Hello all!
I know I have been horrible with keeping up with my blog posts. To those of you who actually read (and look forward to?) my blog, I apologize and thank you for your support! I have been really enjoying my time here, and finally decided to take the time to sit down and write about it so enjoy :)
The weeks leading up to spring break felt like they were inching along at a turtle's pace but when that last day of school finally came I think all teachers let out a collective sigh of relief. I had scheduled my flight to Sri Lanka for right after dismissal so I nearly sprinted out of school ha ha! After a short flight I arrived and was met by a friendly driver that my hotel had arranged to pick me up. I stayed that night in Colombo at the Ceilao Villas and could not have enjoyed my stay more. The staff were friendly and helpful, the hotel itself was beautiful and had lots of character, unlike some of the larger 'cookie cutter' type hotels. My stay was short but relaxing there.
what a beautiful way to start your day
Colombo was a lot different than I expected. There seemed to be a lot of contrast there from the little bit that I saw. There were parts that looked like your typical large city, with tall buildings and shopping malls and other parts that looked more rural with lots of vegetation and smaller, more modest homes. I couldn't believe how many cars and how much traffic there was! People drive pretty aggressively and use their horns a lot. I took my first tuk tuk ride to the train station on my second day being there and experienced some of it firsthand. A tuk tuk is a small, motorized car that is sort of like a taxi. They have no doors, a covered top, and seat two people at most. Because they're so small they can weave in and out of traffic which makes them a little faster than taking a regular car.
So after my tuk tuk ride, I arrived at the train station and managed to figure out how to buy a ticket to Hikkaduwa, which was about a 2.5 hour ride away. Thank God for cell phones and wifi! A quick google search got me information for train timings and ticket prices. I was really concerned about being overcharged or taken advantage of, or getting lost but thankfully I got to the right place with plenty of time to spare so I could just sit and people watch. Public transportation is really where you get to see people from all walks of life. I spent some time in the ladies only sitting room and watched a bunch of local women combing and adjusting their hair and saris and all I could think of was how much some women would pay for their hair lol (bundles anyone?). Then I went over to the platform to wait and saw a buddhist monk waiting. I've never seen one in real life before and wanted to take a picture of him but I wasn't sure if that would be disrespectful or not. I really wanted to talk to him and ask him a bunch of questions, but again, didn't know if it would be disrespectful. A nice guy struck up a conversation with me, which turned out to be lucky because he told me I was waiting on the wrong track and needed to go over to the other track to catch my train (he was from Hikkaduwa, which was where I was going). Thank you God for guardian angels! Since it was the height of tourist season the train was packed and of course not air conditioned, but my new friend helped me to get my bags on and found a place for us to stand near the door so we could at least get a breeze. We had a little bit of a language barrier but we talked a lot during the 2.5 hour ride and I learned that he was a student at a university in New Zealand and he was home to visit with his mother who had worked and saved up for him to go away to college. When we finally arrived at the train station he helped me get a tuk tuk and rode with me to find my hotel and make sure I was settled in safely, then he invited me to his mother's home to meet his friends the next day. I wasn't really sure what to make of the offer but was happy to have at least one friend with knowledge of the area and customs.
This next hotel was also beautiful and the staff was friendly and helpful, but I won't name it for reasons I'll explain later. It was located just a short walk from the beach and several restaurants and shops, but it was right by the train tracks which wasn't fun when the train rolled through early in the morning. Anyway, one of the hotel staff offered to show me around on his moped the next day. He kind of insisted on it and I wasn't sure if this was just the Sri Lankan way or something else, but I figured it couldn't hurt to get out and see more of the country. YOLO, right? So the next day I said a quick prayer and we were on our way.
