Chitwan - In search of Tigers!

Day 1  Getting there!

Heading out at 6.30am we were met by the company rep that we booked the trip through (I think this was his penance for getting the the price wrong in the first place) and he took us to the coach station, which was lucky as it was quite a trot from our hotel and there were about 30 coaches to choose from.  Then after a coffee off a street vendor (more grit than coffee and it was lucky Shelley didn't clock the pan it was heated in!) we were then off on our 6 hour journey to Chitwan Nature Reserve for our safari adventure.

The journey itself took around an hour to just get outside Kathmandu, with various stops for people to collect their relatives or bags en-route, or a comfort break or some last minute shopping.  Also whilst driving through the city you could see more clearly the high levels of pollution/smog, so we were quite please to be heading to the countryside.

The coach trip followed the river through the Kathmandu valley and had fantastic scenery and views, watching canoes and raft's tackling the rapids on the way downstream. You could also see the local people working in the traditional ways, sometimes there appeared to be moving haystacks along the road, which when you got up close ended up to people carrying insane amounts of hay on their backs.We also has a couple of comfort breaks and lunch in interesting little towns/roadside cafe's (I'm guessing the Nepal equivalent of Welcome Break Service Stations!).

We eventually arrived in Chitwan (Shaken & Stirred) around 2.00 and we were met by people who ran the Eden Resort Lodges that we were staying in.  After another quick bumpy ride we were shown to our accommodation before going down for lunch which smelt of pee (the room not lunch!).  The smelly rooms were quite basic but were in a nice garden area (which included hammocks).

After Lunch we were then taken on a walking sightseeing tour, which was along the river banks and gave us our first glimpse of birds such as kingfishers and crocodiles.  We were also told that there was a chance that Rhino's may be around at this time and would generally graze in the space that we were now standing in (which was reassuring!).

We then returned to our lodgings for our dinner (fare is quite salty but filling), after which we were taken to the Cultural hall to watch traditional dancing (Something that Shelley and I couldn't wait for!!).  What we witnessed was various dances that basically involved running round in circles around a central drummer, hitting sticks, carrying drums, more sticks, peacocks feathers (which was something akin to Nepalese morris dancing - but worse!) and the absolute curtain raiser someone dressed in a peacock outfit pretending to be a peacock ('The Peacock Dance'), which went down a storm with the locals - guessing there isn't much to do at night in Chitwan.

After this much excitement we returned to our room for the night, hoping to catch up on our blog, book our next flight to India and catch up on E-mails and the like.  Unfortunately with a mix of regular power cuts and wifi failure this proved impossible to do -  what do you mean you don't have fibre optic cable in deepest Nepal!?

Day 2 Tiger Time?

A very early wake up call was required for a 6.30 breakfast (which actually arrived at 6.55) an interesting mix and match of, porridge, omelette, Bombay potatoes, bread and jam!

The first activity of the day was a canoe trip down the river at 7.00 am.  At this point I will say that instructional H&S talks do not appear to be the Nepali thing, as all we were told was, wear a life jacket and keep your arms in the canoe. On this morning though, there was thick fog and I could tell by the way the guide pointed out to me floating water lillys that we were unlikely to see much big game this morning!.  What we did see was a handful of birds including kingfishers, a few monkeys in the tree's and a log-a-dile (Nepalese humor!).

We then drew up at the side of the forest and started our Jungle trek.  Again no safety briefing on how to act or respond should we actually bump into a tiger, or more likely a Rhino, we had to trust our safety to two small Nepaleese guys armed with a stick each!  At this point I have to mention that we had made friends three people from Chile (Francisco, Stephanie & Haviera) who were pretty cool, although I hoped that they were slower than Shelley and me should we bump into something orange and striped!  The trek itself was very nice passing through a misty jungle, but the only thing we managed to spot were Deer (Like you see in Richmond Park!)

After a brief stop, the guys from Chile had booked to go and wash elephants or should it be the elephants washed them. I must say although it was funny to watch I'm glad that Shelley and I hadn't booked this as the elephants we poked and pulled with a metal hook/spike too much for our liking (In fact the two girls from Chile decided not to do it after watching it).

Once we had lunch we were then taken for our last activity of the day which was an elephant back safari.  We were driven to the elephant site and were loaded in fours into what I can only describe as an upside down table on the back of the elephant and headed off into the jungle once again.  Fortunately we were joined by two very young Nepal girls, which meant we had a bit more space.  To say I was a bit nervous was an understatement as I wasn't convince about the bindings of the table to the elephant and with the lurching movement of the elephant I was convinced that we would come crashing down entangled in the table and break both my legs (apparently Shelley was thinking the same thing, but thought I would come crashing down on top of her!).  Shelley was also getting a severe lashing from the various branches and leaves along the pathways as the elephant seemed to favour her side for brushing next to trees!

Just when we though it was going to be another trip without seeing anything, the lead elephant driver decided to go off roading (which meant both of us were now eating foliage) because he has spotted something.  That something turned out to be a Rhino and its calf and we were lucky enough to get about twenty yards from it and watch for sometime as it seemed to be unfazed by the elephants with tourists atop.  We then carried on a went though a river crossing before coming up close and personal with another Rhino, Kingfisher and crocodile combo.  The girls on the back after befriending Shelley were now at this point playing a game of, see if we can sneak leaves onto the tourists heads without them noticing.  We also saw a whole bunch of deer and birdlife, before returning two hours later.

