Travels with Jay

Sri Lanka trip: Day 8 (21 December 2024)

Hi again everyone. I hope you have been enjoying finding out a bit more about Sri Lanka. So, as I think I had mentioned before, up until today I was on a pre-packaged tour deal with had been set up by Mai Global Travels. While I was mostly happy with the experiences which had been planned, I do actually think it was a bit more expensive than it needed to be, in particular since we were in a triple room throughout. However, maybe our driver Erik was getting paid very well . . .? if so, then I think it is okay, but I have my doubts about him getting even $100 USD a day. In addition to the $695 USD with each of us had paid . . .meaning it was right at $100 USD a night per person, at the end of the trip when all of our other expenses had been added up, I had spent 70994.50 LKR additional in total for the first seven nights, for an additional $242 USD. So, the cost per night had been $133 USD. The main advantage of the planned trip had been having Erik available to just take us around all over the place, and except for the time in Hatton, that had been especially useful. However, if you come with two weeks, I suspect you can spend that same amount, still have good food and more than acceptable lodging, and do everything which we had done in seven nights. Of course, that was all supposition, but I was going to find out a little of what it would be like to manage things on my own over the next few days.

After Dorothee and I had our last breakfast together at 8:30 AM, Erik arrived at 10:10 AM to take Dorothee to the airport, and we said our goodbyes at that time, with the three of us together leaving Erik with a tip of 30,000 LKR ($102.31 USD). I then used the PickMe app to get a rickshaw to the Makumbura transport hub on the outskirts of Colombo. The rickshaw picked me up at 10:21 AM, and we arrived quite early to the station at 11:05 AM. The cost of the ride had been 1100 LKR ($3.75 USD). The station was very clean, and while a bit busy, did not seem all that chaotic.

My bus was not actually scheduled until 1:00 PM, but I was supposed to meet my contact from 12Go at 12:45 PM and given that I wasn’t really sure how things worked here, I had decided that I would prefer to arrive very early and just wait at the station. Given that the station itself was perfectly comfortable, I thought this had been a good decision. From 11:15 AM to 12:15 PM I did Duolingo on my phone. Then looking around again, I reflected that I wasn’t really sure why I needed to have a contact from the booking agency, since it seemed that I should just be able to be told the gate number and go from there, but for whatever reason, this was the system they had put in place. I had been informed that I was supposed to meet the contact in front of the nearby Pizza Hut at 12:45 PM, so that is where I headed at 12:30 PM, right after I had paid 20 LKR ($0.07 USD) to use a very clean public restroom at the station.

I was getting a tiny bit nervous at 12:42 PM, but when I sent a message to the company via WhatsApp, they apologized and said that due to the high number of travellers today, the on the ground contact needed me to change spaces, going back to the station. There Ranga met me, apologized for the inconvenience and showed me a place to sit, while he said he would take finish taking care of everything and make sure that I got on the bus without any problems. As far as I can make out, in reality they do not actually have a “reserved seating” system on these buses. Rather, people just come, stand in line, and then get on the bus. The extra amount I had paid, had been in order to get someone to stand in the correct line for me, and then to assure that I actually got on the right bus. This really did seem like five-star treatment. Yes, there were a LOT of people waiting for the bus to Galle, but it didn’t appear to be a disaster. Still, the extra assistance was much appreciated, and given how little I had paid, it certainly seemed to be a bargain for me to not have to stress about anything.

At 1:25 PM I was in the very comfortable bus going to Galle. I seemed to be the only person who was obviously not South Asian, but that was perfectly fine. It appears that the “real cost” of the bus was only 780 LKR ($2.66 USD) but I had paid $8.76 USD at 12Go, which means that I had paid $6.10 USD for all the handholding, having someone put my bag below for me, not having to wait in line (which had certainly been a plus) and of course not having to find the correct bus line on my own. No doubt a local person would find this additional cost to be absurd, But I felt that this was a bargain, and still much cheaper and faster than the first-class train to Galle, which was the only option available when I had decided to book about a week before. Maybe I had missed out on some of the “authentic experience,” but I was perfectly happy with the peace of mind which had been bought with my six dollars.

At 1:36 PM I put on my audiobook and sat back to relax for the ride. A guy came through charging everyone else cash, since I seemed to be the only one to actually have a ticket ahead of time, but he didn’t even ask to see my ticket. Presumably, with the extra treatment I had paid for, he was clearly aware that I was the crazy foreigner who had paid 4 times more than necessary, but I was a happy foreigner, so that was just perfect for me. As we travelled, I noted that the highway was in excellent repair and the ride very smooth. Similarly, while the view from the bus window was not of the ocean, it was nice looking nature. At 2:58 PM we arrived right outside the front of Galle Fort, and I headed in walking to find my lodging for the night at Nisala Guest House, where I had booked 2 nights on Booking.com for a cost of $54 USD in total.

Upon arrival, I was greeted and offered a nice glass of passion fruit juice. After just a few minutes to drop off my things, I decided to go out and wander around Galle Fort while there was still daylight.

As luck would have it, at 5:18 PM there was an absurdly strong cloudburst, and the first place I could duck into was an extremely fancy hotel. I strongly suspect it may be the most expensive place in Galle. While the workers had not pressured me to buy anything, I felt a bit guilty just sitting in their lobby waiting for the heavy rain to stop, so I went ahead and asked for a menu and ended up ordering “afternoon cream tea” for a cost of 5200 LKR ($17.78 USD). This consisted of two scones, clotted cream, delicious jam and of course very good black tea. It was by far the most expensive thing I had eaten so far in Sri Lanka, but I really did have to admit that the place was extremely elegant and the service outstanding.

As it was still raining, and I also wanted to further justify the cost of the “cream tea,” I stayed there until 6:46 PM. The rain was a bit less than it had been, but it continued coming down, and I still had no umbrella, not that an umbrella would have done much with the initial heavy rain. Still, the whole point of staying in Galle Fort had been to have access to the evening shops, cafes, etc . . . so I decided to go out and try walking a bit more. I did have the opportunity to briefly see the rather picturesque Dutch Reformed Church at 6:56 PM.

Unfortunately, very soon after that, it started raining quite heavily once again, and I took refuge under the awning of a clothing shop. Then much to my surprise, even though I had not gone into the store, the shopkeeper kindly offered me a chair to sit on at 7:20 PM. One hour later, the rain was still coming down quite heavily, and I was still in the same chair. It was then that I started to reevaluate whether or not Galle was a good place for me to spend two nights. It was all very beautiful etc . . . and no doubt I would have enjoyed it even more with a companion or two, but the whole point of coming to Galle Fort was supposed to be wandering around the streets at night. Whether or not the forecast was accurate (Who could say?), but when I checked, heavy rains were also projected for the following evening. Thus, at 9:20 PM, still in my same hiding place outside the shop, I decided that I would instead go to Mirissa the next day, booking a whale watching tour via GetYourGuide on December 23rd for a cost of $67.32 USD. This meant that I would “lose” $27 USD for the unused night at the hotel in Galle, but if it was just going to be raining like this again in the evening, I was fine with that.

At 9:25 PM, despite the rain which was still relatively heavy, I decided that I had better try to get back to my lodging or risk spending the entire night in the same chair. Dodging under different awnings etc . . . I was able to get back to the homestay at 9:37 PM, take a shower and hang my clothes to dry, and then get in bed at 10:04 PM. In conclusion, that was my first solo night in Sri Lanka. While things had not gone exactly as planned, I had at least been able to see a bit of Galle Fort, and I acknowledged that it really was something which I was glad that I had at least made an effort to explore. The rain had been a bit annoying, but the weather is going to do what it is going to do. I reasoned that even if it were to be raining a lot in Mirissa, at least I would still be able to do the whale watching tour, and if things went well, I might even be able to squeeze in snorkeling with sea turtles. Of course, for the most part I was just trying to take things as they came and just enjoy a few days of relaxation.

Do you have any guesses about how things went for the following days? Or do you think it is best to just wait and see? Let me know what you think in the comments section below.

Sri Lanka trip: Day 7 (20 December 2024)

Hey there virtual travellers, jumping right into Day 7, in the morning we had a breakfast at the hotel at 8:30 AM and then were picked up by Erik at 9:40 AM.

We made a stop at 9:57 AM to wander around Independence Square in Colombo 7, but were quickly back in the car after around 25 minutes.

Having spent around 25 minutes wandering around, we then took a short trip in the van to get to Gangaramaya temple at 10:31 AM. The cost of entry was 400 LKR ($1.36 USD) per person. Again, we of course had to take our shoes off. Note, if wearing socks, it is better to also take socks off since throughout many of these temples there will be damp rugs which I think are meant to help keep things a bit cooler. As we walked around, I once more noted that they are definitely not shy about displaying ivory tusks here, at least not in a religious context.

At 11:03 AM I was thinking to myself that it was very odd (for me at least) the way they had so many random old items mixed in with obvious religious symbols. I wondered if anyone had done any work to actually catalogue and study the items, since it seemed that quite a bit of history could be gleaned from some of them. While this perhaps reads as unkind, at times I sort of felt like this was just a dumping ground for stuff when someone’s grandparents died. No doubt many, if not most of the donations on display had been made with true devotion, but others really just seemed rather haphazard.

