But First, Bangkok

We were both excited to go back to Bangkok and to stay at Jam Hostel again. We chose to fly out of Bangkok because the prices and connections were better than those out of Vietnam. We ended up booking our flight to Bangkok for $75.00 each and a direct flight leaving three days later into Colombo for $150.00 each all in.

During our second day at Jam we met a couple who were heading into Vietnam the following morning. We both held our tongues. I feel like it’s nice to share information about things you like but I’m cautious about sharing negative experiences unless they are serious. I think that everyone has different experiences in places and sometimes it’s just a matter of a few people we meet or a place we stay that can make all the difference. In Cambodia when we met longtime travelers Hamer and Ruthie they told us that they had a number of terrible experiences while in the Philippines and just didn’t enjoy it. Andre and I on the other hand loved every single thing about the Philippines aside from the food which was tasty but not overly healthy. So we shared some highlights from Vietnam with this couple and wished them a good holiday.

We were surprised to see them downstairs in the kitchen the next afternoon. Unfortunately they had not read the visa information carefully. They had applied online like we had but didn’t apply for the letter of invitation that was required. We were asked for our letters at the check in counter. These two were actually checked in and at the gate. It was only when it came time to board that they were told they needed to show their letters to the staff. So they had to get their bags off the plane and reschedule a flight for later that day. The letters usually come within 24 hours so they were hedging their bets. They also needed passport photos so they had gone to get those in the meantime and were in the process of cropping them to the correct size with a paper cutter when we saw them in the common area. Hopefully they made it out the second time around.

We spent our two and a half days in Bangkok getting massages, eating at our favorite restaurant, discovering a second (and better) Khao San Road and getting Andre prettied up for Sri Lanka.

Flight Anxiety

I am not an anxious flyer but Andre has become one. He no longer enjoys flying and really doesn’t like turbulence at all. This frustrates him because he knows that logically it is a safe form of transport and he’s a numbers guy so he knows the stats. My response is that I too logically know I will not die in a small lift… probably… Unless it gets stuck. And I’m alone. And my cell phone won’t work so I can’t call for help. And the power has gone out. And it’s airtight and I use up all the  oxygen. But of course I know that statistically that’s highly unlikely. So, of course I’m the perfect person to talk him down and help him feel calm.

The morning of our flight I woke up around 1am and decided to check the news. I had been keeping up with Trump news lately and all the perfect things he’d been doing. When I saw the headline about the downed Ukrainian International Airlines plane in Iran I assumed that this was retaliation and that it was a military aircraft. Sadly, as I read on I discovered that was not the case and in fact several people aboard the flight had been residents of our city. Andre stirred and I told him about what I had read. I should have known better. Not helpful. When we woke at 3:30am to catch our flight he thanked me for keeping him abreast of current events right before we had to get on a plane. In my defense he reads the headlines every morning and would have seen it before we boarded. In any case, as terrible as the news was, we were flying to Sri Lanka, not in or around Iran. Again, being logical, this was nothing to be concerned about where we were, but it was just an image that wasn’t helpful for Andre at that moment.

Luckily we had some distraction on the drive to the airport. Another couple was also checking out at 4am when we were catching our taxi and they shared the ride with us. They were from Italy and were on their way to Chang Mai and possibly Pai, so we were able to tell them a bit about these places. They were on the fence about Pai, but like I said earlier, I was honest but careful to not to be too down on Pai just because I didn’t love it. It may totally be their bag. I saw later on Instagram that they ended up renting a bike and drove the crazy road to Pai. They had mixed feelings about it. Unfortunately they arrived to find out there was a festival happening and there was no accommodation available except for a tent. In Giulia’s words “…the night was cold, noisy, and terrible and the town was too crowded…”, but she did say they loved adventuring in the surrounding areas and perhaps had they not been there during a festival they would have loved it.

188 days in…

Now let’s get to Sri Lanka.

Not So Fast

We got to the airport with plenty of time but as soon as we walked in we saw that Bangkok airport is crazy busy even before the sun rises. Our line was almost out the door with only about 6 counters open and 4 actually ready to take customers. After about 20 minutes of barely moving Andre sent me to investigate. He likes to arrive at the airport as late as possible, while I like to be there promptly for the suggested number of hours prior, perhaps even add 10 minutes to that, just to be safe. After many trips together we have come up with a way that satisfies both parties. I no longer say anything. I don’t look at the clock or pace, or ask him 50 times if he’s almost ready. I do not stress. In return, he is fully responsible if things go wrong. If we miss a flight it is up to him to sort out and pay for everything. This has worked perfectly so far and we have yet to miss a flight.

This time though, I think he may have thought there was a chance we may not get checked in on time. I found a staff member and asked him if we should be concerned and would they at some point call those people ahead who were leaving for earlier flights since our line was for multiple departures. He assured me that they would and that there was no need to worry. I headed back to the line, that had grown even longer. It was then that I saw that monks wait in line too. Look closely.

