Saturday, May 26, 2012

Sri Lanka: Week 3

Saturday, 19 May

Today we took the train to Nuwara Eliya. Well, really the station name is Nanu Oya, which is nearby, so we took a taxi with some Germans to Victoria Inn, which Beny had called up earlier. Our room there was ok, a small square box with a nice window looking out over DSCN0620Victoria Gardens, for 1,300 rps per night. We decided to rent bicycles and ride around town. Originally we took some scary paths, but eventually got onto roads and patchwork roads, eventually getting up to a Buddhist dagoba with a very pretty and city view; we soared back down (the gears and brakes were a bit sketchy on these bikes)  and visited the bazaar. After mosying around a bit, my bum had had enough, so we zoomed back to Victoria Inn. I rested while Beny cycled a bit more. When he returned, we walked into town for dinner. For whatever reason, I was grumpy/headache-y. Nevertheless, an egg sandwich and veggie soup cured me. Not as helpful were the cupcake and choco ball for dessert, which were both disgusting!

Sunday, 20 May

We took a morning wander around Nuwara Eliya and split ways this morning; I went to Victoria Park, Beny walked around town. We met up back at Victoria Inn, packed up and caught a bus to the train station. Quick aside: at the train station there was a large billboard advertising a National Women’s Day earlier in the month. The funny part of the DSCN0639sign was the sponsor: Minister of Agriculture. Beny couldn’t stop giggling for at least ten minutes. Anyway, we got to the train station early, so we bought tickets to Peradiniya (where we’d heard we had to go instead of Kandy) for 110 rps each for 2nd class, and waited. It was a four hour train trip that was packed full of people, so we had no seats. We hung out at the end of the train car, by the doors, taking in the countryside as it whizzed by. We met an Australian/Spanish couple and ended up taking a taxi with them to Green Woods guest house (2800 rps/night for two rooms, one for us and one for Jutta), which turned out to be very nice – lots of monkeys! Later we all went out for dinner at a place they’d had recommended to them, Muslim Hotel, and I had kotthu string hoppers rotti, yum! Afterwards, we bought some arrack and ginger beer (and I got tooth paste for me), went back to Green Woods and had a few drinks before bed.

Monday, 21 May

We woke up and decided almost immediately that we needed to do laundry. First, we had a quick visit to a nearby bakery for breakfast, and then we wandered around town. I was a bit grumpy, due to a tiff with Beny in the morning, but eventually shook it off. We found a post office and checked out Olde Empire, another guest house option, but it wasn’t as good as Green Woods. When we got back to the guest house, we followed the owner’s wife with our stinky stuff to an outdoor area where we learned to do our laundry: we filled one tub with laundry powder and water and tossed our clothes in, soaking them. Then we took a piece out and threw it violently down onto a stone/cement slab, squeezing it and pounding it and brushing it. Then it was pound and squeeze again before dunking it in another tub of plain water. Needless to say, we went through several tubs of both soapy and rinse water.

Our Finnish friend Jutta arrived to the airport near Colombo and ended up taking a taxi to Kandy to meet us. We met her at around noon at the guest house and after she got settled in her room, we went to lunch at the same Muslim Hotel place. After, we walked around Kandy City Center, visited an ATM for Jutta, went to small market where Jutta and I dealt DSCN0651with an angry shoe store guy, and finally to the mall with Beny so he could buy some sandals. We sat by the lake for awhile, wondering about strange fireworks that would go off now and then; it sounded like gunshots and startled us every time. Eventually, we took a tuk-tuk to Dhanushka’s parent’s house for dinner. They stuffed us with rice and potato curry and string hoppers plus chicken and fish balls for Jutta, along with a dessert of fresh fruit (absolutely divine mangoes, pineapple, bananas and honey). They showed us around their home and talked to us about Sri Lanka in general. They explained that the fireworks were because a Sri Lankan general who had been imprisoned for two years had been released that day. There was a bit of a language barrier but we did all right. They have a nice view from their roof and showed us places we could walk to and visit. Later, back at the guest house, all of us felt stuffed and went to bed by 10pm.