At 11:13 AM I especially wondered what the significance of clocks and watches was. There were so many there, many of them obviously just cheap LCD watches, and there was no obvious attempt to display them in any sort of a nice way.

Extra points for anyone who notices the item in the upper right-hand corner of this picture.

From there we walked to another nearby religious site (yep, shoes off again despite it being in the direct sunlight), this one being on one of Sri Lanka’s approximately 34,500 manmade lakes.

At 11:37 AM we were back in the vehicle headed over to a different area of the city where we arrived at 11:53 AM. There they had a very interesting mosque which is open to be viewed by tourists, but not until 4:00 PM, so we missed that. Still, the general area around there was nice, and I thought it might be good to wander around there a bit more.

Then at 12:17 PM we went into a very fancy looking “ayurvedic” skin care shop where Laurianne seemed to be in her element. Although I did not want to buy anything, it certainly was pretty inside.

A short walk from there we arrived at a pleasant seafood restaurant at 12:54 PM.

The bill at the restaurant was 14000 LKR ($47.74 USD) and a short trip later, Dorothee and I were left at Barefoot to do some shopping (meaning Dorothee would buy, and I would wander around) at 2:30 PM and Erik took Laurianne back to the hotel before heading to the airport for her flight back to Shanghai. I was sorry to see Laurianne, as I really did feel that she had become a nice friend during our time travelling together . . .

There actually was quite a bit to see at Barefoot, and we even had a couple of simple drinks in the cafe for a cost of 1400 LKR ($4.77 USD) for the two of us. We stayed there until 4:07 PM and then I got a PickMe rickshaw for 400 LKR ($1.36 USD) which left us at the hotel at 4:20 PM. We rested briefly, and then I convinced Dorothee to go out for an evening walk from 5:11 PM to 7:25 PM. For one direction we stayed on the beach, but on the way back we walked along the street, since there were no lights on the beach. I think it was a bit more than Dorothee had bargained for, but she was a good sport about the whole thing.

Having already been out much of the day, Dorothee and I decided to have our final dinner together in the hotel restaurant at 8:40 PM, and that was the end of Day 7.

Dorothee would be leaving the next morning, but I had decided to stay on in Sri Lanka on my own for another week. While it had not been the sort of travel which I would have normally chosen to do on my own, I will admit that it had been nice to change things up a bit. Certainly, it had been pleasant sharing with Dorothee in a non-work setting and also getting to start to make friends with Laurianne. On a separate note, earlier in the evening I had booked a bus ticket to Galle with 12Go, but I was a bit uncertain as to how well it was all actually going to work out. Of course, if you want to know what happened, you will just have to keep reading when Day 8 comes out.

Sri Lanka trip: Day 6 (19 December 2024)

Hey there everyone, considering how I had kept you hanging while I finished by entries about the trip to Beijing, if you have actually kept up with reading all of these entries about Sri Lanka, then you are definitely to be congratulated for your stamina. Anyway, I will just jump straight ahead into Day 6.

I think we were all awake no later than 7:00 AM, but Laurianne got up much earlier and even saw the sunrise. However, as there was no rush to do anything, I stayed in bed until 7:40 AM, then having a light breakfast at the hotel before departing in the van with Erik at 9:38 AM. From there, it was a relatively short trip to Tea Castle St Clair where we arrived at 9:58 AM.

While I can’t say that I am particularly interested in the topic, I was still very impressed with the crazy variety of teas. However, for someone who is really into it, I wonder if this would have been seen as a “cheap” tourist attraction or as something which was really special. For instance, what would Beth Johns’ mom have thought? I wonder.

Then at 10:18 AM we had a special tea presentation in which we learned (or at any rate heard) about the general characteristics of different types of tea. Evidently white tea, in general terms, is considered “the fanciest” but she also said that green tea was very special. One thing that distinguishes white tea is that there is no fermentation process. Honestly, for me, the white tea was so mild that I could have believed I was just drinking oddly flavored water; I guess I’m not very cultured. The only one that I categorically did NOT like was the gunpowder tea . . . the name gives a bit of a hint as to why.

Many of these places would have been displeased had I been visiting by myself, but Dorothee and Laurianne made up for my lack of purchases.

As far as the plants go, I was interested to learn that every 12 months, they completely cut away all of the green, leaving only the wood, but then the green grows back and they once again harvest the tea leaves.

We left around 10:45 AM but then stopped at a lookout spot to see Devon Falls in the distance at 10:58 AM. Evidently it is possible to take a trail up close to the waterfalls, but most people just stop where we did and look from a distance.

We were only there for a couple of minutes before driving on a bit more to stop at the viewpoint to see St Clair’s Falls at 11:02 AM.

Again, it was all very beautiful, but after looking around for a few minutes we were all ready to move on, and that is what we did at 11:09 AM, with the next stop being Christ Church Warleigh where we arrived at 11:48 AM. This really was incredibly charming, both inside and out, but there were no pictures allowed inside.

This is still a fully functioning church for the nearby community, and I thought it would be quite nice to go there for a service. However, despite all of its charm, there wasn’t a huge amount to see once one had walked around a couple of times. Shortly thereafter we were off once again to see if we could visit the dam, but it was evidently not possible that day. So, we just stopped to take a couple more pictures at 12:20 PM before getting back in the vehicle again at 12:23 PM.

Believe it or not, that was the only thing that was scheduled today, which was a bit of a shock as we started heading back to the hotel for our last night in Hatton. We had some discussion of things to possibly do . . . certainly at some point we would get lunch? The most interesting idea on the table was to go to the city/town of Hatton and just wander up and down the streets for a bit, but there was nothing of known note to do there. Then at 12:47 PM we made the decision to just leave right then and have an extra night in Colombo rather than spending two nights in Hatton. This would mean that we would “lose” the night already paid in Hatton and also would have to pay an additional night in Colombo, but it seemed worth it. Even Erik said he had never understood why we were scheduled for two nights in Hatton.

Yes, it was very pretty in Hatton, and for me at least the temperature was perfect, but it was also a bit boring, especially when thinking how there was so much to see and do in Colombo. While this might seem like a glitch or a downside of the trip, it is actually really liberating to make a decision like this. That’s another bit of my travel wisdom; when following an itinerary, even if you have already paid for something, it really is okay to change your mind and do something else instead. We were back at the hotel to gather our things at 1:18 PM, and thankfully my laundry which I had left to be washed the day before for a cost of 1000 LKR ($3.41 USD) was mostly dry. I put the lightly damp socks aside in my lightweight, cloth laundry bag as we got in the van once again at 1:44 PM and headed to Colombo. This time I switched things up a bit and decided to sit in the front passenger seat.

We stopped at 2:52 PM at a place I think called The Bridge Restaurant for lunch. It certainly had a beautiful view from the balcony, and there was even a live guitarist/singer. Frankly, he did not play/sing very well, but he was trying to entertain. The food also was also not particularly impressive, but more than adequate. However, the view and the general setting was very nice. The total cost of the buffet for all of us was 10500 LKR ($35.81 USD). We left there at 3:46 PM, with me once more riding in front with Erik.

As we continued on our way to Colombo, I noted that the seat in front was not quite as comfortable as in the back, but the improved view really did make my general trip more pleasant, which was important, because it was not until 6:57 PM that we finally arrived at our lodging for the evening, Sayura House.

Wanting to take advantage of our last evening in which all three of us would be together, at 7:29 PM we were out walking and went to the highly recommended Barracuda club which was nearby. There was a live band which sounded okay, but we found it too loud; although, we appreciated the background music as we sat out on the beach having our various snacks and drinks. We definitely made the most of our last night out together, and the final bill of 30,000 LKR ($102.31 USD) reflected the same. While that does seem like a lot of money, we had a very nice time, and it was not until 11: 30 PM that we headed back to the hotel for the night, so I think it was worth it.

So, things had clearly not gone exactly as originally had been planned, but I think that it was still a very good Day 6 of our trip. I was also VERY happy that we had traveled all of those hours on a day in which we otherwise would not really have been able “to do anything” in the afternoon, as that meant we would be able to take better advantage of the next day in Colombo before Laurianne would have to take an early evening flight back to Shanghai. What do you think? Did we make the right decision? Would you have just stayed another night in Hatton even though there really wasn’t anything more to do? Have you ever changed your travel plans like this on the spur of the moment? If so, how did it go for you? If you have answers to any of these questions you would like to share, or maybe you have some of your own questions, you can put all of that right there in the comments section below.

Sri Lanka trip: Day 5 (18 December 2024)

Hey there everyone. So having really pushed myself to write two of these entries yesterday, I was tempted to let today slide and not do any, but then I remembered that the Sri Lanka trip was 14 days long and that once I am back at work, I will probably not even be able to finish one entry a day. Those of you have been reading along will have noticed that the pace of the last couple of days was intense. Once more, not having actually checked the agenda for today, I was wondering just how much longer we would keep up with this pace. I mean it had been amazing so far, but it was just so much in such a short time . . .

