Jan 2008

If I were to describe Sri Lanka in one word, I would say "simple." Everything about it is just that, from the people to the lifestyles. With that being said, it was easy to change my 2-week trip here to 3-weeks, and now 4-weeks (that, and it took less than 5 minutes by phone and NO extra charges to change. So why not?). So here I am enjoying the simple life before my return to Delhi, India (talk about a change of pace that will be!) and then Chicago next week.

Last I left off, I was in Tangalle REALLY enjoying the simple life. Here, life consists of afternoon cricket games,

The man on a bike with small treats (which, by the way, is the view from the guesthouse/restaurant. Nice huh?),

and of course, what makes it the most special, the company!

Great friend who spends months here at a time and has made Tangalle his "1st 2nd home." He came here pre-tsunami and came back afterwards to altruistically and generously sponsor a local family to help rebuild their guesthouse and also helps another guesthouse. The world needs more people like him!

Local friends who are super nice.

One night we somehow randomly started a party and ended the night all drunk off rum and cokes. Fun!

Great fresh fish dinner with good company!

And for those of you who are sick of my sunset pictures, sorry! I'm on the beach and that is usually a highlight. This one in particular was especially spectacular. Check out the amazing colors:

It would have been easy to stay here forever, but I felt it was time to move on and next settled in Unawatuna, a beach town which unfortunately was hit pretty bad by the tsunami and the "beach" was literally about 2 feet wide. It was still pretty though...

especially having dinner practically in the water.

And once again, met these super nice Russians and we had great conversations about travel and the motherland!

Fortunately for travel, Galle happens to be a hop and a skip away from Unawatuna. Everyone talks about Galle being this big "literary capital" full of snooty people talking about all sorts of literature, but aside from that, it is really a time capsule to the Dutch colonial area, dating all the way back to the 1600's. Its not just a fort, it also has churches, mosques, temples, and even a community inside it. Although the fort itself withstood the tsunami, a lot of things were destroyed within it. However, restoration is slowly but surely getting done, and walking around the walls of the fort is really lovely with some great views...

How badly I wanted to jump in the water while sizzling in 100+ degrees!

Dutch Reformed Church

Next stop was Hikkaduwa, what is known as "surfer's paradise" and is a fun beach town with plenty of water sports. It is more lively then some other low-key places, which is a nice change of pace. And once again, beautiful views:

One day I was walking on the beach to go do a shipwreck scuba dive, which was REALLY cool, by the way, and came across this big o' turtle in the wild! It was soo cool! Someone was feeding it, and it was just soo cool being so close to it and petting it and feeding it! It was so cute!

A Canadian I met called me crazy, but being that I had an extra week to spare, I thought I would do at least something of the cultural triangle that Sri Lanka is known for. So I spent a day to travel to see Sigiriya and Dambulla, and then a day to get back. It was well worth it though!

Sigiriya, also known as either "Remembrance Rock" or "Lion's Rock," is this impressive rock that was formed by an extinct volcano and has numerous natural cave shelters and rock overhangs. A popular myth, which I understand many people still believe, is that it became a residence, both royal and military, of King Kassapa in the 5th century after he overthrew and murdered his father to come to power (hmph). But what the facts say is that it wasn't a fortress or palace, but a Buddhist monastary that was built way before King Kassapa came into the picture. Sounds like this King Kassapa has a little power problem. Anyway, it was abandoned after that 14th century and was discovered in the late 1800's. I'm glad it was because it is truely amazing! From the water gardens to the boulder gardens to the summit terraced gardens, everywhere you look, there is something amazing:

Here the entrance is beautiful and symmetrical water gardens and the view of the rock, which of course I climbed!