I must say I was please to get off the beast and am now waiting for the bruising to come up on my ribs, legs and arms, but must say in spite of this it was the best part of the trip.  We purchased some banana's and fed our elephant before returning home.

We had our final evening meal before battling with the electricity/internet to book that dammed flight to India (still no luck), before getting some detailed travel information from the guys from Chile for when we visit their country, hopefully around September as they have their independence day celebrations from 18th.  We also had the offer to stay at their home with them acting as guide,  some really helpful information - thanks guys!

Tomorrow another long coach journey to Pokhara to start our mountain trekking adventure!

Katmandu - Day 4 Raiders of the lost Banana!

Well we finally thought after trying to resolve our tech problems and resting up for a few days that we would actually do some sight seeing!

Firstly after finding out we did not need a cab, we set off to the monkey temple (no prizes for guessing why it was called this), and after a minor detour down some off the beaten track roads and some help from the locals we finally arrive at the Monkey Temple (No guide book in hand so cannot tell you its official name). Yet again it was a steep climb up quite a number of steps to the top (the gods like you to work hard!).  Along the way you were treated to loads of monkeys (some of which were procreating on Buddha statues).  Once at the top you reached the main temple to Buddha in Kathmandu that was surrounded all the way round by prayer wheels and people worshiping.  The view from the top was fantastic and you could see the whole of Kathmandu from this vantage point. Well worth the climb!

After, we decided to visit Durbar Square, the main temple area of Kathmandu.  Along the way we aquired an unofficial guide (Raj) at a road junction, who for the price of some food for his family would give us a tour of the area, he seemed like a nice chap with very good English so Ok, we were happy to give it a go. He took us through the markets and to some obscure temples that you would not have found by just wandering around.  We also found out what the word Kathmandu actually meant,  Kath = Wooden, Mandhu = City. Anyway after a brief 20 minute tour and Raj informing us because he was an unofficial guide he could not go into Durbar Square, so we headed off to the food shop to get his food, as the counter mounted up we now had a bill for around 20 pounds, unfortunately we had to wind his budget back a bit and got him to a reasonable level of 10 pounds (first scam - tick?).  We hope that his story was true and he didn't just go back to the shop after we left him to get his cash back!

We then entered Durbar square which was amazing with all the Pagoda type temples.  It was here though that we could see first hand the devastation of the recent earthquake with many of these magnificent temples having been reduced to rubble, a lot of which had before and after pictures. These squares must have been even more impressive 9 months ago - which is a shame and a real loss!.  After wandering around for a bit we went for some liquid refreshment in a rooftop bar overlooking the square, which gave us great views and the chance to people watch.

At this point we witnessed something comical, three school children scrambled to the top of one of the fallen temples that still had some offerings to the gods place on top of it, after a quick check of the offering a banana was then pocketed by one of them and then consumed quickly before returning to the bottom. Shortly after another trio tried the same trick, however when finding the cupboard bare, the remaining flower garland was thrown onto the side of the temple, either in disgust or as Shelley suspected as a marker to other would-be temple raiders that there we no goodies to be had anymore.

We then decided to head off, after a quick Mo Mo pit-stop (My new favorite food), and went to Freak Street (Which was named after the transient/hippy types that frequented the area in the 60s/70s), which I guess is where my brother and his wife would have stayed back in the day.  The area was a lot quieter than where we were staying in Thamel and retained a lot more charm. We found a lovely multilevel bar overlooking the street, all the rooms, nooks & crannies were about 5 foot high and had low level seating and played decent music (for my taste anyway), so we stayed here and had a couple of dishes of food a and a beer before heading home for the night. The only downer was when Shelley, after going to the loo, nearly wandered off the roof!, it was pitch black and no barriers, that's H&S in Kathmandu :) We intend to come back here when we return to Kathmandu as I really must get a photo of me under a Freak Street road sign!!

Kathmandu – Namaste!

Day 1

Time Difference +5.45 Hours   Rupees 7,500 = £ 5.00

After a 4.00am Tuk-Tuk ride too Colombo airport we quickly took two flights (two hours each)), Sri Lanka to Mumbai and Mumbai to Kathmandu, with some half decent flight food, we arrived in Nepal. NAMASTE

Some earlier research told us that Kathmandu airport was a bit of a bun-fight at the luggage carousels with sporadic fights breaking out over luggage ownership.  With this in mind I muscled my way to the front, however only interesting thing was locals trying to actually get inside the entrance to the carousel to get their baggage before it arrived inside the building.  Thankfully our baggage came through without any drama  (always worried when luggage is checked through two airports) .

We were then met by the transfer arranged by the hotel we were staying at for the next two nights, and despite dragging our luggage to the vehicle, two locals felt they deserved a tip by lifting our luggage into the car – jog-on we are now in traveller mode!