And they check their luggage tags. Very responsible. But what else would you expect?

Maybe Tomorrow

At the pizza joint in Da Lat we had met a couple from Italy and they had been to Sri Lanka a few times. They had suggested Kandy as a good starting point from which to plan our adventures and they also gave us the name and contact information of a good driver. He was a Sri Lankan man who they had met in Italy when he was there working seasonally to make extra money and he had then been their driver on their last visit. Buses are cheap in Sri Lanka but they are also crowded and the drivers are insane. Everyone we had spoken to recommended taking taxis. It is not uncommon for people to hire drivers for their entire holiday for around $75.00 a day. This way they can go where ever they like and make as many stops as they desire.

Gino (his Italian name) picked us up at the airport in Colombo and took us straight to Kandy.  The three hour drive was only $65.00 and he was happy to stop at lookouts along the way. In fact Gino had big plans for us. He was clearly used to tourists who were traveling for shorter periods and wanted to see it all. He seemed confused that we didn’t have any plans and and were not interested in many of the top tourist experiences like a spice garden tour. He initially told us that the next day he would take us to a tea plantation, a spice garden, an elephant orphanage, the Temple of the Tooth, and the Botanical Gardens. This guy could have easily had our whole month planned out. After about the fifth time he ran through our itinerary for the following day we had to change our response from “maybe tomorrow” to “we’ll text you”. He was a very nice guy but we had no intention of visiting tea plantations or spice gardens, and I definitely did not want to go to the elephant orphanage. I had already done some research on it and didn’t like what I read. The only things I had any interest in doing were walking around the lake and possibly going to the Temple of the Tooth.

Gino eventually accepted that we not going to lock him in as our full time driver while traveling his country and he and Andre spent the rest of the time chatting about how he had ended up in Italy and his life in Sri Lanka. The drive from Colombo to Kandy was absolutely beautiful and I immediately felt like I was going to love this place.

Sweet View

We had booked a place in Kandy just for one night. That way we didn’t have to spend time looking around after our flight and long drive, but if it wasn’t what we wanted we could find something else the next day. It was a great spot perched high up on a hillside overlooking the city and our host Stephen was super warm and welcoming. We would not be looking for anything else.

We were starving by the time we got settled and headed down the road to the nearest restaurant. It also had a stunning view and a lot of monkeys. At one point a woman at a corner table near the railing looked behind her to see a rather large monkey sliding down a pillar from the roof. The move was kind of a combination of an awkward lady who just started pole dancing lessons and a chubby fireman heading for his truck. It was most certainly a Chris Farley move. Unlike the monkeys in Koh Chang, these guys weren’t so brazen. Despite his crazy entrance he was easily shooed away by the staff.

Dinner Companions

Each night we ate at our accommodation for 600 Rupees per person (just over $4 Canadian). Stephen’s food was delicious. The first night was a shock when he brought a huge plate of rice and seven bowls. There was Dahl, banana flowers in coconut, pumpkin curry, chicken curry, jackfruit curry, a special hot sauce and papadoms. Every night we had traditional Sri Lankan curries and every single one was delicious.

We also tried a dish called Kottu at a local spot in the city. It was amazing. We ordered them with with medium spice. We really like spicy food but medium spice was just right. Any more and I wouldn’t have enjoyed it. It made me think of a time when Andre’s parents came for dinner and I may have applied a generously light dusting of cayenne on the potatoes and Mr. Banks accused me of trying to kill him. I thing both our families would love it here but they’d both have to ask for their food with no spice. 

There was a Danish family staying at Blinkbonnie Inn as well and they also ate there each evening. This was their third time to Sri Lanka and they had stayed with Stephen each time they came to Kandy. They gave us some good recommendations and I was especially thrilled to hear about their experience going through Yala National Park. 

Our Italian friends who hooked us up with our airport ride had gone through Udawalawe National Park and they had loved it. I had read about many of the parks and was debating between Yala (the most popular) and Udawalawe. Before speaking to the Danish family I had decided to go with Udawalawe because so many reviews talked about Yala being way too busy with hundreds of jeeps clamoring for position once an animal was spotted. It sounded invasive, and having hoards of people all craning out of vehicles like paparazzi did not appeal to me. However, the Danish family had gone and they said they hardly saw any other vehicles and the wildlife was amazing. Since Udawalawe is mainly known for having a large number of elephants, Yala has a large variety of animals including a high concentration of leopards. So the plan changed to Yala.

After thinking about it a bit more, it made sense that perhaps the very popular Yala was not as busy as many of the reviews said because tourism in the last year has decreased dramatically after the Easter Day bombings last April. Tourism had been steadily increasing over the past few years with numbers of visitors up 12% in 2018. The beginning of 2019 had started off strong but international arrivals fell 71% immediately following the terrorist attacks. Numbers went back up soon after travel warnings were downgraded but in an effort to help encourage more tourism Sri Lanka has dropped its Visa fees for many countries including Canada.