The boulder gardens that jut out to form other walls and columns, like the audience hall:

Sigiriya is most famous for these images of frescoes, or these images of woman figures that are well-preserved. Whatever theory you believe, the myth or the modern theory, the myth is that the women are King Kassapa's concubines or celestial nymphs. The modern theory is that the women represent aspects of Tara Devi, a divine being who helps the human reach enlightenment. Either way, it is amazingly intact with beautiful colors and design:

Just when you think you've seen it all, you come across the lion's paws, 5th century. THe lion symbolism is believed to be a reminder to devotees that Buddha was Sakya Simha, or Lion of the Sakya Clan, which means that the truths he spoke of were as powerful as the sound of a lion's roar. The staircase leads to the summit of the rock.

Me on the summit. The summit is about 1.6 hecters and is said to be a place of residence. There is even a pool (that would have been nice, huh? Too bad its all gross and murky). There are some spots that is thought to be for meditation, a throne, and ruins of dagoda's.

View from top. I don't know if you can see it, but at the top of the photo there is this gigantic buddha statue, I swear, it towers in the sky!

After Sigiriya, and really, what can top that? I went to Dambulla, known for its cave temples. The entrance is this giant golden buddha,

and from there a small hike on top of a hill to the cave temples. Yes, another climb in the blazing sun and soaring heat:

The caves' history of worship dates all the way back to the 1st century when there was yet another incidence of a king overthrowing another king, and this king took refuge in these caves and then built these amazing rock temples. There are 5 caves, and the 1st one, the temple of the King, has the impressive 15m reclining buddha:

Then the others have everything from wooden statues to of course buddhas statues, and more!

Looks peaceful, huh? Hmmm... would have been nice to take a little siesta!

So, like I said, I saw .2 of the Cultural Triangle, but I have to save something for the next time I come, right?

After a long journey back to the beach, I did a stop-over in Hikkaduwa again to watch some more surfer's action, and then headed to Mirissa, a beautiful, peaceful, and quiet beach with clear waters and nice relaxed atmosphere. I decided since my trip is coming to an end soon, might as well upgrade a little to a whopping $20USD for my own private bungalow,

A nice pool,

and dinner and breakfest included. Nice!

And now I made it back to Tangalle to fully detox and rest for a few days before I make my loooong journey back home! This has been my life,

Talk about fresh cocunut from a tree!

This is the life!

Stay tuned for my highlights and best/worsts of my almost 6-month journey! Woo hoo!!

Hello! Well, first off, just want to say that I am alive and safe. In case you are sratching your head at this comment, there have been a couple of bombs/terror attacks eerily close to where I have been, but lucky enough, far enough away. Its probably not making international news, but just in case it does, I'm fine! One was in Colombo a day or so after I left, and the other just at the next town over (which happens to be 40 miles away)... it was a bomb on a bus and 50+ people were killed Its sad and its kinda... well, its kinda eerie at times to be in a country where there are escalating terror attacks. But I'm in the south now, away from the north and east madness.

Soo.... Sri Lanka. I never thought that the finale of my travel adventures would encompass all my travels thus far. Sri Lanka reminds me of my first destination on this trip, Australia and New Zealand for its amazing scenery and beautiful nature:

Nepal for its panorama views and patient people. China for this Wudang Shan stair hike we did, which entailed climbing like 20394823049832 stairs in the misty rain.

Where's the top? No seriously!

Here in Sri Lanka there was another stair hike, Adam's Peak, 5,200 stairs, I did and of course it was misty and rainy at the top (not nearly as bad as Wudang!) with .... no "perfect sunrise" view or "great shadow of the mountain!"

Nice view, huh?

Oh well. Vietnam for the tempermental weather - rainy, its sunny, its cool, its hot, its HUMID (seriously, can be 90%+ humid). Then Laos, once again for the subtle scenery but also for the laid back and chill lifestyle people seem to have, and the "sleepy" towns, aka. Ella.

Really, thats the town.

