adventure Resort just before two, so only about a two hour drive. Here we were shown to our Very Comfortable bungalow style accommodation and given a late lunch.
We had opted for a five night package, so as we had time we decided to only take the village walk on our first afternoon. This turned out to be a good decision as we were both a bit tired, The village walk was both interesting and informative, Laxman our guide seemed to know his stuff which made it even more enjoyable.
Back to the camp with plenty of time for a good hot shower before out evening meal was served.

Well Camouflaged Spotted Deer

We were called at seven and served an excellent breakfast before Laxman took us on a Bird watching Walk, This walk was in the buffer zone next to the national park, but there was plenty of birds to see and again it was both interesting and enjoyable.
We were back in the camp with plenty of time to relax before and after lunch before heading off on our Jeep safari in the afternoon. This was Excellent, we drove well into the park and saw a variety of animals including spotted deer, monkeys, jackal, and a slightly distant view of a rhino just after it crossed the river. The Jeep was almost new and apart from the driver and Laxman there were only the two of us – So completely different to the overcrowded Jeep safaris that I had previously taken in Chitwan.
We left the park just as the sun was setting but were still back in camp in time for a hot shower before being served with an excellent dinner.

Black-Buck

We were treated to an “Extra” programme for the morning of day three, This was to go “Dolphin Watching” in the Karnali River to the south of the park, So after breakfast we set off on the long drive, about 2 ½ hours, the place we were taken was Beautiful but we weren't lucky enough to see any Dolphin, From there we drove to The Black-Buck sanctuary, a special reserve to the east of the national park and here we ate our packed lunch and saw many Black-Buck, then another long drive back to the camp, but as usual arriving there with time to take a shower before the usual excellent dinner was served

Rafting on the Karnali

This was one of the highlights of our visit to Bardia, a full days rafting on the karnali River, But not the white-water variety that I had enjoyed 12 years earlier, This was scenic rafting following the western and southern boundary of the park,
So, after an early breakfast we set off in the Jeep for The Japanese Suspension Bridge, our put-in point. From here we rafted for about 3 hours seeing many river birds before pulling over to an island for our packed lunch, then we continued down the river, at one point getting out of the raft and walking a short distance seeing Swamp Deer before re-boarding the raft and continuing downstream to close to the elephant breading centre, the finishing point of the trip. The last hour was best where we saw many animals including monkeys.
We were met by the Jeep and transported back to camp and as usual had time to shower before being served the usual excellent dinner

Our Elephant

Another highlight of my visit to Bardia – The Elephant Ride. This involved an early call at 06.00 – a cup of tea and then transported by Jeep to the gateway of the park, Here a short walk to the Elephant Mounting Tower, at exactly 07.00 as programmed our elephant arrived and we were soon on board and into the jungle, We were lucky enough to again see several different species of animals including Spotted Deer and Monkey plus a variety of birds. The Elephant Ride only took an hour but it seem like a lot longer, The Jeep was waiting for us back at the park gate and back to the camp for a good breakfast. Then the rest of the morning to relax, Lunch and then our Jungle walk, This was again inside the national park, But unfortunately it was Very Hot. We walked to the river and saw plenty of monkeys but not a lot else – As I said it was Very Hot and I think the animals had more sense than us and were all avoiding the heat. Still, it was a good walk, We were back at the camp with the usual time to shower before our last dinner – Again the usual excellent fare.

Marianne being bullied by a Blue-Bull

Our last day in Bardia was short lived as we had opted to hire a car (With Driver) to take us to Pokhara via Tansen, This at first may seem extravagant but a two day car hire worked out cheaper than 2 x flights to Kathmandu.
We were served with our final breakfast and said our good-byes before heading off on our two day journey – I will write more about that in a later travelogue If you are interested ?

The Modern Bardia Adventure Resort Jeep

First of all I will list the Pro's and Cons Of Bardia

Pro's
1)Nothing like as commercialised as Chitwan
2)Far less people so the likelihood of running onto masses of other visitors, especially inside the park is practically none existent
3)Much more of a One-to-One experience with your guide
4)Safari Camps much quieter
5)Better variety of activities

Con's
1)Much More Expensive
2)Harder / More time consuming to get to and from
3)Bardia has a lot less rhino than Chitwan so the likelihood of seeing Rhino is much reduced.

So is it worth all the extra money and time to go there – For me it was, It made a refreshing change form Chitwan and I really enjoyed the One-to-One experience with our Guide.
I Probably won't go back in a hurry, but that is more because I am satisfied with my experience rather than being dissatisfied.

Would I recommend others to go ? - Yes, I would, But Only if they had time and were happy to spend the extra money, I would probably not recommend it for a first time visitor to Nepal, Maybe Chitwan for the first time, Then Bardia for a later visit, Then you can make your own comparisons.

If you decide to go then please drop me an email and let me know how you found it and how You thought it compared to Chitwan ?

As Usual, All the details of this trip were arranged by my friend Nirmal Nakarmi at Himalayan magic Adventures.
If you do decide to go to Bardia then you should also consider using his services as I am Again Happy to give Nirmal the very best of recommendations.
His contact details are all in the travelogue above entitled “A Very Important Decision”

Thank you for taking the time to read this report, I Hope you found it informative and helpful if you are planning your own trip to Nepal

Happy Travels
Rob