Tuesday, 22 May

We liked it so much we went back to the Muslim Hotel for breakfast. Then the three of us took a bus to Peradeniya Gardens (1,100 rps each) and spent a few hours roaming around. We’d bought food with us, so we picnicked and climbed trees, enjoyed flowers and DSCN0723serene park atmosphere, and watched the locals around us. We bumped into the Australian couple Beny and I had met back in Ella and chatted with them for a bit. We hopped on a bus back to Kandy and visited the Temple of the Tooth (1,000 rps each) and had an ok guide (500 rps). After that, we saw a Kandyan dance show, which was interesting but I ended up more curious about the history of it, as some of the dance seemed rather influenced by modern-day dance in other countries, perhaps. There were firewalkers at the end! After a quick shower and cooling off at the guest house, we walked to Slightly Chilled pub and had dinner there. Beny was moody; personally, I think he maybe has some travel burn-out. He said he was fine, though, so Jutta and I let him be.

Wednesday, 23 May

We all slept in late today. I had breakfast with Jutta at a different nearby bakery. I brought back sweet buns and bananas for Beny while Jutta shopped at Kandy City Center. After making plans for the day with Beny, I went to meet Jutta downtown. She introduced DSCN0731me to Rory and Mark, Irish and English buys, and we all walked around a bit. We visited banana square, dubbed as such by Jutta and I, and bought some munchies before heading to a temple in the woods. It was a simple Buddhist temple but had one fairly interesting feature: a wall painting showing the decomposition of the Buddha’s body. It was pretty graphic and disturbing, not to mention confusing. There was no one there able to explain it to us. We went to visit a forest park up the hill, but were told it cost 650 rps apiece. So, we walked down the hill, back to city center. Rory and Mark went off their own way and Jutta and I met Beny for a late lunch, after which we visited the tourist center to get info on going to Jaffna.

Later, Jutta and I went back to Dhanushka’s parent’s house for dinner. Beny opted to go out with Sophie, the Belgian girl we met in Galle, instead, and missed out on a fabulous dinner of dosi and curry and sambol, plus a three-dessert finish of pitthu (rice/coconut mix with honey and coconut milk poured on), a fruit pudding kind of thing that was to die for, and fresh fruit. I again ate way, way too much and felt about to burst! Afterwards, Jutta and I took a tuk-tuk to Slightly Chilled again and meet Mark and Rory for drinks; Beny and Sophie joined us a bit later and we all gabbed and joked. At 10:30pm, I went back to the guest house because they lock their doors at that time. I loaded up on bottled water, arranged a tuk-tuk for the next morning, packed, and went to bed. 

Thursday, 24 May

We were up at the ungodly hour of 3:30am to finish packing and meet the tuk-tuk at 4am. Even so early in the morning, Beny was able to bargain down the price to the bus station! We ended up finding a bus to Vavuniya, which left at 5am and arrived there at 9:30am. Beny and Jutta sat together and I sat in the aisle seat next to a young-ish Sri Lankan man whDSCN0748o seemed to feel a bit awkward at first. He eventually fell asleep and I also snoozed on and off, even through the bus becoming over-crowded and having bags put on my lap, hands on my shoulder, and the other usual crowding symptoms. We caught a quick snack in Vavuniya, which seemed at quick look a bare town at a junction of many roads. The next bus took us to Jaffna and took about six or seven hours.

Let me tell you about Sri Lanka buses. The ones we took are the same that the locals take. Each bus usually has a driver and at least one helper, usually two on long-distance buses. In the case of our trip to Jaffna, it was two. These helpers act as ticket-takers, destination callers and human blinkers. By this last, I mean that when the bus passes another vehicle, the helper will lean out the door (which is always open) and wave frantically at the vehicle we’re passing, indicating that we’re passing and will pull in front of that other vehicle. Without fail, when the bus passed someone we’d see on-coming traffic in the form of other busses, tractors, trucks, tuk-tuks and people on bicycles. It always seems as though it’s a near miss, too, when we don’t kill anyone or crash.

On our way up to Jaffna, we had to go through a military checkpoint, supposedly for security. As the only three foreigners on the bus, we had to get off, show our passports and provide some information. The “checkpoint” was an open-air hut with a table behind a low wall, with two soldiers sitting at it. We were waved to some plastic chairs to wait while two other men showed their papers. When it came to our turns we all handed over our passports, with Beny handing over a copy of his since his was at the Australian embassy for a visa. This last part confused the soldiers, so they went over and knocked on a nearby door. A moment later, a tall and filled-out officer came out, strolled over to the table, sat, and beckoned to us indolently. Beny went over while the senior officer eyeballed the photocopy, then asked with a bit of a superior air why he didn’t have his actual passport. Beny explained, answered a few other questions, and then we all had to fill out our occupations and local phone numbers. After twenty minutes of this paper-pushing and showing off, we were waved away.

