EnglandDudleyLye52°26’44” N 2°6’43” W November 13, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C
So it's our 7 year anniversary together and instead of romantic meals or gestures, the day is filled with packing and planning!
Our departure is only 16 days away and suddenly it feels like we need to pick up the pace and be ready to go. The house is in a state of boxes, paperwork and half completed jobs...but we're getting there. We're finalising our travel plan (which is surprisingly time consuming) and nearly finished packing up valuables and sentimental items around the house. Our good friends are renting out the house and although they don't mind us leaving things out, we don't want them to have to look at all our photos constantly staring at them or them worrying about breaking anything. Thankfully not a massive task, but does bring us back to our moving days!
It's all becoming incredibly real now, but immensely exciting. Well and truly on the countdown to seeing the world...
BethRead more
EnglandDudleyLye52°26’44” N 2°6’44” W
November 29, 2016 in England ⋅ 🌙 1 °C
Goodbyes have been said, our house is packed, work is finished and we have our bags on our backs.
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of finishing tasks and very rapidly moving onto the next. In preparation for what seems almost inevitable while we're away, I got food poisoning which wiped out two of the last three days and set us back on the final to-do list but thanks to our brilliant family we're ready to go.
We are currently on our way to Heathrow for our flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka for our first of ten countries. You might be wondering which of us has the heavier bag - Phil with the massive shoes, larger bag, bigger clothes; or Beth who has packed considerably more clothes, shoes and all-things-ladylike? Across her backpack and daypack Beth comes in at 14kg, while Phil is 13kg. Pretty sure we still both have entirely unnecessary stuff with us!
It feels surreal to be on the road but we are both so excited to be...except for the delayed train to London that is!
PhilRead more
Heather Cooke Yahoo....en route for Sri Lanka. According to flight tracker you will already be over Bucharest! Hope you both sleep well after all the hard work to get ready and wake up to sunshine and heat! Loves x
Sri LankaWestern ProvinceMaradanaMaligakanda6°55’29” N 79°51’52” E
December 2, 2016 in Sri Lanka ⋅ 🌙 26 °C
Arrival in the capital!
After a mammoth journey we were finally dropped off via taxi at our prebooked hotel, hidden down a side street and nicely secluded.
We promptly freshened up and explored what was around the local vicinity (why is a McDonald's always the first thing to see!?). Shortly after we hopped into a tuk tuk to take us to an area called Galle Face Green, which is essentially a huge area of grassland with a stone edging that raises from a small beach and the sea. It's an area I'd read that locals like to hang out at and with a strong breeze there are lots of people flying kites and eating from the street carts that line it. Here we had our dinner of roti (flatbread) and a potato or prawn patty deep fried and covered in fresh chilli and a very hot tamarind sauce. We sat down and ate these while watching the sunset set on a foggy evening. Definitely a great way to kick start our first evening.
It ended with a foot massage and a much needed long night of sleep.
The next day exploring the city involved darting around the city seeing sight after sight including two very grand temples (one buddist, one hindu) a lovely lake, the National Museum, the Independence Memorial Hall, a large park, the old Dutch hospital and more!
We enjoyed each place differently whether it was seeing the grandure of the temples, with stunning detail and design (not many photos of these as disrespectful to take photos inside) to the hidden treasures such as the lake and park which gave sudden respite to the hectic roar of the city. The National Museum was great with incredibly old and ancient artifacts that show some of the history of the country including when the Dutch and Portuguese were here. We're really enjoying starting to learn more about this country!
This may sound like we rushed the day but it was actually very leisurely and with many drink stops trying to adapt to the sudden humidity.
The city is clearly going through a lot of refurbishment as there is building work popping up everywhere and I think it is quite an up and coming place. All the same it is very much a busy polluted and loud city, with some of the scariest driving I've ever seen (worse than Hanoi, Vietnam which may mean something to some of you!). Truthfully it's not somewhere we really wanted to stay long but still very good to see and experience, quite a sharp awakening into another world!
BethRead more
Heather Cooke Nice view for tea,and a lot warmer too.Sounds like you've had a lovely start to your trek around Sri Lanka.lovely photos.😌
Sri LankaSouthern ProvinceChina GardenPoint de Galle6°1’30” N 80°13’4” E
December 4, 2016 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☀️ -6 °C
We left Colombo by a morning train and whilst we were waiting for our train to arrive we had our first taste of Sri Lankan public transport. It was 8am so lots of people were arriving on commuter trains for their work day - picture a full train car then add another 50 people, then ask a few to hang onto the sides. Thankfully our train was quieter and in 2nd class (of 3) there are comfy-ish leather seats and fans. By the time the journey was under way it was cool enough with the breeze sweeping through the open windows.
Hikkaduwa was our next stop and, much like a lot of beach/sea front towns, it's set around the main road that runs one building back from the beach. Our guesthouse was over the road from there, a mere 50 paces from the beach. We also decided to try a non-AC room which was sticky but ok!
