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A Chauffeur.....Oh Go On Then!
Sri Lanka is just a one and a half hour flight from Goa, but it took us 15 hours to get there. For some reason there were no flights straight there, so we had to fly from Goa to Mumbai, Mumbai to Chennai, wait there eight hours and finally fly to Colombo, totally ridiculous. After being awake all night at Chennai airport (worst airport ever) we were shattered and starving, we had used the last of our Indian rupees so thought we'd find an ATM to get some cash, as you do. Of course we should of known simple things aren't so simple in India, an airport without an ATM, what the f***? Surely the food place would take cards right......wrong again! Luckily the little duty free shop took dollas, although we didn't fancy cigarettes and alcohol for breakfast, but managed to find barbeque flavoured cashew nuts and galaxy caramel minitures. When we arrived in Sri Lanka was we were amazed how modern it was compared to India, and clean for that matter. We jumped in a taxi to Colombo which was a nice shiny new car with air conditioning it was wonderful, no more rickshaws for us. Colombo was super modern compared to anywhere else we had been on our travels and we didn't realise until we got there how much we had missed things like coffee shops, wifi, supermarkets, and malls etc. Colombo is the capital of Sri Lanka and is set right on the coast which was lovely, and the people here are exceptionally friendly and helpful, we knew travelling here would be a breeze after India. After a couple of days enjoying lattes, window shopping and airconditioned gyms, we thought it was best we dragged ourselves away. So we booked our train tickets to Kandy. Whilst in the tourist train booking office, we got talked into booking a three day chaffeur driven tour of the ancient cities, it's not very backpackery of us i admit, more like flashpacking but we thought sod it, the trains don't cover this area and we couldn't be arsed with buses, so we did blow the budget a little for this one. We arrived at the train station around 6:30am ready for our three hour train journey to Kandy which would be a breeze after all the long uncomfortable bus and train journeys we had endured elsewhere. The Sri Lankan railway was origionally introduced by the British and by the looks of it the train station hasn't changed much since the Victorian-era, it felt like we were in a wonderful time warp like we should be in a black and white movie, and the train looked antique to match. Then when the train set off we soon realised that the train tracks probably hadn't be maintained much since then either, it was vigarously bumpy, I was trying to write in my journal but couldn't keep pen to paper because the train was all over the place, it was hilarious. Ryan had the window seat again, (he must off been looking out for Sri Lankan penises this time) pointed out the window as we came to a stop at a station, and we watched in amazement as people carriage hopped, literally switching trains, why get off and walk to another platform when you can just jump from one train to the next, it's genious.
Kandy's a beautiful city set around a lake up in the hill country, home of The Temple of the Tooth Relic, where the thing to do is visit the sacred tooth of the Buddha, you can't go anywhere without people asking you if you've been to see it, or telling you to go there. Don't tell anyone, but we didn't even bother going, apparently you don't even see the tooth just a gold box, it's probably empty anyway. We only spent one night there before we would be getting picked up the next morning by our chaffeur and wisked away for some sight seeing. We found a guesthouse called The Old Empire, it's and old colonial style buliding bursting with character, and is aparently the oldest hotel in Kandy. It had a fabulous huge balcony perfect for relaxing with a good book, full of antique colonial style tables and chairs, the type you could imagine the Lords and Ladies of the Victorian-era lounging on whilst enjoying a tea cake or two.
Our driver picked us up at 8:30am to begin our tour of the hill country to visit all the ancient sites. He handed us our itinerary for the three days, and it looked to a pretty jam packed, it felt great to have it all arranged for us for a change. It was such a treat, a comfortable car with airconditioning, plus everytime I got in or out of the car the driver opened the door for me, fancy that, I think I could get used to this. I think Ryan did that once or twice when we first got together but those days are long gone. Day one was a busy one, first we made a quick stop to take a look a beautiful Hindu temple, next we visited a herb garden, we were greeted with a tastey herbal tea, then shown around all the different trees and plants like rubber trees and errr........to be honest I can't remember any of the other names. I know he had us sniffing sandlewood, cinnamon, vanilla, curry leaves and all kinds, Ryan was a bit preoccupied as he was trying his best to swat all the mosquitoes that were fiercly eating him alive. We learnt about the benefits of all these natural products, how they can heal and so on, it was very interesting actually. Then we met with the herbal doctor told us they produce and sell a special natural detox formula and if you drink it everyday for three months it will detoxify your body and melt away you excess pounds leaving you a picture off radient health. It sounded wonderful but we weren't convinced, as the doctor himself was overweight and looked about ten years older than his real age. So we just bought some tea and were on our way. Then we were taken to see a big stone Buddha, then a huge gold Buddha, and then a huge gold Buddha on a hilltop, then a huge gold Buddha laying down in a cave, then a row of big stone gold Buddhas with their legs crossed, than a colourful huge Buddha laying down, I think you get the gist. We must of saw Buddha in every position possible except doggy, and in every place you could imagine over the three days. There were some stupas and temples slotted in inbetween the Buddha spotting. We already saw so many of these in Nepal, all of them impressive but sometimes too much of a good thing and all that, also all religious places are a no shoe zone and I'm getting a bit sick of this barefoot malarkey especially when it's rainy, dirty and stoney.
Sigyria (meaning Lion's Rock), is a huge rock fortress and palace ruin, it is rather impressive to say the least, with two massive Lion's paws carved into the stone either side of the start of what feels like millions steps to reach the top, but is worth the effort to see the breathtaking view off the lucsious green jungle surroundings. We were told we must be finished and off the jungle road by six o'clock as it closes due to danger of roaming wild elephants. Our guesthouse was lovely, and the bed even had a proper matress, up untill now all the beds had been made from foam stuck on wood and this luxury was much appreciated as we were shattered from all the sight seeing.
Polonnuaruwa and Anuradhapupura were both big ancient cities, we enjoyed wandering in and around the ruins and I would occasionally sneak off to watch the monkeys fooling around, it was a welcome break from the Buddhas, well for half a day anyway. Our last night we stayed in a big guesthouse where it seemed they were preparing for a wedding party to arrive, so we thought we'd have an early dinner and be out the way before everyone arrived. This plan went out the window when we started chatting to a friendly Austrian girl called Christiana whom we had a few drinks with and ended up crashing the wedding by accident. We watched the beautiful bride arrive with her groom, the bride wearing a red traditional Sri Lankan dress and drapped in gold jewelry, apparently this was the second wedding celebration, in the first the bride wears white and to the second she wears red. Then a load of fireworks exploded to mark their arrival, it was very different to an English wedding, especially the fact that hardly anyone was drinking. After a long night listening to Christiana and Ryan discussing World War Two , (which I know nothing about but tried my best to look interested and intelligent) we hit the sack. It was a long drive back to The Old Empire the following day with a few obligatory Buddha stops along the way, but on the whole it was a very insightful and enjoyable tour.
- comments
anna-maria nelson well done, glad you decided against giving up!xxx
Georgina Nelson Me too, you've got such a flair for writing, these blogs make me laugh every time :) xxx
maggie great blog again Katie !! Hey crashing that wedding is where you must of got the idea from !!! you know what you asked Ry!Ha Ha !!!!xx
Katie Nelson haha I have no idea what you me out an Maggie?? ;) xx Mum speaking to you made me pull my finger out, can't let my fans down hahaha xxx