A quick 20 minute journey and we arrived at our hotel.  Unfortunately this is where we found out what a £6 a night room really got you!  If you were thinking about becoming a heroin addict this was the type of room you might find yourself living in.  The pictures don’t actually do the place justice, it’s the first place we thought our cable lock would prove really useful, the only problem was that we could not find anywhere to secure the luggage to, so in desperation it was secured round the toilet cistern!

Anyway after a very short while we decided to check out Thamel the area we were staying in.  Thamel appears to be second only to Koh Ta0oRoad in Bangkok, with numerous shops where you can get all sorts of hippy/travellers clothing, prayer wheels, Gurkha Knives and hiking gear.  Also if you want Marijuana you’ve come to the right place!, you are offered it every twenty yards down the street (or maybe it’s just because of my appearance).  I recon this place is a world away from when my brother and his wife (Tony & Tracey) were here 30 years ago,  I’m not sure that they would like it now.

For the rest of the day we checked out the local bars, Reggae Bar, Purple Haze Rock Bar where we waited through a sound check and much longer to see a crap band (we gave them 10 minutes before leaving).  We were just on our way home when we heard a band playing Sex on Fire in another bar so we decided to check them out (Both Shelley and I are like magpie’s to shiny things when we hear live music), the band were really good doing cover versions (including The Doors) interspersed with Nepalese songs.  Also made a couple of Nepalese friends, with one guy swapping us a roll-up for a beer – bargain!!

Day 2

After a not too bad sleep in Hotel heroin, we decided to sort out the tech carnage that was created in Sri Lanka ( 1 x Iphone & 1 x Camera blew up when being charged!!!) and took said items to a camera repair shop and what passed for a phone repair shop, both telling us to come back later for an update on them.  

Whilst we waited we decided to sort out a couple of trips outside on Kathmandu and went to a couple of adventure shops to see what was on offer.  Unfortunately for me the hike to see Everest appeared to be out of the question as this would be at least a 12-14 day trek that was very difficult, most probably good news for our folks back home as this means we will now NOT be flying to one of the most dangerous airport in the world – Laplau.  It now looks as though we are going to do an easier 5 day trek to Poon Hill on the Annapurna circuit instead. 

We then had a couple more of the local brew (Everest Beer) in a nearby bar whilst trying to sort out an upgrade in accommodation for the next two nights.  Whilst sifting through bookings.com the bar owner suggested that we try the place across the road and suggested he could get us a discount.  After we finished our beers he got one of his bar staff to take us to the hotel so we could check out the rooms. The room which included hot water, space, balcony and air conditioning were heaven in comparison to Heroin Hotel  so we were happy to pay 1500 Rupee’s a night, which equates to an extra £2 per person per night, so we happily booked the next couple of nights there.

After sorting out our living arrangements for the next two nights our thoughts turned to food so we decided to return to the street food we had the previous night which were Falafel Wraps with salad and spicy sauce (a kind of Kathmandu Kebab), but at a £1 a pop you can’t argue – got to think about the budget!

I think the hectic time we had in Sri Lanka had caught up with us so we returned to our digs around 8.00 and decided to have an early night instead of go to a bar to watch the Tottenham v West Ham game – which turned out to be a very good decision on my part!!

Day 3

After a very sporadic sleep (Shelley apparently not me and my snoring!) due to building works, dogs fighting and the flock of Pidgeon’s that appeared to be residing opposite our room, we were very glad to be checking out, to the owners apparent dismay – I pointed out that a larger room and hot water was what we required.

We then checked in to what seemed like Hotel paradise and promptly went to their garden terrace at the top of the hotel and had a couple of coffees whilst Shelley did a bit of blogging whilst I read up on things to do/see around town (courtesy of a lonely planet guide on the bookshelf).  We decide on a walking tour of the old town ending up in Durbar Square.

Before that we decided to check on the progress of our gadgets (and return the key for Hotel Heroin, I’m starting to make a habit of retaining hotel keys!).  Stop one, Camera shop, apparently my  camera was “no more", "had ceased to be", " was bereft of life, it rests in peace", and "this is an ex-camera”, so we had to buy a replacement for £ 80 as we could not just rely on 1 x  phone camera.  But the shop owner was prepared to pay us 500 Rupee’s for the now defunct camera (£3), which we decided against as we thought we may get it repaired in Mumbai or try for an insurance claim.

Next stop, Uncle Raj’s Phone shack, which also had the same result, apparently a blown chip on the circuit board that was impossible to source in Katmandu. Sri Lanka has a lot to answer for! One good thing about both was that neither charged or wanted paying for the time they had spent trying to repair the gadgets.  We will  try and get them fixed in Mumbai so for now we are just operating off my phone, Ipad and the laptop – I’ll think we will survive!

As Shelley was still mourning the loss of her communication device we decided to visit our friend, Mr Everest Beer and send Daryll his happy Monday WhatsApp photo of beers (yes, Daryll you’re getting one every Monday morning for the next 52 weeks!).