Cambodia because I went to this TOTALLY cheesy touristy 'cultural' show

that we stumbled upon there, and now here, and also for some temples (which of course don't compare). Thailand for the beaches, but I would say the beaches are more of a combo of India and Thailand, but with a LOT fewer people. Example, here is my panoramic view of Tangalla beach:

Seriously, I am the only one on the beach. Crazy! And my guesthouse is a good 15 feet from the beach, and I'm paying less than $5. And finally, India, obviously because of the proximity and the similar food and characteristics (BUT Sri Lanka is 10X cleaner and the people are much more honest). So yes, its lovely and I already postponed my time here!

I started off in the hill country, known for its lovely views and awesome hikes/walks. After a brief stop in Colombo (thats all it needs!), I was off to Kandy where I went to the lovely botantical gardens

and then this elephant orphange. So cute! I watched them bathe, get fed, and have fun!

A nice family pict, huh?

An amputee elephant!

A 7-DAY old elephant with mom

Bottle feeling elephant!

And finally, because it was soo beautiful, a rainbow at the elephant orphanage:

Then to the famous Temple of the Tooth Relic

where supposedly, there is a tooth of a buddha. The tooth has a super long history that dates back to 310 BC and it had to go through extreme measures to be 'protected' (was bounced around Sri Lanka for awhile) and even survived a terrorist attack a few years back. Interesting. From Kandy I went to Adam's Peak, for the infamous 2:30 am (yes am!) wake up call to begin a 3 1/2 hour stair climb of 5,200 stairs. It was really hard, but still serene. Its a famous pilgrimage site for hindus, muslims, christians alike because on top of the peak there is a famous footprint (which of course was covered). The Buddhists say its of the buddha, the Indians say its of Lord Shiva, and others say its the footprint of Adam when he first set foot on earth after being cast out of heaven. Here are some monks doing their pilgrimage (they were resting, like we were frequently doing!):

Either way, this Sacred Footprint, was quite a hike! As I mentioned earlier, the peak was in a rain cloud, so we couldn't really see any of the supposed nice views and/or sunrise. Oh well...

This is what we climbed up!

BUt on the way down, we saw spectacular views of the hills. I guess we missed a lot climbing in the dark!

From Adam's Peak, we (I met another North American and we traveled several days together) went to Haputale for some more beautiful hikes and a nice visit to the tea plantations. Sri Lanka is most famous for its tea, so a visit to learn about the process of going from wet tea leaves to drying them to crushing, grinding, fermenting was pretty cool. Funny thing was that they didn't offer tea at the end of the tour nor did they sell any tea. Then they said that they export all the good tea, and the tea we drink in Sri Lanka is the "low-quality" tea. Gee, thanks.

The tea plantation

The tea leaf pickers all women by the way who were required to pick at least 10kg of tea a day for a whopping $2.50. No joke. BUT they were alll soooo funny and had such lovely toothy (or toothless smiles). They were harassing us to take pictures of them, and then were laughing at each other when viewing them. So cute!

So since we were in an "active" mindset, we decided to do a nice hike up to Lipton Seat, where Sir Lipton himself liked to come and enjoy the views. Once again, luck would have it that as we were climbing up, we were going deep into a rain cloud. But here is me on top, and then the .2 minutes when it cleared:

Then a brief stop in Bandarwela, and finally to Ella, a beautiful "sleepy" town where we stayed at this super nice guesthouse, met some nice people, had some excellent food, and just relaxed in the hill country. This is what Sri Lanka is about, its a country with lots to see and do, lots of smiles (really, people just randomly say Hello to you!) but also has a relaxed atmosphere about it.

Nice view of tea plantation.

Yet another great smile!

