Sri Lanka, Feb, 2019
Located in the Indian Ocean, an island country in South Asia. Since Ashoka(阿育王) sent the prince of Maurya dynasty, the residents Sinhalese(僧伽羅人) gave up Brahmanism(婆羅門教) and believed Buddhism in 247 B.C.E. Later, it named as Simhalauipa and Ceylon in the ancient time. Sri Lanka has been invaded by Portugal, Netherlands, United Kingdom and India. Therefore, it makes today’s Sri Lanka as a country with a diversity of culture and historical treasure. Sri Lanka embraces the tourists with vibrant history, endless beach, hospitable people, juicy fruits, fresh tea, world heritage and wild animals.
Too Much Flexibility Almost Ruined My Travel
6 months before this trip, I was frustrated, felt so lost, and lost passion in everything, I knew I need to do something, probably arrange a travel where I never been, the culture I never experienced. I considered India in the beginning, had heard both amazing and terrified experience from other travelers, I knew I have to visit India, then I have the right to say what I experience. But I knew I was not so independent and not ready for India. During struggling, I saw a picture with a blue train across tea garden in mountain on website. And that’s my intention for Sri Lanka!
The time I arrived at Sri Lanka was midnight, not a good idea to stay at a dorm of hostel, because it may disturb roommates. I decided to stay in the house owned by an old couple in Negombo. While the host asked what’s the plan in Sri Lanka? My mind was blank. I was too naïve to imagine that the travel information in Sri Lanka was handy as South East Asia. Because when I went to Vietnam, actually I didn’t need to plan much, because the local tour is so prosperous. And that’s an obvious mistake made by me. Moreover, google map doesn’t provide much information in Sri Lanka. So I just followed the suggestion provided by the old couple: Kandy, the transit for backpackers.
【The hostel I stayed in Negombo】
Sacred Kandy Embraces the Cultural Treasure
Kandy, located in the central province of Sri Lanka, was the capital of the king in ancient era. Thanks to it, it becomes one of the sacred places for Buddhist pilgrimage: Temple of The Sacred Tooth Relic. Worship the tooth relic, as the symbolic of loyalty, the temple was built in 1595. The sacred and cultural temple is worshipped by seamless flowers. The two-stationary building is a large-square architecture, decorated with stunning mural consisted of colorful geometric shape on the arched ceiling in the entry. The interior design built with wood and silver arch shines tourists’ eyes. They also performed some dance like worshiping to God in the temple. Instead the main temple, it has New Shrine Room, Audience Hall, which are said to be built later. Near the temple of the sacred tooth relic, there are some world-class museums worth to go, the famous one is Tusker Raja museum, considered as the national treasury. And each year, the famous “Esala Perahera Fesitval in Kandy” held in July or August will last for 10 days. The whole town will celebrate the grandest and oldest Buddhist festivals. You can see crowds, dancers, museums and lavished elephants decorated with lights parade through the street. Don’t miss the grand festival if Sri Lanka is on your travel list!
It took me about 3 hours from Negombo to Kandy by train. I just booked a hostel called Oasis when I arrived Kandy. The host is a western guy at around 50, gentle and kind. Every morning he made yummy breakfast for the guests. And we were so luck to celebrate his birthday with his Sri Lankan friends. They used bare hands to take the cake, and asked every guest to have a bite, as a symbol of celebrating together, and that was so much fun.
At night guests gathered at the balcony, exchanged travel experience. I then met my roommates, one Chinese girl and a French girl. The Chinese girl has solo traveled for 8 months, stayed in India over a month before Sri Lanka, so independent and elegant. I asked her a lot of tips about long-term solo travel, how she dealt with her luggage and laundry…etc. Three of us visited the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic and had rolled ice cream together before we left Kandy.
The Most Beautiful and Wild Train Ride: Kandy to Ella
The reason I determine to visit Sri Lanka is one picture: the blue train cross through the tea garden. The amazing and popular picture on Instagram is from Kandy to Ella.
The train ride is over 5 hours. So make sure you have a seat, or at least find a comfortable area for yourself. I took trains to travel around Sri Lanka. Most of the time, the train is crowed with passengers, it is really crazy to grab a handle outside the train, but is common to see bunch of people hang on the train, and I was one of them. Each time when the train passed the tunnel, passengers who grabbed handle outside the train, struggled to find their best to fit in the tunnel. I thought that should be human nature for surviving. In Sri Lanka, instead mountain-view train, it also has sea-view train from Galle to Colombo. I met some nice tourists on the train, they gave me a hand when I was squeezed outside the train, and I also met a lovely Chinese girl called Yi-yu on the train. Then we accompanied in the following days.
The Tricky Ella Rock Hike
Ella is a popular hiking spot offers magnificent view from the mountain peak. We hiked little Adam Peak on the first day in Ella. Compared to the Adam’s peak, the little Adam’s peak is super easy to complete.
