La Vida Colorida

November 2018 - March 2020
From fire spewing volcanoes, festivals & tacos in Central America to the wilderness, wine and adventure of Patagonia.
504 days, 12,096 hours & 725,760 minutes together.
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  • 102kkilometers
  • 63.3kkilometers
  • Day 47

    Haputale

    December 18, 2018 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Day 47 & 48.

    Boarded the short train today to Haputale, small less visited hill town. Yet again managed to buy 2nd class tickets but end up very much amongst the crowds in 3rd - but all part of the experience and views remain amazing! Note to self always buy 3rd class, morons.

    Checked into the not so grand view, this town felt like real Sri Lanka, less tourists and more of a bazaar feel. We set out at 5am via tuk tuk to visit Liptons seat (no more walking we deserve it), views of sunrise were amazing but very much overshadowed by the breakfast stealing monkeys, so, so much sugar in the face...

    Strolled back for 8km through countless tea fields and observing local tea pickers at work (whilst slyly trying to get a free picture of the odd one or two..) to arrive back at the Liptons original Tea factory.

    After a quick tour of the original building which was super interesting it was a rather speedy bus back through the hills to town. Buses are crazy here and by far the fastest transport on the road, a real experience.

    Limbster is yet to improve her poker face and the disappointment from the announcement that there would be no free Tea tasting certainly could be seen a long way off, give that girl a refund!

    Built a card pyramid whilst waiting for Ellie to continue to solve the ongoing sandal crisis - great personal achievement, added to the wunderlist. Sandal crisis however not solved, no end in sight.
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  • Day 49

    Ella

    December 20, 2018 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Day 49 - 51.

    The sun was shining today, much against the forecast prediction from myself. As a result we rushed to get to Ella to enjoy the weather before the oncoming rain arrived (as again predicted by me).
    Sadly our train was cancelled but transport was quickly resolved by a few helpful tuk tuk drivers.

    Arrived in Ella to Escapde hostel - outside Ella but alongside the famous train tracks, which you had to walk down to get there (avoiding the odd train or two!)

    We quickly set out down the track for the famous 9 arch bridge and it was SWEATY. By far the hottest day in Sri Lanka to date and we were out baking in the sun for a good 12km round trip. Was well worth it however, bridge was spectacular, even if it did result in a mini domestic to get limbster down that hill for a photo....

    Up onwards to Adams little peak, our much preferred of the two and then into Ella for some great food at Mateys hut - first Kotthu and best Sri Lankan curry to date, all the mango! :)

    After this we rested in Ella during a spell of rain, meeting some great people at the hostel and catching up on some much needed life admin over a few tins of Lion before we headed to the sunny coast!!

    Top tips from Limbster:

    1. Uploading photos to Facebook is not worth the stress it causes.

    2. Dont choose the 10 bed dorm for 3 nights when a group of English lads join on a 2 week piss up - earplugs to the rescue again.

    3. Walking with a coconut on a train track whilst trying to pose is not safe in any circumstance. Insta life vs reality.
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  • Day 52

    Tangalle

    December 23, 2018 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Day 52 & 53.

    THE BEACH! It's been nearly 8 weeks of seeing no coastline and we've been super excited for this day since day 1. After a rather gruelling 3 hour standing bus ride and evading some sneaky tricks from some local taxi scammers we arrived at tangalle to meet Bandulla at his home stay (nicest man in Sri Lanka hands down).

    Quick welcome drink and straight off to swim, home stay was within 100m of a gorgeous beach so we wasted no time.

    Plenty of koala 'ing, wave surfing and sunburn followed but it was welcomed as we were so excited to be here! Beaches are super quiet and chilled, tons of local fresh fish (even roped me into help catch it one day) and plenty of coconuts!

    Don't want to leave the warm hospitality of Bandulla and this great place. In fact the only real downside of this stay was the loss of limbsters sunglasses after she was unmercyfully thrown around by the crashing sea waves... sad times.

    New favourite fish which we had two nights in a row - the Mahi Mahi, other locals seem unfamiliar but it was fantastic!

    Great beard trim here also by Sri Lanakn MJ lookalike , certianly now feeling fresh for Xmas at Hiriketeyia.
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  • Day 55

    Hiriketiya

    December 26, 2018 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Day 53 - 56.

    Heading to our base for Xmas - we have heard Hiriketiya is a great small surfing bay well away from the roads. After a difficult tuk tuk hunt to find Kingsleys place we were eventually found by a waving Kingsley in the street - we had found it! Great little home stay 50m from the Beach (which was also incred).

    The place had a perfect private outdoor space, with an outdoor shower, lazing beds and our own little dinner table + fire, we would spend all our time not on the Beach right here! All credit here to Limbster on the Airbnb front.

