Ella, ella ey ey ey... (Sri Lanka)

Ella - 23 October to 26th October

After the mountains of Nuwara Eliya, we took another picturesque train ride down to the mountains of Ella. Once again we got to hang out the side of the train while it was hurtling around mountains, and the trip was about 2 hours longer than planned because for some, unexplained reason we were sat in a station going nowhere. However, we finally arrived at the tiny train station in Ella and haggled for the taxi (as per usual), although we found out the hostel was actually quite far as it was at the top of a winy mountain path which we later just about managed to walk down (the rest of the times we had to get tuktuks). The hostel was fairly new, and was a very cute little place. We had a big bed with a much needed mosquito net, a bathroom and a little outside seating area. The owner even brought us tea and biscuits when we arrived which was much appreciated.

We didnt want to go very far the first day, so we just had a walk around and had some dinner that the hostel owner arranged for us. We quickly discovered that when it gets dark, all the bugs attack. We got back to the hostel at about 6pm (in the dark), and there were the biggest damn dragonflies/some sort of monster fly all around the lights outside. Safe to say I didn't really want to sit outside with those buzzing around my face, but when they bought us the dinner (made of fruit, rice and curry), they fashioned some sort of plastic bag contraption around the lights so the demon bugs couldnt escape and we could eat in some sort of peace, which was nice. We only had a few days in Ella, so got onto Lonely Planet and planned the next couple of days.

Tea with a view

We had a packed few days, as there are plenty of mountains to climb/hikes/things to see around Ella. The first day we decided to hike up Little Adams peak, which is the beginner's version of the nearby Adam's Peak climb.  We heard it only took a couple hours, and as it had been raining on and off all morning we wanted to go for something small. We got some food and headed down the trail. It started to rain again just as we reached the bottom of the 'mountain' (more like a hill), and luckily there was a nice little cafe so we took some shelter there and had some tea (standard). The views were amazing, the tea was tasty, and luckily the rain only lasted for a little while so we were soon off again. The hike was pretty chilled out, and we only nearly got lost a couple of times (as the path wasn't very well signposted), met a lot of ants and got to the top. The views on the way up and down were pretty incredible, even though it was a bit cloudy. At the top we met the sweetest stray dog and gave him some of our water, and admired the impressive mountains. It was still pretty early in the day, so we decided to do a loop back to the hostel. 

We walked a lot that day, without really realising it. Once at the bottom of the hill, we took a path to a big tea factory (because we hadn't had tea in a while), which was quite and where we sampled some of their tea. We then checked the map again, and saw that there was a railway bridge fairly close by called the Nine Arch Bridge which was recommended on Google. It was a bit further than it looked on the map, but it made for a nice walk. The bridge is impressive, and we walked down to get a closer look. As is common in this part of the world, trains don't come often, and when they do you can hear/see them coming miles off so you can easily walk along the tracks. We walked along to the bridge, where we met some other travellers who informed us that the next train was in 15 minutes. This was pretty good timing on our part, as watching the train run over the bridge is an awesome sight, and something that only happens 4 or 5 times a day. We sat to watch, by which time it started to rain again. 

After watching the train, we were told that it was about a 45 minute walk back along the tracks to Ella, so we followed some people down the tracks. Train tracks aren't particularly easy to walk on (huge wooden panels, lots of stones) and it took us a bit longer than 45 minutes, especially with the constant rain drizzle and how it got dark very quickly. However, we finally reached Ella and decided it was time for something to eat, as we hadn't done that in a while. We found an awesome little cafe opposite the railway, which had 3 tables and a constant queue (which was a good sign). We ordered a french onion soup, garlic bread and a pudding (which was very much needed and appreciated). We then got a taxi home and finished our activity packed day.

The next day we went to a place called Haputale which was another place Lonley Planet said to check out. It was about an hour or so from Ella, and was home of Lipton's Seat, where Mr Lipton was said to have sat and chose his tea plantations. Due to our love of tea, we had to check it out. The hike up and down took the best part of the day, mainly due to the fact that once we got to the top of the mountain (where Lipton's seat it), the heavens opened and we couldn't walk back down. We therefore sat in the tiny cafe for about an hour, being fed various Sri Lankan food, and tea, until it was safe enough to go back down. The rains were so heavy I genuinely thought that the cafe would be destroyed. Luckily, it wasn't. Anyway, the views on the walk were spectacular, with miles of tea fields and tae pickers everywhere. It was so quiet as well, as it wasn't tourist season so it was pretty much just us. Us, and for the final part of the walk, a little boy who spoke pretty good English and told us about his school and family. On the walkway were also a few motivational phrases, written in questionable English, which were an amusing addition to the hike. All in all it was a successful day, and we even got to meet Mr Lipton ('s statue) at the top! 

Us and Mr Lipton

As I said, we only had a short time in Ella, and were looking forward to getting back to the beach (it'd been a long 2 weeks without it...) so headed on down to Weligama!! 

Ciao, Sarah

Kandy to Nuwara Eliya: The best journey in the world?