During the 2004 Tsunami Hikkaduwa was very badly hit, including a train carrying 1300 people who all died as the train line is less than 100m from the sea. Given this we visited a memorial and photo museum which was harrowing and sad, including talking to our Tuk Tuk driver who lost his mother and sister. It's important to remember the devastation and Hikkaduwa does this appropriately. We also visited a turtle sanctuary, a local delicacy is turtle eggs so to avoid this they collect them from the beach, incubate them and then when they're healthy they're released to the sea. Even with this intervention only 1 of 100 survive to adulthood. The sanctuary was small but incredible as they let you hold the turtles, so that was the absolute highlight of the day! We had hoped to swim with wild ones off the beach as coral was only 50m from the beach but we weren't lucky enough to do that, but the swim in the sea was still so good to cool off and the sun setting into the sea was beautiful!
The following morning we took another train the short ride to Galle where we planned two days to explore the area and see what warranted UNESCO to consider this a protected area. On Saturday afternoon we took a tour by tuk tuk to Koggala beach where, along with another 10 miles or so, there are the famous stilt fishermen plying their trade. For a small charge (by UK standards) of 1500 rupees they allow you to photograph them and have a go yourself, which Beth did! After gracefully climbing to the perch she seemed very comfortable and was promptly given her fishing line, including a fish! It was a really fun experience for her and something very well photographed!
Our next stop was to a Japanesee built Buddhist temple perched on top of a hill overlooking Unawatuna beach (a backpacker hang-out cresecent shaped bay) and we would have also had a great view of Galle Fort and the surrouding ocean however by this time it had gone completely dark so we couldn't see a thing other than the 100 year old lighthouse - still going strong! It also made for a 'fun' drive to and from the temple as the road was barely wide enough for one tuk tuk, yet one parked and two driving next ot each other was still experienced!
It was while we were enjoying the serenity of the peace pagoda and looking out at the lights of the fort that we chatted more to our driver, to which he revealed that he had lost his father during the tsunami and he personally was the only survivor of a hotel staff team of 10 at the time, only because he climbed a coconut tree. It's becoming more and more emotional as we meet people who've been so affected by the tsunami - it seems everyone has been...
Before arriving in Galle we had ummed and arred about whether to stay there or at Unawatuna, and when we went for dinner that evening we realised we'd made the right choice to stay in the Fort as the block-paved alleyways were all lit up by fairy lights and we found a rooftop restaurant to serve us fresh curries.
Sunday was a day to explore the fort itself. We're struggling more and more with the heat during the middle of the day so were up early and exploring the Dutch and Portuguese built fort before 9am. The whole town is filled with incredibly well restored and preserved colonial era buildings such as the Clock Tower, Lighthouse and Governor's House and Officers Quarters. Whilst almost all the buildings are privately owned (inculding some VERY plush boutique hotels!) just walking around the streets was a brilliant experience. In the evening a thunderstorm arrived which pushed us inside to Indian Hut (Pizza Hut logo rip-off - brilliant!) for a delicious curry and naan. Just as we arrived back at our hotel the thunderstorm knocked out the power to the entire Fort area which was quite an experience and while it didn't really phase us, or the locals for that matter, thankfully the outage didn't last too long.
PhilRead more
Heather Cooke Turtle gorgeous, stilt looks uncomfortable, where's the photos of you getting up Beth!! Lol! Town sounds lovely especially meal on rooftop. Keep cool! With love a mum and dad xx
Sri LankaSouthern ProvinceBandaramullaVeragalle Point5°56’42” N 80°27’31” E
December 7, 2016 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
Upon arrival we got a tuktuk to the train station ready to get back on that familiar train continuing on to the area Mirissa.
Mirissa is known for it's gorgeous beach and we were now very ready to slow down and have some sun, sea and sand!
As standard with Sri Lanka they follow their own timelines, meaning the 9:35 train actually didnt leave til 10:15am, however it was very quiet meaning we had lots of space and got to look out of the window as well as having that amazing breeze. When we arrived it was a short journey to the main road where as usual it runs parallel with the beach and is where the majority of guesthouses and shops are. Our guesthouse was down a side street thankfully which made it a lot quieter at night. First thing we noticed is there are a lot more mosquitos here but thankfully we have a four poster bed with a a good net over it so that helped (not that we don't have some bad bites! I had forgotten the relentless of the itching...).
That afternoon was a quiet one as I hadn't been feeling that well, seemingly coming down with a bad head cold or something similar, and so we relaxed and settled in with an afternoon siesta. Later on we wandered onto the beach and wow! It was beautiful. White sand, crystal clear water and it sweeps round in a lovely bay shape. We couldn't wait to get in it!
Over the next 2 days we spent days on sun loungers, going in and out of the warm but refreshing sea every hour and relaxing the daytimes away. The first day, although we thought we were very careful we did both get fairly bad sunburn (Phil especially so with a very red back and shoulders!) So the following day we were much more careful and stayed out of the sun more. There's a lovely sea breeze so that might be why it feels so pleasant, it misleads you into thinking it's not so hot! We'd spend sunsets and the evenings also on the beach, having fresh sea food they catch that day and display for you to choose, then eat it with just candlelight with the waves crashing next to you. Such a relaxing place and reminded us of a more built up version of the island Koh Rong off Cambodia which we adored being on 3 years ago.