    We dropped our stuff and headed straight to the sea, it was easy 35° and we could have stayed in that water all day watching the surfers!

    It was Xmas eve so we had to celebrate in style, stocked up on Lions from Fooood citaaay as well as plenty of cheese and crackers (a real treat here!). We enjoyed our feast over games and Xmas cracker writing, finished off by watching Love actually in bed - a Xmas eve must wherever we are!

    Sunrise swims on Xmas morning followed by rum, more rum, Lion & then some Craig rum specials to round it off. Evening followed with a family Skype chat, WiFi just about held out to our surprise and we managed to see everyone!

    Note to Craig - do not forget Ellie's Xmas crackers. Some big promises made, looking forward to Jan 1st...

    Trip was ended with a great Sri Lankan curry at the homestay to candlelight prepared by Kingsley. We then fulfilled one of our Sri Lankan must do list, hire a Tuk Tuk - mixture of nerves and excitement followed but we were off! Whether we would make it to day 57 was yet to be seen.....

    Oh I forgot to mention (like we could forget) but Limbster got a little sun burnt here, just a little though...
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  • Day 58

    Matara, Talllala and Beach Hopping.

    December 29, 2018 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Day 57 & 58.

    With our little green Tuk Tuk the south coast was ours to explore, which meant discovering as many beaches as possible, and rating them accordingly of course..

    After a ropey start, occassionaly driving with handbrake fully on and a little help from the locals we were now much more confident driving our tuktuk, small beach roads, hills, reversing, you name it - no problem!

    Limbster was a top co driver with directions only rarely slipping up albeit nearly causing a pile up with one small turning error when she did ;)

    Beaches were amazing, we headed back toward to Tangalle hopping from cove to cove, swimming and trying to avoid that midday sun! Tried to get more mahi mahi but one hour too early for lunch - darn!

    Matara itself was gorgeous for sunset, but spent most of our time in this town hunting for food, which was far and few between - opted for service station like Kothu (Ellie was hangry here) and another round of Kraft and crackers - becoming a real Sri Lanka fave now.

    Back to Hiriketiya to drop off the tuktuk (very sad but it will not be our last) definitely the best way to get around. One last dip and then a quick escape before I found out I've burnt the clutch out and they need me to pay for a new handbrake.

    Today Ellie had ice cream 21 - given we've only been here two weeks that's a feat worth noting.

    Top 3 Beaches.

    Tangalle
    Goyambokka
    Tallalla
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  • Day 59

    Mirissa

    December 30, 2018 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Day 59 - 61.

    It was time for Mirissa and to see out 2018 in style! We arrived at Sagopearl home stay just out of the main town to tea and warm coconut sugar pancakes! Ellie has memorized the recipe so I'm sure we'll be seeing more of these.....

    Quickly conned by the classic lovely old lady charm and signed up to an expensive blue whale tour. Realised our mistake, booked a cheaper tour and got to enjoy the painful experience of the subsequent face to face cancellation, but a budget is a budget woman.

    Turns out we might as well have saved the bother, in fact in hindsight we would have paid 3500 rupees to not go through the boat tour again. In summary, 8 hours, no whales, chunder everywhere (not from us thankfully), no we won't be coming on board for a free ride again tomorrow...

    (''I am the captain now'')

    Great beach days here - limbster taught me to Dolphin swim, boy can she move. Lots of peeling sadly - much against our continued efforts which now apparantly stoop as low as stealing valuable moisturiser :/

    Curry pot will be remembered for a while - best food yet, buffet style unlimited Sri Lankan curry all for 400 rupees. Consumed in total one thousand chillis and therefore easily got through the 4 litres of water provided! But it was worth it!

    NYE - Met some Dutch friends, drank a lot of red rum, ran away from Dutch friends, accidently dropped empty rum bottle, woke up new years day spooning my one and only..
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  • Day 61

    Weligama

    January 1, 2019 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Day 62 & 63.

    Quick stay here - Early Tuk Tuk hungover from NYE.
    Laid under a huge fan drinking Sprite and Fanta by the gallon to recover, much needed!

    Food city followed by more food city and some relaxing beach time - hit up the not so secret 'secret beach' after a windy trail, another lush beach and time for another swim! Ellie had to avoid the crabs as if her life depended on it but they just seem to have a taste for her, as do all animals it seems....

    Curry house closed - dreams broken but our one time visit will stay fond in our memories. Cheeky hour and a half wait for Kottu instead, darn!

    Generous Tuk Tuk drives here, one bargain lift followed by a free ride home! Woooo!

    Late amendment - Today we realised Craig's Grandma was an American Mormon, who woulda thought....
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  • Day 64

    Boossa, Sri Lanka

    January 4, 2019 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Day 64 & 65.