Kandy to Nuwara Eliya - 21st October 2016

There weren't many reasons why we felt we should return to Kandy from Anuradhapura but there was certainly one good one. We had heard that the train journey that linked Kandy with Nurwaya Eliya a town in the mountain tops of central Sri Lanka to the south of Kandy was incredibly beautiful and voted by some as one of the most scenic in the world. Basically we had no choice in the matter, we had to take the train!
We arrived in Kandy on the bus where we headed straight to the train station to buy tickets for the next day as the trains to our destination left early in the morning. Excited to make the reservation we waited impatiently in the deathly slow queue before immediately being told they were all sold out. I was bitterly disappointed because it meant having to spend another day in Kandy, something either of us wanted to do, but as we turned to go we were informed that if we came early the next morning there may be some available. It was explained that they always leave one or two available to be bought on the day of departure and other people may cancel their previously bought tickets. What time was early? About 6am. eek. With raised hopes we headed to our hostel.

This time our we didn't stay with Ifti who lived too far out of the city but instead in a hostel close by but straight up a steep hill adjacent to the station, a place with according to the tuktuk driver was still "very far" a phase we had heard many times before and many more times since. The hostel was basic but it looked out over the city had an impression panaroma of the twinkling lights at night. It was just a shame that our room happened to be a damp little box that faced into the mountain. But it was fine because it was cheap and we didn't have to be there for long. 

Traveling in style. 1st class baby.

The next day we woke, or probably Sarah woke and then had to wake me up, we crawled out of bed and before the sun was up we were out the hostel, in a tuktuk and on our way to the station. SUCCESS! We bought the tickets. We were unsurprisingly some of the first people in the station but still the only tickets left for the train that day were first class which were 10x  more expensive than any other ticket but still cheap by UK standards and the advantage was in first class you were guaranteed a seat which was not necessarily the case in the other classes where your ticket bought you entrance onto the train but not a place to sit.

When the train arrived a few hours later, pulling into the station, its carriages cleaming shiny and blue we hopped on board and got comfortable making sure to enjoy the extra expensive plushy cushioned seats we'd been given. The carriage was quiet and airconned with tinted windows and a tv showing a kids film; very nice indeed but in actaul fact not really what I wanted. There was a saving grace however, because as health and safety laws seem to be uniformly lax across most of the Asia we were able to sit on the footplate of the train. With the door open and the legs dangling over the edge, the wind in my hair and watching the world go by I traded in my first class armchair for the cold hard metal floor and thats where Sarah and I spent the best part of the 4 hour journey. It was absolute bliss.

Best seat in the house

Teeeeeeaaaaaaaa

The locomotive slowly chugged along the single track (which explained why there weren't many trains a day going back and forth), constantly on a slight incline and never going more than 20 or 30 mphs. As our altitude increased, the cool air grew cooler until we were driving through the clouds and as we did we saw the tea planations rise out of the misty mountainsides and valleys that frame the train track. Having spent the last 4 months in Spain and India we had only experience varying degrees and types of baking heat since the previous spring but here as the journey progressed we started to feel the sting of cold air. Not just a cooling breeze, not just a cooled airconned room, no here the air was genuinely cold. Man, it felt good.
The planations and tea fields extended out in all the directions we could see until our entire world became either train carriage, sky or tea bushes. What more could an Englishman want. Then whilst sitting peacefully watching the verdent vista grow greener and greener I was suddenly disturbed by the train driver who motioned to the few of us that were sitting around the footplates to get up. I was immediately sadden as I figured he wanted us to return to our seats but rather this hero of a driver invited us into engine cab because he wanted to point out the view of a waterfall that we were approaching. This cheery gentleman clearly enjoyed his job and I have zero doubt as to why he would. 

Four hours later we sadly arrived safe and sound in Nurwaya Eliya amongst a climate described by the locals as "English weather" - glad that stereotype has made it around the world - and more tuktuk drivers wanting to charge us exorbitant prices because our destination was once again "very far". We got the bus into town. 

People keep asking us what is the best thing we've seen or done on our trip. For me this remains in my top few activies. I would recommend anyone to go to Sri Lanka just to experience this central region of the island in all its beauty and the train journeys on offer here.
Thankfully there was more amazing stuff to come.

Until then,
   Bob

A Sri Lankan pitstop in England.

Nurwara Eliya 21st Oct 2016 - 23rd Oct 2016

Nurwara Eliya is a small town located in the mountains of central Sri Lanka with the interesting nickname of Little England. The settlement originally earned its name when it was founded by British civil servants and tea planters. Sitting at an elevation of near 2000m above sea level this, cool cloudy region of the island was perfect for growing tea and as such to this day the entire area seems to be dedicated to the growth of tea.

Perfect village green with appropriate weather

Immediately as we entered the town the British influence was noticeable. We arrived at a small red-brick post office which wouldn´t have seemed out of place if it sat at the centre of a rural West Country village. Around the corner on the outskirts lay a small lake, bordered by a pristine village green, fit with flower beds, a pavilion and pedalos. The only way it could have looked more British would have been if there was a Vicar partaking in a local cricket game.

 As a side note it´s amazing what strange things you can begin to miss when you´re away from home; it occured to me when we were walking past the well groomed lawns how much I missed grass. Sounds odd right? Having spent the previous months in parts of the world where the climate had just been too hot and dry for a proper field of grass the only times we´d seen it had been the occasional  well tended private gardens of hotels, clubs or of a wealthy person. The rest had been primarily pavements, sand, dust, and a few wiry grey green shrubs. Seeing the green made me miss the inordinate amount of hours I´d spent (badly) playing football with my mates growing up.
There was also a horse track which I presume has to be due to British influence. At least it´s not something we´ve seen any where else during our time in S.E Asia.

