Sri Lanka to India

Spicejet flight SG2 from Colombo, Sri Lanka to Chennai, India. Back home, or what strangely feels like home as i've already been here for one month.

Had a browse of the visa at the airport: "no re-entry permitted within 60 days of exit" - hmm, this could be an issue with me getting back into India after only 14 days away. Spoke to the nice spicejet (nicejet?) people and they called someone, who called someone else, who called someone else. Came back as fine, and I checked in. Phew.

Quick flight to Chennai, some very beautiful Indian hostesses on the plane. Now I had to catch a plane to Delhi, but I'd give myself quite a large buffer in case of issues: 5 hours to be exact! Chennai airport is not the most exciting place in the world, but I read my book and time went quickly.

Coming out at Delhi airport around 11pm in was almost cold. A lovely change from the humidity of the last 2 weeks. Ahhh! I'd already booked a guest house here as I knew i'd be late. I'd confirmed with the driver four times via email my arrival time, flight number etc. so was confident he would be there to pick me up. An hour passed - dug out the contact details and called the guest house. "Our driver is there!" he said. "No, he's not here at the domestic terminal". "Ah, you're at the domestic terminal?". "Yes, as per the four confirmation emails!". 30 minutes later the smiley driver turns up and we speed into Delhi centre. 

Negombo, Sri Lanka

Negombo is just north of Colombo, and a good first / last stop for the airport. I arrived about midnight after the huge journey from the north - found a good price room (with many resident mosquitos) and crashed out.

There's a town here, a stretch of sand, a cool fish market, some churches (the Portuguese converted a lot of the local fishermen in colonial days) and lots of tourists. I mostly relaxed here, got very sunburnt, met a German and a Dutch girl and had some dinner then went to a cheesy karaoke type pub populated by English and a crazy drunk Russian man who didn't make much sense.

fish market

Pinawalla, Sri Lanka

My plan was to head here and stay a night then grabbing some sun on the beach near Colombo before the flight home. I arrived off the bus on the main road but was quickly surrounded by tuk-tuk's. I grabbed one and headed off to Pinawalla, some 3km away from the main road. On the way the tuk-tuk driver suggested I check out the Millenium elephant trust, instead of the elephant orphanage that all of the guide books recommend. I thought i'd have a look, and the selling point here was you can wash an elephant!

On arrival, seeing their five elephants chained up and doing that repetitive motion thing that kept wild animals do was depresssing, but they all looked healthy. There's lots of information on how they were old temple elephants that couldn't afford to be kept, and there were several vet's on site (volunteers from around the world), which was comforting. The elephant I was going to wash was called Saliya - 45 years old. Saliya came down to the river and I scrubbed with a coconut husk, too lightly according to the keeper, who grabbed the husk and scraped as hard as he could - Saliya seemed to enjoy it!

Once finished I refused to ride Saliya and headed back to the tuk-tuk driver who was patiently waiting. He took me into the town. At the hotel it was dead - like no-one anywhere. Not another guest apparently! I dropped my bag and walked about with the camera: still no-one about but a dog who befriended me.

Decided to go back to the hotel grab my bag and ditch to slightly north of Colombo early, ready to get to the airport. The hotel owner was very understanding. On the way out rescued a little bird that was stuck in the hotel and panicking like crazy. Grabbed a bus to the nearest town then onto a SERIOUSLY crowded bus to Colombo. Spent most of the journey standing in the aisle swaying about as the bus driver swerves and brakes - love it!

Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

Slightly miffed by the Sigiriya thing I topped up the wallet in Dambulla and waited for another bus. I got speaking to a local who was in the navy, and was a gun operator. He was on his way to work and suggested a quicker bus for me to catch, which was the same bus he was catching. He couldn't get over the fact that I was mid (to late) thirties and not married, with children. He was early twenties and was married, with a baby on the way. He told me I must find a wife and have a family as soon as I get home!

Once arrived I did a little wandering about and found a room on budget. Odd place (Hotel Shalini) as there didn't seem to be ANYONE else staying there. The owners spent most of the day and night watching the cricket!

Anuradhapura (old side) was the ancient capital of Sril Lanka until the 11th century AD and is now well preserved ruins, spread over huge distances. The guide books recommend that you hire a bike or tuk-tuk to take you between the different areas but of course I walked pretty much the whole thing, meeting locals and getting more of a feel for the place. There's so much stuff to look at: huge Dagoba's, Stupa's and old royal palace ruins, citadels and cutting edge irrigation "tanks" - all extremely impressive for the time.

It was here that I was my first rainfall since leaving England. It was so nice, the air went immediately fresh from being incredibly humid, I stood for hours, under a shop roof, watching the tourists and feeding a dog that gave me such a cute look. I didn't realise the time and the shops started shutting, and all the tuk-tuks and buses had gone, but a friendly shop keeper took me back to town save me (and my camera) getting soaked!