We then decided to book our adventure, a three day safari (Elephant, Safari, Jungle walk, Canoeing Safari, Bird Watching and Cultural Show), followed by two days chilling in Pokara before heading off on a 5 day trek to Poon Hill in the mountains. The initially cost we had been given was incorrect, due to the fuel crisis here so we went away whilst they recalculated, when we returned they told us that we had two options, one that we would have to pay an increase of $50 per person, and option two we enquired?  Was that they would honor their first price but they would not make any money for themselves off the booking, so would be a bit unhappy about it.  We decided for the sake of good Karma we would go for option 1 (Daz & Cathy will be horrified!!). But for all activities including Coach Transfers, Accommodation, Food, Guide, Porter, Mountain Passes, etc. for 10 days we thought that £250 per person was not that bad. We start this trip at 6.30 on Wednesday 25^th Nov.

We then took ourselves to the bar across the road and had a couple of beers followed by some street food, Mau Mau (Meat/Vegetable Dumpling in a spicy chili sauce – delicious), before returning to our hotel for a quick sleep (Shelley) and getting this blog up to date (Glenn).  Did not do the walking tour as planned, he-ho we can do it tomorrow instead.  Will now think about heading out this evening for some traditional Nepalese food and a couple of Everest’s!

So far Kathmandu has been all about fixing broken items, surviving Hotel Heroin and finally slowing down a bit…still getting over heavy colds and want to be fit for our next safari and  5 day hike. So hopefully more interesting pics to follow. 

Resplendent Island…

Is what Sri Lanka means in Sanskrit and it certainly lives up to its name! We started our travels here as we thought it would be a soft landing and it is. If you want 5 star all-inclusive, polished and pristine don’t come!. If you want somewhere easier than India, bit older, cultural and more stuff  to do than Goa (other than raving) charming and beautiful it’s the place for you. Easy to travel around, female friendly and warm friendly people!. So much for ‘feet-up’ for 2 weeks and sunning myself on a beach though!, its been manic trying to cover all the places we wanted to see. Managed a sum total of 20 mins on the beach and that was only due to the sea current being too strong when we were snorkelling. So our tans are top heavy farmer tans! i.e brown arms and face, belly down our bods are as white as the driven snow!.  But I am traveling with Glenn who gets bored very quickly so what did I expect?

This blog is intended for Glenn and I to look back on and reminisce, a great way to store memories, so I thought it would be good to list the stand out moments of each location. So here are our thoughts on the Resplendent Island (if you are reading this, hope you find some tips here for you  too!)

·         Mosquitos!!!

·         Mad Cows!!! Glenn now has a new phobia!

·         Jungle beach - we went early evening when only locals were there chilling out and playing bongo’s. Its actually where the Blue Lagoon (1980’s film with Brooke Shields) was filmed. Beautiful jungle back drop with a white mosque peeking through the trees

·         The pirate hunter we met in Unawatuna, ex squaddie, very interesting, wouldn’t want to cross him!

·         Our own private beach garden in Polhena beach with turtles swimming up to say hello at breakfast

·         Room rates which include free toiletries which means the tiniest slither of soap wrapped in tissue paper. But why would you need more? It’s the Sri Lanken way!

·         Rotten rubbish colds we picked up in the dank horrible room in Unnawatuna, still suffering now!

·         Hot water, when you can get it!

·         More Mosquitos! One got trapped in my net one night, lets just say a lot of damage was done!

·         Sleeping in what felt like a railway station on our first night with the 4am express trundling through our bedroom!

·         The people, genuine, friendly and really helpful. The man who took us from the train station when they weren’t running to the bus station and safely put us on our first bus adventure, and he wouldn’t accept a penny!

·         Our night in Kandy, really great bunch of boys we met and dancing with the locals.

·         Being called a ‘Foreigner’, foreigner hotels, foreigner queues, foreigner prices!

·         Mosquitos!!! There are various hotel rooms throughout Sri Lank where my blood adorns the walls on the rare occasions when I managed to get my own back, SPLAT!

·         Glenn, he’s taken to traveling like a duck to water and has been a brilliant partner, companion and best friend! His hair and height means he’s a target for the pedlars and he’s handling them all with ease!  Just wish you brought more t-shirts with you J

·         Train journey through the mountains

·         Hello Bear! Jungle Safari and nutty guide

·         Magical thunder storms and hair frizzing humidity – time of year!

·         The food, creamy, coco nutty and spicy!

·         Beware of the electricity, so far my Iphone and Glenns camera have both died after charging! Get a local power supply!

And our 3 tops tips:

1.       Beware of the Mosquito, Citronella Soap, super strength deet spray, deet wrist bands and a plaster thing you stick on your bum were no obstacle for these little suckers

2.       Beware of the Mad Cow!.

3.       If we were to do it again, we would travel in the reverse direction starting in Negombo. It’s a much softer landing than Waddua as the place is setup for tourists. Also the transport route is easier this way with faster connections and direct routes.

                                                                                                          

Next stop Nepal!

Kandy – Tooth, Rock & Caves

After another large breakfast, including a pancake covered in Banana’s, we packed up and headed for the Ella train Station.

Day 1 – Religion Pay’s but who’s Buying? (only ‘the foreigners’)

The journey to Kandy was 6 ½ hours, so we didn’t think we would rough it in 3^rd class when a £3 ticket got us 2^nd class tickets.  The train was more modern than we anticipated, but it’s was very slow as the 6 ½ hours to you 168 Km, not exactly the bullet train!  However the scenery round the mountains was stunning and it gave us time to catch up with the blog (Dad would love this train journey). The Owner of the guest house we stayed us packed us off with sandwiches for the journey and some veg rotti’s so we were all set.