They´ve nailed that English house look.

The place we chose to stay was once again according to all the tuktuk drivers "very far" which seems to be a global taxi driver code for "I´m going to charge you an extortionate price because you´re not from around here". The stupid thing in this instant was that he couldn´t read the map we had presented him with (after staring at it blankly for 2 minut

es) and he had never heard of the place but he was still quick to tell us how far away it was. We´ve since discovered that few taxi drivers in S.E. Asia can read maps but instead prefer claiming to know the destination, getting lost then asking nearby locals for help. Our relationship with taxi drivers isn´t a particularly happy one. Admittedly the ironic thing here was that compared to the size of the town our accommodation was quite far away. Still only about 40 minutes walk though. After a quick phone call to ask for instructions we made it there and boy was it odd.

Located in the back garden of the owners´ house next to a preexisting cosy looking wooden lodge designs for groups of people sat our newly built little brick shed, built for two. The interior was a double bed with about 5 thick blankets laid on top and a small table with two chairs next to it. There was a small bathroom through one door and a kitchen with gas stove, camping kettle, 2 each of the crockery, cutlery and pans through the other. Oh and also zero insulation. We were very thankful for the stash of blankets we been given which accompanied our own 2 nicely and we were definitely thankful to ourselves for having lugged our skiing socks around with us for the past few months. When we left home we thought we´d only need them when we arrived in the US during winter but man oh man did we need them here too. Getting up in the morning was a mission of sheer willpower braving the icy floor tiles which you could tell were cold even through the thick woollen socks. But there was definitely something charming (perhaps in a bemusing sort of way) about our little hut; shuffling toward the gas stove in the mornings fully clothed and wrapped in a woolly blanket like an arctic nun to boil our little kettle to make the cups of tea that we desperately needed. I mean how could we not drink tea in the morning, we were at the centre of the tea world. It was also very nice to go to bed at night without having to make the choice of either sweating with the heat to the point of dehydration or being kept awake from the constant droning of a nearby desk fan. Peaceful, silent, cool bliss.
(Because the place was new and needed a photo to put on booking.com, they used us as models. We are now the coverphoto for this cosy shed's booking profile. I don't suppose our faces will bring them many new customers though)

Nuwara Eliya is amongst other things home to Sri Lanka's highest peak Pidurutalagala (bless you) which stands at a whoppingly small 2,524m, in other words it was low enough for us to walk up in a day without too much hassle. At least that was the theory. It turns out that the entire peak of the mountain is owned and controlled by the Sri Lankan military and it serves as a radio outpost. As a result access to the top is very restricted, so much so in fact that you need your passport to get past the military checkpoint at the base of the incline and you have to be driven by tour guide, taxi or private car. We weren't allowed to hike the hike. Somewhat dejected by this revelation, especially after the hour+ walk it took to get there (poor planning on our part I guess) we walked off in search of adventure elsewhere.

Lovers´ Leeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaap

We found it in a waterfall nicknamed "Lover´s Leap", the tragic tale stating that when a young couple´s love was forbidden by their parents they through themselves off the waterfall. I suppose every country has their own version of Romeo and Juliet. Although the waterfall sat just on the edge of town, so close that we could just about see it from our hostel, it was an absolute mission to get to. No directions on the road and no maps listed any of the winding roads we were on. We ended up walking down private roads, through farms, disturbing the odd cow, and along very small lanes. As such it came as a surprise when it turned out that the route we'd taken was right. With one final point down a mud path from a friendly local we arrived. You could immediately tell the extent of the drought which apparently affected this region too. It was suppose to be wet season yet there was barely a trickle of water flowing over the precipice above. At the base there was meant to be a pool of water but instead there lay bare rock. Although terrible for the environment it was quite advantageous for us as we summoned our inner mountain goats and joined the locals in scrambling across the precariously stacked boulders. There was sat and sunbathed, warming up from the cold night before like snakes on a hot rock. Mission accomplished, all we had to do now was scramble back down into town...


We couldn't be staying in the middle of tea country without visiting a tea plantation, that would be ludicrous. So we did the thing we knew best; we googled the cheapest plantation museum/tours in the area and finding a free one a few miles outside of town we eagerly hopped on a bus (which then waited another 45 long minutes in the station) before rocking down the zig-zag mountain roads to Mackwoods Labookellie tea plantation and factory. Hoping off the bus (and feeling not just a little motion sick) we were spotted by the staff and ushered inside a large wooden panelled cafe without asking or hesitation we were given a free cup of tea to sample and piece of chocolate cake each. Whatever followed afterwards this place was going to be getting 5 stars on Tripadvisor. Taking our time and enjoying the warming tea we eventually finished and after a few more tourists we done we were shown around the factory which sat just across the carpark. It was a basic tour but it was entirely free and nevertheless informative. For instance I had no idea that Green Tea and Black Tea comes from the same leaf as does English breakfast tea the only difference is how the leaf is dry, rolled and prepared. The drying room the was fascinating; I've always associated the smell of tea with the wet steaminess of a freshly boiled kettle but in this hanger sized room with desert heat and dryness (if you haven´t guessed the purpose of this room is to draw any moisture whatsoever out of the leaves), the powerful scent of tea filled every square inch of the air. An inescapable aroma, it was incredible.

