Category Archives: Asia

The Backwaters: Kerala, India

December 21, 2013 champagne&backpacks 1 Comment

It hit me here, how fortunate we are to have this experience. I turned to Alan at one point and said, “babe, we’re unemployed. And we’re on a houseboat. In India.” What an experience.

::rocks. that looks like hard work::

::more Chinese fishing nets::

We chose the more off-the-beaten-path option for a backwater houseboat. The more popular choice is to go down to the port in Alleppey and choose from one of the 1500 houseboats with electricity, air conditioning, motor power, and second floor sun decks. Instead, we took a boat from a more remote village, where there are only three houseboats, no electricity (although there is solar power so you can turn on lights and a fan at night), no air conditioning and the boats are powered only by two men who punt. Standing at the front and back, each with long bamboo poles, they propel the boat along the shallow waters by staking the poles in the ground and pushing. Talk about zen. Pure relaxation. I kept thinking to myself, “we have got to be in the most serene and peaceful place in the whole of India.”

::punting::

::easier to pull on this part::

::punting::

::punting::

::Alan trying out the punting. It’s tough work!::

While our guys at the front and rear punted away, and Manu cooked up some phenomenal eats, Alan and I read. And read and read and read. I read an entire book the first day, and the better part of another the second, until I ran out of reading material. And we relaxed. I haven’t felt this relaxed in I can’t remember how long. (P.S. – The Wonder Spot by Melissa Bank, awesome. Thank You For Your Service by David Finkel, devastating and powerful read.)

We docked for a quick excursion to a little fishing bay where we saw a boat coming in and Alan stepped in to help the guys push the boat up onto the sand. We watched for a while as they pulled their impressive catches from the nets. A lot of work for some small fish, but there sure were lots of them.

After lunch, anchored in the middle of a large brackish pond, we are surrounded by palm trees on all sides, and the only sounds we hear are the myriad of birds and the gentle ticking of the palm leaves in the wind. I loved watching for kingfishers – such beautiful birds.

The rides back towards the dock as evening nears are still relaxed, though just as relaxed as they can be when every so often you pass a child on the side that says, “Hello, what’s your name? Give me one pen, please.” We sadly had no pens, but still had some fascinating conversations with these kids. Some wanted to chat more, and one particular boy, who aspired to be a sound engineer or a movie star, wanted to know if we liked Justin Bieber, had we ever seen him? (The kid’s got beliebers all the way out here.) The same boy wanted to know if our marriage was arranged or by love. Alan misheard and told him it was “by law.” Haha, my husband the romantic 😉 By the way, people in Kerala speak Malalayam, not Hindi, though many know Malalayam, Hindi and English, including all three of their varying alphabets. I hadn’t realized how many languages are spoken in India!

We tried out the little canoe, which was lovely until a creepy jungle spider came in and ruined my zen. Ugh, confined spaces, arachnophobia. It was bad. I had to switch sides with Alan so he could whack it with an oar, and the people onshore thought there was a snake in the boat given my reaction.

::Alan going it alone on day 2::

Overnight we stayed docked at the village, and lest we forgot we were in India, she gave us a little sensorial stimulation. Out of nowhere there was music coming from several different places, and then fireworks, apparently. We enjoyed our bottle of Indian wine (France need not start worrying about the competition), and ate our dinner while watching the sunset. Sigh.

Having run out of reading material on day two, I entertained myself that night while Alan read by playing cards (I remembered that I packed a deck of mini playing cards that I bought at a gas station in Minnesota! good call me) and then retiring to watch the geckos/lizards eat the flies off the walls and ceiling of the boat. Surprisingly entertaining, I have to say.

We’d signed up for only one night on the boat, the second night to be spent in the farmhouse, and had planned on exploring the little village by auto rickshaw or scooter. Instead, we opted for a second night on the boat, choosing to soak up this relaxing experience as much as we could. We definitely got the “B” team on day two. Poor guy, I don’t know if our head punter was sick or tired or what, but he dropped his bamboo pole in the water, dropped the rope when he was leading the boat from the banks, and ran the boat into the wall as we passed under the one bridge. Oopsie. Ask to be on Manu’s boat if you check this place out (Stanley Wilson’s eco-friendly tours (we obviously recommend you do!)), his English is fantastic, his cooking even better.

