Sri Lanka

12月 2021

Polによる13日間のアドベンチャーもっと詳しく

22足跡
1国
13日間
65写真
3動画
799キロ

フォローするカレンダー共有死ぬまでにやっておきたいことリスト

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旅行者 Sri Lanka
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- 2021/12/16 7:00
- ☁️ 17 °C
- 海抜: 1,231 m
- スリランカ Province of Uva Bandarawela 6.830482, 80.988826°49’50” N 80°59’20” E
日6
Ella to Haputale
2021年12月16日, スリランカ ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
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- 2021/12/16 8:59
- ☁️ 19 °C
- 海抜: 1,903 m
- スリランカ Province of Uva Dambethenna 6.780664, 81.0155086°46’50” N 81°0’56” E
日6
Haputale
2021年12月16日, スリランカ ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
Haputale, 2:30pm

Finally a bit of Sun! I woke up in Ella to take the 6:40 train to Haputale. It was much emptier than what I'd expect, so after accomodating myself in a 3rd-class carriage I strated enjoying the morning light in the hilly countryside. The ride was roughly an hour and the views were increasingly better as we approached Haputale. I was the only white person who hopped off here, though I didn't see many tourists on the train; none in 3rd-class. Once in this trading village I jumped on a tuk-tuk to go drop off my backpack in the guest house I'm staying. Immediately after we hurried up to Lipton's seat, as fog usually shows up around midday. Had a nice chat with the driver.

Lipton's seat itself is a bit disappointing but the ride up was very picturesque. After a little -and cheap- breakfast break up there, I started my long way back on foot. An insane 18 km walk through tea plantations.

The first part of the journey was sunny and you could really feel Mr. Thomas Lipton colonial lifestyle. The second part of the walk I passed by some Tamil settlements and I discovered how hinduism, catholicism and buddhism share the same space. I was a true stranger in those poor 'villages' but everybody was very friendly. Some villagers were not-insistingly begging for money, but the most of them just smiled and said "Hello!". The last part of the walk was closer to Haputale and the atmosphere changed drastically as the mist started coming up from the forest. It was otherwise beatiful and magic.

I was quite tired when I arrived back in town, so after checking the train timetable for tomorrow I found myself a place to eat. I ordered chop suey, but the best was the panoramic view I had over tea plantations.

I've just arrived to my guesthouse, taken a hot shower, met the family I'm staying with and I'm now ready to chill out a bit and enjoy a freshly prepared juice with some vistas.

Haputale, 9pm

I spent the foggy, rainy evening in the guesthouse, reading in the tea-styled living room and planning ahead the next days. I also had dinner: home made kottu. Very filling. I made a decision after reading some internet blogs about Sri Lankan cuisine: I will eat *less* and I will go *spicy*!もっと詳しく
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旅行者 Sri Lanka
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- 2021/12/17 9:49
- ⛅ 19 °C
- 海抜: 1,257 m
- スリランカ Central Province Kuduoya Mayfield 6.918117, 80.5926216°55’5” N 80°35’33” E
日7
Haputale to Kandy
2021年12月17日, スリランカ ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Train to Kandy, 8:30am

Haputale wakes up with the chants of different temples. The one next to my guesthouse was a buddhist one. The morning mist looked incredible. I went to the station, the train was running late (surprise!), so I took advantadge and had my first sweet breakkie in a cafe.

Kandy, 4:40pm

The train ride it's been great. The landscape kept changing as the train was going through: from misty forest to hills full of tea trees, and then to lushy jungle with coconut trees (in cas we had forgotten we were in Sri Lanka). The train ride was accompanied by the singings of different groups of yongsters.

On the train I met Musheen, a worker from a hotel in Anuradhapura who was going to Colombo. He wasn't super talkative but gave me some tips for my trip. During the ride to Kandy I couldn't help thinking of colonialism, past and present. The railway system was built to bring all the tea from the plantations to the sea ports. The British-style stations where still remains of that colonial era. But the feeling of the workers' present-day situation -still living in hardly bearable conditions- was quite disturbing. The way big Western corporations operate in third-world countries made me feel ashamed of my privileged situation.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 Sri Lanka
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- 2021/12/17 17:00
- 🌧 23 °C
- 海抜: 504 m
- スリランカ Central Province Asgiriya Kandy Lake 7.293121, 80.6350367°17’35” N 80°38’6” E
日7
Kandy
2021年12月17日, スリランカ ⋅ 🌧 23 °C
Kandy, 7:40am

I'm sitting in a hindu restaurant waiting for my 'dosa' breakfast. Kandy has a big Tamil population (both muslims and hinduists) but is also particularly sacred for the buddhist as it's home of the Tooth Relic temple.