Two more mildly interesting facts: Apparently tea factories prefer to employ female rather than male tea pickers because their hands are more nimble, faster and accurate at snatching up all tiny leaves. All tea from all the different factories in the country is sold to brands and businesses at a central auction in Colombo (the capital) meaning the tea leaves in every box of PG Tips you buy may come from a completely different source. Cool right?

After managing to score ourselves another free cup of tea and cake the clouds rolled in turning the verdant scenery into an eerie scene: a giant old factory building surrounded by woods and low clouds on the edge of an all too quiet mountain (a Silent Hill if you will). We hopped back on the bus to town just as the rain started up - I guess no more drought - and then it was time to pack and move onto Ella. Another train journey. Woooo.

Until then,
       Bob

We waited far too long to hear someone say this

Anuradhapura and the end of a long deposit fight.

Anuradhapura 18th Oct - 20th Oct 2016

On the four hour bus journey from Kandy to this northern town Sarah and I created a new game to pass the time where we mashed the names of 2 film/tv programs together, gave a clue as to the two films and the other had to guess. For example. After Milton was told there would be cake, he has to help Bugs Bunny win a basketball game. The answer: Office Space Jam. A fairly silly game but it kept us preoccupied the entire journey and for several journeys since.

Anuradhapura is a town in the north of Sri Lanka which was somewhat off track for the circular path we were making around the island but from the admittedly little research we had done we'd heard that there were some cool things to be seen there so we went and had a look. We were half right.

Our hostel was brand new, so brand new in fact that it was still being built. Run by a lovely family with a tiny, curious toddler who wasn't afraid to run up to us and say hello, their new place was out in the middle of nowhere located on the very edge of a serene lake on the edge of town. Not only was the hostel new the entire road connecting it to the outside world was new too, it was so uneven and unpaved that a few times the tuktuk struggled to stay upright. The upshot of the bone rattling journey there was it meant the place was incredibly peaceful.

The big attraction in Anuradhapura is the site of the ancient city which covers a large area of a few square miles inside the modern city. The site contains lots of archaeology and a history that dates back to c.900BC, the most impressive monuments on display in the ancient city are the collection of huge pagodas - large, solid brick domes. There are also a couple of archaeology museums contained within the boundaries of the ancient city and all of these individual attractions are connected by public roads and highways. It's therefore entirely absurd that foreigners are expected to pay 20gbp to enter into the area. On the larger roads in and out of the ancient city (rather than at the sites themselves) there are check points set up where guards will sell tourists the tickets whilst letting the locals pass through, you know, because they are public roads which connects the city together. The tickets get you into the area and entrance to the museums, both of which were closed for renovation when we were there. We were cycling down the road before we got stopped by a few guards and told we couldn't go further without paying the entrance fee and whilst we discussed this at least 3 tuktuks drove past us unimpeded. Instead of carrying on and buying the tickets we turned around and cycled away to enjoy rest of the scenery which was free. Sri Lankan roads like the roads in many south east Asian countries can get pretty hair raising at times where the general all of the road seems to be 'the bigger you are the more rights you have' so it was nice to cycle around Anuradhapura where the streets were mostly empty and the well paved too. 

We cycled around another lake and down some smaller residential streets to explore the area and both long (and not entirely by accident) we found ourselves within the boundary limits of the ancient city - the guards and check points were only set up on the larger roads. After having done this I went back to check what other people had done and it turns out it's quite a common thing, even wikitravels suggests this as an option, that or getting a tuktuk driver who will essentially smuggle you in. The moral question arises as to whether you help the economy and the preservation of the sites - of which there was zero evidence - by paying or whether you make the choice to pay the extortionate fee to use public roads and save the money to spend in local businesses. Clearly we chose the latter and once inside the area that is designated as the ancient city there was no sign of ticket checkers and as such we freely biked around for the day. The only time we thought we might get caught was by a couple of very angry dogs who chased our bikes for the best part of the kilometer, it was scary. We visited a few of the pagodas which can be best described and likened to a giant boob the size of a building or the Ion Cannon from Star Wars before realising that they were all more or less identical to the one we'd seen outside the ancient city and were then quite relieved that we didn't pay. 

The best photo I could get of the Langurs

The part most fascinating for me was watching the Tufted Grey Langurs (monkeys) which collected in great numbers around some of the old archaeological ruins. The way they sat on the tree branches and old walls slouched over with their long skinny legs out in front of them and their large stomachs sagging down was too reminiscent old a bunch of old men not to find amusing. While Sarah stayed at a safe distance I did my best David Attenborough impression and ventured forth attempting to capture a decent photo of these wild old men with a terrible phone that has no zoom capability. I approached ever closer but two of the large adults started to fight and there was no way I was going to risk getting caught up with that, I'm perfectly satisfied in my life without the addition of rabies so I turned tail and legged it back to Sarah and the bikes.

