Sri Lanka Trip was the continuity of my Cebu-Dumagute, Phillipines Trip and also a mutual agreement between my Facebook Friend, Fazal Kaliq and me. Where exactly we spent the Trip together?? Here's the details ....
Sri Lanka is an island situated not too far from India and Maldives Island. Just like Singapore and Malaysia but Sri Lanka Island is much more bigger than Singapore.
Here's the list of places we went during a week stayed in sri lanka:-
1. Town Of kandy
2. Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage
3. Lion's Rock, Sigiriya
4. Adam's Peak Sripada
5. Colombo City
Day of Arrival (31st Jan 2016)
Arrived at Colombo International Airport at 22:55pm Sri Lanka time (01:55am Malaysia time). I need to wait for another 4 hours for Fazal to arrives from Pakistan. It was a long and tiring journey. Imagined yourself spending the whole day checking in your baggage, waiting for departure, long hours journey on board, claiming your luggage, and rushing for another check in and departure for the next destination? it was super tiring and full of excitement at the same time ... be prepare for the lack of rest!!
I spent my first 1300Rs on buying Sim Card to make phone calls and Internet Surfing.
Day 1 (01st Feb 2016)
Fazal finally shows up at 4.00am at the arrival hall. He looks no different from his pictures in Facebook as i spotted him immediately. We shook hands and greetings each other and he said a friend was waiting outside the hall and also apologied for the wait since he had problem at the immigration when he needed to shows everything in his luggage to the immigration officer as if He was smuggling illegal stuff (gosh to the security for the time extended!!).
We hop in to the taxi with a warm welcome from Fazal friend's and went to the Railway Station and catches the early train headed to Kandy. Train took us approximately Five (5) hours to reach Kandy. I tried to get some rest in the Train but the sound of "metal meets metal" of the train and railway made it not possible to do so and this was my first experience sitting in the train in foreign country for long hours.
Lucky for me to sit next to the windows, the views of tea plantation and mountains outside along the way up to Kandy was so mesmerizing and cooling to the eyes.
With a helped from a man that we met in the train, Mr.Kamal (soon became our friend), we finally reached Charlton Kandy Rest Guesthouse and decided to explore Kandy Lake and Temple of the Tooth & Kandy Town for the rest of the day. The owner of guesthouse equipped us with the town map and made a circle to each attractions around the area.
Kandy Lake , Temple of the Tooth & Kandy Town
Exploring Kandy Town with the helped of the Given Map was exciting. Temple of the Tooth situated not too far from the Guesthouse where we stayed.
We went there by foot and captured few pictures at the entrance of the Temple and also exploring around the Temple.
Flowers specifically Lotus was well known as an offering to the Temple. Everything seems so beautiful to me and i was filled with excitement as a curious little child.
Kandy Lake was one of the attractions around Kandy Town. We walked around the Lake and also captured as many beautiful pictures of the Man-made Lake. Frankly speaking, it was just an usual Lake but you never know how interaction with nature meant for some people.
Anyhow, i loves the view of the Lake and believe me, you won't missed out to visit this Lake when you in Kandy.
Kandy Town itself was not a big Town and its surrounded by beautiful old well maintained buildings and it will fascinate the eyes of the beholder.
There are also Churches and Mosques in the Town itself. I learned that Buddha was the main religion in Sri Lankan, followed by Christian and Islam.
I also learned that even with different beliefs, there were no religious issues in Sri Lanka as they respect one another beliefs and religious.
Day 2 (02nd Feb 2016)
With a great deal from Tuk Tuk owner, we covered Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, Garden of Spices, Botanical Garden, Temple of White Buddha a.k.a Big Buddha and also to visit some artistic places famous for paintings and crafting for the rest of the day. It was a long Journey from Kandy Town by Tuk Tuk to these places. (Tuk Tuk is one of the cheapest open air transportation in Sri Lanka)
Entrance fees were slightly different from SAARC and ASEAN country.
**SAARC : The member states are Afghanistan, bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan dan Sri Lanka. SAARC was founded by Seven (7) states in 1985)
** ASEAN : Established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok by the Five (5) original member countries : Indonesia, Malaysia, phillipines, singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam Joined on 8 January 1984, Vietnam on 28 July 1995, Laos and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999).
** Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage and Botanical Garden required entrance fee and Fazal managed to get the entrance tickets for me in a cheaper price using his SAARC identity.
Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage was one of the most popular animal attraction in Sri Lanka.
Tuk Tuk driver was friendly, informative and sporting. We felt comfortable with him. We spent hours exploring and seeing those groups of elephants.