Back at base, still no-one about, grabbed some water and went to bed cream-crackered.

Sigiriya, Sri Lanka

Made a major boo-boo here. Sigiriya's in the middle of nowhere. I just wanted to head there for the day then move on as there's a ruined citadel on top of a large tooth like rock. I packed my bags and grabbed a bus from the terminal in Dambulla. Got to the site and walked ages to get to the ticket desk, with my rucksack (i was hoping i could leave it somewhere). Sweating like mad I asked how much for entry - 3800 rupees! hmm. I should've checked the guidebook first on prices, I was a little short. The lady on the ticket desk wouldn't budge, even to let me go in as a local (who's price was considerably lower). So, a long, hot slog back to the road and a long wait for the bus and some amusing banter with some tuk-tuk drivers trying to get me to go on all sorts of tours. All was not lost though as an Australian girl turned up who'd been to the top and had the pictures to show me - so I almost felt like I'd been there!

as close as i got!

Dambulla, Sri Lanka

A long winding bus down the mountain from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy with an interesting chat to a South Korean architect living in Colombo, then a quick bus change and north to Dambulla for a one night stop, just to see the rock temple.

outside

Inside

A giant gold Buddha greets you atop the Buddha museum, which contains various Buddha in various forms donated from different countries and other small exhibits. You then head up to the rock face, maybe 200m up stairs in the baking afternoon heat, passing fruit stalls, beggars and gift shops selling offerings and monkeys that point at their mouths asking for food and scratch you if you don't supply - little buggers!

give me food!

My shirt at the top looked like it'd been dipped in a bucket of water. At the top you take your shoes off (as always) and hop about on the hot rock towards the nearest part of shade. The caves in the rocks are FULL of Buddha's: statues and pictures everywhere, no surface untouched. There are pure white ornate entrances around the caves with pathways to each cave. The view from the top is amazing, back over Dambulla and the green valleys beyond.

I sat about with the monkeys for a while trying to cool down a little before the walk down. They're fascinating to watch. One was grooming the other, picking fleas off and eating them. The one that was being groomed was watching the groomer, intently, studying it's face. I wonder what it was thinking?

Headed back down and had a walk about the town and grabbed a haircut inspired by the monkeys. Not much to the town: a main road down the middle with some shops and a huge wholesale food market in the middle. Back at the guest house (Healy Inn) I had some chilli cashew nuts and water, got into my mosquito net base with the kindle and read for hours and hours.

Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka

Caught the 9:45am west bound train from Ella. What a stunning ride through the mountains on a cute CUTE old train! The journey was slow and there were frequent stops but the mountain tea plantation scenery was incredible. You had to jostle for position from left to right to get the best views from the seats so I joined the locals and hung out of the open doorways.

The journey took about four hours. On arrival at I grabbed a 20 minutes bus up to the main town. Had a good chat to a chap teaching the tea pickers English. Got off at the bus station. The town is nice in a typical Sri Lanka fashion with colonial buildings, golf course, parks and a lovely post office. 

Walking about I came across a chap on the street who could do a room for me in the Piya guest house on budget, so walked with him for what seemed like miles to get there. The room is literally a double bed in a clean box! This is all me and Monsta need.

It's getting late so I find a guide that can get me a tour of a tea factory - being English and all I obviously had to go! I went to the Mackwoods tea plantation, pretty huge by all standards, seemingly covering each hill we passed on the 15km journey there! 

Tea covered hills - you can just see the pickers as white dots

A quick (free - donation accepted) tour of the relatively tiny, but amazingly smelling, factory and then to the tea bar, to sample some fine fresh Ceylon, which was brewed in a teapot, served in a china cup and was completely fantastic - like no tea I've ever tasted before!

Tea drying - ahhh the smell

Back from the plantation I grabbed some carrots from a veg. stall. Along with cabbages and other typical English vegetables they grow great here in the cooler mountain air. 

I have a stroll into Victoria park, only to be stopped and notified of a price list. It has something written in Silhanese 

In the evening I head into town for a walk about. There's lots of people but no other tourists. I head into a local hotel (restaurant) and grab some tuna in a curry sauce, with some bread and water. I get chatting to the waiter who's English is amazing (he used to work for an American company in the middle east), he tells me that the tourists stay in the hotels for dinner. I swap email addresses with the waiter and check the guide book as to the location of a large colonial hotel and head down there, purely out of curiosity! A very grand typically English man building meets me, quite enormous. Walking in a man greets and ushers you to the bar, where I order a local stout. I head for the piano lounge and chill there for a while, watching people come and go under the chandeliers in their dinner outfits, I could almost have gone back in time if not for my shorts and t-shirt dragging me back. A man from the States makes a kind of clicking noise at the Sri Lankan man playing piano, and hands him 50 rupees.