Anyway, we were up at 7:15 AM and had a quick breakfast at the same hotel as last night. Dorothee and Laurianne had the “western breakfast”, but I chose the Sri Lankan breakfast. We all agreed that the food was alright, and then we were in the van once again at 8:18 AM.

While the lodging had been pretty, I think it would have actually been better to not be so far from the actual city. Certainly, were I to visit here again, that is a change I would make. Shortly after we departed, at 8:58 AM we were already outside the Royal Botanical Gardens. We paid 3540 LKR ($12.00 USD) each for our entry fee, plus an additional 1000 LKR ($3.39 USD) for the buggy rental and the “sort of guide”.

This place was actually far nicer than I had thought it would be. And once again, there were so many fun facts. To begin with, this is definitely not a “natural” garden. They have lots of types of different collections of plants: grass, bamboo, agave, palm trees, etc . . . There are 200 different types just of palm trees in the garden! I did not ask about the size of the place, but it is huge, but amazingly there are only 130 workers total who manage everything: administration, gardening, cleaning, etc . . .

Yes, it is a collection of different types of grass . . .

Whenever there are pine trees with slanted trunks, at least like the ones here, it is because termites have eaten more of one side of the roots.

At 9:33 AM we came upon this area which is of different trees planted by various visiting dignitaries and heads of state over the years. While it wasn’t quite as pretty as some of the other sections of the garden, I thought it was a very nice way to note the history of many important visitors.

Evidently this is a good place to work, as the buggy driver said that he had been working there for twenty years. At 9:57 AM we came upon the topiary section.

Since we were zipping around in the buggy (basically an electric golf cart) we didn’t closely see many things, and there was a lot of stuff that I was not able to write down before we were on to the next section. So you will forgive me when I simply say that I also saw this neat looking tree . . . no further information available 😕.

At 10:00 AM we were at the orchid house, which is supposed to be one of the main points of pride for the park, but I guess we were not overly impressed, since by 10:08 AM we were back in the buggy once again.

Then, almost immediately after we left the orchid house, we were out the gates and again getting back in the vehicle with Erik at 10:13 AM. As I have mentioned earlier during this Sri Lanka trip, most everywhere only accepts cash, and places that accept cards usually charge a 3% surcharge. With that in mind, Laurianne was starting to feel in a bit of a bind, even though both Dorothee and I said that we could manage the cash expenses for the rest of the trip, since as frequently happens when travelling, her bank had put a freeze on her bank card. The day before she had called her bank and over the phone explained to her that YES, it really was her, so she was hoping that she would be able to get money out of the next ATM we encountered.

As luck would have it, she had no problems that time getting cash. However, it highlights a regular problem with travelling abroad. It’s generally not a good idea to depend on a single payment method, especially when travelling by oneself. Traveler’s checks used to be a reliable fallback, but these days I suggest always having cards from at least two different banks and a minimum of $100 USD with you at all times when travelling. As a further backup, always make sure to have a way you can easily contact family members should you be robbed or just somehow lose your valuables. So, on that cautionary note, at 10:40 AM we were at a very picturesque train station which is still in regular use.

I found it a bit odd that we were going to take a train and then meet Erik at our arrival point. This of course meant that going by road would be faster than train, and we already had a perfectly good van and excellent driver. However, this was evidently all part of the plan. Anyway, at 11:42 AM we were on our third class reserved train and in our seats. I have to say, it was way nicer than I would have expected for “third class”. But the seats did start to feel rather uncomfortable by the time we arrived in Hatton at 1:53 PM.

Evidently taking a second or third class reserved train ride is one of those “must do” things in Sri Lanka. Don’t get me wrong; it was pretty, but I felt that we actually wasted quite a bit of time. Would I do it again if I had plenty of time to spare and it wasn’t difficult to get tickets (evidently it is difficult to get reserved tickets), probably I would at least consider it. However, if road travel is faster and even cheaper, then maybe you can just skip the train. There are plenty of beautiful places all along the roads of Sri Lanka. Still, as I said, at 1:53 PM we arrived at Hatton, where Erik was waiting for us. We were finally able to mail the postcards which Laurianne and Dorothee had been carrying around for several days, and then we looked for a place to eat. While I was a bit horrified that we chose an Indian restaurant, I knew that for Laurianne it might be something special/different, and I have to admit that the food actually wasn’t bad. For the three of us, it was 6150 LKR ($20.93 USD) including some very pleasant fruit juices.

At 2:45 PM we were back in the van, now headed up to our lodging for the evening. Then at 3:05 PM we pulled up outside one of the most beautiful places I have ever stayed, The Argyle. I mean this place was proper fancy. They met us with hot towels and asked to sit in elegant chairs while they managed the check-in process and brought us some delightful welcome drinks. I mean wow, it was just too good to be true.

And like I said, it wasn’t true . . . Erik had made a big mistake and brought us to the wrong place. We were not actually registered there, but rather at the Grand Argyle. Still though, the workers were incredibly polite and even apologized that it had taken so long for our welcome drinks to arrive, which they insisted that we still have before we left. Still, I reasoned if that was the Argyle, and we were going to the GRAND Argyle, then our place was going to be a veritable palace! Thus, we got back in the vehicle and continued further up the mountain.

As you have no doubt already guessed, when we pulled into The Grand Argyle at 3:28 PM we couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed. To be fair, if we had never seen the first place, then we would certainly not have thought anything negative about the second place, except for the fact that it was literally in the middle of nowhere, but it was impossible to not make comparisons.

Left with nothing else to do but walk around or use electronics, at 3:53 PM we went out walking. Dorothee and Laurianne were keen on walking through a tea plantation (evidently, it’s a thing?) but I thought I would be happier just walking along the road. It turned out that the tea plantation walk had not been all that fulfilling, as shortly thereafter I came across Laurianne and Dorothee on a different area of the road, and we all walked around together until 5:04 PM when the two of them decided to just go into the hotel again, but I wanted to see a bit more if possible before it got dark.

I was actually a bit sorry for them that they did not continue on with me, since I found some other interesting sites which were also particularly beautiful with the setting sun.

I even got to see a local religious procession of some sort.

Still, it was quickly getting dark, and I definitely did not want to get lost out here on my own, so I took care to be back to the hotel at 5:51 PM. Dorothee was reading a book and Laurianne was taking care of some work, so I decided to follow Laurianne’s example and work on my pending blog entries from my October trip to Beijing. It was time well spent, and by 7:34 PM I had finished, edited and posted Day 3 of the Beijing trip. I was also quite happy about the chilly air, but Laurianne and Dorothee needed to break out sweatshirts and cooler weather gear. At 7:40 PM dinner was served.

They really did do a wonderful job of presenting the dinner, and we had a nice time sharing with one another until 9:08 PM when we decided to turn in for the evening. Certainly, I could not deny that it was a very peaceful and beautiful setting in nature. However, I wondered how we were going to fill up the next day, since we were scheduled to spend two nights here. Maybe the town was actually closer than it seemed, and we could simply take some time to do some exploration there the next day? Again, I could have just looked at the itinerary to know what was scheduled, but I hadn’t looked yet, so also saw no reason to start doing it now.

Yes, this was a very different day from the last few days of the trip, but I reasoned that maybe that was a good thing. Sometimes it is good to just reconnect a bit in nature. However, even that seemed sort of limited here. Regardless, I am sure that we were going to figure out a way to make it work for Day 6. Of course, if you want to find out, then you will need to keep reading. Thanks again for following along with my travels and do let me know if you have any questions about anything I mentioned today.

Sri Lanka trip: Day 4 (17 December 2024)

Hi there readers. What have you thought about Sri Lanka so far? Has it been living up to your expectations, or did you think it would be a different experience? Is there anything in particular you hope to see in the days to come? While I am not at all certain that I will be able to deliver a trip that goes along with any preconceived notions you may have had, I do promise to give a faithful retelling of what I saw, thought and felt along the way.

Keeping that in mind, our 7:30 AM breakfast was uninspiring, and I couldn’t be bothered to take any pictures. However, I appreciated that Laurianne shared some of her nice pour over Colombian coffee packets which she had brought along and then prepared for us herself. The departure from the homestay, for which Laurianne and I at least were happy to leave, was at 8:30 AM. Eric, our driver, told us that it would be 20 minutes for us to get to our first stop. His timing was a bit off, but at 9:05 AM we were at another temple with a lot of stairs, with a cost of 2000 LKR ($6.84 USD) for us to be able to go up. The stairs themselves were not that terrible, and by 9:17 PM we were already at the place where you probably already guessed, we would once more have to take off our shoes. However, unlike where we had been yesterday, there was a whole system for keeping the shoes safe while one entered the religious site.

At 9:23 AM we were in the first hall of Buddhas. While this site was mostly Buddhist, there was also some mixing, since some Hindu gods were also displayed.

There were a few different rooms. In some of them the statues were carved directly out of the rock, but in others there were carved statues, some even of wood which had been brought in from outside. On a separate note, when I asked, our driver/guide said that special allowances were made for actual worshippers who were in wheelchairs etc . . . so that they would have access to the temple. The last cave, which was also the furthest from the entry was the newest one. It had actually been made by the local village chief, so that his people from the area would also have access to the worship site.