Animal Adventures

So after hearing them speak so highly of the Botanical Gardens we set out for them the net day. We didn’t look at any information about them online and were surprised to see the entrance fee was 2000 Rupees per person (around $15 Canadian) which is way more than anything we have paid for in terms of entrance fees in Asia. Yes, fifteen dollar isn’t much for us, but relative to the cost of everything else it was very high. Side note, locals pay 50 Rupees. I have absolutely no issue with locals paying less. The average salary in Sri Lanka is only around $800 Canadian a month.

After spending a solid few hours in the gardens I can say I thought it was worth every penny, but that was primarily due to the fact that there were so many monkeys and bats. Without the wildlife I wouldn’t have been nearly as thrilled. There were many lovely plants though. The gardens are enormous and if you were really into horticulture you could spend endless hours in there.

I appreciate plants but I’m not the type to stop and read all the signs and information. I thought the giant bamboo was amazing and who wouldn’t be excited about seeing a sausage tree! Yes, a sausage tree. From Africa. Some things are too good to be true, but I’m not making this up. What a magical day!

Oh, and there was an orchid house that was super pretty, but it was no sausage tree.

For me though the highlight of gardens were the monkeys. Anything that involves animals is high on my list, so this place shot right up there as soon as I saw these guys. So many monkeys! I could have watched them for hours. As we had already seen they were not like the brazen Thai monkeys. These guys had a super chilled and had a sweet manner. I watched one group of them for a while as they groomed each other on a bench. As I filmed them their grooming went to the next level. One of my dearest friends Justine runs a fabulous medical spa in Edmonton called Lipstick Empire. They provide a wide range of services including amazing facials, and lasers for all your skin needs, including laser hair removal. If you watch until the end you’ll see that this one monkey would make a great esthetician. I had to send her the video.

 

Another fun part of our time in the gardens was meeting a group of young Sri Lankan boys who were on holiday. They were really excited to talk with us and take some photos. I can also report that the tables have turned, and unlike in Vietnam I am the more popular one here in Sri Lanka. One family asked me if they could take a photo with me and their small children. I agreed and before I realized what was happening the two tiny ones were in my arms. The little girl was totally cool with being handed off to a complete stranger but the little boy was not pleased. He cried the entire time like he had just been gifted to me and would never see his family again. I wish Andre had taken a photo but he was too busy laughing.

After the gardens we headed back to the lake for a walk. It’s just over 3km in circumference and was also meant to have some good wildlife. We ended up seeing a couple of large water monitors, a turtle, plenty of birds, bats, tons of fish and some very interesting looking ducks. There were quite a few stands at one part of the lake that were selling little treats and bags of popcorn which people were using to feed the fish and the ducks. Andre was thrilled to see popcorn and bought a bag for himself which everyone looked amused by. He did end up feeding some to the ducks and it wasn’t long before a small gang had formed around him. They were very vocal and wasn’t certain he’d make it out alive with the rest of his snack.

We had contemplated going to the Temple of the Tooth but decided to pass. It was near the lake but looked crowded and the big event, the showcasing of the tooth, is only done twice a day at which time visitors can only view the container that Buddha’s tooth is kept in. The tooth is housed in a gold casket shaped like a dagoba, which actually contains a series of six dagoba caskets of diminishing size, like Russian nesting dolls. I’m sure the entire place would have been nice to see but at this point in our travels I’m over fighting crowds and we’ve seen a lot of temples.

Getting Around

There were no shortage of tuk tuks in Kandy and prices are very cheap. There is also an Uber type operation called PickMe which is handy because then you can get a good idea as to what prices should be when negotiating with drivers. I will say that while some drivers quoted a bit higher than the app, the prices were fairly close to what they should have been and it was nothing like the negotiating with the drivers in Vietnam who always quoted way too much initially.

Kandy does have a fair bit of traffic and one thing we noticed straight away was that like most of Asia there seem to be no rules and everyone is jockeying for positions and trying to squeeze past any vehicles they can. On our ride from the Botanical Gardens to the train station (we stopped to buy tickets before heading to the lake) our driver spent 90% of the time on the opposite side of the road driving into the oncoming traffic. No need for extreme sports here, just hire a tuk tuk through the city for an adrenaline rush.

 

During our time in Kandy we found that all the locals we passed were extremely friendly. They reminded me a lot of the Cambodian people. Always smiling with kind eyes. We loved Kandy and debated staying longer, but there are many other stops we wanted to make and I felt like we were going to love every bit of this country based on these first few days. Sri Lanka has a beautiful feeling to it. Even in a tuk tuk.

191 days in…

Next up is a train ride to Ella.