Monday 9th March 2015
My last day in India! I loosely packed up most of my bits
and pieces (it’s wonderful having a case full of clean clothes thanks Haze!!)
and uploaded a few photos before heading out to lunch.
We walked to the shops about 15mins away and had lunch in an
Italian restaurant upstairs. The food was pretty great and the setting was
lovely upstairs with big windows and lots of light.
We stopped by the shop and got some essentials for the flat
(bounty bars) before walking back and finishing off my packing.
It was 3pm so I figured I should head to the taxi stand and
off to the airport I wanted to get there a bit earlier than needed in case
there was any issue with me switching passports but actually it was a breeze
and no one really questioned it. (I have been travelling on my NZ passport but
it now has less than the required six months validity to enter a new country so
I switched to my UK one but the potential issue was not having an Indian visa
in my UK passport when I was leaving the country but they just looked at both
at check in and when I went through customs they just looked at my /NZ one)
I treated myself to an ice-cream while I waited for my
flight to board. It was the first time I had ever remembered to order a veggie
meal so it was a shame it was a bit crap! I watched a movie dozed and listened
to tunes and before I knew it I was in Sri Lanka.
I cleared customs and immigration fairly swiftly and before
long I was in a car heading towards my hostel along with two other English
girls heading to the same place.
By the time we arrived it was late and everyone in the dorm
was already in bed so I crept in got what I needed quickly update the world to
my whereabouts and went to bed. It was super-hot so I was glad for the tiny fan
above my head.
Tuesday 10th March 2015
I had such a great first day in Sri Lanka (considering I
spent three hours sat in a visa office that’s saying something) it was so hot
in the dorm last night even with a fan buzzing just inches above me, so I ended
up waking up kind of early and then dozing for a while and then Facebooking in
bed for a while.
By the time I got up showered and had abused the free tea
and toast the morning was half over but I had spoken to several people about
getting a new Indian visa and I knew where to go and what to do.
I headed out in a bright green Rickshaw an as I was too lazy
to fill out the online form myself opted to pay the $2 to have someone do it
for me I also had to get new photos taken as id somehow managed to bring the
regular sized ones I had but not the square ones that are still in my backpack.
Once he form was completed printed off signed and everything
was all square I crossed the road to the visa office and stood in a queue to go
in at the door there was a guy checking the paper work and I was missing a form
so was sent out to go do that it cost 3.50 Sri Lankan Rupees but my smallest
note was a ripped up 20 so I got the form for free whoop!
Instead of re-joining the queue like a good English girl I Indian
styled it and went right up to the counter the guy checked over my paperwork
and sent me up to the first floor to wait. I was number 86 and they were up to
61 when I arrived the number started off ticking steadily by but then got to 75
and stopped it seemed they had a technical difficulty and were urging anyone
whose visa application wasn’t urgent to come back tomorrow (they were still
letting new people in though…) no one seemed in any rush to move and so I
stayed put as well I really didn’t want to have to hang about in Colombo for a
day longer than necessary.
The problem lasted about an hour and then the system came
magically back to life and before I knew it it was my turn at the counter. All
that waiting and all the man did was check my form matched my passport, I paid
and was told to return next week (the 17th) to drop off my passport
and then I could collect it with my visa in it on the 18th. Success!
I came out of the cool air conditioned visa centre into the
heat and humidity of the day and started walking whilst having a wee geez at
the map they gave me at the hostel. I decided to hit up the national museum to
get a lesson on the history of the place. I soon realised I was walking he
wrong way and turned straight into three very smiley school boys who stopped to
interrogate me on who I was where I was from and did I watch cricket? (As well
as “who is your second favourite team?” “ummm Sri Lanka of course!”) thy asked
me where I was going, I told them and within about 2 seconds they had waved
down a bus and put me on it all the while cheering as I drove off.
When I got there I
walked around to find the ticket counter and considering half the museum is
closed for restoration I thought it was a bit cheeky that they were still
charging full price but I got my ticket and joined the throngs of school kids
who were there on a school field trip. The museum was pretty good I especially
enjoyed the Hindu and Buddhist carvings and the entire section on agriculture
complete with creepy ass paper mache people.
I came out of the museum and it felt cooler (inside was just
cooled by fans which just seemed to be blowing the hot air around) I walked
around the corner to the Vihara Mahadevi Park and chilled under a tree enjoying
the view of the random stable of horses in the middle of the park. I left after
about 30mins as I went from being completely alone to being surrounded in close
proximity by about six men and since the park was pretty empty I don’t think
that was accidental.