Today is 'Unduvap poya' -full-moon day- and many shops close. I was recommended not to visit the temple today as crowds congregate there to pray, so I went yesteraday. The temple looks nice from outside as it stands by Kandy lake -a human made reservoir for irrigation from ancient times- but it's still more impressive from the inside. After attrending a traditional dancing show I went to the temple for the evening ceremony. It consists of a sequence of drumming sessions and some flower offerings by the many devotees wearing white clothes (lucky me I was offered a 'sarong' to cover my knees so I could go inside). The temple and the poya ceremony was an impressive ans moving sight, I really want to do some more research about history in my upcoming days in Sigiriya.

In the late evening I went back to my hostel. I shared the room with Jalisco, a Philipino american who's lived in India for 10 years. We had a very interesting chat about politics and society. Around 10pm I fell deeply asleep.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 Sri Lanka
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- 2021/12/18 20:00
- 🌧 23 °C
- 海抜: 180 m
- スリランカ Central Province Bellanoya Rangirigama Wewa 7.928131, 80.7226047°55’41” N 80°43’21” E
日8
Kandy to Sigiriya
2021年12月18日, スリランカ ⋅ 🌧 23 °C
Sigiriya, 4:20pm

Today couldn't have started better. After a delicious 'dosa' breakfast I was picked up to go have an 'ayurvedic' massage in the outskirts of Kandy. It was so ridiculously cheap that I took a foot massage on top of my full-body one. The location wasn't as great as advertised, because they recently moved to a cheaper place due to Covid. The massage itself though was super relaxing and pleasant.

After that I took the bus 41 towards Polonnaruwa, that drives along the A9 road. This road is the nerve of Sri Lanka (it crosses it North to South) as I learned from my readings of 'This Divided Island' by Samanth Subramanian, the book I'm reading during this trip. During the war the army used this road towards Jaffna to fight the Tigers. It's shocking to consider that such civil conflict ended only in 2009 and that there were still some riots afterwards. I'm super interested in the religious conflict and the situation right now.

I've seen a mosque next to a hindu temple, literally *next* to it. Every person I talk to, every bus I take, every tuk-tuk driver I meet... I just want to kow what's their identity and their view about the conflict. This tuk-tuk driver -whose mobile wallpaper said "May Allah bless you"- I asked him "Are you a Tamil?", he answered "I'm muslim". Only after he added "I speak Tamil". I find it very interesting to see that the sense of identity is specially based on religious perspective. And this applies to every community in Sri Lanka. I wonder what would they think about me if I told them I'm atheist.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 Sri Lanka
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- 2021/12/19 11:51
- ⛅ 27 °C
- 海抜: 58 m
- スリランカ North Central Province Polonnaruwa 7.939536, 81.0003397°56’22” N 81°0’1” E
日9
Polonnaruwa
2021年12月19日, スリランカ ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Sigiriya, 7am

I just woke up at Roy's Villa, a super cool backpackers hostel, chosen as the best small one in the world last year. It's surrounded by nature: jungle and rice fields. The morning sun is just rising... Awesome!

I spent yesterday's afternoon and evening in this place hanging out with Roy himdelf and the other guests, very cool people. We shared some beers and cooked our dinner together: rice&curry. We also shared a cake brought by two funny Dutch buddies that arrived late as they were kite-surfing in the West Coast.

The whole day had been rainy so I switched a bit the plans for today: I am going to Polonnaruwa! But I need to have my laundry fixed first.

Sigiriya, 7:10pm

After having my breakfast today I jumped into a Jeep with Div (an Indian boy living in London), Tom and Erik (the two Dutch buddies) and our driver to Polonnaruwa. Both on the way there and on the way back through Minneriya we saw big elephants crossing the road before passive Sri Lankan drivers.