After a final relaxing evening we had an early start ready to go whale watching. At 6:15am a tuktuk arrived ready to take us to the harbour to go with a well respected company Raja And The Whales. Off the coast of Mirissa it is considered one of the best places in the world to see whales, in particular blue whales. Except for Antarctica here is the largest concentration of blue whales so we were very hopeful we'd get to see the largest animal on the planet that day! This tour company is double the price of others in the area however we knew we wanted to go with them after not only great reviews but their knowledge and respect of the whales, which they definitely showed, for example not chasing then down or 'blocking' them in, explaining to us about what is good for them throughout the tour. They were so passionate about the animals and it showed with their approach. They also really know their stuff, taking us to areas where there were no other tourist boats. Within 10 minutes out in deep water they spotted one however we missed it (when a blue whale dives it can be down there for 45 minutes!) So they moved on and boy were we in for a treat. About an hour later we were told they'd spotted a whale and we're waiting to see it again when suddenly right next to me and Phil a Brydes whale came up about 15 metres from us, what an awesome surprise. Then suddenly seemingly without warning we seemed surrounded, everywhere you looked we saw blow holes spouting all round the boat at different distances, you hardly knew where to look! We saw a pair of blue whales come up fairly close but more amazingly, swimming in our direction, closer and closer, til they looked like they were going to crash into the side of the boat. It was kind of scary as you started to really see the size and the blue shimmer of their bodies under the water. They then went round the back of the boat at this point, we were just drifting to not disturb them. As they went round the back of the boat they were probably only 10 metres away if that and then they both flukked their tails and dived down which we'd all been waiting for. This couple kept appearing as we moved on, swimming in perfect unison and treating is to regular dives down. We were then even lucky enough to have another pair join the party and another Brydes whale.
Completely awe-inspiring is the only way I can describe the feeling. Shortly after this we headed back, also seeing a large manta ray too and we were on a high. We'd just seen not only a solidarity creature in its couples, but one of the rarest to see in the world and so close. Incredibly lucky and a definite highlight of the trip so far. A big thank you goes out to my cousin Kate, Mark and Rufus for gifting us this opportunity for birthdays and Christmas. It was truly special!
We now won't see the sea until Negombo at the end of our trip in Sri Lanka and it will be missed.
BethRead more
Phil and Beth Probably one of our favourite spots in Sri Lanka, just beautiful so I can understand completely why you enjoyed it too! Phil
Sri LankaProvince of UvaSinuggala6°28’60” N 80°53’27” E
December 9, 2016 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
After our whale watching adventure we wanted to travel straight to our next destination, the Uda Welawe national park, famed for its elephants, amongst other animals!
Where in the UK the day to day transport is mainly cars, in Sri Lanka it's all about the buses. We flagged one down from the side of the road, climb into it and before you're even in fully it's pulled away, fast. They're super cheap (about £1.60 for both of us for an 80 mile journey) so every bus is 99% local, 1% tourist.
To understand what happened next I'll give you an idea of the way they work. Most buses are fairly old and have a door at the front and back, with a bag store overhead (little) and next to the driver (a bit larger but only for a few bags). They have a central walkway and rows of seats 4-5 across. Fixed into the overhead locker throughout the bus are MASSIVE speakers blaring the latest Sri Lankan/bangra tunes at a high volume, muted a little by the open windows providing a very much needed breeze (seriously, it's so hot I've now sweated from places I didn't even know I had). Both buses we took in this journey were packed, but thankfully we had seats.
Ok so back to the bus in Mirissa. As we tried to take our bags off to put in the store by the driver the bus pulled away, throwing both of us off balance. At the same time half a dozen girls and a few middle aged ladies got up to get off at the next stop a few hundred metres away. As we tried to regain our balance and take our bags off I felt a hand go into my pocket and my wallet come out. I'm not stupid enough to leave much in it, but there was still about £25 in it, so to put it plainly I blocked their way off the bus and shouted in their face, making a huge scene - Beth tells me I just lost it at them - but after a very intense minute my wallet 'magically' appeared on the floor, including its contents.
We got ourselves seated and couldn't believe that had just happened within 30 seconds of our first bus experience! It was only then that I realised the Lonely planet guidebook we have is missing information on the etiquette for fighting a girl when she steals your stuff, but thankfully it didn't get that far.
Much more warily we made our change to another bus in a town called Matara and that was the second of two parts of our journey that took us to a town called Embilipitiya. It was a hot and sticky 3 hours from end to end (although we loved interacting with the locals, waving at school kids and best of all the cheesy SL-pop blaring out). I can't explain enough just how rough the journey was, with windy downhill sections taken at 50mph by the bus driver, sometimes overtaking lorries etc on the wrong side of the road with a blind bend... we'd chosen seats at the back which may have made this worse as speed bumps were ignored and as such we were thrown into the air at each one (the locals enjoyed Beth squealing at this)!