A moped really is the best way to get around Sri Lanka, but I wouldn't recommend doing it more than once. Or maybe just rent one and drive yourself so that way you have a little more control. Somehow our first stop wound up being to his mother's house and I have no idea what the purpose was. I couldn't help but feel like I was on display as we rolled up, made a circle around the driveway, waved hello and left. Oh well. On our ride we saw a bunch of cows along the road and monkeys climbing in trees above our heads, but we were on the search for an elephant. We had seen a sign for an elephant farm and decided to try to find it, but when we got there the elephant was gone. Apparently he had things to do that day. So on the road we continued, through a smelly fish market, and past miles and miles of beautiful blue ocean on the way to Galle.
And finally we arrived in Galle and went to visit Galle Fort! I can't really describe how beautiful it was there. The ocean was so blue! It was honestly just picturesque.
This was another place where I saw contrast. There was the beautiful beach and all of the well maintained boutiques and hotels, but there were also people there who were obviously very poor and begging for money to feed themselves or their children. One man who had a little table set up selling souvenirs and trinkets was also offering to jump off this cliff into the shallow, rocky ocean below for 1000 rupees (about $7) I learned from my tour guide. Clearly he was experienced and could probably do it with no problem, but you just don't go risking your life for $7. There was another man there sitting under a tree with his pet monkey and cobra.
the cobra was in the basket
before I knew it the monkey ran up and jumped on me
so I had the tour guide take a picture
Little did I know, the man wanted to be paid for taking pictures with his monkey and he came up and angrily asked for his 100 rupees. Alrighty then, lesson learned. You can't take a picture with a man's monkey for free.
After that we went to a sea turtle farm, which I had mixed feelings about. There were several shallow tanks of different kinds of sea turtles there as well as mounds of sand where sea turtle eggs were incubating and waiting to hatch. The owner came and told me all about them and his mission as an ambassador for sea turtles. There was a tank full of 1 day old sea turtles that would soon be released to the ocean to live or be eaten by predators, and there were about 7 - 8 tanks with older injured turtles who would never be able to live in the wild again. Their flippers had all been damaged by either sharks or boat propellers. Considering that sea turtles can have pretty long life expectancies, and the fact that their tanks were quite small for their size and didn't allow them to swim around very much or see anything other than their concrete surroundings, it made me a little sad.
And continuing on with the sad theme our day had taken on, we went to the tsunami museum next. I had a vague memory of there being a tsunami in Sri Lanka some years back, but since I had not experienced it firsthand it wasn't really at the forefront of my memory. In speaking to many of the locals I could see and feel that it very much was still fresh in their minds. The tsunami happened on December 26, 2004, right after Christmas. People were celebrating with their families and many tourists were visiting for vacation when the waves rolled in. The museum was a two room shack with a dirt floor that had pictures and writings from people who were there at the time the tsunami hit. When you first walk in you think you can handle it because there are mostly just quotes painted on the wall, but as you get further in to the place it starts to hit you that this is real. People lost homes, loved ones, children...
Definitely a sobering experience. And then as we were leaving the weather looked like this:
I needed a nap and a think after that.
The rest of the trip turned out really well. I basically ate a lot and hung out on the beach. The hotel owner showed me to this restaurant that I ate at almost every day. It was right on the beach and had great, inexpensive food. I couldn't figure out if the owner was happy I kept coming back every day or if he was tired of me but I didn't care either way. They had good stir fried noodles, curry chicken, seafood, fresh juices and cuba libres, I was in heaven! I also had the most amazing burger from this restaurant called the Nordic House but I didn't take a picture because I scarfed it down in about 90 seconds, it wasn't pretty, I'm not proud of myself for that. I had Shake Shack after I got back to Abu Dhabi and it didn't really compare to the Nordic House. Now that's really saying something!
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| you can't go wrong with a sunset dinner on the beach |
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| I miss this meal already, curry chicken, sauteed spinach and fresh pineapple juice |
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grilled prawns with cole slaw and garlic fries
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Every year I fool myself into believing I can't get sunburned but my first time out I always do. I try to avoid it, I put on lots of sunscreen and try to limit my time in the sun but it's a battle I never win. Hikkaduwa beach is probably one of the most beautiful places I've been. The water is a deep turquoise, the sand is golden, and the ocean waves will lull you into a deep sleep if you let them.
