First travel snafu

We've been traveling for 3 weeks now, and have had no major issues. The one thing that keeps coming up is the trains we want seem to almost always be sold out, so we end up traveling at less than ideal times (latest one is for our trip overland to Nepal -- supposed to get there in one day but now will have to spend the night near the border tomorrow). We also had some close calls, such as when we were planning an excursion to a national park to spot wild tigers, 8 hours south of Kajuraho. We went to a second travel agent to get another price who checked for us that the park is closed until October 16. We would not have been happy campers if we traveled a day out of our way and found out it was closed.

We've now hit our first real issue. Nepal has a famous national park, Chitwan, that is home to the one-horned rhinocerous (as well as tigers and leopards but are not likely to be seen). Months ago, we booked a 4-day safari at one of the 7 lodges located inside the park for October 9-13.

Nepal suffered through an approximately 10-year insurgency by Maoist guerrillas that saw almost 13,000 people killed, which ended in April 2006 with the abolition of the monarchy and a restored democracy. By 2008 the Maoists were brought into the government, and the former head of the insurgency became Prime Minister. Since then, things have been shaky (including the resignation of the prime minister) but there hasn't been much violence and tourism has returned.

So, on the spectrum of what could potentially go wrong with visiting Nepal, our situation is pretty minor. Basically, the government kept going back and forth but has (at least temporarily) revoked the licenses of the lodges operating inside the park. We're disappointed because this seemed like a great, all inclusive mini-vacation in an isolated location. Luckily, there's a tourist town just outside the park, so hopefully we'll find a place to stay and can still enjoy the same activities, such as riding an elephant in the park and jungle walks; it won't be quite the same but should still be enjoyable.