"Elephant is the King of all animals" - that was what had been said in the recent Jungle Book movie.
Sri lanka also produced different types of Tea products from the country's Tea Plantation. I learned that Tea production contributing most of the Economy in Sri Lanka and also the world's Fourth Largest producer of tea.
Top tea producing countries in the World are China, India, Kenya, Sri Lanka
Ceylon tea is the common name for the tea grown in the Island of Sri lanka. There is Ceylon Black Tea, White Tea and Green Tea.
Botanical Garden is another attraction that you have to visit when in Sri Lanka. There are few places of Botanical Garden that you could consider to visit. The one that we visited is the nearest to Kandy Town, Henarathgoda Botanical Garden.
The garden offered an enchanting, fascinating and mesmerizing landmark to discover. We spent hours walking, observing and discovering the beauty of the garden.
We spent the rest of the day visiting Garden of spices and Temple of White Buddha a.k.a Big Buddha.
Day 3 (03th Feb 2016)
When traveling with partner, every decisions need to be in mutual agreement. After some discussion, we decided to spend the day visiting Lion's Rock Sigiriya. Sigiriya is a UNESCO listed World Heritage site and also one of the most visited historic site in Sri Lanka.
The Entrance fees to the Lion's Rock was quite expensive but trust me it worth it. Paid about 4200Rs (RM120) for the entrance fees.
This is the only picture i have at the Lion's Rock. It was a bad day for me. My entire mood was swing to the lowest level when my phone accidentally, due to my carelessness and clumsiness ..."fly" in to the toilet bowl just before the starting point to the Rock.
As i depend much on the phone camera for pictures, it was a total frustration to me. I learned that unpleasant uncertainty might occurs during traveling. It is important to stay positive and calm in any situation and circumstances.
Day 4 (04th Feb 2016)
The experience of conquering Adam's Peak or Sri pada was the most fun, enjoyable and memorable with full great satisfaction for me in Sri Lanka.
To reach at the peak of Sri Pada was not easy as we had to climb around 5,500 steep steps and took approximately 4 -5 hours from the starting point to the peak
It is advisable to start the climb early in the morning for the sunrise. As for us, we went by train from Kandy Town and transit by bus to Sri Pada. By the time we reached, its nearly noon time. The heat of the sun increases the difficulty of climbing. It starting to feel cooler and cooler as we climbed up. As i reached the peak, "I made it!" - with big smiles to shows my full satisfaction.
Mentally positive, Physically energetic and naturally hilarious company during the climb helped a lot. Mr.Chandran a.k.a Acih (Acih is the word to addressee Grandpa/Grandma) became our new buddy during the climb. Acih was a nick name given to me by him due to my lacked of energy as i stopped after every few steps while climbing. Mr. Chandran never left my side and i am amazed by his full energy despite of his old age.
Another best part of the climb was, people thought i am Chinese. Local people who passed by greeted me in Chinese languages and i returned their greeting in Chinese ( Lucky for me as i am able to understand and converse in that languages). There were this group of locals who wanted a picture with me and my heart blossom with celebrity feelings (Hahaha...What an experience!!)
Day 5 (05th Feb 2016)
Its time to say "goodbye!" to Kandy Town and "Hi!!" to Colombo City (Capital City of Sri Lanka).
We bought second class cabin for the train from Kandy to back to Colombo. Surprisingly, the train still preserved the old system of ticketing and believe me or not, there are no seats available in the train. Instead of standing for few hours to reached Colombo, we had no choice but to sit on the cabin floor.
We are not the only passengers that experienced the situation. A girl from China, she was traveling alone and also heading to Colombo had to sit on the cabin floor too. We had moments to talk and became friend in Facebook and Wechat (The part that i love the most when traveling - meeting new people)
Day 6 (06th Feb 2016)
We spent the day exploring around Colombo City by Tuk Tuk. We googled on must visit places in Colombo and decided on Historic, Religious, and leisure places :- Galle Face Green, Arcade Independence Square, Colombo Fort, Gangaramaya Temple, Beira Lake, Wandering around Pettah Floating Market and wandering and taking pictures of old buildings in Colombo City.
Since majority of Sri Lanka populations were Buddha, temples and Buddha statue can be seen everywhere, be it at the park or along the street sides. Local believes not to face the back to Buddha when taking picture or it disregard Buddha. People in Sri Lanka were nice and friendly and visitors need wisdom to get away from scam.