I decided to head to a café and fair trade store that had
been recommended to me by a friend I wanted to walk there so I whipped out my
trusty map and was seen by a policeman who soon had me going in the right
direction (I’d just like to note that I was already going the right way) he asked the standard questions and as soon
as he learnt I was from New Zealand launched into a hearty talk about cricket
before crossing me across the road and trying to get me to take a tuk tuk (“its
2km you can’t walk that far!!!”)
It didn’t take me long to find the place and along the way I
stopped off to check out a market and get some fruit and nuts it was all pretty
cheap and they had a load of organic produce which was grand.
I got to Barefoot and took a look around the shop it was
full of beautiful things but I couldn’t even afford a postcard the prices were
so ridiculous! I made my way to the courtyard café and had a beautiful meal and
fresh juice whilst reading my book. There was also a photography gallery so I
checked that out before heading on my merry way.
Down the road I went into an electronics store to buy an
adapter as the plugs here are different it was a bargain at 100 rupees and I had
a great chat with the man about Sri Lanka and cricket.
I wanted to walk back to the hostel but wasn’t completely
sure I would recognize the street to turn down and the map ended before it got
as far as the hostel so when I got to the maps edge I decided to get a tuk tuk.
It was on a meter and the guy was a cheeky fucker and drove up and down a bit
to get a few extra km on the clock but I was too pleased with my day and full
of good food to give any fucks so I paid him and got out.
The hostel gate was locked so I had to ring the bell and
wait for the groundskeeper to let me in. once inside I downed a bottle of water
and chilled out there wasn’t anyone about so it was just me and the dog Mila
chilling up a (slightly smelly on her behalf) storm.
Wednesday 11th March 2015
It was a bit of a late start today and by the time we headed
out (some pals from the hostel and I) I was the hottest part of the day.
We got the bus to Pettah where there are huge fruit and veg
markets as well as roads and roads of all sorts of tat
We walked up and down taking loads of pictures and I got two
avocados and two mangos for little more than $1NZD. We stopped for a wee snack
of a veggie roti thingy before continuing onto the Old Dutch hospital which has
been done up as a swanky area full of bars and boutique shops and spas.
We sat and had a drink at one of the many bars but had to
sit inside as they are not allowed to serve drinks outside during the day. It was
okay though as we could watch Sri Lanka beat Scotland at the cricket (see I’m
paying attention so when peeps want to talk about it I know my stuff!)
It was late afternoon by the time we got the bus back it was
so hot and crowded that it was hard not to fall asleep. It was such a crush of
bodies on the bus that we went quite a bit past our stop before we could get to
the driver to tell him to stop but it had cooled down enough that the walk back
was pleasant.
We stopped off in the supermarket and I got 5L of water
(which I drank in less than 24 hours and still felt de-hydrated!) back at the
hostel we chilled I ate avocado on toast and almost cried that my mangos were
way over ripe (they looked okay but were super sour!)
About 7.30pm we got our shit together to head to a bar for
the weekly pub quiz the hostel joins up with a team of expats forming a super
team (we came second losing in the tie breaker round which was super disappointing)
obviously I was a huge contribution to the team giving them Granite is an igneous
rock, ornithology is the study of birds and that the Simpsons has aired 26
series who knew I was such a fountain of knowledge!.
We stuck around chatting to people for a bit after the quiz
then headed back to the hostel sitting up Instragram-ing pictures of 5l bottles
of water…
"Smak- Full of natural goodness"
Thursday 12th March 2015
Today was a mix bag of weirdness I started off the morning
with free tea and toast and some research about Sri Lanka and (more
specifically trying to work out if I’ll have time to see everything I want to!)
I headed out into the day before the sun got too hot and clambered
aboard a bus heading for Galle Face Green to get a glimpse of the sparkling Indian
Ocean I got there in the end but not quite as I had planned. Whilst on the bus a
Sri Lankan man started chatting to me he had overheard me telling the conductor
where I wanted to go and he wanted to make sure I got down at the right stop as
it was a bit of a walk from the bus stop.