Anyway, we arrived in Jaffna around 4pm. After hunting around for guest houses, we settled on Kandy Hotel, where we got a triple with AC for 2,500 rps per night. After DSCN0741showering and changing and settling in a bit, we walked around town without much direction, ending up at a local’s recommendation at Cosy’s for dinner, after which we walked back to Kandy Hotel. Before crashing for the night, I sent a couch request to the only Jaffna couch surfer.

It’s a very different vibe here! Never mind the construction going on here and there, or the bombed out buildings with trees and flowers growing in them; ignore the rubble fields and general disarray and mid-reconstruction feel of things; it’s just a different feel. It’s not touristic at all. People are friendly but not overly so, for the most part, although I think the men really notice Jutta for her blond hair. It’s just… quieter, simpler, almost even nicer here. It’s not something I can put my finger on directly, because it’s a mix of sad and depressed and determined and moving-forward-ness. Sri Lankan military is everywhere, too.

Friday, 25 May

All three of us slept in, no surprise. Once up and showered, we booked a tuk-tuk driver for the day. We went first for a rotti breakfast, then headed to Kayts, which took awhile. We passed Sri Lankan Navy signs, like “first line of defence” and so on. At Kayts, we DSCN0757boarded a strange platform with an outboard motor attached on the side, a 40-horse power thing like off a boat, and motored across the bay to another part of the peninsula. Our tuk-tuk, a couple of bikes and pedestrians motored across to Karaitivu. Then we headed to Casuarina Beach, but on the way we stopped at a Hindu celebration of a new temple, or statue, or something, that was inside a tin-roofed shed; people were putting tikka on their heads and offering fruits and rices, it was quite the party atmosphere. After taking this in, we went to and swam at Casuarina Beach. It was warm water, and too windy to really sit on the beach – instead we got a bit sandblasted. It was also incredibly hot out! Our next stop was Kantarodai, which is the site of some strange dome-like structures, supposedly dagobas, apparently 3,000 years old. The reason DSCN0758for their construction is completely uknown. It’s not much of a “site,” with no explanations or signs around, just an old man who eagerly pointed to some of the structure bases and said, “Original! Original” But it’s strangely appealing anyway. The tuk-tuk then took us to Tellippalai, where we saw a Hindu temple being rebuilt and talked to a young man who we later found out to be the son of the high priest. He told us the story of the temple (a horse-faced woman who wanted to be beautiful followed god-sent orders to come to Sri Lanka and build a temple).

Back in Jaffna, I got a call from the one couchsurfer in Jaffna, who offered to host us that night. So, we went back to Kandy Hotel, showered, and headed out to Maria’s.  She and her husband are a German/Albanian couple doing aid work with the World Food Foundation. They have a cute 16 month old, shockingly blond and pale, named Marek. We had dinner with them and went out for drinks with other volunteers/expats. They have to single beds, so I ended up sleeping on the floor on a bunch of yoga mats.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Sri Lanka, Week Two: Hill Country

Saturday, May 12

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We were up early this morning to take our guided hike through Sinharaja National Forest with Bandula, the Sinharaja Rest owner. It was cool-ish, but super humid (humidity is generally above 80% in the rain forest). Bandula really knew his stuff and showed us all kinds of trees and plants, including a carnivorous fern and a cocoa tree with fruits that they make cocoa from! On our walk through the jungle, we saw snakes, spiders, lizards and bugs, a monkey and some pretty birds. I also got my first DSCN0431experience with leeches, which was creepy and icky. Some of my socks will need to bleached because of the blood stains. It wasn’t a difficult walk but it was about two hours long and we had a lovely morning of it. We also got to swim in a waterfall, which with some effort I could swim to and float beneath for as long as I could take the beating!

On our drive back to Deniyaya, we visited Lumbini tea factory, which was really interesting! The process is pretty complex and this particular factory fairly modern and complex. In general, this is how the tea we drink comes to be:

First, tea plantation workers pick the leaves. These are gathered, bundled and delivered to the factory. If it’s white tea, the flowers are picked by hand from the leaves and separated for their own treatment. Otherwise, the first step is withering, where the leaves are spread out on long tables which send steam through them. This doesn’t cook the leaves, just “withers” them a bit. Then they’re shoveled through a chute which has large holes in it so that smaller leaves are discarded. Then the leaves head for sorting, which involves a process of rolling and shaking. This can happen up to five times if the leaves don’t get crumbled correctly the first time. Next comes the "cooking,” and discarding burnt bits using a high-tech camera machine that senses the color of the leaves. The leaves are then graded according to size and packaged. Unfortunately, due to competition I’m guessing, we weren’t allowed to take pictures. I did buy three different types of tea for about 3420 rps (~$30 USD). Then it was back to the guest house. A good, tiring day!