Okay, so here are some other tidbits. The place where we were visiting was called the Dambulla cave temple. Like every other historic religious site around here, basically everything has some symbolic meaning which I of course did not understand. The first reclining Buddha seen when one enters from the stairs is from about 2000 years ago, with each area afterwards being a bit newer. Then right about as the drum started at 9:57 AM to indicate that we had to start leaving, I learned my favorite fun fact for the day. The dome shape of the Buddhist stupas is based on the shape of the Bo tree leaf, and how it looks when it is folded in half. These, trees, under which it is said that the Buddha meditated, are considered holy throughout all of Sri Lanka.

Incidentally, it is possible to hire an official temple guide for 750 LKR ($2.57 USD), which I most certainly would have done had I been on my own. When we went to get our shoes, we paid a 100 LKR ($0.34 USD) shoe care fee. My feet were very gritty at 10:05 AM when I was cleaning them before putting on my shoes and socks to walk back down, but the wet wipes in my shoulder bag helped get them clean. Then we headed back down the stairs where we arrived at the car park at 10:15 AM and then entered the van. Up until now, the day had been very overcast, but it had not been raining.

Our next step along the way was at a 10:53 AM; it was an herb and spice garden and of course shop. We had a bit of a tour, learning some facts and all sorts of supposed healing properties of different herbs and spices. While I did not believe much of what the guide said, I thought he did a very good job of making the whole experience quite interesting.

Some fun facts learned were the following. One of the reasons that Vanilla is so expensive is that most of it is artificially pollinated. The self-defense spray Mace is an extract from Nutmeg. There are more than 500 types of Aloe Vera. There are two types of Sandalwood, I think one is red, and the other is yellow. Turmeric is frequently used for preserving food, similar to salt, and Clover powder used to be commonly used to clean teeth. Once we were up to the hut area, he made the most of his marketing spiel to explain how these different mixed creams and oils can cure/fix everything one can imagine, and as part of the sales pitch smeared creams and oils on Dorothee and Laurianne, but I politely declined all of that. I did however enjoy smelling some of the essences.

I had no intention of buying any of the stuff in the shop, but I had been entertained by the guide, so when he left us at the shop at 12:06 PM, Laurianne and I each gave him a 1000 ($3.42 USD) LKR tip. Dorothee and Laurianne then did a bit of shopping in the store, with us then once again in the van at 12:20 PM.

The road to Kandy had a lot of twists and turns, and I was starting to get a bit nauseous, so when Dorothee expressed interest in getting out and looking around a bit at the Kandy War Cemetary from WWII at 2:01 PM, I was good with getting out to at least not be in the vehicle for a few minutes. I was very impressed with how well the cemetery was maintained. It was also interesting, because I had never really thought about Sri Lanka having been involved in the second world war.

However, our visit was brief before we were back in the vehicle and then we stopped at Oak Ray Regency Hotel at 2:26 PM to get a buffet lunch. The setting of the restaurant was beautiful, but the food was average at best.

The cost of the buffet for the three of us was again 10500 LKR ($35.81 USD) and we were once more on our way 3:00 PM, arriving to a parking spot in the center of Kandy at 3:24 PM. We had just one hour to explore a bit before meeting Erik for the next item on the agenda.

When we met back up with Erik at 4:30 PM, he told us that Kandy has approximately 35,000 lakes, and 99% of them are manmade, including the main one we had seen there in Kandy. At 4:43 PM we were at the folkloric dance place, where we had to pay 2000 LKR ($6.82 USD) each.

As we were leaving the dance hall at 6:09 PM I had to admit that I really had been very entertained. Of course, I have no idea if they were really “dancing correctly” or if they were doing anything “authentic”, but there is no doubt that they were trying their best, and for the most part there was never a dull moment. Finally, the whole fire walking etc . . . stuff at the end was a bit over the top, but what a way to end the show!

We had to rush from the dance place to the nearby Buddha tooth temple where we arrived at 6:15 PM and each paid 2000 LKR ($6.82 USD) to enter. Of course, this was another no shoes place. We went all over the place in there, and at times I was a bit anxious with the press of people. Special thanks to Laurianne, as she could tell that I was freaking out a bit about it and took some extra pains to calm me down and also prevent too many people from constantly pushing me from all sides. The first thing that struck me as I entered was that these people were definitely not shy about displaying elephant tusks, at least not in a religious setting. There was some sort of a religious ceremony going on related to the tooth of the Buddha relic which supposedly is located here.

At 6:58 PM we were outside for a few moments. And I was glad of that. We saw the preserved body of Raja the Tusker and then I stayed outside while Dorothee and Laurianne lit some oil lanterns in a glass enclosed space. Honestly, I was just happy to have a break from so many people and so much noise from the inside of the temple.

The temple was all very impressive, and I might even be interested in going back to see it again, but not when there are so many people. At 7:13 PM we were out and getting our shoes. With my “baby feet” all of that walking around barefoot, especially outside, had also been a bit tough. At 7:22 PM we were back in the vehicle and going very high up the mountain to Mount Blue Kandy, where we would be spending just one night. We arrived at 7:38 PM. No doubt the view would have been impressive, but it was very overcast with the recurrent rain. We had dinner at and then more or less went straight to bed. The room was nice as was the food, but arriving so late, we didn’t really get to appreciate it much.

It did not actually look this bright. This was using night sight on my Google Pixel camera. In reality, it all just looked pitch black with a few dots of light.

This is what it actually looked like from the balcony without using night sight.

We finished our food at 9:45 PM and went straight to bed. And once again, WOW! That had been a very packed day! We saw and did so many things, that it wasn’t until I was looking back over my notes and pictures that I realized just how much had been fit into a single day of travel. Do you think it was too much for a single day, or is that the way you like to travel? What part was your favorite? Was there anything that you think you would have skipped? Anyway, as always, thanks for reading along and let me know your thoughts and questions in the comment section below.

Sri Lanka trip: Day 3 (16 December 2024)

Hi folks. I hope things are going well for you today. Continuing with the trend of recent days, I am going to try to turn out another one of these blog entries. In fact, today I may even try to do two! Let’s see how that works out.

So, you will remember that Day 2 was in Sigiriya, and we would be continuing there for Day 3. Neither Laurianne nor I had slept especially well, but Laurianne had been even more uncomfortable. Dorothee, who had slept the best of the three, was ironically also the one who seemed to be coming down with a cold. Regardless, we were all looking forward to our Day 3 adventure which started with breakfast at 7:30 AM. We then departed at 8:24 AM, making a quick stop at 9:29 AM where I bought some natural mosquito repellant, and also attempted to find some simple sports sandals, but there was no luck with the footwear. After just 6 minutes, we were back in the vehicle and then arrived at the Ancient City of Polonnaruva at 9:50 AM. Admission was $30 USD each for non-SAARC citizens.

It was raining for most of the visit, but Erik had extra umbrellas available for us. Erik, who was also acting as “our guide” was certainly an outstanding driver and general chaperone, but not particularly helpful as “a guide”. To be fair, he was probably doing the “guide part” as an extra, but in particular when visiting an ancient archeological site, it really does help A LOT to have someone who really knows what they are talking about. He did however at least know to point out to us that even in the 12th century, they had indoor toilets in this ancient city, which is a rather remarkable feature, if not perhaps incredibly picture worthy.

For me, one of the additional annoyances of this visit was that I only had brought one pair of shoes on the trip, and while they were great for walking long distances in a variety of conditions, they were not ideal for rainy weather, and especially not ideal for a place with tons of ancient temples where they wanted you to take your shoes off to enter. That was why I had earlier been trying to find a simple pair of sandals to change into. Also, as pretty much all the “temples” were open air, that meant that one would be walking barefoot through water and there was also no covered place to keep shoes to keep them dry while it was raining.

Having read other recounts of trips here, it seems that being here on a rainy day had its pluses, since it can also be incredibly hot, with scalding rocks to walk across when it is sunny. So, on balance, it is probably better to visit here when it is overcast, but not raining, if you can somehow manage to perfectly find that combination. Given that I only had the one pair of shoes to get me through two weeks, I opted to simply not enter any of the temples . . . which I guess in some ways was a bit of a letdown, but certainly better than having soggy hiking shoes for the next several days. So, any of the pictures from inside the temples (think Buddhist statues) were taken by either Laurianne or Dorothee.

At 11:08 we came upon this huge “stone book”. One of the big things about this site was that it supposedly once had either a tooth, or the teeth of Buddha.

It was rather impressive that after all these years the writing appeared to still be completely legible.

At 11:18 AM it had mostly stopped raining, and we arrived at what I think was the main Stupa of the site. While Laurianne, Dorothee and Erik walked inside, I walked around the perimeter and appreciated the details of the wall and the apparently still functioning drain system. While walking around, I saw that there appeared to be modern Buddha sculptures at every entrance except for the main one.