We chatted about our lives and I learnt that back in the day
he had studied and lived in London for five years and that when it was time to
return home he had bought a car and driven overland all the way to southern Indian
where he got a boat across! He also said that years ago he had owned a small
gym in Colombo but it hadn’t worked out and the business had failed but that he
was now a contractor (for what exactly got a bit lost in translation) he also
told me about his daughter who lives in Melbourne and as always we chatted
about cricket. He was a friendly man and was very keen that I got a good
impression of Sri Lanka and warned me to stay away from tricksters. He is one
of my favourite people I have met travelling and I wish him all the best.
I got off the bus and attempted to find where I wanted to go
but think I turned wrong somewhere I was consulting my map when a guy asked me
where I was going he said it was close by and he was going that way so we could
walk together I was a little sceptical of him but I thought what the hell along
the way he asked if I had visited the Gangarama temple I said I hadn’t but
wanted to go there today he said we were close so we popped in there first.
The temple is pretty colossal and is full of statues of Buddha
in his various forms carved in wood, stone, crystal, glass, ceramic and even
elephant ivory. The temple itself is pretty sprawling and we walked around
checking out all the nooks and crannies.
The sun was out in full force and the
stone pavers underfoot were almost unbearable to stand on and the carpet
runners did little to stop the heat so I was glad when we walked into a shady
courtyard in the middle of which stood a beautiful Bo Tree. The limbs are so
large and heavy that in several places pillars have been erected to support
them. Tradition goes that you fill up a silver cup of water and walk around the
tree pouring splashes of water on various parts of the tree whilst sending up a
prayer, so that’s what we did.
The temple also has a bunch of random ancient printing
presses dating back to when the English were large and in charge and in control
of the newspapers the equipment stands in a corner falling into disrepair and
gathering dust.
Out the back of the temple in a small lonely courtyard is an
elephant chained to a post. Although she was healthy looking she did have an
aura of sadness and her beautiful intelligent eyes seemed to be telling me that
she longed for the jungle. My new pal wanted me to touch her and pose for
pictures but I felt that would be insulting her intelligence and o instead sent
her a silent apology that people are so selfish as to chain a gorgeous animal
to a post and a prayer that she might return to the jungle one day.
The last stop before leaving the temple was the museum which
was filled with all manner of things from gold plated Buddha idols to jewellery
to old fashioned cameras to rusty old swords. It was somewhat interesting but a
bit neglected.
After the temple we walked past Beira Lake which was cute. It
was surrounded by people taking shade under the many trees. I finally got to
Galle Face Green after a ridiculous rickshaw ride in which even after arguing
with the stupid man I got massively ripped off which left me feeling pretty
pissed off, and in turn I didn’t really enjoy the sea I took a few pictures and
left on foot to go and find some food.
Along the way a rickshaw driver stopped me and asked where I
was going, determined to ignore him I pressed on but he was persistent I told
him that I had no money for a ride as id been ripped off spectacularly and he
was so upset on my behalf he offered to give me a ride for free I wasn’t really
keen but he kept insisting so off we went. It turned out to be a right laugh as
he was about to stop for lunch anyway and insisted I join him we sat in the
park eating his delicious Sri Lankan packed lunch and chatting about life. (For
once we didn’t talk about cricket!) After a wee while I wanted to continue on
my journey and he was so nice he wanted to drop me off at the hostel (which was
miles away) for free but I said that was too kind of home but I’d just take the
bus. He made sure I knew which bus and where from and returned to work. This man
and the one from the bus defiantly made up for the shitty rickshaw driver so I was
happy.
As delightful as it was I felt bad eating the Rickshaw dudes
lunch so I was still pretty hungry and so resumed my walk for food. I had been
on my way to Milk and Honey which is a vegetarian/vegan café I had been
recommended. It was super cute but a bit hard to find (randomly tucked down the
back of an early learning centre type kids store!) the food was delicious and I
whiled away an hour or so eating and reading my book.
Feeling pretty satisfied I went in search of the bus stop it
was east to find and I was proud of myself for remembering where to get off. I
arrived in good time as moments after sitting down the heavens opened up and it
poured with rain. The shower was thunderous and heavy but only lasted about 10mins
and the sky cleared into a brilliant pink sunset.
The rest of the early evening I spent reading and chilling
out waiting for Verity to arrive form the airport.
This Stupa supposedly contains some of Buddhas hair
Hindu Temple on the way to Gangarama
The Bo Tree
Old timey printing presses
Sad Elephant
The sea and Galle Face Green
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