Sunday, May 13

We seemed to have started a trend, because we were up early again today. This time it was to catch our first of two buses for the day. Have I explained buses here yet? They’re quite the experience. The seats are made for slightly smaller frames than Westerners generally have, so Beny and I have to squish to fit on one. The ones we’ve been taking are primarily local buses, which means no AC, which is fine when the buses are moving. Unfortunately, the buses stop a lot and then the heat settles in and becomes a bit stagnant. Also, when the bus becomes packed with bodies in both the seats and the aisles, well… it becomes stifling. I was lucky for the first bus: I had the window seat. Beny had the apparently common Sri Lankan bus experience of having elbows in his back and bags placed on his lap as the aisle filled and people were jammed against those in the seats. The first bus to Penduwala took four hours.

The next bus, which took us to our destination of Haputale, took about two and a half hours, and the only time we got to sit was during a rest stop when everyone left the bus for a few minutes. Otherwise, we stood in the packed aisles, never positioned far from the huge speakers that were bungeed into place on the luggage racks, alternating the length of the bus, and blasting the entire way. I didn’t mind the standing but the music made my head pound.

Haputale was beautiful, luckily, and after getting ourselves fed we eventually found Bawa’s Guest House. Arrived Haputale exhausted, bus back door not opening for bags, went to look at Sri Lak but weird with pricing; ate lunch for 200 rps and then went to Bawa Guest House, which had a very nice room with balcony and hot/cold water for 1,000 rps. We walked to a nearby Christian monastery but arrived fifteen minutes after the gates closed. It was a nice forty-five minute walk with a stop to buy fresh strawberries and check out a bit of bird sanctuary forest, so all was well! We had dinner at Bawa’s which included really nice curries and vegetables.

Monday, May 14

After a nice breakfast at Bawa’s, we took a bus to Dambutale tea plantation and then hiked up to a viewpoint called Lipton’s Seat. Apparently the tea baron Lipton enjoyed DSCN0482bringing guests to this viewpoint, which is a concrete gazebo perched on a cliff overlooking his plantations. It was a real climb up through tea plantation which was huge and quite beautiful, row upon row of tea plants arrayed on the sloping hills all around. We saw many women and some men working in the fields, picking tea; most waved to us with big smiles. By the time we arrived to Lipton’s Seat, though, there was no view due to the mists. On the other hand, we parked our butts in some plastic chairs and had a picnic lunch there, with our staple foods of buns stuffed with spicy cooked vegetables and bananas and water.

We then hiked around blindly in the woods bordering the plantation for a bit before coming back onto the regular paths to start the hike back down. On the way, we met plantation kids asking for pens and money and photos. It made me really wonder about the whole DSCN0487business of tea, you know? I mean… there are plantation kids. Most of the workers are Tamil's imported from India and I wonder about the fact that there are schools and hospitals on the plantation. Do the families ever leave? Is there a choice, really? It made me feel really uncomfortable. We were able to catch a minivan bus, which was weird because it was packed with plantation workersand us. It made me feel like a real jack-ass for taking a seat.

One other thing about tea plantations, on the “nice” side of it: they’re really quite interesting to look at in terms of landscaping. The rows of tea bushes are interspersed with tall, Dr. Seuss-like trees, which we learned a few days earlier are actually bean plants that help put nitrogen in the soil. They take different shapes in different climes, but they always have a sort of odd look to them.

DSCN0497On our way back, we were discussing the phrase “every cloud has a silver lining” because there was a bit of silver lining in the sky, and Beny hadn’t ever actually seen that before. As we looked at the sky, we realized something far more awesome was there: a sun dog! It’s the first time I’ve ever seen one and my camera couldn’t quite catch the glory of it, but let me tell you, it was freaky and beautiful at the same time even if we could only see the edge of it from behind a cloud! Iridescent and glowing, it seemed otherworldly.

Tuesday, May 15

Although we debated it because of the reputed high price, we decided to drag ourselves out of bed at 4:30am to take the two-hour tuk-tuk ride to Horton’s Plains National Park. It’s really hard to nap in a tuk-tuk, in case you were wondering, but it was a rather pretty DSCN0512drive at least. Once we paid the 5,540 rps (~$50 USD) entry fee, we took the nine kilometer path to see World’s End, mini World’s End, and some waterfalls. The name “World’s End” is really what attracted me, and the descriptions of “an escarpment abruptly ending and dropping down” (paraphrased from many sources). Overall it was a nice hike but not worth the exorbitant entry fee, sadly. The views were pretty neat, the landscape different and interesting, and the red rhododendrons dotting the path and hills were pretty too. It’s just that seeing the local price set at around ~$5 USD and then seeing the “foreign visitor” price at so much more was really frustrating. I understand that it costs money to maintain and protect these areas, but they’re pushing it with the 10x inflation for tourists. Especially when that nine kilometer path is it – you can’t do anything else in the park.