We arrived in Kandy around 4pm and promptly got a tuk-tuk to our digs for the next two nights, quite an interesting place above a bakery, so we should be good for a midnight snack.  Room was the first we have staying with Air Condition and the first hot water we have had for a while – needless to say our shower routines will take longer whilst in Kandy.

Anyway, we were informed by some fellow travellers that a ceremony takes place every day at 6.30 in the Temple of the Tooth Relic.  Apparently they have one of Buddha’s teeth in the temple and for ½ an hour they let the worshipers and the general public view it.  As we thought it was about time we did something cultural again we went along.  Bloody Hell, £ 10 each (the equivalent of 1 night’s lodgings in Unawatuna) to see one of Buddha’s mankey molars and a few more shekel’s for someone to look after our shoes!!  

Having begrudgingly coughed up we then looked around the temple where there were some traditional drummers laying down a beat, which got increasingly more frantic as tooth-time approached.  In front of the locked chamber that held the relic all the devotee’s brought floral tributes and placed them on tables in front of the shrine.  Eventually everyone got in long queue’s (although the Buddhist monks get preferential treatment and can jump the queue – more on them later!), and we were shuffled very quickly past was may or may not have been a tooth, hard to tell when you only get a two second look.  Not that impressive or enlightening, so you won’t see me donning an orange bedsheet anytime soon!

We then decided to un-culturalise ourselves by catching up with our friend Mr Lion Beer before getting yet another early night (strangely streets of Kandy are dead by 9.30), I don’t think we have been in bed any later than 11.00 on this trip so far.

Day 2 – BIG ROCK!

The next morning after the luxury of long hot showers, we decided we should really go and see Sigiriya Rock (It’s the one you see on anything advertising Sri Lanka), especially as our guest house could arrange the trip.  We arranged the driver through the guest house and headed off around 10.30, which meant we arrived at Sigiriya Rock at around 1.00pm (which is not the ideal time to climb the rock – in 90 degree heat!)

Sigiriya Rock is basically a mountain palace/fort complex, where the rulers of Sri Lanka , governed the country from  the early AD centuries , but there is evidence this place was inhabited BC.

The gardens in the internal moat area’s are very peaceful and serene and the view of the rock is quite stunning.  The only worrying thing for me was the large signs warning you ‘to stay still and quiet during any hornet attack’  and ‘beware of  hornet nests in the lion’s paw entrance’ , I can only just about deal with wasps now since my childhood trauma, so I can’t imagine myself keeping calm under hornet attack!!

With that said we still pressed on to scale the rock, I say scale but there are stairs – a lot of stairs!  About a 5^th of the way up we are already starting to struggle, Shelley because of the chesty cold we both have, me more likely because I’m unfit! After climbing numerous steps about half way up there was some spiral staircases that we though were taking us to the top, unfortunately we were wrong as this was a detour to see some ancient painting on the rock wall, these were impressive but the gloss was taken off when we realised we had to go back down to the previous level before climbing to the top. 

We took a breather at the Lion Paw entrance, which fortunately had no evidence of hornet nests (most probably too hot for them!) before heading for the top.  Once you arrive at the top you have a spectacular view of the countryside and mountains and people with very red faces and sweat filled clothing!

The decent was a lot easier although slightly unnerving as Shelley is not exactly a mountain goat!  On the way down there are monkey’s and obligatory locals hawking ‘magic boxes’ and carved goods.  Once you get to the ‘foreigners parking area’ there are some very opportunistic cold drinks vendors offering you a cold sprite for triple the price you would normally pay for them.

We then headed off for the Balladuwa Cave’s, stopping for a quick refreshment on route. These caves are a large religious complex that hold numerous Buddha statues.  What we didn’t realise was that it meant another steep climb to the top of a hill to see them.  Just as we set off we got caught in an almighty downfall, fortunately the local police on site let us shelter in their hut with them whilst it passed.   Once we got to the top, we had a look round but the caves were not how we expected them to be, instead of a large cave system, it was more like small caves all along the side of a rock face, which did contain hundreds of Buddha statues, which was quite impressive.

After the cave’s we decided that as we had spent a good 7 hours touristy stuff that we would like to have some food and drinks and chill out, which was appropriate as we made our way to ‘The Slightly Chilled Bar’!  The bar had some great staff (Viraj, Madusha & Dilshan) who ended up chatting to  us all night, Viraj gave us some useful information on how to get to our final destination in Sri Lanka, Nemgombo as that was his home town. Viraj was returning on the Saturday to play his first Deep House DJ set, which he invited us to, but unfortunately we would be in Katmandu by then.  Anyway I think all these guys are facebook friends of Shelley’s now, so hopefully we will find out how his DJ set went.

Day 3 – Negumbo

We left Kandy the next morning via a quick Tuk-Tuk ride to the bus station and then was able to get to get a direct bus to Negumbo (4 Hours).  Our breakfast, bought on the bus from one of the many people that get on and off the bus’s selling their wares, consisted of some deep fried doughnutty vegetable things and a chunk of fried Daal.  The journey was pretty uneventful, apart from Shelley’s ½ hour coughing fit (we still can’t shift these colds despite all the healthy/spicy foods we have eaten), we were however glad to get to our destination as we are now already bored with bus’s.

