The flight took 3.5 hours and I finished the alchemist- it's only 160 pages but I read it in one day, so I guess it was more engrossing than the last book. It was thought provoking and raised some good philosophical points, but why do these books always have to bring god into it?! I watched '12 years a slave' on the flight, which was harrowing and again reveals how mankind are capable of such awful things. We must be one of the only animals on the planet who needlessly kill and harm so many of our own species. But I got a decent meal and landed on time. I got a prepaid taxi from the airport but it amazes me how, like in India, the taxi drivers never know where anywhere is!!?! They ask you as if you should know, when surely that's why you get a taxi! The driver must have stopped and asked a dozen people and it was me that worked out the road numbers and found the place in the end! Finally arrived just after midnight.
Tuesday: free breakfast at hostel. I had been searching for a Sri Lanka lonely planet (my bible) but the whsmith at the airport had sold out! The hostel had a 5 year old version that had been printed from the internet, so I exchanged my book for that to keep me going. It's very humid, but dry here. I got a tuk-tuk to the national museum, deciding it was good to start by learning about the Sri Lankan history, it was ok but wasn't the best museum I've been to. Then I walked to a famous temple, but they wanted £1.50 to get in, so I admired it from outside! Then I went to the colonial neighbourhood with all the markets. I grabbed some lunch- rice and curry for 60p. Then walked miles and miles! I got fruit from the markets (such a variety of fresh fruits), walked to the coast and around all the colonial buildings, to the Muslim quarter and continued for another couple of hours til I must have seen most of Colombo. It is more civilised than India- I didn't see anyone pissing on the street all day, there is no rubbish laying everywhere, the driving is better and the overt poverty is a lot less- I saw only a handful of people sleeping on the street. In fact it appears to be in the process of becoming a modern city as there are new skyscrapers being built all over. But the prices are similar- £4 for bed and breakfast, a meal for less than £1, etc. I feel I've seen all Colombo has to offer and got back to the hostel about 6; the hostel is fairly busy- a lot of Chinese, as Sophie had warned.
Wednesday: I had the free breakfast and chatted to a Japanese and Brazilian woman, before getting a tuk tuk to the station and a train to Kandy. I didn't end getting many trains in India so it's good that Sri Lanka has an amazing train network! You get either 2nd or 3rd class, 2nd has fans and proper seats while 3rd is mainly standing. I went for 2nd as it was only £1! A lot of white people! All the usual vendors coming through selling everything. It took 3 hours and was very scenic, everything here is so lush and green.
I got a tuk tuk to the hostel as it's about 3km out of the centre. There is the big 10 day Perahera festival here at the moment (something to do with Buddhas tooth), which means big parades every night- it is the biggest festival in Sri Lanka and lots of tourists come especially for this, so I timed it well. The hostel lady gave me some advice on how to see it and then I walked back into town where I got something to eat- rice and vege curry for 65p- the food is definitely spicier here than in Indian. The streets were bustling with people who started sitting on the edge of the road from about 4.30 to reserve their seats. Vendors selling everything from food to drink to mats to sit on to toys. The wealthy people reserve seats that the shops and businesses lining the road put out for the occasion. I was too tight to pay 50p for a mat to sit on, but the Sri Lankan family next to me felt sorry for me sitting on the floor so let me sit on theirs. I didn't realise it would be 2 hours before it started! But the families either side were having a competition to see who could give me the most food and it was a good atmosphere! The procession started with whip crackers and we had a lot of fire dancers, then there was a whole array of instruments and traditional dancing. There were dozens of elephants dressed up, which spoilt it really as it's sad to see them in captivity and being exploited for entertainment. It went on for more than a couple of hours and was very entertaining! Back to the hostel about 9.30.
