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Well its been over a month and i haven't once been driven enough to calm down, sit down and write this thing. Happily we are now in a place called Varkala, southern India and we've decided we like it...very very much. So we've invested in a small and basic bamboo hut set back 50 metres from the dramatic cliff face. The cliff top is lined with reggae source restaurants, bohemian shops and enough western amenities to wash away any of the authentic India the original travellers came here for. But thats just fine because its the first busy holiday type place we've been to and its nice not having to speak in constant pigeon dialect that has become our first language. Anyway now that we're in holiday mode i can take the time to tell you about our first few weeks in the small but beautiful island of Sri lanka...i
Sri Lanka is currently in the midst of a civil war which has understandably made it an undesirable place for holiday makers. This was evident as soon as we reached the beach side of the airport town of Negombo. Most hotels and guesthouses we're struggling for a few people and some were empty. This gave the tourist side of the town quite a dead atmosphere and disappointingly didn't make things any cheaper, which came as quite a surprise. In fact we found the whole of Sri Lanka to be relatively expensive compared to its south east asian neighbors. The main town however was full of the hustle bustle i was looking for, with smelly and colourful indoor markets and a huge outdoor market on sunday morning. This was packed with locals buying everything from fresh and dried fish to newly dispatched chickens to traditional sari's. The market was very crude, just a series of taporlin's strung up to anything the vendors could find which made for a biblical scene.
The beach itself was very pleasant if somewhat teaming with kretins ( our nickname for beach hagglers). It was also really popular with the locals on the bank holiday and i spent the evening amongst them as they played cricket, swam in the sea and generally enjoyed the sunset.
We spent a total of a week in Negombo apart from a disastorous day trip to the next town north along the coast which was void of any hotels or guesthouses and where we felt like two extra terrestials amongst the locals, none of whom spoke a word of english or could avoid being comlpetely transfixed by the sight of us. We retured on a hot and crowded bus journey which seemed to be never ending, back to Negombo which seemed hugely civilised in comparison, what a relief.
We met many friends in the great Rodeo bar of negombo, both locals and fellow travellers. Best of all was a small, dark sri lankan who we nick named toccoloshi (don't ask me why). He was a hugely bubbly character with a massive smile which seemed to fill half of his face. Combined with his cartoony laugh and hilarious use of broken english he could send you into histerics without really telling any jokes or doing any tricks, a real mood lifter. 'IT'S COOOOMING'.
We met Morgan at her hotel to depart for Kandi, the first stop on our own tour. This was until we were offered a really reasonable ten day tour of the country with our own guide and air conditioned car. We didn't take much convincing, especially after doing the math and finding it to be roughly the amount we would have spent anyway. The tour did indeed turn out to be by far the best option, with a small country like sri lanka you want to see as much it as possible and our driver made it possible. Ivan was a big family man and was very proud of his children, one of whom was working in Australia. He liked his jonh player cigarettes and Arrack, especially as he was only allowed them outside the home, i.e when he was on tour.
Inbetween eating and drinking at the homely and well managed guesthouses and hotels Ivan took us to (all of which were of a class we could not have afforded without him) we saw nearly all the oustanding sights of sri lanka.
These included the historical Dagoba's (ancient buddist Temples in the shape of a solid dome and some up to 200ft high) and foundations of old Anuradapudah town in the North of the island. The layout and structure of these ruins seemed to be far superior to the ram-shackle city centres of modern Sri lanka. There were huge man made pools, shrines and monastries all built by order of the regional King to house himself, his people and several thousand monks. This sophisticated architecture and landscaping was a feature of all the heritage sites we visited in the North of the country, including the gardens around the rock of Sigiriya. This rock was enormous and stood completely on its own on the flat plains of country between the northern jungles and the central hill region. Again with many thanks to Ivan we were able to visit exactly when we wanted, so we chose to climb up to see the spectacular sunset.