Our stint in Anuradhapura wasn't just about being tourists, in fact we spent both of our evenings there  emailing and ringing people back home fighting to get the 725gbp deposit back from our Cardiff flat, the place we'd now left four months ago. This whole saga is a long winded aggravating tale of why letting agencies are horrendous companies that do not give a shit about anyone. To give an abridged version of the story: We left the flat in a pristine condition (with the help of Malcolm and Sharon, thank you again). The letting agency's initial report was positive and stated we should likely receive all or most of the deposit back in the following few weeks. After 1 month later and no further information we send them several emails. Finally they reply to let us know the landlady is requesting 719gbp out of 725gbp of our deposit for things such as track marks on the carpet and to rehang the curtains..... We quickly send an email back fighting our case to which they don't reply. Over the next few weeks we send more emails, messages to the agency on Facebook, try to ring them and even Sharon rings them. We cannot get through to anyone. Although when we leave them a bad review on Facebook they quickly respond asking us to get in contact with them to sort the issue out. Ummm what? We believe that the Landlady hadn't responded to the agency and as such they didn't have any new info to give us but the fact they didn't tell us this or anything at all is terrible. Finally we go to the Deposit Protection Scheme to fight our case there. We're told the landlady has a month to provide evidence. A month later we've still not heard anything from them and so the emails and calls start again. Turns out the landlady received an extension for two more weeks, but no explanation was given as to why. Thanks for telling us. Two weeks later we get an email stating how because we haven't provided any evidence for our case the deposit will go to the other party. Terrified and enraged we immediately call DPS to find out that that email was supposed to go to the landlady, not us, and that we were probably, 4 months and much anguish later going to get our full deposit back. We were relying on that money so to spend the first four months of traveling worrying that we weren't going to get it was not pleasant. Luckily it worked out in the end.

Victorious we headed back to Kandy, but this time we had a good reason to do so.

Until then, 
   Bob

Bitter sweet Kandy

Kandy 14th Oct - 18th Oct 2016

We survived our first Sri Lankan bus ride and after being thrown from side to side for 4 hours whilst we drove up through the mountains past some magnificent views of jungles and forests we reached the city of Kandy. A city located at the heart of the island nestled away in the cool cloudy air of the mountains that make up most of central Sri Lanka.
We used Airbnb and stayed with a guy called Ifti, a wonderfully friendly man who bombarded us with more local information than we knew what to do with. His place was a 10p bus ride out of the city and for 10gbp per night we got way more than we bargained for. We figured we were getting a room in a house/flat as was usually the case but here we ended up with an entire apartment to ourselves. A big double bedroom with ensuite, a living room and dining room with flat screen tv and a kitchen, a whole actual kitchen. How we'd missed being able to cook rather having to rely on restaurants and cafes. Being able to cook for ourselves was another reason why we didn't each much Sri Lankan food during our first weeks in the country. We found the flat to be so nice that despite having seen everything we wanted to see in Kandy within the first day or two we requested an extra day just so we could stay in the apartment and hang out there.

A nice visual juxtaposition: Buddhism and Christianity

Along with Kandy came our first experience of tourist exploitation in Sri Lanka, something which sadly dampened our overall positive impression of the country. The Temple of the Tooth which sits at the heart of the city and is one of its main attractions for both locals and tourists is famous for containing within its walls one of Buddha's teeth, supposedly. It is also of course on Tripadvisor's "must see" list for Kandy and the region, however, entrance for locals is a few rupees whereas for foreigners, be they tourists or not, to enter it's 15gbp. I understand that in most cases there will be a wage/wealth disparity between most tourists and a lot of the locals but for the price difference to be that high I find a bit ridiculous. In India there had been several occasions where the tourist price had been higher than the locals' price but it had usually been double or triple and still cheap whereas this was closer to 10x the price and far from cheap. Needless to say we couldn't afford to spend 30gbp on entrance tickets out of our 35gbp per day budget. Instead we walked around the outside and admired the free bits, which I have to say were very beautiful. The temple was situated right next to an old very English looking church which made for a nice contrast. We weren't that desperate to enter so we were okay with not going in, we just found it a shame that the price was so high especially when looking at old reviews where you could track a steady increase in the entrance price over the past years and months. In retrospect we can say that we've now come across this in multiple countries but this instance annoyed us greatly as it was the first time we'd experienced it.

Ifti was an excellent host but his advice was perhaps a bit hit and miss. He insisted we went to two places, a cultural dance show and a gem factory, because like everywhere you go everything is famous for something and Kandy is apparently famous of gems and dances. The gem factory started out very interesting, it began with a video showing how they were found and collected from the earth, sorted and cut then as soon as the credits rolled we were whisked away to a room displaying more information about how the gems are cut and cleaned which could have been quite interesting except for the fact we had all of a minute to look around it before we were dragged to the shop floor. As soon as we were on the shop floor they were then more than happy for us to take our time and look for as long as we wanted. The various salesmen and Ifti himself were very insistent on us buying something, even something very small. How about this ring, very cheap, only 500gbp. HA!!!! Good one. Fed up, it was our turn to be insistent and so we left.

The cultural dance show, another very popular attraction in Kandy, was 10gbp a ticket each which as I have discussed was a lot of money of us but we still trusted Ifti's judgement on the subject and believing it to be a genuine local event we happily went along with it. It turned out to be absolute trash.  We were sat down in a small village hall style theatre while the rest of the room filled with other tourists and their tour guides (goddamn it we'd been duped, WE TRUSTED YOU IFTI!). The following hour was filled with various dances with zero explanation to the cultural or historical significance, zero narration and zero exposition. The performers didn't appear to like what they were doing and there were definitely a few performers who literally had no idea what they were doing and if that was obvious to a foreigner who knows nothing of dance than who knows what that looked like a local with some sort of appreciation for Kandyan cultural history. To make it worse before we were able to leave they all lined up with buckets nearly blockading the exit asking for tips. Since travelling we have been so careful not to waste our money - there was even been a time when we debated whether to buy more water or not because doing so would cost money (stupid I know) - so this waste of our funds understandably annoyed us.