::insane amounts of insanely delicious food::

Asia, India, Kerala Backwaters

One Pen, Please

December 21, 2013 aleavitt77 7 Comments

We planned 3.5 weeks in India, and most of our time was TBD but for two places: Varanasi and the backwaters of Kerala. I had read that spending time on a boat in the backwaters was a relaxing experience that also offered a glimpse into village life in southwest India. My expectations were high, and I was not disappointed.

I arrived in Kochi fully intending to arrange a two-night motored houseboat out of Alleppey, about an hour and a half south. There are many options for a backwater experience including a day trip on a public ferry between Kollam and Alleppey. My comments on all except the trip we did is from reading and word of mouth, so I will write as though it’s fact but I cannot confirm.

Alleppey is by far the most popular place for booking houseboats, and these days there are hundreds if not more than a thousand. Many of these are fairly luxurious with air conditioned bedrooms and an upper deck with sofas. It sounds great, but word is at least at this time of year the Alleppey area has gotten so crowded that you might wait in a line of boats to make a turn. And the water is oily.

In Kochi we popped into Walton’s Homestay to see if they arranged backwater tours, and Mr. Walton fortuitously directed us a couple doors down to his friend Stanley Wilson. Stanley told us that he worked for years in Alleppey, but that the original intent of a relaxing float had become a victim of its own success. As more and more tourists, both domestic and foreign, wanted a houseboat tour, the boats became bigger and more luxurious and the area more crowded and polluted. He offered a simpler and more eco-friendly alternative.

Arabian Sea fishing boats

Alone in our canoe

Crossing the tracks heading to the village

Stanley arranges punted boat tours from a village about halfway between Kochi and Alleppey, with solar power during the day when the boat is out on the water. Punted means that men propel the boat by pushing long bamboo poles on the water bottom. Except when we passed through a canal lined with stone walls, when the boat men disembark and pull the boat using a rope. They do this because punting is hard work, as Jenni and I both learned when we gave it a try.

Punting

Pulling

There is no air conditioning and no upper deck, but also no noise. Stanley promised our money back if we saw more than three other boats, and I am happy to say he still has our money.

After an hour drive from Kochi, we arrived in the village and boarded the boat at 10:30 am. We were accompanied by two boat men and Manu, a great cook who speaks English very well. The boat is made of wood and bamboo and has a simple kitchen in back, a basic bedroom and toilet with sink, and a front area with a dining table, some comfy lounging chairs and a side table. The front is covered so you do not roast in the direct sun all day.

Lounging area

A similar boat

As we glided through the backwaters we passed between wider and narrower channels, surrounded by palm trees and many birds including ducks, egrets, cormorants, storks and kingfishers. We saw tiger prawn farms and men in canoes laying out fishing nets in a circle. There were lots more Chinese fishing nets like those we saw in Kochi.

The villagers onshore always stared and almost always waived and said hello. Kids were full of smiles and relentlessly asked for “one pen, please.” So if you can fit them in your luggage, bring a boatload of pens to throw to these adorable youngins. And one group of boys who walked alongside our boat for a while said they love Justin Beiber, so maybe bring some Belieber paraphernalia while you’re at it.

While much of India is frenetic, the backwaters epitomize relaxation. Jenni and I each commented that we could not recall the last time we felt so relaxed…perhaps on the second half of our honeymoon in the Maldives. The food was delicious and enormously apportioned. Coffee and tea were offered multiple times. We had fresh fish with each lunch and dinner plus rice, okra, curries, freshly made chapati or paratha and watermelon, pineapple or banana for dessert.