We then drove south towards the hill country stopping on the way for an elephant ride and at the a spice garden, where we were sat down at lectured on all the medicinal and theraputic values before three burly men appeared and told us to undress. After a rough and thourough top half rub-down I was used in a demonstration to show how affective crushed bees wax can be at hair removal. It is.
Kandi is a town surrounded in every direction by steep, dramatic hills, and it occupies the entire area at base of them. Yet despite its setting its as, if not more, dirty, smelly and hectic as any other Sri Lankan town. The only respite being the man made lake at the one edge of town and theTemple of the Tooth both of which are calm and timeless places. Ivan landed us one of the best hotels in town for no extra cost and we were treated to a magnificent views for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Whilst there we got in-amongst it in the town, haggling for sari's and tailor made shirts, visited factories of the gem making variety that the town is famous for and of course went round the temple of the tooth. The tooth of Buddha was brought out at 7pm as it is everyday but understandably so, only buddhist people were allowed into the viewing box to see it close up. But with the mad rush of locals that insues and subsequent crush in the viewing box, I wasn't to dissapointed that we missed out. The temple itself was far more interesting to me, with its bright white exterior all lit up at night and the layers of rooms one inside the other, becoming more lasvish and heavily rendered with gold and precious stones the nearer you get to the tiny room which holds the tooth.
On route to Adams peak (the highest mountain in the country and a buddhist pilgrimage trail) we stopped for a night at a remote and beautiful spot it the hill country around the tea plantation area. The hotel was spread over a series of terrace levels due to the steepness of the land and the base of a waterfall doubled as the pool. Again this place was way beyond our means but Ivan pulled a few strings so that we were able to enjoy the excellent food and outstanding scenery for no extra cost.
The following morning we visited a tea factory where they turn the raw tea leaf into several different types of tea, thats as much as i can tell you as our guide spoke ony the most basic mumbly English and the factory seemed to make no logistical sense, obviously just a show case for tourists. The rest of the day was spent on the road and what a road. Spectacular scenery start to finish, it seemed more like the alps or the rockies in summer than tropical Sri Lanka. We were acscending all day and the roads became increasingly twisty and narrow.
At the base of Adams peak was a small shanty-like town only in existence due to the droves of tourists and sri lankans alike that pass through everyday. Our hotel was one of the only substatial concrete buildings there but was still very basic. We began climbing the mountain at three in the morning to reach the summit in time for sunrise. At this altitude the air was cold so for the first time in a while jumpers were required and we stocked up on the many snacks sold by the vendors which lined the path from the start to about half way up, becoming fewer and futher between as the path got steeper. The colourful flags, the smokey food stalls and the dimly light stair way stretching off towards the top made the trek hugely atmospheric. The climb up the concrete steps was long and became increaingly steep to the point where all fours were required. As we reached the top we were greeted with the sight of a small buddhist temple, painted white, covered in golden decorations and surrounded by prayer flags, it sat on top of the rocky peak of the mountiain. Right around the base was a level platform on which all of the fellow pilgrims were spooning for warmth in the misty cloud. We must have been three of several hundred people waiting eagerly for the sunrise at 6am, but as the light levels grew it became apparent that the cloud was not goin to lift in time. This was not such a bad thing as the growing morning light combined with the buddhist prayer music and the communuial sense of achievement made for a very spiritual experience. Then as we began our descent the cloud began to break and we were rewarded with the epic views across surrounding lakes and mountains, covered with beaming, patchy light. The intense streaming light stopped everyone in their tracks and people all around took a few minutes to soak it up.
The rest of the of the day we spent relaxing and watching, from an old bus seat on the roof of our hotel, the next load of pilgrims arrive. And what a load. Bus after bus carrying hundreds probably thousands of Sri Lankans. Ivan was right in that we wouldn't of been able to reach the summit on that following evening, there were just too many people.
