So the previous entry was on my escapades in Maldives. This entry is on Sri Lanka. I have always wanted to visit Sri Lanka but it was so unstable and dangerous. And then I meet Rushika when I was studying in Australia, and the civil war ended there, and I figured this was the best time to visit. In Sri Lanka, I visited Colombo where Rush is based at, and then we took a 3 days road trip to Sirigiriya and Nuwara Eliya.

Colombo is like Singapore. Crazy crowded, horns everywhere, cars everywhere, lots of shops, and lots of people. I was in Colombo for about 2 days and basically just shopped a little, went to a few nice restaurants, went to a club there with Rush and her friends (Yes, clubs in Sri Lanka actually plays English music. Cool ones. I was surprised, honestly speaking. Hahahaha...Didn't know what to expect seriously.) and on my last day in Colombo, I went for a hair spa and foot spa. Things are cheap there, I felt like a millionaire! lol!!

And after our Maldives trip, we rested for one night and then started our journey at 7am to Sirigiriya, a 5 hr drive. There was a horrible jam on our way there, and finally got to our hotel there at 2pm! 7 hrs in the car..I was really cranky. Thank god the hotel staff was fabulous, and we had a good lunch, rested a little, before proceeding to climb the Sirigiriya rock. Which was an adventure in itself.

One thing about Sri Lanka is there are two separate prices for locals and tourists/ foreigners. I found it really bizarre. Firstly, carz can only enter the Sirigiriya grounds if there is a tourist in the car, so since I was a tourist, we got to drive in to the foot of the rock, saving us walking time. And then, when we had to buy the tickets to climb the rock, Rush only had to pay $0.50. Me? I had to fork out $30. In USD! I was shocked! And we got ourselves a guide cos we are clueless as to how to go about climbing the rock. AND I WAS SO THANKFUL THAT WE GOT A GUIDE. His name was Lall. It was super duper crowded, and crazy. Without him, I think Rush and I would never have gotten to the top, and probably gotten harrassed by the very very friendly Si Lankan men there. He knew all the shorcuts, and pushed away those very friendly guys. Thank god for him. We gave him a very very good tip. But really, the climb up was bordered on traumatic cos there were times when we had to be with the crazy crowd, and we got jostled and pushed, and amidst crying babies, and smelly people....Urgh....The whole climb was 1600 steps, and up and down took us from 4pm to 7pm. Died. But the view was stunning!!

What else did I do in Sirigiriya? I took an elephant ride in the morning and we trekked through the forest, and went through the river, with the Sirigiriya rock as our background. It was really an experience.I also went for an Aryuvedic massage. Ok, I have to be honest. This was a traumatising massage! I still asked for a 45 mins massage, rather than just the 35 mins one cos I thought it would be good. YUCKS!! Terrible! No one, the masseause could not understand me. No two, the oil!!! It was this gross black oil, which she was very generous with, slathering it all over my body! GROSS! And it stank like nobody's business. I spent half the time trying not to breathe in through my nose. WHICH IS REALLY HARD!! And the table they massaged us in was hard!! And then, we were supposed to have a steam bath, and I expected a bath. What did I get?? I was put into this coffin-like thing with Indian leaves, and wrapped like a mummy for 20 mins and steamed! I felt like an Indian dumpling. NOT COOL! So yeah, trauma man...First and last time.

From Sirigiriya, we took a 4 hr drive to Nuwara Eliya. They call this place Hills Country, and it is a very hilly area, and this is where all the tea plantations are. Cool climate, and very very poor but generous people. :) Here, we took a walk down Gregory Lake, and took a boat ride. Saw a lot of tea plantations, interacted with the farmers there, saw the vegetable farms, and how the locals lived. They are really poor, living in clay-made houses. And it is cold here, about 12 degrees. In the morning, we took a horse ride, up the mountains into the clouds. That was probably one of my favourite moments of my trip. The horse riding up slowly into mountains was just so beautiful, with the cool air in my face, and the clouds and tea plantations and waterfalls surrounding us. Gorgeous.