Huge spread and delicious

The first night we drank a bottle of Sula chenin blanc that we purchased in Kochi. We knew Sula from the bubbly we had the first night of our honeymoon last year in Jodhpur. The winery is located in Nashik in the state of Maharashtra, India’s burgeoning wine region. Time may tell, but for now Napa and Bordeaux ought to rest easy.

new friend

The one thing about this arrangement that may be better on the Alleppey boats (I am not sure if it is the case or not) is that at night we are anchored yet also docked back at the village. In other words, the boat is pointed out towards the water so you still get some of the feeling of sleeping out on the water, but it is not the same as being anchored in the middle of a lake. On the bright side, when docked there is electricity so you can charge devices and you can take their dugout canoe for a spin.

We could also hear music and fireworks both nights, as if to remind us this was still India. But the noise subsided before bed time. Some of the fireworks were so loud. Remember that if you are in India and it sounds like war is breaking out, stay calm. Most likely it is not.

On our first day before lunch the boat docked across a wide waterway and we walked five minutes to the Arabian Sea. There were so many colorful wooden fishing boats and I helped push in a new arrival loaded with mackerel and catfish caught in a chicken wire like net.

On the walk over one of the boat men pointed out a fruit tree that looks exactly like mango, only this one he said is poisonous. Good to know…

We had made arrangements with Stanley to spend the first day and night on the boat and the second day onshore and sleeping in the village home stay. We so enjoyed being out on the boat that on Saturday morning we called an audible and switched to the one of their three boats that was free that day.

Note the eggs on the plank

As I wrote above, I have no personal experience with a motored houseboat from Alleppey and I imagine it could be wonderful. Among other things, two-bedroom houseboats are offered which is not so at Stanley’s village. These boats might also anchor out in the water, which sounds nice. If you are interested in going that route, this post from globetrottergirls.com seemed sensible and helpful.

Trying to punt

Cormorants

Our taxi from Kochi cost Rs 600 and each night on the boat was Rs 4,000 with all meals included. Had we stayed in the village that night would have cost Rs 2,500 without AC or 3,000 with AC.

It is worth noting this was a good reminder that sometimes you just have to trust people. We paid Stanley in full in advance. This is slightly unusual, but he came recommended from a hotelier who seemed trustworthy and was recommended in my guide book (the hotelier, that is), and Stanley has a permanent office on a busy tourist street in Kochi.

Kingfisher

Only guy with a motor

Two nights on the backwaters was perfect for relaxing, reading and writing. I made it through 500+ pages of Mandela’s book Long Walk to Freedom. If you want a quintessential south India experience, I highly recommend unwinding here for a couple days.

You can find Stanley at www.wilsontours.co.in, stanley.wilson@rediffmail.com, (+91) 98474 76750, or the old-fashioned way on Princess Street in Fort Cochin

Also, check out these neat aerial photos provided by Kerala Tourism.

December 19-21, 2013 (Thursday-Saturday)

Asia, India, Kochi

Kochi

December 19, 2013 aleavitt77 Leave a comment

Kochi (or Cochin) is a coastal city in the state of Kerala and a popular destination for tourists. We spent three nights and two full days here and found it to be a nice mix between city and village feel and a great place for easing into India.

It did not take long to get our first taste of the brutal Indian traffic when our modern airport public bus took more than two hours to reach Fort Cochin. Spacious and calm enough to start, the bus quickly became very crowded. Though nothing like the older, regular public buses. On the way we passed countless Bollywood billboards and crossed Ernakulam, which is the more modern and big city part of Kochi. Most visitors stay in Fort Cochin which occupies the western peninsula along with Mattancherry, and I recommend you do the same. Unless perhaps you stay at the Taj on Willingdon Island.

Rough Guide sums up the peninsula’s appeal nicely: “Spice markets, Chinese fishing nets, a synagogue, a Portuguese palace, India’s first European church and 17th century Dutch homes can all be found within an easy walk.”

After checking into our spacious room at Chiramel Residency, we had dinner at Dal Roti, a very popular and cheap restaurant that happened to be next door. The butter chicken was tasty and we had our first of many parathas, the doughy delicacy we fell in love with on our honeymoon. Albeit the versions we’ve had in southern India have been a little larger and more fried.