We set of the next morning for Hikkaduwa on the south coast, again with Ivan constantly trying to avoid the crazy death buses that are let lose on sri lanka's roads ( they all have huge roaring engines and what ever drives them seem to have no respect for human life). Hikkaduwa was a small fishing village just like any other, until it was discovered by surfers, for its reliable rip curls, and subsequently by backpackers for its...good vibes?. There didn't seem alot to do there and indeed there wasn't but it was certainly the most touristy and westernised place we had visited, with a string of beach bars and loads of internet cafe's. It was also where we left Ivan but not as it turned out for the last time. The Hotel manager was a good old friend of his so the five of us (and some random staff members) sat down for a slap up curry and a fair few drinks. During the course of the meal Ivan invited us to have dinner with him and his family he had told us so much about, back in Negombo before we caught our fights.
We decided to move hotel in Hikkaduwa, just for a change of scenery, and stumbled upon the top secret beach hostel. As the name suggests it was hard to find, neither was it in the Lonely Planet or anywhere near the main drag of Hotels but it did have a brilliant spot on the beach. The funky beach bar, house music and basic, 'hosedownable' rooms made it ideal for surfers. Unfortunately we only had two nights left there before making the final leg of the sri lankan journey back to Negombo.
Being back in Negombo felt like being back home, we said goodbye to a few friends we had made and just enjoyed our last hours in sri lanka. We also went for our promised meal at Ivans family home although we felt rough after a nights fairwell drinking in Hikkaduwa and a days traveling on the sri lankan railways. The house was basic but in a nice area and we were made to feel right at home with endless rounds of tea, buiscuits and salted pineapple, befroe the main meal. By the time this delicious onslought was over me and morgan were feeling sleepy and mat was looking green. Ivan's family cooked us a great meal although it was difficult to thank them for it as they only popped they're heads out to where we were sat on two brief occasions. They all seemed very shy and unwilling to talk even if we didn't understand eachother. Ivan watched us eat our food as we slowly forced it down, (due to the loss of appetite not it being bad.) So all in all quite a strange experience really but heart warming nonetheless.
Mat and I woke up early to catch our morning flight to Trivandrum, South India. We said a bleary eyed goodbye to Morgan and set off north bound as we would be for the next five months.
I then got probably the biggest wake up call ever that morning after dragging ourselves through the airport and falling asleep on the 50 minute flight. Even compared to Sri Lanka, the first minutes of stepping into India were off the wall with noise, colour, people and smell. One of the first things that struck me was that it appeared as though we had flown back in time in some senses, to the seventies. All the men, bar none fashioned a slug of hair on their top lip, wore bright tight shirts and flared trousers. Trivandrum was a fairly large city with absolutely no interest in tourists, which made a nice change. That was probably to do with there being nothing of interest to tourists there but that was fine to, just to see a bit of 'normal' India.
After a taste of shopping Indian style, which always involves alot of people, time and extravagance, (even for something as a sim card you need a passport photo thats taken in a studio and photoshopped) we went to do the only activity worth talking about. This was Trivandrum zoo. As a lot of things in India, it seemed to have been well planned out and built a long time ago, but since that time just understaffed and ill managed causing the zoo to look dilapidated and dirty. Some animals seemed to have much better deals than others. Some monkeys for instance were allotted a large area with plenty of trees and frames to swing on where as the Himalayan Vulture who's natural habitat is high in the Afgany and Nepalese mountains over vast areas was restricted by a cage 5 metres in diameter and only a couple high. Still the zoo had a surprisingly large variety of species including bears, hippos, giraffes and Lions. We also enjoyed for the first time the avalabilty and variety of great food that wasn't so in Sri Lanka. Everything from chai and coffee shops to restaurants to street food, it was all with out exception, fantastic.
Finally then there was the short hop of a train ride from Trivandrum to the much more relaxing beach town of Varkala. It was the first time we had used the Indian Railways and so didn't know exactly what to expect. The rush for tickets at the stations entrance did not make for a good first impression but once aboard everything was calm especially seeing as we had stumbled into the luxury a/c carrige. We decided to stay there as Varkala was only half an hour down the line, so all in all a very hassle free and enjoyable experience.
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