【Little Adam Peak】
The next day, we decided to go Ella Rock. It’s quite tricky to find, because most of the road signs are trustless, and lead you to the wrong direction. We got lost in a tea garden, and struggled to find the exit, but it was like a maze. The tea tree and grass are too high to find the direction, and google map does not work here at all. Besides us, a western girl also got lost. Then suddenly a Sri Lankan woman showed up and said she could help us get out and find Ella rock, but we had to pay. She asked us to pay 70 USD per one in the beginning, after bargaining, we paid 10 USD per person, one way only. Luckily, she really guided us to the right direction. On the top of Ella rock, I saw vendors sell fresh juice and fruit. It was really good to have a cold drink after a tough hiking, because the hiking was kind like rock climbing. Another thing I appreciated was that it was not crowded at the peak, so I did not need to que for taking pictures.
【Ella Rock】
Cultural-Treasure Haunting in Galle
After two nights in Ella, we took a crazy bus zigzagged down the mountain, all the element in the bus could lead me to vomit. Unfortunately I didn’t have a seat. The weird spices permeated the air in the bus, and several Buddha statues were embedded on the bus and surrounded with colorful lighting. Moreover, in Sri Lanka, the audio electronics is the must facility in every bus. It played extremely loud and fast-paced music. I knew that was exotic, but when you have car sick, and stuck in a humid and high temperature bus, those elements definitely kill you.
【The crazy bus I took】
Galle is the south city of Sri Lanka, considered as a cultural jewel by World Heritage Site. It was Dutch colony; therefore, the architecture mixed with European style. We visited the local market, full of fresh ingredients. In the dusk, we took a stroll at the fort, watched Sri Lankan elementary students playing soccer. Don’t know how, they really like taking pictures, and they even asked us to take pictures for them.
【Traditional market in Galle】
【The hostel I stayed in Galle】
Stilt Fisherman at Koggala
The stilt fisherman in Koggala is one of the marvelous sceneries of the world. But since it became the hot tourist spot, the local people make money from it. When I approached the beach, a man asked my partner and I to pay 500 Sri Lankan rupee each, so that they would “perform” as a stilt fisherman, otherwise, we were not allowed to take pictures. And if we would like to sit on the stilt to pose as a fisherman, then we had to pay more rupee. I only wanted to take pictures of stilt fisherman, so I bargained at 500 rupee for two of us. I understand some tourists felt upset about finding these are ”fake”, but to be honest, the sun there is scorching, usually the real fishermen work on very early(probably before 5 AM), so if you think it’s fair to pay 3-4 people as models under scorching sun, then you will feel much better.
Experience Local Life in Colombo
I traveled around the middle and south of Sri Lanka in the first week, and the journey was very rush, so I decided to slow down in the last week. I stayed in a mixed dorm with my travel partner. The bed is shaped as honeycomb. I felt so secure and enjoyed my own private space as well. I loved my bund bed and the independent space. Moreover, the hostel has a yard, swimming pool and swing. When I stayed in this hostel, I found myself do not want to leave. I enjoyed every meal on the swing, read novels along the swimming pool.
【The hostel I stayed in Colombo】
Colombo is a commercial metropolis of Sri Lanka, which has been developed and invested a lot by western countries and Chinese. This city is full of luxury hotels, resorts, beach and ancient temples. I practiced yoga at the local yoga studio in the morning, and wandered around the city as routine.
【The yoga studio I fell in love, which provides diverse classes and healthy meals】
To kill the time, I even watched Aquaman in Sri Lanka’s movie theater. The ticket price is around 5 USD, which is incredibly cheap. The diverse religion is one of the features of Sri Lanka. Although Theravada Buddhism is the state religion of Sri Lanka, you can also find mosques, Hindu temples and churches in Colombo. Try to have a religious tour, you will explore ancient murals, statues which were decorated meticulously.
【Gangaramaya Temple】
【Red Masjid】
I tried my best to experience local life as much as I could in Colombo, I even tried a buffet, which is considered as a fancy restaurant local. But unfortunately I had diarrhea on the next day, so surprised that I was fine with street food, but had diarrhea at the fancy restaurant. However, I really enjoyed the routine and simple life in Colombo, so slow but peaceful.
Mourning for Sri Lanka
On 21 April, Easter Sunday, two months after my Sri Lanka trip, my friends, colleagues texted me news that Sri Lanka was under attacked by the bomb suicide, which was devastating and caused nearly 300 people dead in the horrible attack. I felt sad and sorry for the Sri Lanka. Because most of the Sri Lankans I met are very nice and willing to help people even they live in poverty. They suffered from the catastrophic tsunami in 2004, now they have to face the heartbreaking bombing attack. However, I do believe they have resilience to recover from the devastating events. I do really hope so.
Tips to Explore Sri Lanka
Download the local app “Rome2rio” to replace google map, because google map does not work very well in Sri Lanka.
Bring a headlamp, because the electricity in Sri Lanka is not stable. You will need one when walk through dark road.
ls Sri Lanka a safe country for female solo travel? I would say yes, it is a peaceful and kind country. I met a lot of female solo travelers enjoy their journey there. However, as a foreigner, we should always keep aware especially the local customs. One night a friend I met in hostel and I had a stroll at train station, then some Sri Lanka police came to us, asked our relationship, checked the belongings of us. Later we found lucky that we just bought bottles of water, because Sri Lanka imposed woman buying alcohol, if it was beer, then I would be in trouble.
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