This entry has been a bit delayed because first of all not much happened on this day, only a train journey that took far longer than was expected. The second reason was that I was in a nature reserve for two days who had no wifi and conveniently just enough data coverage for me to message my girlfriend to say that I had no internet. Therefore I’ll use this entry to talk a bit more about Sri Lanka as I have experienced it rather than rattling off what I had done like a school report.
What we did though I can finish in a paragraph. We woke up quite early (7:20 which I know is a sensible time but for a student like me is unnatural and confusing) to go for a swim in the infinity pool. It was good to go swimming again as I hadn’t had the chance to for a long time. It wasn’t a massive pool but the views were gorgeous, overlooking the valleys around Kandy that were lush with greenery. It also meant that I had enough of an appetite to fully enjoy my breakfast burrito. Yes I know it’s bad for you and yes it’s a travesty to eat such junk when you have access to Sri Lankan food but I was not going to miss my one chance to have some of my favourite food. Plus I would need the energy for the arduous journey of sitting down for nine hours.
The station that we took our train from was to put it mildly somewhat underdeveloped compared to it’s European counterparts. The station building itself was miniature and there were only three platforms. To make matters worse the announcements were read out by what sounded like a very bored Sinhalese woman chanting like a reluctant mantra. Thankfully there were many local Sinhalese plus railways staff willing to tell us which platform to get our train from. It was however a nice place to look around. I found the signal boxes simply adorable and deserved to be in a museum somewhere, plus the whole thing felt like a wonderful adventure into the past. It was so nice I forgave the train for being about half an hour late and then taking about two hours longer than it should have done to get to Haputale. The views were to die for but I took the chance to catch up in my book so I lost interested after a while. When we arrived it was pitch black so whether or not the views there matched those en route I couldn’t tell, and it was not a priority in my mind to find out. The road to our hotel was some of the worst I had ever experienced and I spent most of it in terror in the back of my Tuk Tuk. Needless to say I was relieved when I finally reached our hotel, and it was so amazing I quickly forgot about it.
That is more or less what happened that day. Not really very exciting to be honest but the following day was much motor eventful and exciting. What today did let me think about was just how much I had fallen in love with Sri Lanka. Before we had arrived all I really knew about this country was that it was small, off the coast of India and had been affected by civil war for 25 years. It has more or less recovered since the LTTE had been crushed in 2009 and there didn’t seem to be a great deal of tension between the Sinhalese and Tamils but you can still see the effects of it. There are a lot of army camps especially near where there used to be conflict zone.
From what I have seen though, Sri Lanka is a country that should be near the top of everyone’s list to visit. There is something for every kind of traveller, from history geeks (such as yours truly) to nature nuts to beach bums, this land has it all. The most important thing however it is the people. They are quite possibly some of the kindest and sweetest people I have ever had the honour to meet. There has been no such thing as bad service, no feeling of dislike or anything. Every hotel has had people willing to go to the back of beyond to make our stay comfortable, and even touts give a wide smile when we decline purchasing their goods of questionable quality. I have felt welcome everywhere I have gone, more so than in any place I have lived. The cynic in me could respond by pointing out that a lot were either being paid to be nice to me or were trying to sell me something, but I don’t think that is the case. If it was true I would never have had experiences in England where I felt like I was inconveniencing the restaurant by daring to ask for my food. No, this is a nation that appears to pride itself on smiling at anyone to comes to visit, even those who worked at the airport security whom I used to think were mean and rude by job description.
That is enough romancing for today. The next couple of days will be up soon, which will be more filled with actual things I have done rather than a soppy love letter to the people of Sri Lanka. So until then