So yeah, I fell asleep and when I woke up felt a little sick. It wasn't until I got in the shower that I realized I was burned. Bad. Ow. Thankfully my hotel room was air conditioned and I had packed some aloe vera gel so I could take care of it and hopefully start to feel better. It was my next to last day there so I was happy to be able to get back home to my own bed and space...after another 2.5 hour train ride and 4 hour flight, urgh.
Luckily though, the hotel was able to arrange a taxi for me to the airport so I wouldn't have to maneuver the train again. And since I had time to kill before checkout, I went to the beach again, why not get just a little darker? So we left around 11pm that night and wouldn't you know the moped guy insisted on tagging along to help drive. Joy. I expected to sit in the back and maybe take a nap once we got to the highway but what I got was to sit up front with the driver who talked to me the whole way and tried more than once to hold my hand. Then just before we got to the airport he pulled over and got out of the car because he wanted me to go have a drink with him. It was seriously a good 2 - 3 minutes of him begging me to get out and go with him and me refusing to take off my seatbelt or move at all. I was pissed. He finally got the hint and got back in the car and asked to be paid before we got to the airport. I gladly paid him (anything to be out of that car) and when we arrived at the airport five minutes later I got out so fast, grabbed my bags and dodged another hug from moped guy before running to check in.
I was really in a foul mood after that, not to mention the fact that it was about 1am and I still had another 3 hours to wait to board my flight. I had worn my swimsuit and a cover up to the airport but brought more comfortable, conservative clothes to wear on the flight home, arriving in a Muslim country wearing a bikini is not a good idea at any time. After changing I tried to get some sleep on the uncomfortable chairs in the waiting lounge but was interrupted when I was called to the flight attendant's desk over the loudspeaker. I was dreading going up there because the last thing I wanted was to be told that I was being bumped to a later flight after the 24 hours I had just had, but I went on anyway, and found out that I was being upgraded to business class! Thank you God! Leather massage seats, extra leg room with fully reclining seats and chenille blankets were just what I needed! I found myself wishing that my flight was just a bit longer so that I could luxuriate for as long as possible. It was, in a word, amazing. And I learned that if you're hoping for an upgrade, it helps to be dressed nicely (shoulders and legs covered, loose fitting clothes) and to be extra polite to the flight attendants.
Now, o to my problem with being a woman and traveling alone.
I hate that I have to even wonder or feel concern about my safety when I'm out and about in the world and that there are times when I wonder about what I would do to protect myself if it came down to that. I'm an adult, I should be able to take care of myself. I've been independent since I was 18, have worked since I was 15, own my home and make my own money. I'm intelligent, I earned two degrees and graduated with a great gpa. I've got sense enough to not put limits on myself and my experiences but to also not do anything gravely stupid that could put me in danger. But there have been times in my life where men have made me feel uncomfortable and I felt like I had to make the decision to be polite and kind of play along just to get myself out of the situation safely. It's infuriating really, and it can make you feel powerless. Like, "this guy is weird and creepy, but I don't know what he'll do or how he'll take it if I reject him, and he's bigger and more than likely stronger than me, so let me just be polite and hope he gets the picture so he'll leave me alone." I highly doubt that men ever worry that they'll be in the position of receiving unwanted attention from women and wonder what they would do if the woman didn't take it well. Do other women experience this? I hate it. I think girls are taught to be polite, and courteous, and agreeable, which is nice, but it really does us a disservice when it comes to things like this. And boys, I guess, are taught that if they like a girl its okay to invade her personal space and show her. Seems wrong on both ends to me.
Well, that was my rant. I'm not sure I'll be going to Sri Lanka again, at least not alone. Next post will be about the second half of my spring break, I know, lucky me!
Namaste