Day 7 (07th Feb 2016)
Mr.Kamal was the first locals that we spoke to while in the Train heading to Kandy From Colombo the first day we arrived Sri Lanka. The term Good Samaritan reflected in him. He helped us to locate Our Guesthouse in Kandy. It was an honour to be invited for Lunch at his house.
Upon arrival at his house, we were greeted by their house guard - Dog. I loves dog but worried on Fazal since he was a Muslim and thinking that Muslim scared of dog. Come to my surprise, Fazal was cool about it and in fact being friendly with the dog. We spent hours at Mr.Kamal House talking, exchanging stories and get to know his family members.
After Lunch, Fazal and i headed to the airport by taxi. At the airport, Fazal was worried about his soon departing flight and rushed to the security checking for luggage check in. We did not had a proper Goodbye since only flight that depart in Two hours time allowed to passed through. It was a sad moment to me for not even had proper shake hands or a goodbye hug after spending Seven (7) days traveling together.
Conclusions of the trip:
1. Sri Lanka was a beautiful Island with friendly people
2. Sri Lanka people appreciate Art and fond of gemstones
3. There were no rice for Breakfast or Brunch. Local food was Kottu, Curry and Dal
4. Coffee tasted different ( the smells was good but the taste was plain )
5. There were peace of religion where Buddha being the Majority religion follows by Christian and Muslim
6. Transportation system was old fashion. Bus was not comfortable at all
7. Things that touched me the most :- I felt love, Freedom of making decision, Respecting and compromising with travel partner and there always give and take between persons.
8. Bad Experiences : too emotional/lack of self-control in an unexpected situation and No proper Goodbye at the airport.
9. Funny Experiences : No seats available in the train even after buying second class cabin seats and Locals misunderstood me as Chinese (is it because of my skin colour?)
10. Best experience : Conquering Adam's Peak with 5500 steep steps
With a helped from a man that we met in the train, Mr.Kamal (soon became our friend), we finally reached Charlton Kandy Rest Guesthouse and decided to explore Kandy Lake and Temple of the Tooth & Kandy Town for the rest of the day. The owner of guesthouse equipped us with the town map and made a circle to each attractions around the area.
Kandy Lake , Temple of the Tooth & Kandy Town
We went there by foot and captured few pictures at the entrance of the Temple and also exploring around the Temple.
Flowers specifically Lotus was well known as an offering to the Temple. Everything seems so beautiful to me and i was filled with excitement as a curious little child.
Anyhow, i loves the view of the Lake and believe me, you won't missed out to visit this Lake when you in Kandy.
There are also Churches and Mosques in the Town itself. I learned that Buddha was the main religion in Sri Lankan, followed by Christian and Islam.
I also learned that even with different beliefs, there were no religious issues in Sri Lanka as they respect one another beliefs and religious.
Day 2 (02nd Feb 2016)
With a great deal from Tuk Tuk owner, we covered Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, Garden of Spices, Botanical Garden, Temple of White Buddha a.k.a Big Buddha and also to visit some artistic places famous for paintings and crafting for the rest of the day. It was a long Journey from Kandy Town by Tuk Tuk to these places. (Tuk Tuk is one of the cheapest open air transportation in Sri Lanka)
Entrance fees were slightly different from SAARC and ASEAN country.
**SAARC : The member states are Afghanistan, bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan dan Sri Lanka. SAARC was founded by Seven (7) states in 1985)
** ASEAN : Established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok by the Five (5) original member countries : Indonesia, Malaysia, phillipines, singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam Joined on 8 January 1984, Vietnam on 28 July 1995, Laos and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999).
** Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage and Botanical Garden required entrance fee and Fazal managed to get the entrance tickets for me in a cheaper price using his SAARC identity.
Tuk Tuk driver was friendly, informative and sporting. We felt comfortable with him. We spent hours exploring and seeing those groups of elephants.
"Elephant is the King of all animals" - that was what had been said in the recent Jungle Book movie.
Top tea producing countries in the World are China, India, Kenya, Sri Lanka
Ceylon tea is the common name for the tea grown in the Island of Sri lanka. There is Ceylon Black Tea, White Tea and Green Tea.
The garden offered an enchanting, fascinating and mesmerizing landmark to discover. We spent hours walking, observing and discovering the beauty of the garden.
We spent the rest of the day visiting Garden of spices and Temple of White Buddha a.k.a Big Buddha.
Day 3 (03th Feb 2016)
When traveling with partner, every decisions need to be in mutual agreement. After some discussion, we decided to spend the day visiting Lion's Rock Sigiriya. Sigiriya is a UNESCO listed World Heritage site and also one of the most visited historic site in Sri Lanka.