When we were done with the hike, we took the two-hour tuk-tuk ride back, which set us DSCN0547back another 2,300 rps (~$20). We had a cheap lunch in Haputale’s main town area, then headed back to Bawa’s for showers and a nap. Later, we packed up and took the evening train – our first train in Sri Lanka! - to Ella (100 rps). It was such a BEAUTIFUL train ride, so much nicer than buses! Beny smiled a lot, pleased, and hung out between between the train cars to watch the lovely landscape and gorgeous sunset go by; I watched from my window, enjoying the breeze and beauty. At Ella, a tuk-tuk from Soorya’s Guest House, which we’d called earlier, met us, a surprise! After checking in to a 1,000 rps room, we crashed. 

Wednesday, May 16

Not surprisingly, we slept in late. Once we did manage to wake up, we went to a highly recommended Curd Shop for breakfast and ended up meeting Sophie, the Belgian girl that we met in Galle. We all decided to do a hike to some nearby waterfalls, and instead of DSCN0568taking the path up the hill, we clambered up the rocks, which was an adventure. We swam in the pool at the foot of the falls, which was lovely, and sunned on the rocks.

When we got back to Ella, we had lunch at a place Sophie had been often and the staff all knew her there, so they were super nice. Beny and I switched guest houses to go to Mountain View, where Sophie was staying and which had a nicer view (1,000 rps/night). Unfortunately, the place we vacated decided we had to pay an extra 300 rps for leaving “after checkout time” which was a bit of a swindle, as no checkout time was mentioned and we’d been there less than twenty-four hours. Ah, well, it’s down season so I guess they get what they can from who they can. Beny and I did a sunset hike to mini Adam’s Peak, which had pretty views. We made it back for dinner with Sophie at Dream Café, which was good, but I realized that I wasn’t too hungry and that it was a bit unusual because I haven’t been eating much at all lately. Odd, but not too worrisome.

Thursday, May 17

After compromising on time the night before, Sophie and Beny and I decided to leave for a hike to Ella Rock at 7:30am. It ended up taking two hours, during which an unsolicited DSCN0583guide took us up a “short cut.” It had me huffing and puffing and my legs were getting a real workout as we climbed, up and up and up. As always, this hike ended in a nice view. We also visited the top of the falls that we had checked out from below yesterday. I surprised myself by taking a good two hour long nap when we got back, to be followed by chilling out on the porch, taking a shower, doing laundry and chatting. I felt like some alone time, so Beny and Sophie went to dinner and I had some me-time to look at the stars, write in my journal and in think in general.

Friday, May 18

Back to the curd shop for breakfast with Sophie this morning. The curd here, by the way, is made from water buffalo milk, and is usually drizzled with treacle, which is a kind of palm honey, and at this place it’s served with cubed fruit on top. Yum! We walked to the post office and I sent some post cards. Then it was time to say good-bye to Sophie, who was headed to Haputale, and to catch the bus to Weliwaya. It was a quick-ish drive, but made Beny a bit motion sick which is a new experience for him. At Weliwaya we battled off the tuk-tuk touts and caught another local bus to the entrance of Buduruwagala.

Here, we actually did decide to take a tuk-tuk because it was a four kilometer walk in the sun to see the attraction here: a huge slab of rock with Buddha figures carved into DSCN0613it. Huge Buddha figures! They’re supposedly from the 10th century AD. It was a pretty peaceful place, although not much else to see besides the one rock face with the carvings. I walked along a short pathway and found a gorgeous flower, which turned out to be the Sri Lankan national flower, a kind of lily. We tuk-tuk’d (a new verb!) back to Weliwaya and hopped the bus to Ella, but decided to jump off when we saw the Rawana falls. After the hot and stuffy bus it felt so good to take a swim, even if the locals were using it as a bathtub/shower, with soap and shampoo and loofahs. Beny stuck out a thumb and we hitched a ride back to Ellawith a Sri Lankan NGO worker. After an early dinner at Dream Café, we hung out for sunset on our porch. A lovely day!

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Another fascinating week in Sri Lank!

