3 planes, 1 train, 2 buses and too many tuk tuks to count .. and we’ve made it to Day 3 here in Sri Lanka!
The jet lag, heat, chaos and culture shock have all well and truly hit and we’re slowly settling into ‘backpacker mode’. Our abilities to adapt from the straightforward, comparatively simple life in NZ to the craziness and beauty of life in SE Asia have been tested, and so far we’d like to say we’re going pretty well!
Luckily for us, one of the Jelley bros (Geoff) lives in Singapore, making a 9 hour stopover seem almost too short before our onward flight to Colombo. We had an awesome time catching up, checking out the nearby Changi Village, getting reaccustomed to heat, humidity, eating at hawker centre, traffic and of course trying our the world’s largest airport slide at Changi Airport (our favourite!!). We’re really looking forward to spending more time in Singapore with Geoff & Sara next month, and had a great reintroduction to life in SE Asia!
Our first night in Sri Lanka set the stage for how the following 3 days would go. Walking past the crowds of taxi drivers with our frontpacks and backpacks, we met our tuk tuk driver and braved the craziness of Sri Lankan roads for a quick 10min journey to Hangover Hostel, conveniently close to the airport in Negombo. It didn’t take long to learn that buses rule the roads here, and after checking in and venturing out in the dark in search of beer, this was proven again. Road accidents are the highest cause of death for tourists in this relatively safe country, and we’re pretty keen to get street-smart quickly and not become a statistic! Finding a beer involved a wander on the dirt ‘footpath’ next to the main motorway, calling in anywhere that looked like a shop and being disappointed. After a few unsuccessful stops, we were ushered down a back alleyway by a man with a glass eye, which should have raised alarm bells, but eventually we ended up with 2 beers, a smile on our jet lagged faces, and a stroll back down the dangerous road to our hostel. After a local meal and a chat with other travellers at the end of their time in Sri Lanka, for possibly the first time, we turned down the opportunity to party on a Friday night for an early night.
Day 2 was spent travelling 87km to Kandy on local buses. Which took over 6 hours. Traffic, heat, sweat, a lot of locals and even more traffic about sums up that journey. Arriving in Kandy, Sri Lanka’s 4th largest city and not one degree cooler than the coast as promised by online guides, culture shock took full effect on Luke. (“Do you feel like we’re in Slumdog Millionaire right now??”).
We hadn’t eaten all day and it was around 3.30pm, hanger had kicked in, people everywhere and horns blasting. We found a local place to grab fried rice, attempt to chill under a fan and regroup. The tuk tuk ride to our guesthouse slightly out of the city centre was possibly our first rip-off of many on the trip – charged at least 3 times the usual going rate ($3.00), but ensured we arrived in our air-con room and could lie dow, so probably worth every cent.
While we did walk past several temples and attractions in Kandy, it’s fair to say we didn’t do a lot, mostly due to our exhaustion and jet lag, but a walk around Kandy Lake was just what we needed to stretch our legs, enjoy the sunset and slightly escape the craziness of Negombo and Kandy city centre. We had done a little research before leaving NZ, but didn’t have too much of a set plan for our time in Sri Lanka, and after chatting with a German couple who could hardly walk, we decided that a pilgramage walk up 5500 steps to Adam’s Peak at 1am would be an excellent addition to our vague itinerary and would be our next destination.
And so, this morning we set off on the local train from Kandy to Hatton, thinking we would be quite comfortable in 2nd class. We soon realised the chance of a seat on the train that never sells out would be minimal and this could be a very long 3 hours, but luckily the train began to empty halfway through and we captured a couple of snaps from the toilet window to remember the journey by.
Narrowly avoiding a monsoon downpour, we enjoyed more local cuisine for lunner (lunch/dinner) in Hatton with various forms of curry, reminded yet again that ‘not spicy’ is definitely spicy. Luke ventured into what appeared to be a male-only bottle store, with the buzz of men drinking brought down to silence with the odd ciggie lighter flicking, as the locals were astounded to see a tourist in their territory.
Which brings us here now with no chance of slowing down, sipping overpriced wine on the deck of a cute family guesthouse overlooking tea plantations, realising we need to sharpen up our negotiation skills to avoid a $45 tuktuk fare tomorrow, and the midnight alarm isn’t sounding quite as appealing as we once thought.
We can’t wait to be spending 1 week in the same place without daily travel when we eventually arrive in Tissamaharama on Tuesday for our first workaway experience, and if our bodies haven’t shut down from exhaustion, the daunting task of a 14km hike at 1am or the struggle to adapt to daily curry, we will be writing our next post from there!
From our current home in Sri Lanka to yours,
Jelley & Luke xoxo
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