Rawana Waterfall

A random cute preschool we came across on our way to Ella's rock:

And the beautiful Ella's rock, talk about great panoramic view! Very peaceful! We chilled out there for awhile and just enjoyed the view:

Well, its all fun and games until you get onto the train/buses. What an experience that is! The trains/buses in Sri Lanka... hmm.... how to describe it? They are just crazy! The trains are ancient looking and have these big open windows so that when the train barely slows down to the stop, people are throwing their kids through the window (seriously, no joke!) to reserve a spot and/or jumping on (mind you, the train is still moving). There are no assigned seats, so you just pack in with everyone else. Its hilarious and I love it! If I went back in time, like 100 years, this is what it would be like. I actually prefered to be in the 2nd and 3rd class because of the experience. People playing music, the food vendors, the people curiously observing you and trying to make conversation without knowing anything other than "where you from?" The buses are even funnier because its even MORE cramped (which is hard to imagine). So as with the train, everyone just piles on, but with the buses, anyone that has anything in their hands and has to stand, just throws there bags and kids for that matter, on other people's laps, and ... thats just the way it is! No questions asked! And then you get the random person that drools on you (my friend), or on top of your leg (me), and a random package on your lap (me again). Its sooooo funny!

However, you do get nice views...

ANd more often than not, the 'route' to go somewhere is literally on the train tracks. Luckily, the trains are ancient and move super slowly so you can definitely hear one coming. You just have to jump out of the way in plenty of time to spare:

He threw a flower at me, which was cute!

Here's us and people taking a nice stroll on the traintracks...

After the hill country, I decided to venture out to Yala National Park, which is known for its wildlife and leopard spotting. It has the world's highest leopard population. Its also kind of east, so it actually had a major terror attack a few months back and just opened after the New Year. Having never done a safari, I thought, why not? It ended up being pretty cool, 4WD and all, but I didn't see any leopards. Elephants, but after the elephant orphanage, it wasn't that exciting, deer (which we have in Illinois), peacocks, birds, and some other neat stuff. Definitely mega $$ because it was just me, but what can you do? At least I can say I was on a safari! Besides the not-so-exciting wildlife spotting, the 125,000ish hecteres are full with nice lagoons, plains, and scrubs. Definitely looked very safari like:

See the Elephant rock? Eh? EH?

Kinda random, but here you are searching for... animals and wildlife, and then you get these random scary looking military guys wandering about.

The park, as with many other places in Sri Lanka, was also affected by the tsunami. Its estimated that 35,000+ people died in Sri Lanka due to the tsunami. And thats not even counting some areas. Where I am now, the south beaches, you can definitely see the destruction and bareness, and even more harrowing is people's personal stories

By the way, a local common food is rice bowl hoppers that you eat with chutney... super yummy, and of course now while I'm on the sea, fresh seafood (the pict is of calamari) which they get fresh and is a whopping $2-$3. Its delish!

Welp, thats about it for now! Next update will be exciting news of my beach hopping! haha!

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all the best for 2008!

We made it to Goa safe and sound and spent 3 hard, excruciating days laying on the beach

and sunbathing for a good 5-7 hours. Don't worry, it was not all just fun and games. We also had a strict schedule of when to flip over and when to get a nice cold drink. Ha aha! Then New Years day (have to start the New Years, right?) we decided to get an ayurvedic massage for all our hard work. It was an hour and half, about $12, with a deep tissue massage with soothing oils. Who would know that I was really tight in some areas (my calves) from not doing anything all day?

Goa, or as many people call it, is "not really India." Its FULL of Westerners and tourism and is known for its party scene and beaches. The beach we were at, Palolem, supposedly the nicest in Goa, was no Thailand, but pretty nice. It has the usual beach vendors selling everything from shawls to CD's and the random people that would just stand there and gawk at you - but hey, thats India! It adds character to the beach scene. We thought to come here, the party center of India, to celebrate New Years. We ended up at Dancing Shiva's and after a few drinks realized it was getting closed to midnight. We didn't notice much of a change (people looking at their watches, music stopping, etc) and decided to follow some people heading to the beach (the bar we were at was a little off). There were fireworks all along the beach,