This is the only picture i have at the Lion's Rock. It was a bad day for me. My entire mood was swing to the lowest level when my phone accidentally, due to my carelessness and clumsiness ..."fly" in to the toilet bowl just before the starting point to the Rock.
As i depend much on the phone camera for pictures, it was a total frustration to me. I learned that unpleasant uncertainty might occurs during traveling. It is important to stay positive and calm in any situation and circumstances.
Day 4 (04th Feb 2016)
To reach at the peak of Sri Pada was not easy as we had to climb around 5,500 steep steps and took approximately 4 -5 hours from the starting point to the peak
It is advisable to start the climb early in the morning for the sunrise. As for us, we went by train from Kandy Town and transit by bus to Sri Pada. By the time we reached, its nearly noon time. The heat of the sun increases the difficulty of climbing. It starting to feel cooler and cooler as we climbed up. As i reached the peak, "I made it!" - with big smiles to shows my full satisfaction.
Mentally positive, Physically energetic and naturally hilarious company during the climb helped a lot. Mr.Chandran a.k.a Acih (Acih is the word to addressee Grandpa/Grandma) became our new buddy during the climb. Acih was a nick name given to me by him due to my lacked of energy as i stopped after every few steps while climbing. Mr. Chandran never left my side and i am amazed by his full energy despite of his old age.
Another best part of the climb was, people thought i am Chinese. Local people who passed by greeted me in Chinese languages and i returned their greeting in Chinese ( Lucky for me as i am able to understand and converse in that languages). There were this group of locals who wanted a picture with me and my heart blossom with celebrity feelings (Hahaha...What an experience!!)
Day 5 (05th Feb 2016)
We bought second class cabin for the train from Kandy to back to Colombo. Surprisingly, the train still preserved the old system of ticketing and believe me or not, there are no seats available in the train. Instead of standing for few hours to reached Colombo, we had no choice but to sit on the cabin floor.
We are not the only passengers that experienced the situation. A girl from China, she was traveling alone and also heading to Colombo had to sit on the cabin floor too. We had moments to talk and became friend in Facebook and Wechat (The part that i love the most when traveling - meeting new people)
Day 6 (06th Feb 2016)
We spent the day exploring around Colombo City by Tuk Tuk. We googled on must visit places in Colombo and decided on Historic, Religious, and leisure places :- Galle Face Green, Arcade Independence Square, Colombo Fort, Gangaramaya Temple, Beira Lake, Wandering around Pettah Floating Market and wandering and taking pictures of old buildings in Colombo City.
 |
| Visiting Temples and picture taking of Buddha statue everywhere |
 |
| Independence Square Hall & Eating food served at Pettah Floating Market |
 |
| Beautiful Buildings around Colombo City |
 |
| Galle Face Green, Visiting Public Park and Street Paintings |
Day 7 (07th Feb 2016)
 |
| Family of Mr.Kamal in Sri Lanka |
Upon arrival at his house, we were greeted by their house guard - Dog. I loves dog but worried on Fazal since he was a Muslim and thinking that Muslim scared of dog. Come to my surprise, Fazal was cool about it and in fact being friendly with the dog. We spent hours at Mr.Kamal House talking, exchanging stories and get to know his family members.
After Lunch, Fazal and i headed to the airport by taxi. At the airport, Fazal was worried about his soon departing flight and rushed to the security checking for luggage check in. We did not had a proper Goodbye since only flight that depart in Two hours time allowed to passed through. It was a sad moment to me for not even had proper shake hands or a goodbye hug after spending Seven (7) days traveling together.
Conclusions of the trip:
1. Sri Lanka was a beautiful Island with friendly people
2. Sri Lanka people appreciate Art and fond of gemstones
3. There were no rice for Breakfast or Brunch. Local food was Kottu, Curry and Dal
4. Coffee tasted different ( the smells was good but the taste was plain )
5. There were peace of religion where Buddha being the Majority religion follows by Christian and Muslim
6. Transportation system was old fashion. Bus was not comfortable at all
7. Things that touched me the most :- I felt love, Freedom of making decision, Respecting and compromising with travel partner and there always give and take between persons.
8. Bad Experiences : too emotional/lack of self-control in an unexpected situation and No proper Goodbye at the airport.
9. Funny Experiences : No seats available in the train even after buying second class cabin seats and Locals misunderstood me as Chinese (is it because of my skin colour?)
10. Best experience : Conquering Adam's Peak with 5500 steep steps