At 11:47 AM we arrived to yet another area where people were supposed to take their shoes off. There were carvings directly in the rock, similar to what can be seen in the carved caverns in the national park in Mumbai, but at a much smaller scale. Still, I do think that I would have sort of liked to enter this one, but it was just too complicated with my shoes, and the carving could at least be well seen from a distance, at least of the large Buddha.

We weren’t there long, and then at 11:59 AM arrived at the monastery complex. A friend of Erik who was along, showed me a super-secret side entrance where for some reason I was allowed to go with shoes, so there I saw most of what Dorothee and Laurianne also saw. Here there were a couple of things which drew my attention. The first was the recurring theme of the crocodile mouths for the drains. The second was how there were tiny little chubby men carved on a lot of the walls. This was the first time I could remember seeing that type of stylized human carvings on ancient architecture in this part of the world.

Another general characteristic which I kept noticing was the mixed use of brick and stone throughout the archeological site. Anyway, there was clearly a LOT more to see here, but we were also clearly only seeing the “trophy sites” since we would have needed a more insightful guide to appreciate anything else. Furthermore, it’s true that no matter how good your guide is, one can usually only handle a very limited amount of temples/churches/archeology/art in a single day.

Thus, by 12:22 PM we were back in the vehicle and heading to our lunch buffet spot, where we arrived at 12:30 PM. Of all the places we ate while travelling together, I think that this was my favorite. The hostesses did a wonderful job of explaining us a bit about the different foods; the presentation was of the food items was delightful, and it was also quite tasty. Lunch for the three of us was 10500 LKR ($35.92 USD).

On the way out, we also used the bathroom, which was simple, but once again spotlessly clean. We were back in the van at 1:30 PM headed to the safari place. I was keeping my expectations low, since my previous “safaris” have been less than super. But then I started revising expectations when right on the regular road we saw an authentic wild elephant!

At 2:23 PM we quickly left the van and entered our safari jeep, which was just for the three of us, where we paid 10500 LKR ($35.92 USD) each and the actual “safari experience began”. These are evidently 100% wild elephants which have never been domesticated nor held in captivity. On a daily basis, each adult elephant eats between 200 and 250 kg of grass, and under “normal” conditions, they can expect to live 80 years. Whenever there is a group of elephants together, they are all female, since adult male elephants apparently live mostly solitary lives except for their mating season. On a separate note, I later on read that this belief about “solitary male elephants” may not be completely true, but the information I read was all about African elephants, so maybe the same is not true of Asian elephants?

We actually saw a couple of different small herds, and then at 3:40 PM they stopped where there was a sort of large rock, and Dorothee and I walked up to see what could be seen while Laurianne opted to stay back in the jeep.

At 4:09 PM we were back in the jeep, and I figured that we were pretty much done with elephants for the day, but that was definitely not the case. At 4:16 PM we saw a mother and calf together, and we were particularly impressed at how they were “cleaning” the grass before eating it.

Around about 4:24 PM I was really starting to notice the orange spots on the ears and trunks of many of the elephants. When seeing those once before with my friend Elisabet during a show at Elephantastic in Phuket, she posited that these spots were the result of “abuse” by the elephant trainers. However, the guide on this safari said that these were just normal “age spots” . . . generally the more spots, the older an elephant is, similar to the sorts of spots many humans get on their hands and arms as they get older.

As you have no doubt noticed, pretty much the only animals we saw were elephants, but some of this may have been due to the continual light rain, which evidently elephants like quite a bit, but other animals not as much. Yes, it was really amazing to be so close to wild elephants, but at 4:30 PM we started to head out and by 4:36 PM we were once more back in the van and headed back to the homestay, where we arrived at 5:35 PM. The kindest thing to say about our dinner of fried rice was that it was lackluster, and unsurprisingly, the shower once more was not working properly. However, we did share a nice lager which Dorothee had picked up at some point. Not having anything else to do, at 8:55 PM we were in bed.

This stray puppy was clearly trying to get Dorothee to take it home, and I think it might have had a chance had we not been in another country.

So, what did you think of Day 3. I could have included about 300 more pictures/videos of elephants as well as another 50 or temples, but I think those included here were enough for you to get the idea. Given that I had not actually read any part of the itinerary, like you, I was quite curious about what we might see/do on Day 4. Anyway, as always, thanks for reading along, and don’t hesitate to leave your questions and comments in the section indicated below.

Sri Lanka trip: Day 2 (15 December 2024)

Hi everyone and Happy New Year! For those of you who were out having fun last night, I hope you are also feeling good today. For those of you who went to bed early last night like me, and those who didn’t, I hope that regardless of how you spent New Year’s Eve, you will find plenty of joy in the year ahead.

So, Day 2 in Sri Lanka started at 7:26 AM with a standard rite of passage for arranged tours, the breakfast buffet. Similarly, buffet lunches and buffet dinners are also quite common when travelling on a planned trip like this. While part of me wants to trash on buffets in general, to begin with, where does all the uneaten food go? These tend to be good ways to quickly feed a diverse set of travellers, and sometimes serve as ways to introduce us to foods that we otherwise would not have tried.

Erik then picked us up in our ridiculously large van at 8:30 AM, and we were off to see some of the local sites. We had some doubts about the fish market where we arrived at 8:40 AM, but it turned out to be far more interesting than I would have guessed.

While not an absolutely full proof deterrent, the salting process before the fish are left to dry in the sun keeps all but the most determined birds away, as they have evidently learned that at least by bird standards, these are not conveniently served tasty morsels to be quickly snatched up and carried away. This is evidently the way most Sri Lankans have traditionally stored fish before refrigeration became widely available, and it continues to be fairly popular for its convenience. I was pleased to see this, since it affords these artisanal fisherfolk a way to continue to have a livelihood. However, for those wanting fresh fish, that was also possible, and there seemed to be some birds on the lookout for those as well.

However, as we were not actually in the market to buy anything, at 9:02 AM we walked nearby to the remnants of a Dutch fort. As I have found is frequently the case in South and Southeast Asia, despite its “protected monument” status, nobody actually seemed all that interested in really preserving it.

Either within the area of the fort, or perhaps just in the immediate vicinity, at 9:08 AM we checked out St. Stephens Anglican Church, but no pictures were permitted inside. While it was tasteful looking inside, I honestly did not feel that they needed to be worried about it becoming an incredibly popular tourist stop.

From there we walked around a bit more before heading back to the hotel at 9:40 AM for a quick bathroom break before we started our road trip for the day.

As we were in Sri Lanka, I wasn’t sure why they needed to clarify that it was a Sri Lanka prison. Do they have prisons there from other countries?

Once we were on our way, we made a quick stop at 10:50 AM to get some fresh pineapple and coconut water.

Then connected to the aforementioned coconut water stop, we unsurprisingly stopped at 11:29 AM for a quick toilet break. I was very impressed by the cleanliness of the roadside toilet. Those of you who have travelled a lot will understand why I was understandably pleased. I wondered if all/most Sri Lankan public bathrooms would be like this.

Evidently Laurianne was also very happy about the cleanliness of the bathroom!

Now do remember that I told you to expect a lot of this. at 1:00 PM we stopped at a tropical lunch buffet place. There were plenty of options, and I was very happy with the variety of vegetables. The cost for the three of us was 7720 LKR ($26.41 USD).

At 1:39 PM we left the buffet and continued on towards our nearby lodging, Palitha Homestay in Sigiriya, where we arrived at 1:55 PM to drop off our bags before immediately heading out again at 2:19 PM to go to Sigiriya Lion Rock where we arrived at 2:23 PM. The cost of admission for non-SAARC citizens was $35 USD per person, but they accepted international bank/credit cards with no surcharge. The area was interesting, but I thought it would have been better to go with an actual guide; yes, Erik was along with us, but his real function was that of driver.

At 2:36 PM we started the actual walk up to the top of the rock, and by 3:01 PM I was even more convinced that this would probably have been a better experience with a properly trained guide. Having Dorothee and Laurianne along made it still be nice, but it really just turned into a test of physical endurance. I did not check, but the entry fee (as is logical) must have been WAY less for Sri Lankans, as the place was packed, and there was only one way up and one way down. Since so many people were struggling, and there was no way off the path and also no way to pass people, the pace was certainly manageable, and also less physically demanding than when I had visited the Great Wall of China in October, but it was still a bit of a challenge.

Once we were actually at the top, it did not seem so incredibly overcrowded, and there were many beautiful views, but we of course had no explanation for any of the ruins themselves. Still, it was pretty.

I thought that this abandoned cable car was a lost opportunity, since plenty of people (me included) would have happily paid to go down in it rather than get back in the horrible line . . .

We dragged it out for a while, but in the absence of any explanations, and also acknowledging that sooner or later we were going to have to get in the line to go down, and we certainly didn’t want to be doing it in the dark, at 3:34 PM we got in the line to walk down, but it was not until 4:01 PM that we were actually able to start the descent. Even more so than when we were going up, the many times unevenly shaped and sometimes slippery stairs were a bit of a challenge walking down.