So yes, my Sri Lankan trip was fantatsic. It is a very under-rated country, and I really hope with time, it will attract more people to allow its economy to grow again. Sri Lanka has been hit with civil strive for almost 30 years, and its economy has been badly hit with people having this really bad impression of the country. But there are so many beautiful things about this place, and I would definitely come back again. :)

Inside a 3-wheeled cab. Its not exactly a cab. More like a tuk tuk

 I insisited on taking a bus just to experience taking a bus in Colombo

 One of the shopping centres in Colombo. I have to say, shopping there is sad. Not much to buy with very bizarre taste in clothes.

 Roads of Colombo

 Rushi;s dad. One of the nicest and most generous man I've met.

 Her maid, who cooks really well, and was really entertained by me. She keeps laughing when she sees me. I was confused!

 Her brother, Sohan and mum. Also very very nice people.

 The Sirigiriya rock which we climbed. It was a high climb.

 The carzy crowd which we had to battle!

 @ the top of the rock.

View from the top

 My guide, Lall. He was an angel, helping us be safe. :)

 Elephant ride in the morning! I was super excited cos the only time I took an elephant ride was at the zoo when I was 8 or something. And that was really sad.

 @ Nuwara Eliya, Hill Country

 Lake Gregory where I took a boat ride to enjoy the view

 Horse riding in the morning

 The St Clare's Waterfall, where we had tea by.

 Karu, Ryshi's very dependable driver who drove us everywhere, from Colombo, to Sirigiriya to Nuwara Eliya.

 So that is the end of my June adventures. School is starting tomorrow, and it is going to be a crazy term 3. It is always crazy in school! So until the next time, enjoy the remnants of the holidays to my teacher friends!!

And yes, finally. My very long and overdue post on my trips which I just took this June hols. I started off with India, then to Maldives, and then to Sri Lanka. I won't blog much about my India trip as it was essentially a school trip, but more on the personal trips that I took to Maldives and Sri Lanka.

 I landed in Sri Lanka on a Fri night, and then spent Sat night clubbing hard in Colombo. Was on the dance floor till 4am, rushed back to Rushi's place and got home at 430 am, slept for an hour and a bit, and then chanegd and rushed to get to the airport for our Maldives trip at 730am. It was insane. We just kept drinking coffee to keep us awake while at the airport, and snoozed through the 1 hr plane ride to Maldives.

And then we reached Maldives. The minute we landed, all we saw were vast blue sky and clear blue skies. We got up our speed boat, and I was taken aback by the blue-ness of the seawater there. It was really aquamarine, and just gorgeous. I have been to many beach places, but Maldives is stunning. It's just the water. So pretty.

So what did I do in Maldives? Nothing. Seriously. It is a do-nothing sort of place. After 5 mths of hard work in school, and then a very stressful 9 days India trip, going to a place doing nothing is like a slice of heaven. We swam by the beach which was directly outside our room, swam by the pool, lounged on the beach deck chairs, snorkelled on our own, ate, drank, did a spa (which was probably one of the best I have ever had), drank tea by the beach while watching the sunset, listening to music, talking. Night were spent having dinner by the moonlit pool and then drinks by the bar at the beach with live music before calling it a night in the very comfortable room. It was really all very serene and relaxing. Something which I really needed. Time out to really appreciate myself and reward myself for 5 mths of work. And one morning, I got up early, and hired a yogi to do yoga by the beach with me. It was an experience. The cool balmy breeze, the vast expanse of the sea, waves crashing, the clear aquamarine water, the clear blue sky. All that while you are doing your sun salutations and other yoga postures. It was all really thereaupeautic.

Things in Maldives are really costly. An average meal in Maldives will cost about USD$35 per person. Crazy. The spa is expensive too, almost USD$100. But I figured we were already there, and there really is no point stinging in such a beautiful island. So yeah, I spent shit loads of money here, but so worth the experience and money. And needless to say, when it was time to go, I was sad. So anyway, here are the Maldives pictures.

The view from the airport.

 Speedboat to Kurumba Maldives Resort. We were the only 2 passengers so it really felt like our own private yacht. Service was excellent.

 Entrance of our resort

 The biew that we get when we open up our room.

 All changed and dressed for dinner

 Where I did my morning yoga

 Snorkelled for alost 2 hrs, and I am now majorly burnt.

 Sunset by the beach

 This was at 745am in the morning. We woke up early on our last day and spent an hour at the beach, swimming, doing rubbish, talking and laughing. Really really fun.

 Our way back to the airport to Colombo

 I am going to miss this aquamarine sea.