Blog 4 Sri Lanka

New country, new cuisine, new adventures, anxious Ro and excited James! Seems to be a pattern forming when we move, takes me a while to get settled, I have a little panic over places we stay and what I am going to eat...however it soon passes, much to James' delight! After a 40 minute flight, and a breakfast consisting of crackers, cheese and cake we land in Colombo, capital of Sri Lanka! It took us some time to obtain our visa. The immigration guy wasn't impressed we had no hotel booked, he therefore made one up to get us through :) 1 hour later we were wishing we had booked in advance!

Columbo was pretty much on shut down due to it being their new year. We opted for a tuk tuk taxi around the area looking for a decent hotel, which there wasn't! Ended up in hotel Shalimar. It was equip with a shared bathroom for the whole floor, which james described as like having a shower in a prison block! How he would know this I don't know. Did not feel any cleaner coming out than going in. Needing food we left the hotel and area in search of normality, which resulted in tea at TGI Fridays :) very Sri Lankan. Our expectations of Columbia soon changed when we stumbled upon the beach at Galle face from where hundreds of locals were awaiting the sunset, whilst flying kites and eating local delicacies, needless to say we didn't try. The sun set was beautiful!

We left Colombo and headed east to kandy. The train ride was unreal like something out of a film, but very bumpy. We sat at the door entrance with our feet hanging out taking in all the scenery. It felt as though we were floating through the air as the drops off the side of the mountain were crazy. We thought we had big mountains in Wales, but wow! We spent 2 days in kandy, taking in the sights, sounds and smells. Similarities to India but less busy, and as they say here 'same, same but different.' We spotted a huge monitor lizard scouring the lake, giant bats pretty scary and watched a local dance show which wasn't much good apart from the fire walking! We did however have custard creams on the balcony of our guest house with a cup of tea, the owners of which were lovely! Yes I'm still drinking tea :) We have by now sampled some Sri Lankan cuisine and learnt that when ordering one curry and rice you get 9 currys and enough food for 9 people. Photos to follow. They love chilli, and like to surprise you by putting them in your omelette also tell you there's no spice in your curry only for it blow your head off. They then smile and say 'only small spice' agghh!

The next leg of our journey takes us to Dalhousie, a small village in the hills most popular for the starting point of Adams peak. This mountain is home to 5200 steps and many visitors every day, mainly pilgrims due to the popular temple at the top. We stayed in a little wooden hut by the river which we loved. Our climb started at 1.30am where we left the room and joined a couple from London along the way. I honestly think I would have stopped at some point without the motivation of having to beat the English! We soon met with hundreds of people, some on stretchers and others being helped up, very elderly and very small babies. Very committed to their religion. We made it to the top!! having found a little shortcut which was actually longer but helped beat the que. We watched the most amazing sunrise then started to decent, which took hours, due to the amount of people and wasn't to easy on the knees. 7 hours later we made it back but what a great experience.

Next stop Ella, a 5 hour train journey, with no seat but probably the most fun of all though due to locals playing drums made from tin and plastic bottles, inquisitive children which if you did manage to get a seat it came with a child on your lap and local food which we actually sampled which sat on the floor. Ella is a quaint little village in the hills where we spent 3 nights at a hilltop guesthouse, great views however the only downside was the hill climb to get there twice maybe 3 times a day, particularly as I was still struggling to walk after the hike! It was then james decided to book me in for a massage, with the agreement that he could use the hotel gym, deal. I think I drew the long straw, a 1 hour full body massage overlooking the best view I've ever seen, followed by a steam bath, (to which the guy said before I got in, this is interesting, didn't fill me with confidence). It resembled a magicians apparatus when doing the saw in half trick. James enjoyed the gym too :) Also whist in Ella we hired a moped. We rode to the local tea plantation which was pretty impressive, particularly our arrival when james hit the accelerator as opposed to the break to stop, resulting in us And the moped hitting the deck whilst being watched by the locals. We came away unscathed though thankfully. I did need two cups of tea to come around before the tour mind. Anyway next time you drink a cup think of all the hard work that goes into making it, it's a pretty long process especially when each tea leaf is picked by hand. The moped didn't stop at throwing us off it also broke down several times along a windy steep road. We were rescued by the owner to be told it needed water....great! If Adams peak wasn't enough we climbed mini Adams peak too! No where near as tough although the views were just as beautiful.

We then headed south to udawalawe national park. Safari time! We woke at 5.30am boarded the jeep, equip with jam sandwiches and bananas. 10 minutes in we were rattled. The road was so uneven and struggled to see how we could get through the next 6 hours. Soon we spotted the first group of elephants, and with them a male with tusks which is rare to see apparently. We spent the first three hours seeing many more elephants, birds, water buffalo, mongoose and crocodiles. A huge one lay across the path basking in the sun and a baby one further along. Pretty scary. We stopped for lunch at the park wardens house where they ward off hunters and seen the remains of a huge Python. Our guide then spotted two crocs across the river, around 20 meters away. He kindly informed us that they would not cross over, phew! We got back to the jeep to find a cheeky monkey eating the remains of our lunch. What a great day well worth the early morning start. On route back to guesthouse we were bombarded by children asking for our signature, felt famous. Was invited into one of their homes and given a cracker in exchange for a written story of our travels!

The remainder of our time in Sri Lanka was spent relaxing on the beaches, our favourite being Mirissa. Days spent snorkelling, bodyboarding, soaking up the rays, and James helping the local fishermen pull in the days catch. Evenings were spent eating in beach restaurants where the sea comes as far as your feet, and happy hour is between 4 and 10pm :) paradise! Even found my first bottle of cider, result. The Sri Lankans love reggae music especially Bob Marley which is played in every restaurant.

We have heard stories of how the tsunami of 2004 changed the lives of so many, but within 10 years, life in Sri Lanka is back on track. Others places visited include Tangalle, (better known as the fried egg guesthouse, having asked for fried egg 3 times and still given omelette, James nearly lost his cool! Also visited Unawatuna (no where near as nice as mirissa) and Galle, an old town full of boutique shops and hotels. During our stay were lucky enough to see one blue whale and a school of Dolphins on a boat trip and now feel ready for a new adventure. Unfortunately our plans have changed, due to the devastating quake in Nepal we are no longer able to visit. Instead we have flights booked to Thailand on Sunday, bring on the chaos of Bangkok!! However I'm sure we will long for the beaches of Sri Lanka again in no time :)

Much love Roanna & James xxx