At 4:21 PM we arrived at the yellow wall with apparently ancient graffiti and the fairly short flight of spiral stairs which led up to the paintings. No pictures were allowed there, presumably because if more people knew what they actually looked like, they might not go there. Don’t get me wrong, assuming they had not been retouched, the simple paintings were in good condition, but I would say that their true value was more in their age than in their artistic mastery. We were only in the actual area of the paintings for two minutes and then at 4:27 PM once more started the walk down the narrow stone stairs.

We passed the reasonably interesting “cobra rock” at 4:36 PM and then were at the bottom with the souvenir shops at 4:40 PM, quickly getting back into the vehicle at 4:42 PM and heading back to the nearby homestay where I was dropped at 4:47 PM while Dorothee and Laurianne went for Ayurvedic massages.

I am not really a big fan of all the oil they use, and to be fair I am not a big seeker of massages in general. I don’t know why, but unless it is an actual medical massage, I just find it makes me uncomfortable to be touched like that by strangers. However, I know that a lot of people are really into it, so maybe later on I will change my opinion. Anyway, while they were off getting soaked in oil, I took advantage of the opportunity to wander around a bit in the area near the homestay before it got dark.

While it was pleasant to look at, the paved road ended at 4:56 PM and I thought it unwise to continue along the rough dirt path, since I couldn’t really tell if it was meant for public access or not. Thus, at 5:05 PM I was back at the Homestay where I put the popup mosquito net on my bed (I’m not really sure why only one of the beds has a “permanently installed mosquito net”) and at 5:21 PM decided to take a shower and shave. I couldn’t figure out the hot water, so I just showered with cold water which given the heat was not so dreadful, but still a bit unpleasant. Furthermore, it was one of those horrible showers where you end up getting water everywhere since the toilet and shower and not actually separate. Then while shaving, the stopper got stuck in the sink, making it impossible to drain the water.

While waiting, at 6:17 PM I decided to do my Duolingo practice for Hindi, and at 7:53 PM we all sat down for a pleasant dinner before going to bed.

The sleeping arrangement was less than ideal, since the way the air conditioner was placed, it meant that the people in one bed would freeze, while the other bed would not get much coverage. This could also not be resolved by using the fan, since it did not actually work . . . Still, while not especially photogenic, the food at least had been fairly good.

And that was how the second night in Sri Lanka ended. The lodging was proving itself to be a bit of a challenge, but the Sigiriya rock, if somewhat overcrowded, was a nice place to visit. Honestly, it is hard for me to guess if I would have gone to the rock had I been on my own. I mean it is one of the “must see” spots of the area, but it is a bit expensive for what you get. For the most part, the food had been decent today, but not particularly outstanding. Still, it was nice to share with Dorothee and continue to get to know Laurianne while experiencing a change of scenery for a few days.

For those who are curious about what happened during our next day in Sigiriya, you will just have to keep on reading Day 3. Of course, if there were any details about Day 2 which I left out which you would like to know, shoot me a quick note in the comments section below and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Sri Lanka trip: Day 1 (14 December 2024)

Hi there loyal readers, for those who have been following along regularly, you may have a bit of whiplash, since it may seem that I only just now got back from Beijing, but if you check the dates, you will see that I had actually just got really behind with the entries on the recent trip to China, and am now trying to keep the same backlog from happening with the trip to Sri Lanka. It is a bit odd that this was my first trip to Sri Lanka, as it is so close to where I live in India, but I have also not yet visited Mysuru, and that is just a two-hour train trip away. Still, especially since coming to work in southern India, I had always thought that I would eventually need to get around to visiting to Sri Lanka, and this way it finally happened. I would be remiss if I hadn’t mentioned that like several other great trips I have taken, this was actually my friend and co-worker Dorothee’s idea.

I will skip past the whole trip to the airport, as those who follow me know that I always opt for BluSmart, and once again I was not disappointed with their service when they showed up a bit early to pick me up and have me at the airport by 6:55 AM. Unfortunately, after having entered the car, I had checked my messages and saw that the flight would have a delay of a couple hours. However, since Dorothee was in the same boat, I thought it would be okay for us to just hang out and chat for a bit, which we did at a cafe outside until entering. Thus, it was not until 11:20 AM that we were actually on this non-stop, ninety-minute Sri Lankan Airlines flight to Colombo. Since Dorothee and I had booked separately, we were not sitting next to one another, but despite having refused to pay to get out of the dreaded center seat, there was a couple who asked me to move so that they could be together, and I ended up having my favorite aisle seat.

The flight itself was fine, but then for 90 minutes, pretty much anything would be acceptable. Still, despite how the plane looked a bit run down inside, I was impressed how in such a short time they served a nice juice and a surprisingly edible cheese and vegetable calzone before we touched down at 12:57 PM. At Dorothee’s suggestion, I had got my e-visa ahead of time rather than doing it on arrival, so at 1:29, already having been greeted by our driver/guide for the week, Erik, Dorothee and I had also both bought Dialog SIM cards before exiting the airport. Now most of you know that I generally advise getting an eSIM before travel, but I had done my homework ahead of time and had seen that this would be easy to get at the airport and also significantly cheaper. I paid 2450 LKR ($8.35 USD) for a month of cellphone service on Sri Lanka’s most recommended carrier with 50 GB of data! In short, it was a bargain, and I suggest you do the same when travelling to Sri Lanka.

Before I go on further, I should clarify that the first week’s travel was part of a tour package which Dorothee had organized ahead of time. There were three of us who would be travelling, Dorothee, Laurianne (a friend and previous co-worker of Dorothee’s, and me). At times the costs of the trip were a bit muddled, since the transport, triple lodging and some of the meals were included, but most of the activities would have to be paid for separately. Starting out on paper, this looked like it would be a bit more expensive overall than my standard trips, but I also doubted I would be returning frequently, so figured it would be okay to splurge. So, the upfront cost paid by each of us for the basic tour of seven nights was $695 USD per person, not including airfare, which can generally be managed at around $300 USD round trip from Bengaluru. Mai globe travel agency had handled all of our arrangements. Laurianne had flown in from Shanghai, so her ticket cost would of course been quite a bit more. Anyway, back to my first impressions as we exited the airport.

As we were on our way from the airport, I could see a lot of similarities to India, but at least in this area it seemed very clean, and more like a village than an actual city. It also looked like there was a lot more Christian influence around this area than what I was used to seeing in India. Our first night was not actually in Colombo, but rather in Negombo, so at 2:00 PM we were already pulling up out front Pledge Scape hotel.

Our triple room was lovely, including the view of the sea from the balcony, but my single bed was as had as a stone floor. Still, our intent was not to spend more than one night here, so I figured it would be fine. After quickly putting our things in the room, we headed straight out to do some sightseeing, even though Laurianne, who had arrived the day before, and had already been out to see a bit on her own. However, she had saved the “big stuff” so we could see them together the first time.

Our first stop along our self-guided walking tour was St. Sebastian’s church, which we came across at 2:52 PM.

We left there at 2:54 PM and continued walking towards the next church on Laurianne’s list.

While it was only 29 degrees Celsius (84 F), it was a bit muggy and anytime we were in direct sunlight the heat seemed especially intense despite me having my trusty travelling hat. However, it was only a short walk, and at 3:05 PM we were at St. Mary’s Church on Main Street.

After just about five minutes, we decided to head out once more in order to take advantage of the remaining daylight. Also, clouds had started to quickly roll in, and we were a bit worried that it might start raining heavily. We also had a sort of general plan to find a place to eat. Connected to the same, Dorothee took us on a bit of an adventure sponsored by Google maps to find a highly rated nearby eatery, but as frequently happens with Google maps, the place seemed to no longer exist. So, at 3:40 PM we decided to jump into a rickshaw and head back towards the hotel.

It turned out that this had been an excellent idea, since by the time we saw Chef Crab restaurant where we decided to eat at 3:49 PM, there was already a torrential downpour!

There were a lot of mosquitos, but Dorothee had some pleasant-smelling repellant which she passed around and that mostly dealt with the issue. I ordered the squash soup and a pork dish, which was actually quite nice; whereas Dorothee and Laurianne opted to share a crab dish which they acknowledged had been “alright” but not that filling. As we were soon to discover is normal in Sri Lanka, it had taken quite a bit of time for the food to arrive, but we weren’t in a big hurry either. The bill for the three of us was 10,098 LKR ($34.41 USD), which we would discover would be fairly standard throughout our trip. Incidentally, thanks to Laurianne, this trip we were all trying an app called Tricount in order to facilitate expense sharing and tracking during the trip. It was still raining a bit, but at 5:31 PM we dashed out and were back in the hotel just two minutes later.

There we rested a bit, and then as it had already stopped raining, decided to see if there was a place we could get an evening drink nearby. Dorothee and I also needed to get cash out of an ATM, as it seemed that most places in Sri Lanka had either a strong preference for, or only accepted cash. So once more, at 6:18 PM we were out the door, but quickly discovered that while there were plenty of ATMs available, no place “could serve” alcohol since it was a full moon. Evidently, every full moon in Sri Lanka is a type of holiday, and alcohol sales are prohibited. However, as we also soon found out, that prohibition is a bit tongue in cheek, since one pub owner suggested that we might be more comfortable sitting upstairs (where we would not be easily seen by those who would pass by), telling us that of course alcohol sales were illegal, but he might be able to help us.