--Z

Friday, May 11, 2012

Sri Lanka, Days 4-7

Note: This is the second blog post I’m putting up right now, so make sure you’ve read my first three days!

Day 4: Masks and Wandering

After a delicious and large breakfast of various toasts, marmalades, fruit juices and fresh mango and papaya, it was time to wander around Ambalangoda. My first order of interest was to see the mask museum, which turned out to be a dark little place with some really DSCN0271interesting stories to go with the masks on display. A young woman took us through the various alcoves and told some stories, a bit perfunctorily. Afterwards we wandered around by ourselves, just taking in the variety of masks and stories. Then, of course, we had to head to their showroom upstairs and take a glance at their workshop. They told me they had fifteen workers, most of whom are carvers and others who are painters.

We crossed the street to look at another mask shop, then began ambling down some smaller lanes. Most people we passed said “Hello!” It was either tentative, as in the case of most older women; or exuberant, when it came from the children; or questioning, from the men. We weren’t in the usual touristy area, I guess, because we were asked a few times where we were going, as if we needed help. But when we replied that we were just wandering, they seemed content, for the most part. We came up on a small shrine, which we were waved into, and later a larger temple complex with many Buddha statues lining each of four walls surrounding a reclining Buddha. In front of each standing Buddha was a supplicant, mostly human but not always. Pretty different!

DSCN0308Then my eyes caught a shimmer and we headed towards it: the Indian Ocean! We walked along the beach as the waves washed up, deceptively calm. Eventually, of course, we were soaked up to our thighs! It was really pretty, though, so we climbed up onto some rocks and dangled our legs over the edge as the Indian Ocean crashed against our boulder about ten feet below. We sang “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” being silly, and eyeballed a balcony, empty, a short distance away. Hunger eventually overtook us DSCN0334and we actually ended up on that very same balcony awhile later, eating our noodles or rice and vegetables.

It was hot enough out, still, that we went back to our room and showered, luxuriated in the AC a bit, then headed out to catch sunset on the beach. Beny found a place where we could climb up on some rocks and lean against what seemed to be an old flagpole. We watched the crabs scuttle along the large rock next to use, chatted, watched the sun set and in general just really enjoyed the evening. We finished off the day with a dinner back at the guest house.

Day 5: Southward Bound!

After another lovely breakfast, it was off to catch a bus to Galle. We had the plan to really bargain hard with the Galle guest houses, but once we got there it was too hot to wander around much and nobody seemed into bargaining for their empty rooms. So, we headed over to Unawatuna, just about ten kilometers away or so, via a cheap local bus, and  after asking at a few places, we employed our new plan: one of us (in this case, me) stay with DSCN0347the bags somewhere shady while the other goes and haggles with guest houses. Beny came back discouraged, however, so we went back to a place we’d gotten down a bit in price and stayed there.

After resting up and cooling off (a theme with us!) we headed back to Galle for a walk around the old Dutch Fort’s walls, sunset and, eventually, dinner. We met a Belgian girl named Sophie, who joined us for dinner and conversation, which was a lot of fun. We met her at a spot on the walls where local guys tell tourists they’ll run and jump off the wall into the ocean – at least a twenty or thirty foot drop – for 1,000 rupees (~$8 USD). So, we got to watch it happen a few times, which was gut-wrenching and amusing. After dinner, we headed back to our place in Unawatuna.

Day 6: Beach Day

It was hard getting up on this particular morning, though I’m not sure why. Every times my eyes would slit open I would catch sight of the beautiful blue sky with palm trees and jungly green leaves, just outside my window. And yet my eyes would then slip back shut! Eventually I pulled myself out of bed and after a slow morning, we got into our swimming gear and headed out for a day at the beach! Unawatuna is a neat little beachy tourist village on the sea and it’s cute to walk through it. For breakfast we went to a vegetarian restaurant. It was good, but we decided we need to try to cut down on costs, as both of our pockets have been feeling a bit light already.

DSCN0361The beach was just a beautiful, gorgeous blue, with the variations in shade that make the water so breathtaking. Palm trees, nice sand, and guys selling coconuts and hacking through them with machetes just completed the picture. We spent a couple hours swimming and sunning and reading and snoozing on the beach: my favorite kind of day! We meandered down the beach a bit later on and came across a strange party of drunk Sri Lankans, all of whom wanted to take pictures with us. It was sort of fun at first but then just felt strange, especially because one guy kept grabbing my wrist and trying to get me to kiss his cheek. Ugh. We beat it out of there and went to a little rotti shop. A rotti is like a small, thin pancake, usually with something wrapped in it. I had tomato, cheese and olive. Mmmmm! And a mixed fruit juice, of course. Fruit juice with every meal!