    Today we headed to a beach cabana which limbster had hunted down online for a cheeky £6 per night. Caught the train from Weligama after picking up some overpriced ripe banana chodes for breakfast, delish.

    Quick train and then for the millionth time this trip we caught the bus (aka a tuktuk with good intentions..).
    Beach Cabana was awesome and we had our own private ladder up to our treehouse seaview cabana, perfect!

    Beach was great and super quiet, lots of sunrise / sunset swimming and plenty of happy hours to see us through! Highlight being the Reggae passion fruit mojitos alongside our Sri Lankan curries!

    After perfecting the art of solo body surfing I splashed out 400 rupees to get limbster onto a big piece of foam and finally on some waves. Plenty of serious body boarding skills on show here, and I will admit the shallows were the one! Thankfully no photos caught us beaching like a pair of whales onto the sand!

    It wasn't all highs though, Limbster managed to attract the entire South coast population of sand flies and proceeded to treat the sand like burning lava for the remainder of the trip. She wore the scars well mind and has now perfected the painless midgy bite cross.

    Also our first run in with a non lovely Sri Lankan man. Got called a motherfucker via telephone and robbed by an elderly man wearing nothing but a cloth, all in all we lost £0.85 but I fully believe our anger will haunt us forever.

    Revenge will be sweet white cabanas, revenge will be sweet.

    Two sides to every coin and all and we met another lovely Sri Lankan man who provided us with fresh breakfast every morning for an absolute steal! :)
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  • Day 66

    Galle

    January 6, 2019 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Day 67 - 69.

    Our fortune after the disturbing Tuk Tuk experience quickly turned around, we arrived at the 1 apartment and met the kindest host - Dom.

    It was seriously hot, limbster could barely keep her flip flops from sliding down the street so we grabbed an ice coffee (our first in a long while) and took shelter. Picked up some great Rottis from a tuk tuk bakery, he insisted we have a photo, in part to limbsters v non discreet photo taking abilities, but cracking Rotti.

    Experienced a 10 dish curry tonight, dish quantities seem to be growing in size but that mango just cannot be beaten!

    The next day meant our first full day in Galle, and only one thing - Limbster Adventure Tours comes to Sri Lanka. Map in hand we weaved in and out of historic buildings and museums, worming our way out of paying tips left right and centre. Limbster did a cracking job and by midday we could happily say we had seen the Fort in full!

    We may have got excited here and splashed out 10000 rupees on 3 cracking posters - I was super excited by this and couldn't stop smiling all the way through the celebratory lunch that followed. As the heat grew we headed back, grabbed our usual KFC ice cream and settled in to have an evening of Kotthu made by Dom.

    Next day headed to Jungle Beach, caught the local bus (our frugal side leaning on us after that poster spree) and arrived at a great little bay. Limbster joked around in the water, confidently assuming her Komodo Dragon stance ready to play.

    We then procured two lovely new straws, this trip to Galle was really becoming a success and headed to hunt down the stilt fisherman of Sri Lanka, back on that bus. Turns out the Stilt fishermen are actually Stilt conmen, there was no chance we where paying the price of a much loved poster to see some layabout jump up on his stilt. Instead Limbster got a few sly snaps of fishing and some empty stilts and we were out of there!

    Note we had some ear drama here, don't want to touch on it too much - a picture says a 1000 words and that...
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  • Day 69

    Negombo

    January 9, 2019 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Day 69 & 70.

    It was the day Ellie's parents were to arrive (which also meant our entire home shopping list would be too - and we were not disappointed)

    After deliberating with whether to build a sign and greet them at the airport we instead landed on swimming and sunbathing in the Luxury hotel pool, just as good a welcome hey..! We did ensure we sourced limes and tonic (only the best mind) so that we could at least prepare them a fresh drink on arrival with the duty free gin they would have inevitably brought along... (we guessed correctly)

    After checking in the unpacking all of there goodies began, I can't recall exactly but I think limbster got 7 new tops, 3 new pairs of shoes and 12 dresses (it was literally xmas). But I couldn't complain - I would have chose cheese, flapjacks and jelly babies any day. Boy did the cheese taste good.

    Spent our time exploring Negombo and the nearby Lagoons, had a great boat tour around the harbour and visited a cracking fish market at sunrise! Next time think ceviche!

    Needless to say the gin didn't last long here, lots of G&Ts around the pool ensured these two days had the real holiday feel we had been looking forward too. Will forever recall the giant nibbling pool mosquito that was Limbster and the animal game.

    Negombo beach left a lot to be desired but did deliver two golden sunsets, which we watched together each evening over the ocean.

    It was time to set off to Sigiriya, we watched as Ellie's parents driver arrived and we were shortly off to the bus stop to follow behind.

    P.s Imodium has made its second appearance now and I'll have to put my hands up to it this time :/
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