which was nice. Then I looked at my watch. 12:00. Then 12:01. Then 12:02. Where is the countdown? Realizing that there probably wasn't going to be one and realizing that I have to have a countdown, Char and I did our own, which was a little anti-climatic, but whatever. Then we went back to the bar for some more drinks and chit-chat with some people we met, and well, when I started falling asleep while talking to someone, it was time to go, ha ha! And sorry to say, thats not the 1st time that has happened! Oops! But yes, it was really fun. So all we saw in Goa was Palolem beach and Palolem town, which had some really nice shops. It was funny, just past the cute beach bungalows by the beach, one commonly sees pigs and cows milling about, and well, sometimes the cows are the ones that you have to get around to get that seat you want!

But a beach is a beach, and it was super relaxing. I plowed through 2 books, which was good!

Here is a pict of our place, with the cute x-mas decorations:

And of course, sunset in Goa:

Have I mentioned how great the food is?!?! Ohh myyyy gawd! Goa is especially known for its delicious seafood, and I can't agree more. Yummmmy! Besides the awesome variety of vegetarian food, they also have Indian-Chinese food, which sounds funny, but I like better than real Chinese food. Its less oily with a little spice. But here in Goa, you actually chose the fish you want to eat (me, knowing nothing about 'proper fish selection' pretty much just chose the smallest, because it would be cheaper). Its all fresh and amazing!

Then.... sniff sniff, Char left to go back to Chicago... Here is a pict of our last dinner (I have to kindly draw attention to our nice tans, ha ha!):

At first, it was very very weird. Literally, for the last 4 months, starting with Lauren, then Lauren and Char, then Char, we practically spend every minute together. So as Char pulled out of the driveway and the super nice reception all waved her off, I first thought, "now what? What do to? Its just me now." Well, one of the first thing you realize traveling by yourself is that it gets SUPER expensive. You're not sharing and splitting costs. The 2nd thing is you don't have someone to talk to about stupid things that we always got a laugh at (BM's). BUT, what I soon realized is that its kinda easier to meet people? I don't know if it was me being alone and wanting to talk that I'm more direct, or other people feeling sorry for me, OR people talking to me out of curiousity of why I am married and traveling by myself? Who knows! And yes, I did say Married. Married? Yes, married! Married? Yes, Married! (thats a reference Sixteen Candles, for those of you that didn't get it!). In Bangkok, Char and I got wedding rings to use in Nepal and India to ward off any unwanted attention and to look "unavailable." Well, in Nepal it kinda turned against us, long story but Char, you know what i'm talking about! So we took them off. And now with just me, I put it back on, and it has also backfired with people I didn't want to ward off. So it was about to come off, but then it really came in handy so I'm just going to leave it on. Who knows anyway about this whole ring theory.

Anyway, here's an example of how the best part of traveling is the people you meet: I met someone really friendly in my train compartment on the way to Kochin, Kerala (then later his friend). I met someone while I am checking in the homestay. I met someone randomly on the street. This is all say, within an hour or so. Before you know it, we are all having dinner and then drinks together. Then coffee and dessert at a coffee house (sound familiar?). I met them all individually, and yet, we all got along so well it might as well been like hanging out with any of my friends at home. So fun!

Since I was to be in Kerala for literally 24 hours on the button, I had to move quickly. Luckily, Cochin and Fort Cochin are small enough that it is easily walkable and mangeable. And thanks to my new friends that kindly escorted me, it was even that much easier. Kochi or Cohin, is a cute little town with a cluster of islands and peninsulas, and has a rich history of maintaining ancient western influence because of the former Portuguese and British colonization. Just like Macau, China, its always cool to see these things in a place you wouldn't expect. Fort Cochin is similar to Goa, in that it is "not really India." I don't know if its being by the sea, but everything is sooo laid back, the streets aren't that loud or crowded, I actually didn't even see that many cows roaming the streets, but goats:

and is very relaxing with unique ancient western architecture combined with traditional Indian. There is the famous Chinese fishing nets, a system used for centuries and requires a lot of manpower to counterweight the fish that you catch (although, everytime I walked by it seemed they caught like 10 fish. Thats just me though!):