Chiramel bedroom

Chiramel living room

Eager to explore a little, we walked over to a bar and met a few locals and their adorable puppy named Blacky.

Whenever we tell people we are from America, one of the first things they say is “oh, winter, it’s really cold, yes?” Then we get to chuckle and say “not in Cali.” And Obama may not be that popular in the US, but he is here.

Tuesday was mainly a work day, planning out some more of our time in India, getting my SIM-switched iPhone to function, etc. It is shocking how inexpensive medicine is here vs. in the US. Jenni has had sinus problems for a while so we bought a 3-pack of Zithromax for…$1. In the early evening we walked over to see the Chinese fishing nets and the area was crowded with locals and tourists. We split Malabar prawn curry and a great mango lassi for dinner at the Old Courtyard.

Wednesday we planned to walk all day but had barely escaped our hotel when an enterprising tuk-tuk driver scooped us up with promises of a good tour for Rs 60/hour. Our first stop was Saint Francis Church, the first built by Europeans in India. It is historically interesting and Vasco da Gama was buried here before his body was later removed to Portugal, but the structure itself is nothing special.

St. Francis

The Santa Cruz Basilica is a far grander church. Next we saw the pretty Dutch Cemetery before continuing to the dhobi khana where laundry is hand-washed by members of a low caste.

This was a fascinating stop for a glimpse into a long-standing practice that is probably going the way of the dodo in the coming years/decades. Women and lungi-clad men scrub garments and linens before whipping them onto rock surfaces, the precursor to our spin cycle. The cloth is then air dried by hanging between rope braids and finally it is ironed, folded and sorted. While we saw a few jury-rigged electrical irons, many are heated by burning coconut husk. This method requires more skill to maintain the proper temperature. Either type weighs about 20 pounds.

Old school iron

Modern iron, ha

From here we crossed to Mattancherry and saw the old Jewish synagogue which was impressive. It is small but ornately decorated with hand-painted blue and white tiles, colorful lamps and a red and gold Torah ark. At one time there was a substantial Jewish population here but most emigrated to Israel in the 1940s, when they left behind furniture and other large possessions that ended up in antique shops in the area.

Outside the synagogue

Me and Ashok

Outside the synagogue

Our guide definitely added value by taking us to the Jain Temple for the 12:15 pm pigeon feeding display. A guy claps his hands and the pigeons circle and then descend to eat seeds he scatters. They believe it is good luck for a pigeon to eat from your hand. Jenni did that while I got crapped on, so we covered our cultural bases. Also, a woman inside the complex gave us a quick tour where we understood maybe 5% of her words, most of which came at the end when she held out her hand and said clearly “OK tour is done, you tip now.”

For lunch we considered Kayee’s and its Rs 100 chicken biryani but the atmosphere was lacking so we opted for a water-side meal at Seagull. The chicken biryani there was quite tasty.

View at Seagull

Chicken biryani and paratha

View at Seagull

After lunch we visited a spice warehouse with turmeric, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon and star anise, and then we saw a ginger seller. This was neat as our guide pointed out where they dry the ginger a bit before soaking it with chalk and lime (the fruit) then drying it a lot, after which it lasts 7-8 months. The contrast of the monochromatic ginger pile and art-covered courtyard walls made for a nice scene.

Dried ginger

Canal

Spice warehouse

Our last stop on the tour (aside from buying some wine, for our backwater trip, through the bars at a government shop) was the Dutch Palace, which was actually built by the Portuguese though the Dutch augmented it. It is bland from the outside, but holds some impressive mural paintings along with a smattering of palanquins and old weapons.

Christmas decorations

The packy (shout to my Baystaters)

Kerala is known for its kathakali theater performances. We caught a 5 pm show at the Kerala Kathakali Centre. Though a tad slow at times, overall it was superb and a highlight of our stay. The main show began at 6 pm, but attendees can arrive at 5 pm to watch the elaborate make-up process. These gents paint their faces using all natural ingredients, generally different stones grated with coconut oil. And the emcee was masterful hand-sprinkling sand into geometric shapes on the floor right by our seats.