Buddhas to the left of me, Buddhas to my right

HOWEVER. We did have a kitchen so Kandy wasn't all bad. We made sooo much french toast!

And on a more positive note we took a day trip to Dambulla a few hours north of Kandy on a deathtrap of a bus to visit an impressive cave temple. Upon arrival we were met with the tranquil stares of a giant golden buddha which loomed overhead and after a long hike up a rocky hill there was a series of cave all of which contained various sized, shaped and positioned buddhas, a few of which were even carved straight out of the mountain. You did have to be barefoot though which made walking incredibly difficult as the rock floor was reaching near scolding temperatures after being heated up the sun all day. It had the effect of the locals walking around casually looking at the statues and imagery whilst all the tourists hopped unceremoniously from one spot of shade to the next like a bunch of children playing 'the floor is lava' which I suppose if the rock had been any hotter would have been a reality. It was a fun day out especially because entrance was free.

Hey there big guy

Whilst we were in Dambulla we did however have to spend some time convincing our various tuktuk drivers that we didn't want to go to Sigiriya. Sigiriya wins top spot for places to visit when in central Sri Lanka, at least according to Tripadvisor again, all local tour agencies and virtually very poster to be found in Kandy all of which seem to have Sigiriya as well focus. It even beats out Temple of the Tooth. But like that temple it's a massive tourist trap. The attraction is a gigantic, 200metre high rock situated in the centre of a forest covered plain with the ruins of a half built fortress on top and while it sounds amazing (it totally does) it's also sodding expensive. Everybody warns that you should arrive early in the day so you don't either get baked into the earth by the sun or crushed on the stairs on the uncontrolled mass of people that come later in the day but they don't mention that you have to pay 30gbp to get in which is almost an entire day's budget for just one of our tickets. I think the local price was 30rupees which is about 15p..... I can almost sympathise with the temple prices because they're preserving something sacred however this looked to be done purely for the money. It was a real shame because I would genuinely liked to have gone up the rock but when push came to shove we had the choice of visiting Sigiriya or potentially traveling for an extra 2 days instead with the money saved. We chose to extend our trip. In fact we did manage to see Sigiriya off in the distant from the Dambulla cave temple so that was a plus. And as an added bonus we recently (I'm writing this from Colombia) went up a very similar attraction which cost less than 5gbp each and had far more interesting views (he says with smug satisfaction), so stay tuned for that episode.

As I write my thoughts down it sounds as if our experience in Kandy was entirely negative but it really wasn't. For all its faults Kandy was a nice enough city but it didn't have a huge amount to offer us. The city was fairly modern with malls and nice new restaurants but these things don't really interest us so much. If it hadn't have been for Ifti and his amazing apartment we wouldn't have stayed for as long as we did. Being blunt I believe this was probably the low point of our 3 weeks in Sri Lanka, not because it was bad but rather because the rest of the trip got increasingly better.

We packed up and headed on the next bus to Anuradhapura.

Until then,
     Bob

The morning commute in beautiful Kandy

Sri weeks in Ceylon (I will not apologise for the pun): Negombo

Sri Lanka: 11oct - 3rd nov 2016

Negombo 11th Oct - 14th Oct 2016

After a quick but turbulent hop from south India to Sri Lanka we landed in Colombo the capital city and listening to the advice of many people who'd described Colombo as a big boring city we immediately left and got an over expensive taxi up the coast a few miles to a town called Negombo. In reference to the taxi we have since come to the conclusion that the first journey into any new city is going to be the most expensive journey of your time there, usually because you arrive somewhat tired and disorientated and where you arrive into, often a bus station or airport has a tendency to be well outside of the city centre. When there are public transport links they tend to be more expensive anyway and where there aren't and you're left to the mercy of the local taxi drivers then you no there's not a chance of getting a cheap ride....We truly found this out when we arrived in Probolingo, Java, so watch out for that story when we get round to telling it. This time round we ended up paying 13gbp for the journey that took only a few minutes which considering we were in one of the cheapest countries in the world was an absolute rip off (and roughly a 3rd of our daily budget), however as a side note the car was very nice and it was the first time we'd worn a seatbelt in a long time which was an odd sensation to realise.

Anyway

Negombo is a small seaside town just north of Colombo on the west coast of Sri Lanka a town full of guesthouses, hotels and resorts, lots of resorts and to go along with these expensive resorts were expensive restaurants too. Not so good for us. We'd heard that Sri Lanka was as cheap or possibly cheaper than India but that this point in time we did not believe it. In any case over the next few days we ended up eating beef or chicken stir fry on several occasions, partly because it was the cheapest food in the area (surprisingly) and partly because it was a welcome break from curry which although is always tasty was starting to get a little tiresome after a month in India. This break from local food did however put us on a bit of a bad path. From this point on we ate very little Sri Lankan food until almost the end of our trip when I discovered one of my new favourite foods.

