A year on, the travel bug resurfaced and
took me to my next travel destination, which I chose to be Sri Lanka, where I
joined a tour group for two weeks. I got
off on a bad start, as almost as per usual, I set off the x-ray machine with my
studded belt at the airport, then in my half-asleep state managed to get off
the plane at the Maldives (Sri Lanka was the second stop, but I'd missed the
announcement on the plane as I had been asleep). I ended up
asking a few people which country I was in as the sign bearing the name of the
airport was really rather meaningless to me in their native language. Good thing I had my intuition to go by and
got back on the plane, or I would not have made it to Sri Lanka!
I must admit I felt like a non-stop
locomotive on the trip, except on the last few days where we chilled on the
beach, but am so glad we packed in all the beautiful sights. Having said that, all those 6am starts left
me feeling like I needed to hibernate for a week in bed when I got back home! But I mastered the art of getting ready in a
record breaking fifteen minutes, so all was not lost.
I was shocked to see so many military
soldiers dotted about in one country (Tamils), I had never seen such was a
bizarre sight, and it was so unexpected, but fortunately, their presence felt
safe and unthreatening while we toured Sri Lanka. Equally bizarre and worth a mention was the
high security at the temples. I got
searched 4 times (here comes the bizarre shock factor), and had my breasts
groped, and I mean REALLY groped by a big, butch looking female guard. Others in the tour group had similar
experiences, so we came to the conclusion that she was an undersexed and overly
horny lesbian, and laughed about it later.
I saw so many beautiful sights in the two
weeks I was there, that it would be impossible to write about it all, so I have
mentioned some of my highlights instead: Anuradhapura, an absolute must-see,
with its beautiful reclining Buddha, surrounded by cheeky monkeys
everywhere. The Dambulla Caves were home
to five rock temples containing innumerable statues of the Buddha and other
deities, as well as some murals that really blew me away. Aukana, another highlight, was the site of a
twelve metre high reclining Buddha. In
Sigiriya I climbed the Victorian metal spiral staircases that lead to the Sigiriya
Damsels, with frescoes in beautiful earthy colours showing around twenty bare-breasted
nymphs floating on a sea of clouds, all very sensual art. I was also quite fascinated by the wood
carving factory, simply because you saw how natural colour dyes were created
through chemical reactions, which was an eye opener. The elephant safari, just to experience
an open topped safari, was also worth the experience, with wind blowing in my
face and hair as I rode standing!
Did you know that white pepper is made by
pouring boiling water over black peppercorns?
That was news to me. I learnt it
on an ayurvedic tour of a spice garden.
Pepper trees are actually green, and the black pepper we get comes from
them being dry roasted in the sun. I never really thought about the origins of
their colour until I went there.
Adam's Peak, apparently one of Sri
Lanka's most revered pilgrimage sites, involves climbing up 9600 steps to the
summit, which amounts to five hours of walking.
I couldn't drink in all that time as there were no pit stops. I compulsively chewed gum instead, as an
alternative illusory thirst quencher, like a cow munches grass all day
long. By the time I reached the top, I
felt like I'd dislocated my jaw from all that chewing. It was the longest and hardest trek I've ever
done, and I'm supposedly pretty fit; those steps felt never ending, but despite
severely sunburnt shoulders and an incredibly numb pair of legs, I'm glad I
reached the top of the summit, and it made me really appreciate our final
destination, the beach.
Unawatuna, our final stop, and site of a
beautiful beach. I've never been very
tolerant of the heat and get bored sunbathing, but I love the ocean. It was so, so peaceful and a brilliant way to
end the trip. I chilled in the sea a lot,
and joined in the activities such as volleyball, badminton and football on the
beach, with the younger crowd on the beach.
I also visited a turtle conservation farm for the first time in my life,
and had the opportunity to hold a turtle smaller than the palm of my hand, and only
a few days old, which was a memorable moment.
Overall, I had some lovely experiences on the group tour in Sri Lanka,
and I'm glad I went, but I think I prefer independent travel best - I've just
got to find my ideal travel partner with the same flexible work hours as me
now!
That's all folks...more on my next
travels.
© Copyright Vanessa Sicre
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