And then rhere is St. Francis Church, what is said to be the oldest European-built church in India. It was built by a portuguese guy in the 15th century. And by the way, fast fact, did you know that Vasco de Gama was buried there for 14 years before being moved to Lisbon, Portugal? He actually died in Cochin and his tombstone is still in the church:

Which, speaking of Vasco de Gama, on my little tourist map, it 'highlighted' Vasco de Gama Square, which I was looking forward to seeing because I loove European squares (especially in Spain) because they are so full of life, but here... well, it literally was a plain old boring open space with a few vendors. Hmm.... oh well!

So since Fort Cochin has the most concentration of diverse religious establishments, I had to check out the impressive catholic Santa Cruz Basilica,

Jew town, with its 16th century synangogue (which of course was closed because it was a Saturday), is in the middle of a the 'town,' which I guess soon became a center to trade spice in Kochi. Its too bad I don't cook, because it really looked fun to select!

and the muslim quarter:

It really has it all! Lucky its small enough that everything is easily walkable. Fort Cochin is really cute!

So, I hate to admit it, but I am about to leave Kerala without doing the 'thing-to-do,' a backwaters tour. Kerala has something like 900km of waterways and boats are rented as you coast along and see life on the water as well as get a home-made special Keralan dishes (cocunut dishes are their speciality, and fish of course). Oh well... I have to come back, I guess!

BUT, I did enjoy a speciality of southern India, dosa and chatni (chutney) thats more traditionally eaten for breakfest:

The cone shaped thing is the dosa, this paper-thin lentil-flour pancake.

Oh, I'm obsessed, I know, but here is a pict of yet another sunset from the rickshaw I took to Fort Kochin. Pretty, huh?

By the way, its very very hot and humid, and keeps getting even more so as I am working my way even further south. For .0002 sec I actually missed cold, but then I thought about it, and figured I was much better off sweating my butt off then freezing my butt off!

I'm in Trivandrum now, the capital of Kerala. If you look at a map, its literally almost at the southernmost tip of India! On the west side. Its another big city, so I'm just taking the day to relax and hang out. I'm tired! So no surprise how I ended up on the beach in Kovalam! The beaches there, well, Goa is much nicer, and it was so-so. Crowded, ugly sand, and once again, same 'ol with vendors everywhere, murkey water, and then .... more and more people:

Notice, well, I don't think you can notice, but ALL the westerners are laying out on the beach on easy chairs. ALL the Indians are having a blast in the water. It was kinda fun to watch, kids, women fully dressed in sarees, everyone in between jumping around in the water and having fun. Makes me appreciate yet again how Indians are such genuine people that really appreciate the simple things in life. Its just soo amazing here! I don't even mind the rickshaw drivers anymore! So whats a dollar or two? They really are a wealth of knowledge. It is still beyond me how my rickshaw driver in Goa knew that my train was delayed by 3 hours, about 1/2 an hour before the train station attendants knew. Hmm.....

Here is another pict of Kovalam, they had these old boats lying around that were antique looking, but I wasn't sure if they were still being used or just hanging out there?

Actually, I realize that its kinda a dark picture and you really don't see the boat that much, but eh, what can you do?

So today is my last day in India! Minus a possible day in Delhi, but I might be too cold to venture out. I had an amazing time here and am soooo thankful and appreciate for all the wonderful people I've met and also for learning about the diverse culture. I love India for the character it has, and for the great personality of it and the people. Everywhere you go, its something different and unique. Its fun to explore! Talk about NO RULES and living in the moment! I like it! Everyday is an adventure and brings new and pleasant surprises.

Hopefully that will continue as I venture even further south to the great country of Sri Lanka! Stay tuned!