Even on a terrible camera the sunset still looks good

After arriving at the gigantic spacious guesthouse in which we were the only ones present, that included staff, we settled ourselves, had a nap and before it got dark we went for an explore of the area. We headed straight to the beach where we caught one of the most amazing sunsets I'd ever witness. The clear sky scrolled through almost all the colours of the spectrum, there were blues, reds oranges, purples and pinks. I'm a little colourblind and even I could tell the amazing array of hues on display. After the beach in Goa which had been a bit disappointing (due to the tropical rain storms, the mass of people chasing us down the beach to sell us their goods and for the fact that the previous beach we'd been on were those of the Spanish Mediterranean coast which were fantastic) we felt now as if we were in heaven. Not only was the sunset amazing but the sea was warm and the beach itself stretch on for miles, its golden sand largely untainted by either the presence of other tourists as it was still low season and only very few people selling things. Chilled as could be. Over the next few days we spent a lot of time walking up and down this beach. This was also the third sea we'd swum in on our travels.

We spent sometime walking around the various parts of Negombo as although it was quite a small town it was still spread out over a fairly large area. At one end of the town were the resorts at the other was the bus station and a few innocuous high streets and in between were canals connecting the town together, a pungent wet fish market and a few but diverse religious buildings. On one road was a church which looked like it had been brought straight from the somewhere in western Europe (thanks to St Francis Xavier, a name we'd see a lot in coming months), down the road from a Hindu temple which was near identical in design to that of the Meenakshi temple in Madurai. We also spent this time getting to grips with the Sri Lankan rupee. In India the conversion rate had been 1gbp to 88 rupees and after getting used to that over the course of a month we had to adapt to use 1gbp to 180 rupees. The transition was quite confusing especially since the two currencies shared a name.

When we took a walk to the fish market we ended up arriving a little late in the day because we'd  slept in, gotten hungry because we hadn't eaten breakfast and then been distracted by 2 big juicy burgers. Consequently things were starting to wind down, the fish and been sold or stored and the guts were starting to be washed away in big bloody rivers. We however met and end up talking to a on old fisherman who had supposedly met Rick Stein when he was filming a tv series in Sri Lanka, he then proceeded to explain how the fish were caught, stored, gutted, dried in the sun and salted. The salt both preserving it from rotting and from being eaten by the voracious seagulls flying in great numbers overhead. He also proudly told us how all the best fish is kept and eaten straight away by the locals on the coast and the rest, the salted and dried fish goes in land. His advice was to only eat fish when you're on the coast. Good advice Mr Fisherman. What struck as both as strange and sad was how we were both on the back foot and wary of this strange man as soon as he approached us. Not because we sensed danger but purely because after India where the only randomers who approached us either wanted a photo or more likely were sweet talking us whilst preparing a sales pitch. It was a sad attitude to have because it meant that for a long time after we didn't really trust random people who wanted to make conversation with us. That's not to say we weren't duped by random strangers at all in Sri Lanka but the example I'm thinking of didn't happen until we arrived in Galle at the end of our Sri Lankan experience.

Fiiiiiiiiiiiish

Man vs Wild: Spider Edition

Our only negative experience in Negombo was the arrival of an unwanted character. Lying in bed one evening after a busy day we caught something out of the corner of our eyes racing across the wall. We then spent the next few minutes debating who should track down and kill the giant black hairy spider that had decided to make its home in our bedroom; me the arachnophobe or Sarah the pretend arachnophobe (I say spitefully). The deal had always been that I get rid of daddy long legs and Sarah gets rid of the spiders yet it was me, ME, that had to face the beast like a pathetic gladiator. As we had run out of the room the second the spider had first reared its ugly head I reentered armed with a selfie-stick a boot and a towel and spent the next 20 minutes chasing (and being chased by) the dreaded arachnid around the confines of the room before finally cornering him, squishing him in the towel, screaming, and flooding the towel and the spider with it in the sink which is where it stayed overnight. At least now when job interviewers asked me to give a time when I've had a problem and how I overcame it I'll have the perfect example. Right?

Our first overall impressions of Ceylon were very positive. It had some of the best elements of India with the food and the scenery but with noticeably less population and less chaos and all the locals we met were amazingly kind and talkative which is always a bonus.

After a few relaxing days on the Sri Lankan Coast acclimatising to the way of life here it was time to head in land. To Kandy.

Until then,
     Bob

Madurai, India and the first Couchsurfing experience

Madurai: 7/10/16-11/10/16

The Indian adventure ends and we explore the world of Couchsurfing...

So, after what was quite frankly a crazy month in India, getting over the culture shock of Delhi, the tiredness of the 3 day train saga, and the stomach bugs acquired in Cochin, we were nearing the end of our time in this enormous, wonderful, mad country. It was a shame really, as we were just getting used to it! 

Watching the sunset in Madurai

After spending too much money in Europe, and wanting to try to hold on to our savings as much as possible, we decided to give couchsurfing a go. Bob has had an account for a few years, but never gotten round to using it. We'd heard good things, and it sounded perfect - staying with people for free, and experiencing a new side of a country/city that we might not be able to see whilst staying in hostels. I took control of the account and sent out some messages to potential hosts in Madurai, which is in South-East India, and where our flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka was departing from. 

We got in contact with Ramchand through the app, a really nice guy living just outside of the city. He was kind enough to host us for 2 nights, and staying with him made our first Couchsurfing experience memorable and fun. Upon arriving at the bus station in Madurai, Ramchand and his friend picked us up on their motorbikes. This was fine, apart from our huge bags. However, this wasn't a problem for the bikers, and with one bag each on our backs and on each in the footwell, we headed for the house. We nearly got squished on the way, attempting to zoom through two buses that were slowly getting closer together (I was pretty much in a Bond movie), but it's all fine and I'm here to tell the tale. 