After a short walk from the bus station we arrived at our hotel and were greeted by the most friendly and welcoming person we have met in Sri Lanka, a young man called Tilly. With Beth's name up on the wall with a GB flat to welcome us, we then sat under a fan as he brought us iced pineapple smoothies and arranged our safari for the next day, happily chatting the whole time. He then explained he was upgrading us from our basic fan and cold water room to a superior air con and hot water room, free of charge so we were already beginning to forget the stress of the bus journeys. Our mood was uplifted further by a swim in their pool, all to ourselves as the hotel wasn't busy. Overall it was definitely the best accommodation we've had so far, especially so because of Tilly who couldn't do enough for us.
The 4.45 alarm to wake us this morning was not fun, but we had to leave the hotel at 5.15 to go by 4x4 to Uda Welawe and be at the gate for the opening at 6. We shared the vehicle with a lovely French couple (also guests at our hotel) and our driver guide. Of course it was still dark when we left but as we arrived at the gates the sun rose gently into the sky, bringing the park to life. Within the first 10 minutes we'd seen a male peacock perched atop a tree and then suddenly the car grinds to a halt as there were wild Asian elephants right next to the path, happily grazing on the lush vegetation the park is covered in (it's rained every afternoon there for a few weeks). As we found out throughout our morning safari many times, the female elephants and young stay together but males separate and are solitary, except when mating. During the morning we saw well in excess of 40 elephants including two new born babies and half a dozen toddlers, and all were so curious of our vehicle and the others in the park, often walking close to and around the vehicle which gave us unrivalled views of them. They truly are majestic creatures, much smaller than African elephants and only 8% have tusks, meaning the Asian elephants are similar but certainly different.
We also experienced innumerable peacocks with a male displaying its mesmerising feathers, monkeys playing in a tree, a variety of colourful birds flying to and fro and we also witnessed a Sea Eagle having it's breakfast (sorry to the poor stork). Add to that water buffalo, spotted deer (including 'bambi'!), chameleon and more! The park really is a wonderful place to experience animals in the wild and in the 3 hours we safaried there was only 5 minutes where we saw no animals.
Sri Lanka is famous for its wild leopard population, with the largest number available to be seen in another national park called Yala. Since we arrived we spoke with a number of guides, travellers and locals who all said the same about Yala. Everyone goes to see the leopards making it very busy and results in the jeeps racing each other to a location if one driver spots one. It's also much busier than Uda Welaye, so despite the reduced possibility of seeing a leopard at UW we chose there instead. Now we've visited, and ultimately we didn't see a leopard, we are still so glad of our choice as UW had a calmer feel about it and because of the environment being different we also experienced more diverse wildlife.
Before returning to our hotel we stopped at Elephant Transit House, home to about 80 orphaned and disabled elephants and while they receive some government funding they run mainly on entrance fees (£4.80 for both of us) and donations. As the name suggests it's only intended to rehabilitate the animals before returning them to the wild. As of 2015 they'd returned 100 and 13 of these had their own calves, showing the real value in the work they do there. We arrived at 9am just in time for them to be fed, and we saw more elephants in one place than we have ever seen before or could have imagined! Amongst them were playful babies, an elephant with a crippled leg and another who is missing one leg, but he has a prosthetic. As we found out in their information centre most trouble for Sri Lankan elephants is from human-elephant conflict, emphasising the need for the home to keep contact with humans as low as possible. If you're interested in the home more then Animal Planet made a documentary about it so just give it a Google search!
Following another refreshing swim in the hotel pool we packed up again and headed off to our next destination up in the hill country - Ella! You might be surprised to hear we opted for a taxi instead of 3 bus journeys...
PhilRead more
Sri LankaProvince of UvaElla6°52’26” N 81°2’56” E
December 14, 2016 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
We've spent the last few days (Friday-Tuesday) in Sri Lanka's hill country, land of tea plantations, windy and terrifying roads and some of the country's best views.
Ella was our first stop and immediately felt more touristy that other towns we've stayed in so far. As we travel we're booking hotels and guesthouses a couple of days ahead and even with research (thank you Agoda, TripAdvisor and Hotels.com!) we're always a little unsure what we'll arrive to. In Ella this meant a climb up a very rough path about - no joke - 150m back from the main road to get to our guesthouse. Our room had a small balcony that gave us incredible views though so the climb was worth it - a theme that repeated over the weekend, as I'll get to later on.
For our first day in Ella we hired a car and driver to take us to the local sights. Everywhere you drive up here is on a road hugging the side of a mountain, or weaving its way through a tea plantation. Beth wasn't too happy about the former and made it clear with all of her squeals and even though we were surrounded by breathtaking views she couldn't help but bury her face into me to hide. To be honest I'm not too surprised as even with the vehicle dominating the road (except for buses and lorries) it was hairy at some points, like when the driver decides to overtake a slow bus on a bend, in the wrong lane on the outside of the road with a HUGE drop off the edge! (To our mum's and anyone else who is panicking reading this - we asked and crashes aren't common as this is their normal conditions, so they're used to it. Panic over? No I thought not!)