Our accommodation in Negumbo was very nice, it even had a little pool (which we didn’t have time to use), and because we were getting up at stupid’O Clock to get to the airport so would not be having breakfast, the manager offered to give us lunch instead, which was fish curry, yams and rice.

Negumbo itself was quite nice, a stretch of beach and a street of bars and restaurants.  Either a useful starting or ending destination for your trip as it is only 8 miles from the airport.  I think that’s the main reason for the tourists in this area as they were either heavily tanned or very white.  We had our last few Lion Beers in a bar then went for dinner.

The restaurant was the poshest looking restaurant that we had been to in Sri Lanka, with a carp pond running through it, artwoks on the wall’s and a sax player in the corner.  We thought we would treat  ourselves as it was our last night in Sri Lanka and we had some money to get rid of before we left.  The food was actually the best we had in Sri Lanka, both of us  going for Creamy/Spicy prawn curry’s , which came served in coconut shells.  Just towards the end of our meals Sri Lanka thought it would give us a final goodbye by the way of a fantastic Thunder & Lightening Storm with a monsoon downpour, which was very impressive. 

After the storm had subsided we headed off for home only to realise halfway down the road that we had left a bag at the restaurant (Glenn not Shelley), so had to go back for it.  As we did not want to do the walk again we jumped in a Tuk-Tuk for our return to the hotel, which was fortunate as the lane to the hotel was pretty much flooded, so saved us having to cart soggy shoes to our next destination.

Up early (3.30am) tomorrow, to catch our flights to Ka ka ka Katmandu!

Ella - Tuka Tuk Tuk

Day 1

We got up early once again, due to the promise of a Bus directly to our next destination, Ella, at 7.50am.  When our Tuk-Tuk ride to the Bus Station turned up and following a conversation with the lodge owner it was now decided there was no direct route and we would have to change bus a couple of times, however the Tuk-Tuk driver said he could take us all the way to Ella if we wanted.  Personally I think we may have been mis-informed to the benefit of his mate the Tuk-Tuk driver getting a large fare, however we decided for convenience we would take the Tuk-Tuk.

The journey by Tuk-Tuk was about 2 hours up the winding mountainside, passing the obligatory dogs lying in the road.  The driver stopped for a Melon as there was promise of Elephant up ahead which sadly never the materialized. The scenery however was fantastic and we did get the time to see it properly due to the fact that the Tuk-Tuk’s 50cc motor was having difficulties with the combined weight of Shelley and I, our luggage and the steep inclines.  Just before the village of Ella we also past a lovely waterfall (see below).

Ella is mainly a Tea growing town, but has also become a bit of a travellers hub so there is plenty of cheap accommodation and a few restaurant’s and bars.  We stayed in a nice place just behind the main street, but far enough away to get a quiet nights sleep...albeit the chirping crickets and frogs!

Once we were settled in our digs, we thought it was time to do some laundry as I was on the third wear of my T-Shirts and the less said about my pants the better!  We found the local launderette and presented them with our offerings which they painstakingly went through (rather them than me) and we were told to return to collect them later in the day.

Unfortunately after this we were re-acquainted with beer at the chill bar, which after 4 days without  alcohol meant we did not do much more that day, apart from we met a nice Mum/Daughter Couple from Leeds who we got on well with (Mum used to write for Kerrang back in the day).  At some point during that evening we returned to our lodgings (complete with local equivalent of a kebab – Vegetable Rotti’s) and went to bed!

Day 2 Little Adams Peak

After a pretty good night’s sleep and yet another cold shower (Slightly warmer than freezing – I guess what the advertised hot water meant!), we then had a great breakfast, which consisted of a pancake stuffed with coconut and honey, toast and jam and a variety of fresh fruit and a smoothie. 

We had to move accommodation that day as the place was fully booked so we decided to do one of the local attractions before we moved on, a trek to Little Adam’s Peak.  Due to the alcohol intake we decided on NOT doing the Ella Rock walk, a steep 4 hour hike). Adam’s Peak was a very nice walk with a gentle incline alongside the tea plantations followed by a 400 steep climb at the end.  When at the top you had terrific panoramic views of the whole area including the waterfall we had passed the previous day.

After the walk we moved to our new home for the night, which was just around the corner, but had a far nicer view.  The guest house was a bit higher up but was located alongside a tea plantation and also surrounded by them, it also came complete with two three month old kittens (the owners pets) who would not leave us alone, one thinking my typing would be improved by his paws stomping over the keyboard as I tried to complete the last blog. Pic below taken from our veranda. . 

We then caught up on E-Mail and sorted out our bookings for Kandy before heading back to the Chill Bar to test a couple more Lion Beer’s, today we even decided to have dinner there, a 10 dish local Sri Lankan Curry (first meat dish we have had so far –chicken).

As we are doing a 6 ½ hour train journey to Kandy tomorrow we decided to have an early night watching a DVD and listening to the frogs!. We've picked up supply of Veg Rotti's for the train journey tomorrow but they are looking pretty appertising  so I dont think they will last the night!