While we were sitting at the rotti shop, who should happen by but Sophie! We invited her to our room to enjoy the AC and chatted a bit more with her before she headed back to Galle. We went out for dinner and drink on the beach. The rest of the evening was spent planning for the days to come.

Day 7: Friday

We actually managed to get up early today, packing and showering and getting a tuk-tuk to Galle’s bus station by 8:15am, which is pretty impressive given our sleeping-late track record. We caught a bus to Akuressa, then caught a different bus to Kotapola, where we visited a rock temple and some waterfalls. The rock temple was way less than impressive, especially given the extreme humidity and long, steep climb. The waterfalls were pretty nice, though. Then we caught another bus up to Deniyaya, where we put our DSCN0399accommodation-finding tactic into play, this time with me going forth to hunt and bargain. As it turned out, I found a Lonely Planet recommendation and got a decent price for a fan-only room.

Deniyaya is neat, there are rice paddies, which I love, and everyone seems pretty happy to wave and say hello to us. As with the rest of the south part of Sri Lanka, there don’t seem to be many tourists here. We’ve made a plan with the guest house owner, Bandula, to go see Sinharaja National Forest tomorrow. It is the only rain forest in Sri Lanka and we should see lots of birds and interesting fauna.

I don’t think I mentioned it earlier, but Beny is a vegetarian, and since I’ve wanted to try going vegetarian for awhile but never had the will power, I’ve decided now’s the time. So far, things are going pretty well! I haven’t been too sorely tempted by anything… yet. It’s only been about five days though.

Anyway, the trip is going well: I’m having fun despite the heat and humidity, Beny is a great travel partner, and Sri Lanka proves more interesting as we move along.

A New Adventure: Sri Lanka

Note: At some point I will make a picture album titled “Sri Lanka: Week 1,” for pictures from my first week in Sri Lanka. I’m not sure when I’ll get to it though!

It took me almost three days to get to Sri Lanka, but I made it just a few hours late to meet Beny, my Israeli friend, who met me at the airport in Colombo. A forty-five minute taxi ride later, we were at Subodha and Talini’s home. Subodha is the brother of Dhanushka, a graduate student at the University of Minnesota – Duluth, where my uncle works. Long story short, I visited my uncle Paul a few months ago and he introduced me to Dhanushka and her husband Keravi, also a graduate student. They in turn contacted their family back in Sri Lanka, and thus Beny and I had a place to stay in Colombo on our arrival!

Subodha and his wife Talini were so kind and hospitable, and their two year old son Akita is lively and fun, calling me auntie and Beny, uncle. On my first day, predictably, we didn’t do much. Beny and I walked around the area a bit, allowing me to soak in the heat. Literally… my clothes were soaked with sweat after just ten minutes of walking.

Day 0: Arrival Day

It turns out that we arrived just in time for the monthly poya, or holiday, that coincides with the full moon. This month is extra special because it’s the once a year festival of vesak, which is the celebration of Buddha’s birth, death and enlightenment. It started on Saturday, and Beny and I experience dansal, which are booths that give away free refreshments as part of the celebration: drinks, ice cream, snacks, etc. The lines at these booths were often many blocks long, though when we pulled up in a tuk-tuk we were DSCN0195served immediately (along with having our picture taken by many young Sri Lankans). We also visited a local temple, which was a complex packed with people milling around, praying, watching an elephant, or looking at the story-boards posted around. We also walked around and tried what we thought was “local food” and turned out to be something akin to cigarettes: an addictive treat of a betel leaf that turns your mouth red filled with coconut and spices, I think. The sellers had a pretty display, anyway, but it tasted AWFUL!

Day 1: A Long Day of Elephants, Family and Vesak

On Sunday, we took the two-and-a-half hour drive to Pinewalla, an elephant orphanage, and walked around in the heat of the day. We’d planned to leave early, but a tap burst while Subodha was showering and the morning was spent stemming that flood! At the orphanage we saw baby elephants and grown elephants, both chained and unchained. I’m not altogether sure how great a project it is as it doesn’t do anything to reintroduce the elephants into the wild. On the other hand, it accepts all orphaned elephants… hm. Also, this was our first experience of the tourist-price jack-up. For locals, the price is DSCN0215something like 100 or 200 rupees (about $1 USD). For Beny and I, the price was 2,000 rupees (~$17 USD). That’s quite a markup… a fairly common occurrence, apparently.