In Kathakali there are no words, rather elaborate eye and facial expressions along with hand movements are used to communicate. The pre-show included a demonstration of techniques and live percussion accompanied the show. Traditional performance in villages can last an entire night, I think we saw the equivalent of one act in a play. The Kerala Kathakali Centre offers a host of other programs, too, such as yoga, music, martial arts and more.

After the show we ate at Malabar House, an upscale boutique hotel with a courtyard restaurant. I enjoyed the Lamb Kerala we split. It is not the best value, but when you can have live music in an appealing setting and pay $11 for a lamb dish it’s hard to get too upset.

Santa Cruz Basilica

Outside Chiramel

Practical Info

The exchange rate was about 62 Indian Rupees per 1 US Dollar.

US citizens require a visa prior to arrival. It is a fairly cumbersome and expensive process. We worked with Travisa and paid up for 10-year multiple entry visas so we can come and go as we please.

ATMs are widely available.

Often “hotel” really means a restaurant, not lodging.

Most accommodations double as a travel agent of sorts and can at least arrange local tours and transport if not more.

Communication: India has become much stricter since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks so purchasing a SIM card required a copy of our passports and visas, submission of passport photos and a little waiting. We had to fill out a lengthy form and provide a local address. Then we had to dial a number and verify our name, father’s or husband’s name and local address.

We purchased Airtel SIM cards at Shop n Save on Princess Street in Fort Cochin. They were helpful and made the photocopies for us. We paid Rs 399 which covered the connection fee plus value on the card, and it was easy to refill the cards there and should be elsewhere, too.

WiFi is widely available though connections have been slow.

Transport: After hearing a pre-paid taxi would cost Rs 990, we took one of the nice, orange AC buses from the airport for Rs 76 each to Fort Cochin. Once there, we walked or used tuk-tuks which are everywhere in India. Private cars can usually be arranged with ease and of course are much less expensive than in the US. For example, getting from the backwaters to our hotel past Munnar we paid Rs 10/km (though at least on this route we had to double the count, i.e. for the driver’s return), which equated to Rs 3,400 for a 5+ hour trip.

There are lots of buses and trains, and conventional wisdom is that the train is a much more pleasant experience. We also have multiple internal flights planned. In addition to all the usual sites like Kayak, www.makemytrip.com may be a good resource.

Accommodation: We stayed at Chiramel Residency, an old heritage home stay near the Parade Grounds. Our room cost Rs 3,000/night and was very large with high ceilings, beautiful hardwood floors and good AC. A basic American breakfast was included. The living room was beautiful and the staff friendly and helpful. I liked the location a lot. www.chiramelhomestay.com , 1/296 Lilly Street, Fort Cochin

We also considered Delight, Walton’s and Bernard Bungalow. Around the corner from Chiramel is the Malabar House where we dined one night. This Relais & Chateaux boutique hotel seemed lovely. Brunton Boatyard is another more high end option.

Attractions: Check opening times because, e.g., the synagogue is closed daily from 12-3 pm. Entrance fees were negligible, usually Rs 5-10. Photos are not allowed inside the synagogue, the indoor parts of the Jain Temple or the Dutch Palace.

Our hotel booked the kathakali show for us and secured seats 7-8 in the front row. This meant a little neck-craning but was the best vantage point for make-up and the sand painting. Tickets were Rs 300 each. There are a few other places in town that also have performances.

Asia, India, Kochi

First Stop in India: Cochin

December 19, 2013 champagne&backpacks Leave a comment

We really enjoyed Cochin. It’s not the crazy India you expect; it almost feels like India Lite. And it’s a very chill place to hang out for a few days. Cochin is a little city in the state of Kerala, one of India’s smaller states (but it’s still got 33 million people!) located on the southwest coast of the country. Our first three stops in India were all within Kerala (Cochin, backwaters and Munnar).