Anyway back to the tour. We went first to Uva Halpewathe tea factory. Thanks to the British demand for tea during the colonial era Sri Lanka has some very well established plantations and factories, and the one we visited was huge and perched atop a mountain surrounded by its fields. The tour was fascinating and showed the five stages to tea manufacturing - picking (by hand), drying (using cool air, for about 7-12 hours), rolling, fermenting (leave it out for about 2 hours. They judge when this is finished by using a very wise old man who smells the tea leaves to see if it's ready!) and finally heating (at 105C). We were guided through by a very energetic and passionate local who happily grabbed handfuls of the tea at each stage of the manufacture (often from the depths of the still-working machinery) and dumped them into our hands. It was a great experience topped off with a cup of fresh tea, of course! If you're interested then Halpe tea (their brand) is sold internationally and is amongst the best quality Sri Lankan tea - we can recommend it! Although you may already get a taste with Sri Lanka being the biggest exporter of tea internationally including the big brands we know like Tetley and PG tips, who buy from that factory and mix it with other tea they purchase.
Next on our tour we visited a local temple, the Dowa temple, dating back over 500 years and built into a cave by a river. It was a very peaceful area and large parts of the temple used the natural shape and flow of the caves, all painted beautifully and with every surface covered in Buddha statues of many sizes. As with every temple we've visited so far the tourists visiting are outnumbered by people visiting to make use of the temple. It's incredible that so many people make time every day to visit the temple and offer their prayers.
Our third stop on the tour was a feat of British engineering, the Nine Arches Bridge. The name explains it, and it's used for trains even now despite being about 200 years old and made from only stone, brick and mortar. The views surrounding it were incredible as well, as we were about 1100 metres above sea level with mountains and valleys in just about every direction.
That afternoon although we were starting to feel tired we had heard about a fun walk to see nearby waterfalls. Nice, yes, but what made it great was that the way to get there was to walk 2 miles along the railway line until you reached them! As I keep banging on about, the views were outstanding and there were loads of other people (tourists and locals) who were doing the walk too. Train tracks here simply double up as another road when the trains aren't running...except they still were running as we found out when one appeared from around a bend at about 50mph! We jumped out of the way just in time to watch it hurtle past and to wave at people sat in the doorways enjoying the afternoon breeze. It was a bit edgy as I was only about 1m away from the train but where else could we experience this?! The waterfalls made for a picturesque halfway point before the amble back along the tracks, this time without train spotting! That evening when we were back at our guesthouse we sat out and listened to the croaks and squeaks of jungle nightlife with the sound of live acoustic music drifting up the hill from the town.
Sunday was Beth's 26th birthday - YEAH! Happy birthday! We'd planned a day to celebrate, kicked off by a hike up a nearby mountain called Little Adam's Peak. The one hour climb was largely on a road, completed by rugged steps etched into the mountainside in a steep and rather precarious manner. It was pretty tough going but oh-so-worth it when we arrived at the summit as there were clear views in every direction. My words can't really paint a picture so I'll let our camerawork do the talking. You may be surprised to hear that Beth would want to climb a mountain on her birthday, but it really shows how worth it it was for the views!
Now that Beth had worked for it I treated her to a long lunch at 98 Acres Resort. It's a plush spot perched on a nearby mountain with amazing views around. We had a table on their cafe deck, made from old railway sleepers and enjoyed a cold cocktail and a buffet of salads, curries and, amongst other desserts, chocolate mousse. Beth definitely enjoyed that part!
First thing in the morning we'd moved to another guesthouse which had a swimming pool. By the time we were back from lunch we were very ready for a swim and wow it was refreshing! And after all that walking the day was topped off with a massage to ease our weary feet.
PhilRead more
Sri LankaProvince of UvaHaputale6°45’57” N 80°57’9” E
December 14, 2016 in Sri Lanka ⋅ 🌙 26 °C
Monday morning arrived all to soon and we walked to the train station to head to our next stop, Haputale. It was an hour away and supposedly is one of the best train journeys in the world as it cuts through amazing scenery - our plan was to see and enjoy it, but what we hadn't planned on was that it would be one of the very few public holidays Sri Lanka has, meaning every man and his dog has a holiday. At the time we thought the train was busy, but as it was only an hour we were able to slip out quite easily when the time came. We did have a great view out of the window as well so all in all the journey was relatively painless.