Thursday: free breakfast and then I was busy trying to sort out some hiking in nearby knuckles range; this is the hardest thing about travelling alone- the single supplement of doing things alone or the struggle of finding groups to join and I wanted to do it in a group after my experience alone with guides. Finally sorted a 4 day hike for Monday. Then walked into the town and around the lake which was full of monkeys and a bird watchers dream. Visited the famous Buddhas tooth temple that Buddhists are required to make a pilgrimage to at least once in their life, but I wasn't paying £3.50 to get in. I walked some more and got dinner- fish curry and rice for 75p- being an island there is lots of fish here which is a bonus! It's not difficult as a vegetarian here, but there is less choice than in India and less dedicated vege restaurants and the street food is not all vege. I visited the local market and got some fruit. I walked up to another temple that has a huge Buddha head statue that you can see perched on the hill from everywhere in the town. Again, I refuse to pay to go into any religious buildings- it's just more proof that religious institutions are all about money! I saved myself £5 not going into the temples and it's not just that I'm tight, but I've seen so many temples and I'd rather put it towards diving or a safari. I come back to the hostel to chill for an hour and got chatting to a dutch girl who'd just arrived. We went into the town to see a bit of the festival and got chatting to an English girl and the 3 of us went for food. I got a tuk tuk back with the Dutch girl- she's only 22 but was quite cool and it's nice to share the cost of stuff.
Friday: the Dutch girl decided to come to Nuwara Eliyah with me. So we got a train at 11.10- it was just full of white people! Sri Lanka is far more touristy than I expected- so many Dutch people and a lot of families! A beautiful train ride up into the hills full of tea plantations, but took nearly 4 hours then had to get a bus to the town. It's also known as little England (not just cos it's cold and wet) as the British had a big influence here as they set up the tea plantations. I was staying at a different hostel to the Dutch girl but we shared a tuk tuk. I showered and went back to the town for some food. Lots of people in the hostel so I spent the evening chatting to Dutch, Austrian and French. The climate here is so different from most of Sri Lanka-up in the clouds and fairly cold and wet. It's a lot like Munnar where I went to the tea plantations in India.
Friday: we got picked up at 5.30am to go to hortons plain national park and the "worlds end" viewpoint. It was me, 3 Germans and an English guy living in Germany. It was raining, cloudy and misty for the whole 1.5 hour drive and the road was lined with vans taking tourists and I did wonder why I had bothered with it. I likened the masses of white (and Chinese) people to lemmings being lured to the edge of this cliff. And, although not to their death, it was to a tourist trap where they've taken a cliff on the edge of a mountain and given it a cool name and then charge us a small fortune to see it. It's a 9km walk through the national park, which was ok but it was raining and misty and no animals, past a mediocre waterfall to the infamous cliff edge. We were really lucky the clouds lifted and rain stopped for a bit so we could see something, but it was just a view over a valley, forest and out onto the opposite hills and a nearby river, etc. They even call the bad weather a "cloud forest", to make the cold and wet sound enchanting! I was left a little underwhelmed, if you hadn't guessed, as I've seen a dozen better views in recent months. And to think the lonely planet rate it as one of the highlights of Sri Lanka is concerning. The highlight was some of the Chinese attire- dresses, suits, heels, etc. Got back to town about 1pm and had some lunch. Not much more to do, as I don't feel the need to do another tea factory/museum and it's too cold and wet to walk too far. Lots going on in the hostel tonight, but I really couldn't be bothered to be too sociable.
Sunday: I decided to get the bus back to Kandy instead of the train, not only was it cheaper and quicker but there wasn't another white person on it and you got a different perspective as it passed through numerous villages. Arrived about 12 and headed for the same hostel as last time, I get picked up at 7.30am tomorrow for a 4 day hike so I'm getting a bit organised for that but I seem to have bought the rain with me. I went out for lunch when the rain stopped and already the streets were full of families reserving space for tonight's penultimate festival procession, this was at 2pm so they had 5.5 hours to wait! Far more people around for it today- the hostel is full! I decided not to fight my way through to see the festival again and was reading a book on post war Hungary.
I guess I'll leave it there as I go off grid for a few days! Hope the sun is shining in England and you're all enjoying the summer!