::street sweeping day::

::big ass squids::

::chinese fishing nets::

It didn’t take long for us to get confused in India. We de-boarded our plane and, unable to find a working ATM inside the airport, skipped the pre-paid cab station that required rupees. Once outside and armed with cash we couldn’t go back in and so decided to take the airport bus to Fort Cochin. It didn’t take long before the bus was packed like sardines and we were stuck in traffic. It took a while longer, but the two of us took the two-hour ride (plus a quick auto-rickshaw ride from the bus stop to our hotel) for under $2 total, air con included (well, natural air con in the auto rickshaw). Welcome back to India!

We stayed at a great little guesthouse with an impressive common area in which we were served breakfast each morning.

Our first day in town was spent mainly trying to make sure we had places to stay through Christmas and New Years. As always, the planning takes lots of time, and we tried to see if we could switch up our plans to meet my friend Aash in Goa, but couldn’t make it happen (super crowded Christmas to New Years, couldn’t find anything available in the area she’d be in). Oh well, we will save Goa for next time. Other highlights included buying a three-day pack of Zithromax for less than a dollar (yay prescription drugs in India) to try and clear up what now seems to be sinusitis that is occasionally prohibiting my left ear from hearing (to no avail – wahhh), and jumping through the unexpected hoops that are required to obtain a SIM card in India.

::ice cream truck::

On our more eventful day in town we hired an auto-rickshaw driver for the equivalent of $1 an hour to take us to the handful of sites in Cochin and around. The highlights include: (1) Saint Francis Church. OK, nothing that exciting to me. (2) Next we saw the Dhobikhana where the former “untouchables” do all the town’s laundry. Apparently lots of tourists come here and see their skivvies blowing in the wind, including an Aussie woman we saw later that day. Funny. They have some old school irons and the real old school use irons that are heated with burning coconut shells.

::serious iron::

::is that the delicate wash?::

::coconut shells for ironing::

(3) There used to be a substantial Jewish population in the area, though now there are only seven Jews in Cochin (8 counting Alan ;), and we saw the Jewish Synagogue which has a Chinese flair and is rather flamboyantly decorated. The floor is covered in blue and white Chinese tiles and there are tons of colorful chandeliers, lots of red and gold. Unfortunately no pictures allowed 😦 (4) Around noon we went to the Jain temple where we got the most useless tour ever, consisting of an Indian woman hastily walking us around and saying things we could not understand except for “OK tour over, you tip me now.” Haha. Again, no pictures inside (though this was also quite colorful and lovely). We stuck around for the guy to call the pigeons, at which point they fly around the temple four times and then gather to eat seeds out of peoples’ hands. That was pretty neat. I fed a few while a handful of people sort of sang. Very cool experience. Meanwhile Alan got pooped on – good luck!

(5) Stopped by the spice warehouse and a little area where they dry and preserve ginger (using chalk and lime juice). (6) Last, we saw the Dutch Palace, which is actually built by the Portuguese, though later improved by the Dutch. It’s rather unimposing on the outside, but there are beautiful paintings inside made from all natural colors (again, no photos allowed of the good stuff 😦 ). Also, note that entrance fees to these places were either nothing or 10 rupees each (that’s less than 20 cents total).

::ginger dryers nap room?::

::drying ginger::

We stopped and bought bottle of wine at a liquor store for our upcoming trip to the backwaters. The windows to the packies are barred and we saw no women come by, though several men brown paper bagging it. Not much in the way of choices here, we opted for a Sula Chenin Blanc over the mystery white.

In the evening we watched the traditional Kathakali dance. Pretty impressive, though with sinus pain and front row seats I spent a lot of time hoping he’d bang the cymbals a little more gently. All the makeup is natural – made by rubbing various stones and coconut oil together. Pretty cool. The dancers have some legit skill – they train for a minimum of six years, learning to express the stories through facial expressions (some serious eye control) and gestures akin to a full-body sign language. We saw them applying the makeup, giving a demonstration of the dance and the meanings behind the moves, and then a short scene. The whole dance is normally around six hours long. Moves a bit too slow for my taste, but it’s definitely a worthwhile experience to check out the two and a half hour show!