For obvious reasons, I won’t mention the name of the place, but after we arrived there at 7:11 PM and were ushered upstairs, I had a lovely Blue Lagoon and a Bay Breeze. I am not sure what Laurianne and Dorothee drank, but we all seemed satisfied, and the bill when we left at 8:36 PM was 10560 LKR ($35.98 USD) for the three of us. From there, it was a short and comfortable walk back to the hotel, where we arrived at 9:02 PM.

So that was our first day in Sri Lanka. So far things had been going great, and I was really looking forward to the actual tour which would start the next day. The only downside so far had been my rock-hard bed, but I assumed that would just be for one evening. Starting to get to know Laurianne had been wonderful so far, and Dorothee and I also always make good travelling companions. Of course, if you want to really start to see some fancy Sri Lankan sites, you will have to continue reading Day 2. In closing, as always, thanks for reading along, and don’t forget to leave your questions and comments in the section shown below!

Beijing trip: Days 7-8 (2-3 November)

Hey there loyal readers. As you probably figured out from the closing of my Day 6 entry, things were winding down quickly for my trip to Beijing, but that doesn’t mean that I enjoyed my time any less. One of the best things about this trip has been that I have been able to spend a nice amount of time with Melody, Alex and Robin. For Robin, I am just some weird guy that his parents know from before, but Melody, Alex and I still have many fond memories of when we worked together at UWC Costa Rica, and we are slowly but surely starting to build non-UWC memories which I hope will keep us as friends for the rest of our lives.

One thing that really lets you know that someone is a good friend, is if you can see them again after many years, but there is no awkward reconnecting despite everything which has happened over the years. Of course, in the case of Melody, Alex and Robin, it may just be that they are amazing hosts, but I certainly count them as excellent friends. While my last two days were great for me, they might not be as interesting for you, so I will limit my comments to things which might be of interest to the casual visitor to Beijing.

Most of the day on November 2nd we just spent hanging around the house, and either today or the next day another friend of theirs came by to visit. She also seemed like a really good person, but with the months I am ashamed to admit that I have forgotten her name. That’s bad on me, as I had thought it might be nice to hang out with her sometime next year if I make a visit to Hong Kong.

While this may seem a bit odd to comment on, at 5:41 PM in the evening we were at Oasis International Hospital. Don’t worry, one of them just had a routine checkup. I was struck by how beautiful it was from the outside, and also the care taken to make it a welcoming place inside.

These vending refrigerators were intriguing.

Then after finishing at the hospital, we arrived to Jingzun Peking Duck. This was a very exciting even for me, since I had never actually had Peking Duck before . . . and to be having it in PEKING! I was also a bit giddy about actually using the lazy Susan thing on the table to get access to the food. I have no idea about the cost, since Melody and Alex invited me for this amazing feast, but it really was a special experience. I was interested in the fried milk but found that it was not as tasty as the fried yogurt had been from a couple of days ago. The duck though, really was divine.

The next day was again just hanging out and visiting, which was actually perfect for me. I wondered a couple of times if I might be getting on their nerves after so many days, but if I were, they definitely did a good job of hiding it. In the evening, I had a fun little adventure with Melody when we both bicycled to a couple of nearby grocery stores, and she helped me buy tons of Chinese snack to fill the empty suitcase I had brought specifically for this purpose. I didn’t think to take any pictures while shopping, but I bought SO MANY delicious goodies to take home with me! Throughout the entire thing, Melody patiently acted as my translator for all the food items and also gave me a couple of tips on where I might get nearby similar items for less money. I was able to buy a bit more than otherwise would have been possible, since the fancier grocer where we went accepted my international credit card, something which tends to not be extremely common in China. Afterwards we met up with Alex and Robin for a farewell dinner at a local Hong Kong style diner.

From there, we headed back to their house where I repacked my luggage two times, not sure of the best way to put everything in the bag, and at 8:47 PM Alex once again graciously helped me arrange a Didi to the airport, where I arrived just twenty minutes later . . . a definite advantage of staying in Shunyi rather than closer to the city center. The entire check-in, security check and immigration processes were incredibly smooth.

At 10:14 PM when I was then in the main part of the airport departures area, I was a bit surprised at how calm and relatively deserted the airport was at this hour. Almost all the shops were also closed. Also noticing that it was almost impossible to find charging points, I was tempted to use my Priority Pass lounge access, but I decided against it since I had already had a wonderful meal with Melody, Alex and Robin. Furthermore, it would only be an hour of further wait time before boarding.

My Singapore airlines flight, including the connection, were pleasant and uneventful, allowing me to allow rested and happy to back to Bengaluru at 10:41 AM the next day. I also had good luck at the BLR airport, where it only took me fifty minutes to finish all customs and immigrations procedures before being out the door at 11:20 AM, headed straight to the BluSmart line where I arrived at 11:25 AM. I was a bit annoyed to see that there is no longer any benefit to prebooking, so I had to wait in a line until 11:38 AM. In hindsight, that really was not much of a wait, but what’s the point of prebooking if anyone can just walk up and get in the line? So, it seems that BluSmart may no longer be quite as comfortable of an option as it used to be, but I will probably continue to use them, since I still like them more than the service I would previously get from Uber or Ola.

And on that anticlimactic note, my trip to Beijing and back was over. It was nice however to see some of the Diwali Rangolis that were still around as I arrived at my apartment. So, two months late, I finally finished reporting on my trip to Beijing. What did you think? Is it someplace you now think you might visit? What stood out for you the most? Once again, thanks for reading along, and don’t hesitate to leave your questions and comments in the section indicated below.

Beijing trip: Day 6 (1 November)

Hi again everyone. I hope things are going as well for you as they are for me. If not, take my advice, wait another day and reevaluate. There’s a good chance that you will feel better in the morning. If not, then repeat until things are going well.

Anyway, Day 6 in Beijing was for the most part once more courtesy of GetYourGuide; as much as I recommend them, I feel like I should be getting some sort of sponsorship! Today’s plan was Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven, and I had paid $51.50 USD.

As there was nothing new about how I got to the starting point of today’s formal activities, I will skip past all of that and start at 9:06 AM when our Guide Andy showed up just outside Tiantandongmen station, passed out the Bluetooth earpieces, and then we started off towards the Summer Palace. Evidently, those 60 and over can enter for free, so I was suspecting that it would be a bit more crowded inside as we entered at 9:09 AM.

Similar to my guided tour from a couple of days ago, there was a LOT of very interesting information, but I will only share those details which stood out for me, even if the details seem incoherent and of no interest to anyone else🤔. According to Andy, this whole Temple of Heaven area was built in 1420 and is actually 3 times bigger than the Forbidden City, which is also simply known as “The Palace Museum”, where I had visited yesterday. Amongst the other various fun facts shared were that ancient Chinese (like most other groups of people) believed that the Earth was the center of the universe, and like a lot of previous civilizations with monarchs, the emperor was believed to be the son of God. As with earlier visits to historic sites in China, the number 9 came up a lot, but here they also seemed keen on the numbers 8 and 5. The most significant combination was 9 x 5. Even today in China, according to Andy, numbers are a big deal. Odd numbers are used to represent men and even numbers are used to represent women.

So far, this place seemed to just be a really big park. Connected to the same, I found out that the green plaques on certain trees mean they are between 100 and 300 years old, whereas the red plaques mean the tree is at least 300 years old. They figure this out based on the diameter of the different types of trees, so it is only a rough estimate. A bit of further investigation revealed then that the reason some trees have steel barriers around them, is that they are in the red-plaque category. It was right at 9:39 AM that we came upon the seven starstones. I am not sure why they are called stars, but they represent the seven most important provinces from that time. Ironically, there are actually eight stones, but the eighth one is much smaller.

At 9:48 AM as we continued along, I am not sure this is true since the people there did not seem particularly happy, we walked through an area which Andy claimed was a blind date market. If this was true, I assume it was older relatives looking for arranged marriages for their children and grandchildren. As is more commonly seen in Chinese parks, we also came across different groups of retired people doing Tai Chi and similar activities. I’ve got to say, if you have a bit of money in the bank, eastern China seems to be a good place to be a retired person, but then I guess that is probably true for older people with a bit more money everywhere.

At about 9:54 AM as we neared the actual temple, Andy told us that the round wall represents the shape of heaven. It was also about this time that I noticed that Andy seemed a bit frazzled or just upset. He had spoken on his phone a couple of times and also seemed to have a bit of a shouting match with some other random man in the park. To be fair, foreigners frequently think Chinese speaking to one another sounds like shouting, so maybe they had just been talking about the weather.

Then at 10:02 AM we headed into the actual temple area, and I was glad that we were able to enter very quickly and with no hassle. According to Andy, the outer middle gate, which was closed, is only for God, so I can’t imagine it get’s used that often. One of the other gates was only for the emperor, but I don’t remember which one. The blue tiles we saw were supposedly original, and about 600 years old. Pretty much everything here has symbolic meeting and is tied to a system of numerology which they were using at the time; it was unclear to me if that was different from the system of numerology which is still frequently used today.