After lunch, during which we watched the elephants bathe in the nearby river, we were off to a relative of Talini’s, who was once a player on the national Srin Lankan cricket team. He had a beautiful home on the top of a hill, and it was a bit of a reunion with lots of family visiting. After a few hours of chatting, walking, and taking in the tea fields nearby, we got back on the road to Colombo. Because it was the night of Vesak, it ended up taking us over four hours.

Day 3: And We’re Off!

Beny and I slept in on Monday. It turned out to be the birthday of either Subodha or Talini’s mother, who stays at their home too, so we had a yummy breakfast of rice cooked in coconut milk. Beny and I decided it was time to take off on our adventures, so we packed up and got on our way a bit later than we’d anticipated. However, we managed to get all our chores done before finding and boarding an AC bus to Ambalangoda. Our chores included buying new sandals for Beny, getting me a sim card and a Dongle (for internet), getting cash and eating lunch. We managed to navigate the confusing mass of the Colombo Fort bus station and get on a bus to Ambalangoda.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that it was AC… it was still pretty uncomfortable and hot. The buses are tiny, with seats for two that barely fit Beny, let alone both of us. And we usually have to pay for a third seat for our packs. Also, the drivers here are a bit crazy. Lanes are a concept that are generally recognized but not always followed, so swerving, honking and hard braking are all part of the norm. With one butt cheek half on and half off the seat, and my knee giving me problems when sitting in one position too long, it was a long three and a half hours before we made it to Ambalangoda.

This was a destination I’d picked because it’s well known for mask carvings for Sri Lankan dances and customary rituals. It was getting dark when we arrived, though, so we picked a place out of the Lonely Planet guidebook, Sunumu Guest House, and paid a bit extra for an AC room with half board. We were pretty wiped from the long, cramped bus ride, so we just stayed in, showered,relaxed, ate and cooled off in general.

Some general observations/impressions of Sri Lanka:

  • People are nice, in general. If you need directions, people on the street are glad to help, if they can. This being said, foreigners are definitely gouged for all the money possible and everything must be bargained for. It’s the off season in the south and we’re having to argue down prices from twice the high-season norms, which is a bit ridiculous.
  • There’s a different pace here. Meals take forever to arrive once ordered. Distances aren’t very great here, but it takes a really long time to get places. It’s hard to get used to!
  • Sri Lanka is technically a developing country, but it’s at this weird halfway point in my mind. There are nice buildings, cars and shops selling electronics and other “modern” things. But there are also tons of tuk-tuks, buses are dirty and old, there’s trash on the ground in most places, and while there are Western toilets, the flush capability is not generally there.

Friday, May 4, 2012

In the Air Again

On Wednesday afternoon, my folks treated me to a goat cheese omelet, took a stroll around the garden with me and helped me remember last minute travel stuff. They drove me to the airport and dropped me off, and with that I started my pre-job trip. Many people have smiled at me knowingly and said, “Oh, good, one last trip before you start working.” For some reason, this always rubs me the wrong way, although it’s meant to be kind. It is not a last trip, though, it is just the next trip! And the idea that work begins a time of no travel makes me feel unnecessarily uncomfortable. So, this is not my last trip before starting my job, I say! It’s merely the next in a line of travels that will hopefully last for many decades to come!

My eight hour flight to London was uneventful and sleepless, for some reason. And although I napped, my four and a half hour flight to Istanbul seemed long and tiring as well. On arrival, though, I felt a smile pulling at my lips and got that glimmer of excitement that travel sparks in me. It’s been an odd few days leading up to this trip: no real giddiness or irrepressible excitement, really, until the day my travels began.

DSCN0179After a crowded subway and tram ride into the city proper, I found my hostel – Neverland – and checked into my four-bed dorm. It’s a pretty chill place, easy to walk right by somehow, but very themed around revolutionaries, activists and music. If I knew anything about music, I’d probably have appreciated the lobby’s selection more. As it was, it was relaxing to sit there and lounge on one of many lounge-able sofas, futons and chairs.

Then came a few hours bumming around with Matt, a guy I met at the archaeological dig in Israel last year and who has been living in Turkey teaching English to a rich couple’s four-year-old daughter. We had dinner and then he took me to a park overlooking the Bosphorous, where we could see the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia and many minarets lit up in the night. We just chatted, catching up and telling travel stories. At around 11pm I returned to Neverland and promptly fell fast asleep.

Now I wait to start my trip to Colombo, which will take a four hour flight to Dubai, a four hour layover and another, five hour flight. At about 4am Sri Lankan time, I will have arrived!

--Z

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