We headed to another mountain once we'd arrived, nearby Lipton's seat named so after Thomas Lipton who established a tea plantation in the area that is still working today. His seat, atop a mountain, is a 7km climb through some of the most raw and beautiful landscapes we've seen. We cheated on the way up and were dropped 1km from the top but then did the descent 7km to the nearest tea factory. From the top there were yet more incredible views as well as a huge number of Sri Lankan tourists, all enjoying what the area had to offer. As we climbed both ways we'd seen that almost all of the locals going to the top were doing so by driving up however the road was barely wide enough for one car, meaning that traffic meeting in both directions led to huge jams. To clear these they all jump out their vehicles and debate how to manoeuvre around each other - it's quite a sight and shows their impressive spacial awareness. Well, except for the poor bloke who reversed his minivan off the edge and got wedged half off the road by a tree (better than a tumble 100m to the next stretch of winding road below).
By the time we'd reached the tea factory our tuk tuk driver wasn't very happy at having to wait for us for 2 hours as he told us normally people do the 8km round trip in 45 minutes. Yeah right....This was a rare instance of any resemblance of a problem that we'd had but ultimately it caused no issue as we were dropped back at our guest house for time to unwind and relax after the early mornings and hikes. That evening the guesthouse also served up freshly made curry that was our best curry experience in Sri Lanka so far. It proves that if you eat as the locals do then you're in for a treat. Our favourite was definitely the aubergine curry!
Tuesday was yet another early morning to catch the first train from Haputale to Kandy, a 5 1/2 hour journey through more spectacular vistas. Remember I said about the public holiday? Well Tuesday is the last day so everyone had to travel home ready for work on Wednesday, meaning the train was packed to capacity and then some! Beth made friends with a family who were on holiday for the weekend and landed herself a seat (plus food they shared with her) but I didn't fare so well, spending the full journey jammed by the toilet with a mass of sweaty men around me. It reached the stage where the train was was so busy that we couldn't move at all and feeling only returned to my feet when someone climbed on them to squeeze through to the toilet - great. Further to that the train's have food sellers who walk through the carriages selling freshly cooked treats from a 2ft wide basket. As the train was so busy you'd expect them to stop walking through, right? WRONG! Instead they climb through the tiniest gaps possible and hold the basket over everyone's heads; that is everyone's heads but mine, instead full-on hitting me in the face and leaving me to enjoy the smell of their wares for the rest of the sweaty journey!
Even Beth in a seat was cramped up for the last hour with a 5 year old on her lap and a lady sat basically on her hip. People were constantly shoving themselves into the carriages into non existent spaces and there really was no such thing as personal space. I'm writing this blog post the day after this journey and now that I'm feeling more rested I can reflect that it wasn't SO bad but at the time I would've happily traded all my clothes for a cold water and a comfy seat.
Thanks to Prabesh and his cousin (sorry I forgot his name!) for entertaining me on the journey with great conversation, if you're reading. And thanks to the very sweet family that adopted Beth and took a million 'flattering' photos of her!
Phil
PS: We thought about taking a photo of the packed train once we'd battled our way off at Kandy but we just couldn't face it after the journey!!Read more
Sri LankaCentral ProvinceAsgiriyaKandy Lake7°17’44” N 80°38’8” E
December 15, 2016 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☀️ 5 °C
So after the rough ride we basically threw ourselves off the train at Kandy train station. Not exaggerating when I say 'throw', the crowds were terrible and pushing to get on without letting us off first, the trains are also raised very high. So after passing the smaller bags through the open window to Phil, I had to throw myself into the crowd as the only way to exit. Yes I crushed some people but hey if they won't wait what can I do!? Unfortunately the concept of patience and queuing is lost here, especially when it comes to the fight for best seats, not that there were any...
As we left the station we weren't in the best mood for the usual tuktuk drivers games. We knew the price it should be to take us to our guesthouse so we held our ground. Some drivers didn't take too well to this but we moved on and found a young lad who did it for the accurate price (half what the others said).
Upon arriving at our guesthouse it was like an oasis. A kind lady greeted us and took us upstairs where there was a gardened covered balcony right outside our room. It was quiet, even on a main road and was a lovely escape.
We went to a hotel restaurant two houses away which was recommended (described as clean so I'll take that) and we actually had this amazing Chinese feast, which definitely made us feel more human. As we felt dead, the rest of the day was to chill and recover from the full on travelling experience.
The next day we were refreshed and went out to experience the city. Only a 10 minute walk away was Kandy lake, the centrepiece of the area and next to it The Temple of the Tooth, one of the main sacred Buddhist templates in the world.
As we walked towards the entrance there was a large crowd gathering where we wanted to go. As I looked through to see what was happening I was met with an armed guard with a machine gun... so we will be waiting here I thought.
I realised behind him was a red carpet and suddenly an onslaught of photographers and video cameramen came running down following a police escort and a blacked out car. Clearly someone very important was arriving. We watched him and a huge entourage walk down and wave at us all and go through a traditional ceremony and into the temple. Shortly after we were allowed through to buy our tickets (somewhat overpriced ticket considering locals are allowed in for free) and then wait again out in the sun. Even locals were fainting around us so it was a tough 20 minute wait or so! But finally we went in, along with crowds of Sri Lankans with flowers to offer. To be honest it was pretty mad being pushed along somewhat like cattle, and we were glad to be outside the back of the temple to get some air and explore at our own pace. The main draw of this temple is the 'tooth' of the Buddha which is housed here in a gold casket, and is one of the most precious relics to Buddhists. I saw it for a maximum of 3 seconds before being forced to move on. Maybe it was just a bad day to visit.
