Peradeniya Botanical Gardens. Largest in Sri Lanka
Posers on a broken down train
Winding roads through tea plantations
cheerful passangers
Abandoned railway sheds
Eucalypt forests ??? What the
19 – 21 June 2014 – Kandy
From Colombo we caught the train to Kandy, the second largest city in Sri Lanka. Second class tickets were more than adequate, as you can put the windows up and get a welcome breeze as you watch the life of Sri Lankans pass by. The Sinhalese (majority of the population) are proud that Kandy resisted several waves of European invasion and it is a bit of a religious icon. Although the city was still busy, bustling and a bit run down, it is set on a lovely lake and the green hilly surroundings quite charming. We made the mistake of not writing down the address or phone number of the hotel we booked via email, courtesy of Shehan’s free wi-fi. The tuk-tuk driver told us he knew where the hotel was, but didn’t and (of course) recommended another hotel. We bit the bullet and stayed there one night, but took off early the next day to the hotel we had originally booked. We do not begrudge the tuk-tuk drivers, they are generally very helpful and, although they all try to sell you (relatively) overpriced tours, you can’t blame them for trying, particularly in the off-season.
Fresh fruits for sale. Rambutan’s were in season :-)
View from the old Dutch church down the streets to the harbour
Our first Tuktuk driver in Colombo taking us to see some of the sites
Cats will be cats; killing the native wildlife
Buddha meditated under the Mahabodhi tree; at the Gangaramaya temple.
Buddha sculptures in the Gangaramaya temple
Sculpture celebrates the works that built the Gangaramaya temple
Fully functioning scarecrow
First stop: Sri Lanka 17 June – 2 July 2014
So our big adventure finally begins. 10 months after we previously set off (add one broken femur) we are on our way. We flew Perth – Sri Lanka – Dubai –Turkey – England. All one way tickets and pretty excellent value and no flight was longer than five hours (almost perfect if you have the time to make that many stops).
Perth – Colombo, Sri Lanka with AirAsia, via Kuala Lumpur – $210 (choosing seat, adding luggage ended up being $310 each). 5 hours from Perth – KL, then a 90 min wait in the airport, followed by 3 hours to Colombo.
Colombo – Dubai – $189, a four hour flight with Fly Dubai.
Dubai – Istanbul, Turkey -$213 also four hour flight with Fly Dubai.
Istanbul – Birmingham, England -$200 four hours Turkish Airlines (highly recommend).
17 June 2014 – We started our year long journey in Colombo, capital of Sri Lanka. We were pleased to buy cheap Air Asia flights despite our extreme frustration with them during cancelling previously due to Alex’s broken leg. We do appreciate Air Asia’s cheap cheap fares, and the flights are usually not too bad, they just really disappoint when you have a complaint, but I won’t bore you with that. In Colombo, we stayed at a wonderful homestay found on www.airbnb.com hosted by couple Shehan (Sri Lankan) and Liz (Austrian) https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/839584. While Liz was in Austria finishing her psychology degree, Shehan was a most welcoming host. The room was cheap ($22 Australian dollars) so we were a little bit apprehensive considering most of the accommodation on Airbnb in Colombo was more expensive. However, when we arrived we were quickly put at ease. Shehan was friendly and extremely knowledgeable. He showed us a very cheap but delicious local takeaway, where for about $4 between us, we couldn’t even finish half of the food! Shehan and Liz have an excellent website http://www.backpacktosrilanka.com/ which has lots of tips, and we found the accommodation recommendations particularly useful. Shehan helped us plan our two week trip and sat with us chewing the fat over breakfast and explained the wonderful tea we were treated to (brekky included in the price, bonus!)
18 June 2014 – Colombo
The next day we ventured into Colombo on the local bus. Already we were having an adventure, the driver swerving in and out of traffic at lightning speed. As soon as we got dropped off, a tuk-tuk driver offered to take us on a tour of the city for 500 rupees (about $4). Considering the humidity and Alex still recovering from a broken leg, we decided to go for it. We did not regret it. We did have to go through the usual jewellery store stop and unpleasantries at the end when the tuk-tuk driver asked for three times more than he originally quoted. Although slightly irritated, we knew this was all par for the course. We learned quickly that it’s best to be very clear on the price before agreeing to any service, and to negotiate if the service changes (he did end up spending three hours with us). Colombo doesn’t have many ‘iconic’ sights per se, but we enjoyed visiting Buddhist and Hindu temples and a church built by the Dutch. The most fun part of Colombo was driving around in the tuk-tuk, which is pretty hairy to say the least, but allows you to access all corners of the city.