Yala Jungle Adventure!

After a quiet evening,  no alcohol served anyway due to the fact that it was the anniversary of the death of some bloke called Buddha, we woke fairly early and had a breakfast on the edge of the garden overlooking the sea whilst watching the turtles.

Day 1

After breakfast we packed up and got a tuk-tuk to the Matara bus station and got on a Bus to Kataragama (Or so we thought), it transpired that is wasn’t going directly there but to a village about 15Km away via every village in the area, so journey took around 3 ½ hours.

It’s at this point I found myself going all Jeremy Clarkson as Sri Lankan Bus drivers are a bit special, I think by the age of 20 they must have gone deaf and developed extremely large callouses  on their horn hands as it appears that 75% of the time they just sound their horn at anything else on the road.  The drivers also like to try and overtake anything whether it’s possible or not to do so, breaking at the last minute and pulling back in.

Apart from that the journeys are not too bad as all buses seem to have a sound system banging out Sri Lankan/Bangra music all the way, interspersed with the odd busker and people selling food and lottery tickets.  Also locals are very friendly helping us schlep our luggage on and off board and finding out where we are from and going to.

After another short bus ride and a quick tuk-tuk we arrived at our accommodation for the next 3 nights, Gem River Eco Lodge

Shelley taking over on this bit as evidently I write more ‘flowery’?...We arrived early evening in the rain so haven’t had a chance to explore yet but so far so good but will report back later!. .Its an Echo lodge and from what we’ve managed to see it looks absolutely stunning, tropical and what we imagined!!. We were greeted with tea and Sri Lankan dates. Both of us (Glenn and Shelley) are afraid to ask if they do beer!. We are here for 3 blissful nights so one of us had better grow some soon and ask if they do!

Internet however is bad, we made our way  near the office to try and pick it up and was traumatized by massive moths head butting us from all directions. We were told that they only live 15 mins and then their wings fall off and they die. I can’t vouch for this however as we only lasted about 5 mins before we took off for the sanctuary of our own veranda!. So, this blog will be posted late as neither of us want to go back there to post this!

Back to Glenn…In the evening the lodge cooked us our evening meal and it was served in a eating area/bamboo thatched lodge, built out of tree trunks and other Jungle hardware. All the food here is vegetarian however with all the different spices and exotic vegetables and fruits it was absolutely delicious (apart from the guava juice – which tasted like sweaty socks!)  Desert was Buffalo Curd and Honey, which was gorgeous, it tasted a bit like Sour Cream/Crème Caramel with the sweetness of the honey.

Then it was back to our lodge for an early night! Leopard spotting at 5AM, wish us luck!.

Day 2 Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh My!

A long one today, its raining outside!

Best nights sleep ever!, clean sheets, no mozzies, decent pillows. Glenn actually sang along to the Alarm call at 4:30 AM which was a first!.

We met our driver/tracker for the day, the Eco Lodge told us that whilst he didn’t speak much English, he was a great tracker and very respectful of the wildlife and environment, a real Echo Warrior so we were in good hands!. So in the jeep we jumped and off we set to the jungle. With a short stop to pick up breakfast which consisted of Hoppa’s which are pancake type things made of rice flour and coconut. The locals spread them with chilli and roll them, the foreigners roll them with jam and banana. We had both, chilli won!

We wasn’t holding out too much hope for the Safari given our last adventure in India consisted of lots of monkeys, deer you would see in Richmond Park and supposedly a Tiger paw print!. Oh and about a dozen leeches each attached to our socks!. But hey ho, it would be a day out…

As we entered the park we saw wild boar, (not bad) Peacocks (like pigeons here) Richmond Park Deer and a mongoose. Then lots and lots and lots of birds!, Glenn will give you the load down on what these were but very exotic!. Off we went to look for Elephant and finally we found one before parking up by a lake to eat our Hoppa’s whilst watching the crocodile and other wildlife.

 After breakfast we found some monkeys, I was just about to take a pic when another jeep went by and mumbled something to our guy then off we went at break neck speed, a black bear had been spotted! Only about 12 in the whole park and very rarely seen! The land rover turned into a catapult and we landed there in time to see a beautiful black bear snuffling for Potatoes!. It came very VERY close to the 4x4 at times which you will see from the pics and the shaky lens!. Our driver was ACE at maneuvering us into the right position so the bear would come out right next to us. Weirdly though as we approached the scene he decided to reverse first to show us some mushrooms growing, weird?.

After the bear we headed for lunch on a beach, by this time our 4x4 had broken down a couple of times so our guy took the opportunity to do some running repairs on it whilst we chilled out eating noodles, Daal Curry and fruit. Lunch stop also gave him a chance to pick up a supply of ‘Sri Lanken chewing gum’ (we decided not to partake!) which he chewed on when he didn’t have a cig in his mouth, (I was growing fond of him!). 

Then it was off for the afternoon adventure, more mushroom spotting, lots more elephants, no leopards L. Then, we rounded a corner and there in front of us was the most AMAZING thing! a tree covered with Mushrooms!!! The tracker nodded at me apologetically then jumped out of the van in a flash, basket in hand and filled it to the brim whilst Glenn and I posted look out. I don’t know what these mushrooms were but he was very VERY pleased with himself, Magic!