After we explored the whole site we went for a leisurely lunch at a lovely cafe just outside the temple, where we even indulged on ice cream sundaes. We wanted a treat after feeling somewhat disappointed with our temple experience. Afterwards we went for a wonder around the lake which was pleasant and saw a surprising amount of wildlife including a huge monitor lizard sunning itself on the edge of the water 1m from us.
Off a side street is the Garrison cemetery which was recommended to visit. After strolling around the caretaker who has worked there for 20 years started telling us the stories of some of the people buried there, and wow were they fascinating. To a point where we've looked up these people since. Whether it was the last British colonial man to be killed by a wild elephant, to the millionaire robbed by Sri Lankas 'Robin Hood' who then gave his wealth out to the poor in the mountains, there were quite some interesting tales. Prince Charles went to visit this cemetery in the nounties and he was still gushing about that visit which was sweet.
After we left the cemetery it was a short walk back to the lake and to the red cross hall for a cultural show we had booked tickets for. Kandy is known for these dance shows so we knew we had to see one.
The show itself was very good with impressive costumes and performances. But at the end was even more impressive when they brought out hot coals and men starting walking bare foot across them as well as eating fire. Besides being covered in ash it was quite a thing to see. We still don't know how they did it.
The next day we decided to have a leisurely start and went to the outskirts of the city to Kandy's famed botanical gardens, and the largest in Asia. To be honest we weren't expecting much but boy were we wrong. I've never been to gardens more stunning and varied. They had different sections from the Orchid house to the spice garden and each one was in a class of it's own. The colours and smells everywhere was amazing and so luscious. As well as being immaculately matained. As we walked around there was also plenty of animals, lots of monkies which Phil happily walked through as a huge group passed by, and giant flying fox bats hanging from the fern trees. This only added to the amazing nature around.
Another thing that happened is a group of some sort of summer school approached us. Now we are quite used to be stopped and asked for photos, especially tall blond haired Phil which is of extra excitement to the locals. But this was different as it was a range of schoolchildren of different ages learning English, and they desperately wanted to practise. We had all the questions like what are our favourite hobbies and so on, it was really quite adorable and we were happy to stop and chat. However it started to go a little bit awkward when they insisted we sing a song, which we begrudgingly did (we sang Jingle Bells) but then they kept pushing for us to dance too. I wanted to point over to the actual monkies in the park and tell them to ask them to perform instead. But i restrained these thoughts and grabbed Phils phone, knowing that he would give in wanting to please them and I better get the video going!
Well let's just say it may be one of the most awkward but hilarious moments of my entire life. A school girl sang this slow independence song and Phil was just wiggling about with this 7 year old boy, then burst into the robot moves, because what else could you do!? No one really knew what was happening but I was genuinely shaking with laughter. In fact shortly after when Phil signalled he really wanted to leave now (bless him) I was hunched over crying in hysterics watching the video back. Sorry to say folks Phil has banned anyone from viewing this...currently. It took a while to get over this encounter but then we went back to exploring the gardens and stayed there for hours.
We got the bus back and was dropped right outside the prison on a hill so we could see in. To say it was grim is an understatement. If anyone watched the TV show 'Prison Break' think about SONA.. it is just like that, horrendous.
Now we were very tired and hot and needed an escape, so upon a recommendation from a fellow traveller we ducked into a plush shopping mall just off the lake. It had an impressive food hall with food from all over the world and we tucked in. Sri Lankan food is great but nice to have a change from rice and curry sometimes, and it was delicious. We then indulged in some fancy ice creams and suddenly we felt recuperated. We strolled back to our guesthouse and relaxed ready for another full day of travelling the next day, to go North and do some more ancient temple exploring.
BethRead more
Heather Cooke Thanks for great update. Quite a mixture of experiences good and not so good, travel sounds difficult
Heather Cooke But your encounters with some locals sound good eg the children! We thought you danced well Phil, considering!
Sri LankaCentral ProvinceSigiriyaSigiri Rock7°57’29” N 80°45’33” E
December 17, 2016 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
After another full day of travelling we arrived in Polonnaruwa where we were basing ourselves to explore some ancient sites.
The first one of these roughly an hour or so down the road is the world famous UNESCO heritage site of Sigiriya rock. You may reconigse this as it is one of the most recognised images from Sri Lanka, and of course an absolute must do to visit and climb.
We went for the cheap but slow option of getting there, by travelling on 2 buses (total price £1.70 for us both) and we arrived around 9am.