Inside, the inner circle, there was a big group of people lining up to stand on the round mound which I think Andy said represented the Tridentine heaven (I guess they also had a sort of trinity?). He was quite annoyed about the people who were standing on the round mound in the middle and bowing/praying. He said they did not actually know what they were doing, since the CCP discourages real religious learning and belief. However, I thought to myself, they might not be doing it “the correct way,” but at least SOME of them must have been doing it out of genuine belief. So, if we remove the ones who were just doing it for the WeChat/Little Red Book picture, who were undoubtedly the majority from what I could see, then what was wrong with the ones who were doing it out of genuine belief? Regardless, Andy seemed rather annoyed/exasperated/disgusted with them; so, our group got the message, and nobody got in the line!

At 10:17 AM we then exited the central mound area and looked around a bit. The uneven paving stones are original, but the ones which look nicer were recently placed by the government. There in the distance, we could see a green structure, which was where the sacrificial offerings used to be cooked.

At 10:26 AM we saw the imperial vault of heaven “round temple” which used to be open for people to see inside, but that is no longer the case. The gold metal piece on the top evidently also functions as a sort of lightning rod. Then at 10:37 AM we came across the Nine Dragon Cypress, which many consider to be the holiest tree in Beijing; evidently a lot of people seem to use it as a sort of “wishing tree”.

Finally, at 10:50 AM we were entering the main temple. There was an extensive cattle entry system to enter, but fortunately there weren’t that many people, so we got in very quickly. This main temple is the hall of prayer for good harvest, and It’s 38.2 meters tall. There was a lot to see there, including a beautiful flowering tree contest display. At Andy’s urging, I and a couple of other people pushed our way through the crowd to take a picture of the interior.

We finished up there at 11:15 AM and headed out towards the minibus, arriving at 11:29 AM, then taking a forty-minute trip to C2 Xiyuan where Andy released us to get lunch on our own until 2:00 PM when the next part of the tour would start.

There were several “western” chain restaurants in this as well as various street sculptures. There was also a different area which was like a more local Chinese food court, and I sort of wanted to eat there, but I was afraid of accidentally getting lobster or shrimp in my food (I have an anaphylactic reaction to both), since there was no English anywhere and when I attempted to talk to a couple of sellers, they either did not understand me or didn’t want to deal with me. Regardless, the food court area also did not really seem to be a place for solo travellers/eaters.

So finally, at 12:42 PM I opted for Taco Bell. Yes, I know, but I actually DO LIKE Taco Bell, and I can’t get it with beef in India. My meal was 34.9 CNY ($4.90 USD) and I paid for it using my WeChat pay wallet. The food which arrived at 12:50 PM tasted exactly like a standard Taco Bell taco. The only downside was that the only sauce they had was ketchup. The french fries were also very tasty. One thing I noticed here was that everyone except for me used a disposable plastic glove to eat this sort of finger/hand food. This was odd for me since there was a prominent hand wash station right there (which I used) with soap and everything. My drink cup was also plastic, but the lid at least was ostensibly recyclable.

While I had tried to drag out my lunch as long as possible, by 1:31 PM I was outside sitting on a red bench, where I did some personal musings and people watching. While sitting there, I once again noticed that public smoking, at least by men, is still quite common here, but I haven’t seen any women. I also once again reflected on the fact that all the metro safety officers and the sidewalk sweepers in Beijing seem to be at least sixty years old. Are these specially reserved jobs perhaps for lower income senior citizens?

Finally, at 2:05 PM our guide Andy walked up again, along with a few new tourists, and we were off once again seeing beautiful sites and learning all sorts of fun facts about the area. The Summer Palace, which is both bigger than Macau and 3.5 times bigger than The Forbidden City was made for the emperor’s mother. The garden itself is 100% manmade, including the bat shaped mountain. The emperor who made the palace was Manchurian and was the longest serving emperor in China.

After walking through several gates, all with different names and symbolic meanings, at 2:48 PM we saw this sculpture of a mythical creature called a Chin. This particular one had actually originally been in a different even larger garden which had been destroyed by the French and the British. At some point, the front legs had been broken off, so the ones seen now are reconstructions.

At around 2:56 PM and for some time afterwards, Andy talked a lot about the Empress Dowager Cixi, who is considered to have been the most powerful woman in all of Chinese history. It is from her that we get the saying “The woman behind the curtain”, since she would sit behind the curtain and tell the emperor what to do. According to history, her son (who was six when he first ascended to the throne) and the first emperor she “controlled” died from syphilis. at the age of nineteen. I took issue with them saying that he got syphilis from going to prostitutes . . . I am fairly confident that he could have gotten syphilis from sleeping with anyone and also confident that there were no STD tests nor common preventative measures at the time. But anyways, that is the story.

Anyway, when her son died at the age of 19, she somehow orchestrated things so that the next to ascend to the throne was only four, and she stayed on as the Empress Dowager.

Like everything here, the lake is also manmade, and the dirt which was dug out to create it was what was used to the make the bat shaped mountain. Also, since the mountain is completely artificial, it is all dirt with no stones. At 3:22 PM Andy gave us the option of taking a boat for 160 CNY ($21.92 USD) each around the lake. He was clearly really pushing the boat idea, but on this one the entire group rebelled since we had come here to see the architecture rather than needlessly float around on a boat, even though we acknowledged that it would have been pretty. However, it seemed like things were already quite beautiful on the shore, and we all wanted to see as much as possible.

At 3:26 PM we were where the Emperor Guangxu was kept prisoner by the Empress Dowager Cixi when he attempted to throw off her influence. He spent the last ten years of his life imprisoned in this reduced area of the garden. His wife, the Empress of Guangxu, also stayed here, but it was unclear to me whether or not she was also a prisoner. Regardless, it was all a sham marriage, since she was the niece of Cixi and never actually consummated the marriage to her husband. All the furniture we could see here was original, and it was notable the Empress of Guangxu had a very simple single bed. As with all rulers, the Empress Dowager Cixi clearly was not managing all of this on her own, but I was very impressed at how she was able to maintain power for so long; later on, I would like to read more about her.

At 3:45 PM we were walking down what is supposedly the longest corridor in the world. It is more than 700 meters long. Honestly, I had my doubts about this claim, but I suppose it all depends on how you define “corridor”. Regardless, all of the different paintings, again, supposedly none of them repeated, were impressive.

At 4:01 PM I was thinking about how it really was very beautiful here, but for me at least, there were just too many people. I couldn’t begin to imagine the masses of people who would be here during high season. Certainly, this was most crowded place I had been during my Beijing trip.

At 4:03 PM we arrived at the main tower, which has a separate entry fee of 10 CNY ($1.40 USD). To climb to the top and back down can easily be done in forty minutes, so the guide announced that he would wait forty minutes for those who just wanted to wander around a bit and for the others who intended to go up. Nobody else in my group seemed keen on climbing the tower, but I figured that I may as well . . . it was unlikely that I would be here again anytime soon. Mercifully, either due to the climb or due to the separate entry fee, this area was much less crowded.

When I reached the highest point where access was allowed at 4:19 PM, I saw that there was a statue, presumably a version of the Buddha? A lot of the tower is off limits, but if you are feeling up to it and the temperature is pleasant, there is still quite a bit to see, and the light from the setting sun was also great at the time.

At 4:34 PM I walked down and rejoined the group. As we started walking out, we saw the opera building and an interesting boat shaped building. The tour itself actually ended at 4:55 PM, but we were welcome to stay in the park until closing time at 8:00 PM, even though it would be dusk at 5:30 PM.

By 5:10 PM I was outside and then quickly headed towards the subway where I paid 6 CNY ($0.85 USD) to ride on two different trains before getting off at Jiulongshan at 6:21 PM. From there I set off walking to meet up with a friend, who was a former colleague from my job in Bengaluru, for dinner. Along the way I was curious about the burning taking place in circles which were drawn on the sidewalk, but later on my friend explained to me that this was part of a religious ceremony which is permitted on certain special days. To overly simplify things, I think it was a type of ancestor worship.

Then came the unexpected highlight of the evening when I got to meet up with Mohammed for a delicious meal which his wife had graciously prepared. We had a wonderful conversation which could certainly have gone on longer, but as it was getting late, at 10:40 PM Mohammed very kindly arranged for a car to take me back to Shunyi, where I arrived at 11:20 PM. It had been a wonderful way to end a perfect day in Beijing. Thank you so much Mohammed!

So, wow, that was certainly a jam-packed day. While Beijing no doubt has many amazing more sites to be seen, I had finished off all of the “must see” sites and have also been able to visit with several outstanding friends. At this point I was thinking that it might be better to plan to take it a little easier the last couple days, but I still had not decided. Regardless, with such wonderful friends to visit, you can bet that the last couple days in Beijing were also outstanding. Of course, in order to be sure, you will have to keep reading the upcoming entries. Will you keep on reading, or have I finally exhausted you?