Tip of the Hat from Sri Lanka
Hello from Sri Lanka,
That is something I never thought I’d type. The flight was average although delayed. The most eventful part was a guy from Mongolia asking me for my MSN, I gave it to him. Then he asked if my Facebook was “Handsome Man”. I will leave it to language barrier as opposed to a questionable MSN exchange. Sri Lankan Airlines is very nice. The staff is very hospitable, they give you whatever you like and have a lot of great on board entertainment.
The airport outside Colombo is like 40km, the cab cost more than most guest houses in Thailand. Stayed at the Colombo City Hotel, it was nice for a night, $50US goes a long way here though. The place is a ghost town at night with mainly just police road blocks. We were pulled over 4 times as there was a Muslim Holiday of some sort the next day.
The hotel came with a free breakfast. It was on the roof top and we opted to eat outside. The meal was awesome but I was melting, literally sweat dripping off my nose into my meal, not so nice. Took a train to Kandy from Colombo at noon. Kandy is the 2nd largest city in Sri Lanka. The expensive seats for this 3-4 hour trek were 190R each or ~$1.80us, ridiculous, yes? Currently staying at Sepali Residence which is basically a mansion on the hills turned into a guest house. The price? $15US a night, very nice, indeed. Tuk tuk’s too and from town ~2km are ~$0.88.
All is not well in paradise, mainly yours truly and the weather. For some reason I love golfing but don’t appreciate having what feels like a golf ball growing in my neck. Furthermore hit up an ATM and took out a large chunk of change, was busy hiding the rest of the cash in a secret pocket… Forgot my bank card in the machine.
Supposedly you can go to a branch and get it the next day, I doubt it though, then again, what do I know? Ever lost a bank card overseas? Not a good feeling, one must say. This is when you are glad you have 2 sources of money, everyone should have two sources at the very minimum. We’ve all met people who “lost their card” and need to borrow cash, I can’t stand lending people cash, it makes me resent them until they pay me back. It’s treu(sic).
The people here so far are BEYOND FRIENDLY and the scenery is BEYOND BEAUTIFUL. Really liking Sri Lanka so far. The day was great, now it’s raining. The train trip was through the mountains, the scenery is just out of this world and rivals some of the most unique and captivating I’ve seen on this trip. The photos attached DO NOT do it justice.
Can’t believe I ditched the jacket before coming to a colder rain, what was I thinking? This reminds me of when I gave away an umbrella in Stockholm then was followed by a cruel cloud for ~2 weeks. Horrible. Was going to mail it home as I was just sick of carrying it. Sorta like holding onto a stock that was worthless for so long, then selling it the day before it breaks out, lovely. As I type this it is POURING, glad I have a quality roof over my head.
I found I typically wear the same stuff over and over again like a broken record and am cool with it. The lady I met here packed a 200lbs pack and being a gentleman, I offered to carry hers. So basically I have ditched a lot of stuff I ~could use to lighten my load and now I’m carrying around half of NYC, including YOUR kitchen sink.
Tomorrow looking into some ruins with a private driver, that or just bounce to the beach. The south is rainy now, then again it is here. Supposedly in a week or so the rain should be done, let us see. Considering this place is an island in the Indian Ocean and a neighbor to Maldives, I’m sure it has some world class beaches that most certainly are not over crowded.
Regards,
P.S: The photos below are just some randoms left from Koh Chang that if not added now, will never make it to the web, supposedly the weather is still “Same Same” there according to my Finnish friends.
P.P.S: Currently watching TV with two guys who I assume own / work here, nice gents.