We had noticed it was quite a grey day, which we hadn't really seen before but were hoping it would clear up as the views were supposed to be amazing from the top. After a long walk to the entrance we paid the extortionate entry price and wondered down the main boulevard towards the giant rock. Wow is really the first word that comes to mind, it is such a dramatic site and mind blowing to look at it knowing you're going to climb up there. It is believed on top of the Rock and surrounding land was all part of King Kassapa's (AD 477-495) palace and gardens. Some have challenged this and believe it was a monastery and religious site. It seems both are believed and both have some evidence for. Regardless it is quite a wonder! Everywhere you look are original fountains of buildings or gardens, such as the original pools that make up a water garden that runs parallel with the main path. These are over a 1000 years old yet archeologists believe that they are the same as they were. We ambled down slowly, equally trying to avoid some tour groups as we got closer to the base of the forthcoming climb.
It starts with old stone steps that are fairly steep but doable. Unfortunately the whole place is full of annoying 'helpers' who try to give you a hand or arm up, but then will harass you for money for that help. We already knew about this from fellow travellers but they weren't targeting us anyway, they went for older people or those clearly struggling. People were physically trying to shake them off when they grabbed at people's arms. It was frustrating to see, especially picking on those who were vulnerable.
Anyway we continued to climb upwards. I'm being brave as so far it hasn't been too bad but I was nervous with what was to come, due to my crippling fear of heights. Regardless I knew I was going to do this as I'd kick myself forever if I didn't make it to the top.
After the stone steps was a tall spiral staircase with a cage round it (thank god as the drop was...yeah) this led you into an alcove within the giant stone. Inside here was original ancient painting of frescoes - essentially mainly naked woman holding flowers or jewellery. These were in unbelievable condition, largely due to being sheltered from the weather.
After looking at these we went down another spiral staircase cage - thank god there was two to create a one way system, at the bottom it lead out onto a stone pathway hugging the side of the rock. The other side was a large thick wall of stone which was called the 'mirror wall' as it was made to be so smooth people could see themselves in it. Now it's not like that as there is ancient graffiti carved into it so it's protected from being touched. The graffiti apparently describes how amazed they were by the mystery women as dipicted in the frescoes.
The climb continued upwards on narrow limestone steps with no handrail so felt quite precarious. However we made to a flat outcrop before the final level. The final pathway to the top are made up of some original steps and then a metal framed staircase positioned jutting out from the rock. The entrance to the original steps are framed by two large Lions paws made from stone and are in incredible condition. It is believed that once the steps led into what would have been the mouth of a Lion if that was still in tact. Sadly not but what a site that would have been to enter!
The paws were very impressive and it was good to get a safe breather to look at them.
Then it was the final ascent. So far I was pleasantly surprised by the climb, although nerve wracking in places certainly not terrifying. Dam me thinking those thoughts as it was the last flight of stairs that had me shaking!
The final climb was a metal staircase that stuck out from the rock out over the drop (Sigiriya is 660 feet high) and you could see between the steps. I was hanging on the bannister with all my might and desperately concentrating on each step trying not to look down. At this point, now 'vulnerable' along came one of those dam helpers waving his arms in front of me and being frankly a distracting nuisance, not helping me at all. Before I had a chance to tell him to f off, Phil very firmly told him to get lost and he left, thankfully! Well done Phil!
The final final staircase was practically vertical limestone steps with no handrail, I was basically climbing it like a ladder and through myself onto the top. Immediately you can see original foundation walls around the site and the area was heavily levelled. We walked into the centre and started to check out the view, which now was pretty overcast but you can tell you could see for miles. Remember when I said it was a grey day? Now it started to spit with rain so we started to rush around looking at the different areas, such as a huge pool which they believe was part of the palace gardens. Suddenly without warning was a loud rumble and the rain exploded from the sky. There is no shelter on the top of the rock, although there was a tiny tree we bolted towards for cover. Of course that didn't work as now it is monsoon rain. The type of rain where the raindrops are so huge and the power so hard it's almost painful as it hits you and you are soaked through in seconds.
So there we were stuck up on this massive rock, Phil hunched over the bag of belongings trying to keep our stuff dry (failing) and me shaking as water pours down my face and body. What the hell are we going to do now!? It's a pretty funny scenario looking back now but at the time it was not, especially as I had already slipped over and hurt my arm a bit. I kept thinking how on earth am I going to get down that horrendous staircase now it's also raining. Looks like I'm gonna live here forever, I thought.
After awhile the rain eased off but it was still incredibly grey so we knew it wasn't over but thought we should take our chance to get down while not actually raining. As expected the steps was covered in water and ridiculously slippery. So helpful to someone terrified of heights. But I percevered and although the slowest person up there and held back a massive queue of adventureous Sri Lankans I got back down. I'm sure it was laughable to them but I'm proud I did it and without crying too!
Of course now we are sodden to say the least so weren't really in the mood for wandering around much more, although we did go into the museum which was really interesting to see old photos and learn more about the place (and shielded us from another downpour).
From here was a long and soggy journey back to where we saying which included the first bus driver trying to charge double (don't mess with me after what I've been through... he didn't get it) and the second bus being an actual white knuckle ride where even locals were screaming and people were hurled around the bus.
What a day! Although a wash out, honestly what an amazing place Sigiriya is.
BethRead more