Polonnaruwa itself is a bit disappointing: it's basically the ruins -badly preserved- from the ancient capital of a Sinhalese buddhist kingdom from the 11th and 12th Century. It was interesting to learn about the history and to share the bike ride with some friends. The four of us actually spent several hours visiting the sparsed ruins, but the humid heat and the Sun made me feel tyred at the end.

On the way back to the hostel we stopped for lunch and saw some more elephants. Actually one of them started chasing us as soon as we pulled over for some pictures.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 Sri Lanka
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- 2021/12/19 18:05
- ⛅ 24 °C
- 海抜: 198 m
- スリランカ Central Province Kotakittigewewa Idiriyagala 7.917621, 80.6792767°55’3” N 80°40’45” E
日9
Ederagala Wana Senasuna
2021年12月19日, スリランカ ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
As soon as we arrived at Roy's we met him and offered us to go see the sunset from a buddhist monastery he knew. The place sits on top of a rock, so we had a 360º view. The red colours of the Sun, the evening haze and the siluette of the hills and rocks around made the moment pretty magical.

Better than the sunset itself we had the chance to meet the 3 monks 'community' living there, taking care of such an old temple. Ederagala Wana Senasuna is more than 2000 years old. We even joined a monk who befriended Roy in their sunset prayer.

We are gonna have dinner soon, so I'll go and join the crew. They are warming up with some 660ml Lions already.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 Sri Lanka
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- 2021/12/20 5:42
- ⛅ 19 °C
- 海抜: 321 m
- スリランカ Central Province Piduragala 7.96621, 80.7616987°57’58” N 80°45’42” E
日10
Sigiriya
2021年12月20日, スリランカ ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Sigiriya, 10:15am

Today we all woke up very early to go see the sunrise from Pidurangala rock. From up there you have a really nice view over Lion's Rock (this is the meaning of Sigiriya). This time Julia (a German girl living in Colombo) and Stephan (a German man who looks like Putin and is fucking hilarious) also joined us.

It's been very nice to meet all this people in the hostel. We teamed up quite a lot. Actually I'm gonna share a tuk-tuk drive to Anuradhapura with Div.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 Sri Lanka
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- 2021/12/20 17:00
- ⛅ 25 °C
- 海抜: 137 m
- スリランカ North Central Province Wanamal Uyana Pudukkulama 8.16233, 80.5378948°9’44” N 80°32’16” E
日10
Sigiriya to Anuradhapura
2021年12月20日, スリランカ ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Anuradhapura, 8pm

The tuk-tuk drive was enjoyable. Slow but steady we made our way through the plains of Sri Lanka. A combination of junlge and rice fields was the main landscape around. And once again an elephant was sharing the road with colorful buses and tuk-tuks. Div and I had some interesting conversations about politics and about India, the place he's originally from. Despite living in London he is very fond of the place he was born: Bengalore.

I checked-in in a little hotel called Andorra, in the outskirts of this sparse settlement called Anuradhapura. I put on my trousers so my knees were covered to visit the temples and I met Div in the ticket office of the site. I considered getting a guide to explore the place but I was scared of ending up paying a lot to a person who wouldn't really know about it. So I changed my mind and thought it would be better to wander around with the help of Wikipedia. We even decided not to pay the $25 ticket fee and skip the five temples that it included, and to just visit the ones for free. Best idea, as the ones we were more interested in were close-by. This included the big white 'dagoba' and the holly Sri Maha Bodi. Sri Maha Bodi is the tree planted 2300 years ago out of the 'bo tree' were the Buddha got enlightened.もっと詳しく
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旅行者 Sri Lanka
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- 2021/12/20 19:21
- ⛅ 23 °C
- 海抜: 259 m
- スリランカ North Central Province Mihintale Namallewa Wewa 8.347538, 80.5126968°20’51” N 80°30’46” E
日10
Mihintale
2021年12月20日, スリランカ ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
In the late afternoon I convinced Div to go to Mihintale, a holly hill 20 minutes away from Anuradhapura. It was a very peaceful and inspirational visit as the Sun was setting, the views were great and there was a lot of monks and devotees.

I was very hungry, so after that we went to an early dinner to an Indian restaurant where I learnt about Div's country cuisine. He turned out to be as passionate about food as me. We parted ways, said good bye and I'm now chilling at Andorra's.もっと詳しく
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