Over the 3 days we spent with Ramchand, he was so welcoming and we saw so much of the city. He took us for a short hike up Elephant Rock where we watched the sunset, introduced us to a yoga master who gave us a yoga lesson (sadly, I am still very inflexible), showed us the huge Meenakshi temple at night and for my birthday took us to see a Tollywood film (the Tamil version of Bollywood) which was a pretty intense experience. 


Here are the highlights:

Beautiful Ganesh statue

> Yoga -- we were introduced to a 'yogi' who had a pretty impressive history of yoga teaching and learning, and who taught us some basic yoga. We took a bus to his house, where he lives with his wife, and which is covered in statues of Ganesh as well as many photos of his son (now also a yoga master) in some remarkable yoga poses. The class was really fun and not something we've really tried before, but unfortunately I am pretty much the most inflexible person on this earth (I can't even touch my toes), so I had a hard time. 

> The Gandhi Museum -- We visited this museum on the first day in Madurai. Bob had been before and wanted to go again, and I was interested in Gandhi's history. The museum is beautiful, with a large statue of the man himself proudly placed outside. Lucky for us, it was free (which always helps). The inside of the museum was full with photos and items from Gandhi's past. It was really interesting, and I learnt a lot about the man who 'liberated' India from the oppressive British. I wanted to go up to the museum staff and personally apologize for the pain and suffering we bought upon India, but thought that might be a bit too much. Anyway, it's an intriguing museum that I recommend visiting, but if you can't get to Madurai just Google Gandhi's history and have a little read.

> Tollywood Cinema and ecstatic fans --  As it was quickly approaching my 24th (aaah) birthday, Bob kept asking me what I wanted. We're travelling the world - what could I possibly want? Even if I did want anything, there is no more space in my bag for anything. It was fun trying to be creative with presents though! One of the things I really wanted to do was to see an Indian film, as Bollywood is undoubtedly a massive industry and is incredibly popular. Ramchand had the perfect place - a cinema close to his home, which showed 'Tollywood' (Tamil movies) films. There was a recent Tollywood release called Remo, about a man who wants to get the girl (I mean, what else could it be about?) but to do so, cross-dresses so he can get closer to her. The cinema was huge, and quickly filled with people. Before the film had started, there was a group of adolescent boys behind us who had started to chant the main actors name. This continued throughout the film, and when the actor appeared on screen, whoops of cheers could be heard across the theater. The film was OK, I enjoyed the music, and even though we couldn't understand a word of what was being said, the storyline was easy to follow. It was quite the experience. 

Exchanging flowers

>Food and the flower markets -- I'm putting these together as I feel like this post is getting long and I can make these two things short. So food is my 1# thing to do when travelling. I love food, and India has a lot of it (as well as all the other places we have travelled so far). Ramchand knew a nice local little restaurant not far from his house, which we went to all the nights we stayed with him. We had plates of roti, parratta or dosa (3 different types of bread) with different types of dips, curry and vegetable. It was like a spice roulette for me, as I had no idea what anything was, but it was fun to try. One of the days after lunch we also visited a huge flower market with Ramchand, where sellers would have all types of flowers (with all types of smells) on offer. It was pretty mad, as markets usually are, but really cool to see.
Overall we had an amazing time with Ramchand, and are so glad to have met him and the  other couchsurfers staying with him (one guy from Taiwan was cycling from South India to the North - absolutely crazy but so awesome!). As you'll hear later, we have continued Couchsurfing and haven't had a bad experience yet!

> Meenakshi Temple (at night) --  This was another place Bob had visited on his previous trip to India, and wanted to show me it. It is a huge, brightly coloured temple, covered in statues and lights. We went at night, in the middle of a festival, so it was rammed with people. We took about an hour to walk around the stalls, taking in the colours, sounds and smells. It was beautiful, and Ramchand treated us to some tasty Indian sweet street food after.

Overall we had an amazing time with Ramchand, and are so glad to have met him and the  other couchsurfers staying with him (one guy from Taiwan was cycling from South India to the North - absolutely crazy but so awesome!). As you'll hear later, we have continued Couchsurfing and haven't had a bad experience yet!

A very blurry photo of us and our first CS host, Ramchand

Last note -- Sarah turns 24 (aaaah)

My birthday is the 10th October, so we celebrated it on our last day in India. As I said, doing presents was interesting (not that there was anything I wanted), but Bob got me the 2nd Game of Thrones book on Kindle, as well as a small bottle of perfume that we'd seen in a market in Kochi and I'd mentioned I'd liked the smell of (so sneaky!). We also stayed in a swanky hotel in Madurai, which was amazing. The bed was like a marshmallow, and I had the longest/best shower in a long time. My birthday was completed with ordering Dominoes to the room (half courtesy of Rhiannon, whose Indian friend was able to supply us with an Indian phone number to order the pizza with), and a Netflix marathon in bed. What else could I ask for really?  

Anyway, Madurai was a great way to finish our Indian adventure and begin our Couchsurfing one. We were sad to leave the beautiful country, but very excited to see what was to come in Sri Lanka!

Ciao! Sarah.

P.S: If you ever go travelling and want to save some money/meet some awesome people/see a different side of a city, I thoroughly recommend Couchsurfing! They have an easy to download app, and you get the chance to stay with so many awesome people across the world! We're hoping to host some people when we're back in the UK.