Our eco friendly, slow driving, smoking, chewing, mushroom thieving tracker helped to make the trip for us!. We headed back to the lodge exhausted after a look at a jungle temple with a panoramic view of the park (amazing) and was greeted by the owner where we confirmed our Eco Warrior tracker lived up the lodges expectations!. AND I finally asked if they had beer!.

….there is only one place in the entire area that does beer which is a 5 star hotel a tuk-tuk drive away. Another night of abstinence Glennis!.

In the evening we had another lovely meal at the lodge, really interesting pest control as the flies & moths flying round the lights were being picked off by bats flying through the eating area over our heads.  The only downer was that the owner informed us of the tragic events in Paris, which was strange being do far away from it and not in touch with  the news up until that point. 

Day 3 – Sore Arse’s

After another peaceful night listening to the noises of the forest we had breakfast of Chilli Hoppa’s and then took up the offer to borrow a couple of bicycles and go  for a ride to the lake.

It was very pleasant passing by the local village seeing the kids jumping in and out of the river and washing. , then we got to the lake and rode alongside it, taking the views of paddy fields and all the various birdlife, which included more peacocks, Weaver birds and Storks.  However Shelley and I had to keep switching bikes as one had a razor blade for a saddle, meaning that as I type I am now sat on a large cushion!! 

When we got back to the lodge we chilled out a bit before going out in the evening.

Kataragama is Sri Lanka’s main Relegious town, boasting a sacred city that contained temples for Buddist’s, Hindu’s and Muslim’s all in the same location (which is how it should be).  This being the case we thought we should take in a bit of the local culture so we took a Tuk-Tuk to the bus station and tried to find our way there for the 6.30 offerings to the gods.  After about ½ an our of being pointed in all different directions by the helpful locals we eventually found the site.  For me the whole area reminded me of Margate pleasure beach as the Temple are very garishly decorated with fairy lights and neon’s.  At 6.15 they opened the doors to the main temple and let the local’s enter with their offerings, which was basically large and ornate bowl’s of fruit and the people just kept coming, I hope for their sake Shiva likes fruit!!!  It would appear the best occupation in Kataragama would be a fruit seller as this ceremony takes place every day.  The main purpose for this ceremony is to give the followers protection and they generally come and do this before a Marriage, change of job or house move, etc.

We then headed home to the lodge for one last home cooked vegetarian meal, another good night’s sleep before an early start in the morning to get the bus to Ella which is a tea growing area in the mountains.

Polhena Reef

Well we didn't go to Mantara (Apparently I wasn't listening and booked the wrong beach!!), so we rebooked for the above lodge in Polhena Reef for two nights.

We took another bus (becoming proper travelers now) another 60 Miles down the cost at a princely sum of 30p each and arrived here around midday yesterday (Wednesday).

..... Glenn is now taking the first warm(ish shower since weve arrived so im taking over in case the hot runs out!!

After 2 sleepless nights being bitten alive in a very hot but extremely damp room which was rotting our clothes and lungs we decided to upgrade from a £10 to a £20 room. The result is the pic above, our very own cabana with private garden with the sea at the bottom of it! ..... sorry just had to pop off as the owner called me over as turtles were swimming up by the edge! IM NOT MAKING THIS UP HONEST!. The pic doesn't do it justice!. The sea is directly in front (which you cant see in pic) and to the right of the cabana, Also on the right is a door that leads down to our own private beach :). 2 nights of bliss before we head off to the national park!

We spent yesterday when we arrived tracking down a beer (Glenn no me) which we found a little further down the road. We were accompanied either side by 2 groups of locals. Both groups were sharing hard core spirits which you bring with you and pay corkage... apparently the way to do it here.  The first group were banging out tunes on bongo drums and the 2nd group made their own entertainment singing. I got ready to join in with a rendition of Doowadiddy but sadly they then moved on to speeches with each taking turns to rattle off something amazing. No idea what they was talking about but it involved awards?!).

This morning we snorkeled. We found a mask that fitted Glenn and off we set!. Great fish, no idea what they were, missed most as was more concerned about avoiding being battered around the head by Glenns fins!.

Okay, off now to enjoy this paradise whilst we can. The Turtles are back!

xxx

P.S, I think Glenn now has more Mozzy bites than me.

Mosquitos 40 - 4 Glenn/Shelley (I think they are winning!)

I knew Shelley would forget some things, for those fish enthusiasts among you whilst snorkling we saw reef fish, Angel Fish, a puffer fish and a moray eel. (Daryll I will try and get some fish action for you on our next post using your underwater camera)

Also last night we the owner supplied us with a rice & curry dinner at the bottom of our garden overlooking the sea.  Afterwhich we chilled on our veranda and were treated to a magical firefly display (one of which joined us in our room when we went to bed) and the fireflies were being picked of by large bats.  We then heard some rustling in the trees and two large mongoose type characters descended and had a mooch around the garden.

Taking pictures of turtles that are surfacing is very difficult as they only surface for a moment, however Shelley managed the best shot, see below.