::applying the makeup::

::amazing costumes::

::demonstrating the eye movements::

::applying the makeup::

We also ate a lot of great, really cheap food in Cochin (think meals at around $4 for the two of us). In fact, for lunch one day we just grabbed a fistful of the tiny bananas from a guy on the street for a few cents. Other highlights included Malabar tiger prawn curry, chicken biriyani, mango lassis, cardamom lassis, and of course, lots and lots of paratha. Though the paratha is a little different here than I remembered it in Northern India. I would be super content with a paratha and something to dip it in for every meal. But it’s hard to do that when all the food here is so freaking delicious. We also went to the fancy hotel (Malabar House) restaurant one night. We split a main because the portions are so huge everywhere. Good lamb, nice live music, but you can get such incredible food for practically no money, I’d say skip it.

Asia, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: Hill Country and the Beach

December 16, 2013 champagne&backpacks 1 Comment

On the drive into hill country I found myself thinking thoughts like “wouldn’t a toot toot be in order here?” while we passed corners our driver didn’t deem treacherous enough to warrant to heads up honk. The roads here are paved wide enough for one vehicle, and wrap around steep hills where passing, though a necessity, feels like an adventure sport that my basic insurance shouldn’t cover. This driver was far more aggressive than Siril had been, which was great in that it took 3 hours to get to our hotel at Adam’s Peak (despite some serious traffic exiting the city of Kandy), versus Siril’s promised 6. It was, however, a bit of a harrowing experience and definitely white knuckle at points. This is not to say it wasn’t beautiful. You drive through lush hills and quickly become surrounded by green – green tea plantations covering the hills – green trees covering the mountains – even a green bus or two. You even spot the occasional monkey chilling on the power lines.

It’s much cooler in hill country, to the extent that our hotel even provided us with a cover sheet AND a thin blanket! Our hotel was great, it had a wonderful view of Adam’s Peak (including from our own private balcony!), and for $50 a night we were also provided a delicious dinner and a feast of a breakfast post-hike. I was weirdly super nervous for the hike, especially looking at the peak from our window and wondering how is it possible we make it up there in time for sunrise. I think part of it was that it’s very difficult to get information on just how steep and difficult the climb is. It’s primarily steps (concrete and stone, at various points) and we’d heard ranges from 4800 of those steps to “10 or 15 thousand.” The latter guy was clearly quite off. Even 4800 sounds like a lot in retrospect, but who knows, it is a LOT of stairs. Likewise with respect to time, we’d heard it would take a range of 2 hours to closer to 5 hours to complete it. Those who know me are aware of my intense fear of being late, so intent to not miss that sunrise after climbing 4800 stairs and with sunrise supposedly coming at 5:50am we left at 2:15 in the morning. Well, it took about 2 and a quarter hours to get up there, which meant that we sat at the top freezing our tuckusses off for over an hour. While it gets fairly warm during the day, in the dark and on top of a 7400-foot windy mountain while you’re dripping with sweat, it gets COLD.

We sat up there with the slowly growing crowd of international tourists waiting for that famed sunrise and it was interesting to listen to the varying accents and conversations of those among us. Of course, the first Americans we’d seen on our trip were having a 15-minute conversation about farts while they waited for the sunrise. Go Amurica.

While it was quite crowded at the top, it was never difficult to pass on the trail itself. I presume this is because we hiked in the off season, and that it would be much more crowded had we waited the three or so days for the December full moon which kicks off their peak season. I was sad to not get the full experience, passing locals on their pilgrimage and seeing all the teahouses open and running as we made our way up, but I think the trade-off for a non-crowded hike was likely worth it. And it was still a phenomenal experience. The trail is lit, though not all the lights are on during the off-season, and so we traveled with headlamps and our guide carried a flashlight. While the teahouses were mostly empty there were still a handful open and serving tea and sodas and snacks. The highlight for me (big surprise) was that the dogs follow you up the whole way. I think this was the only thing keeping me going, that a pup would run by every now and then and I could reach down to pet him for moral support. They hang out at the top with you too, mostly begging for snacks, but I liked to pet them and let them help keep me warm.

::tea house::

::trying to keep warm::

The temple up top doesn’t even open until 6am, so we basically just waited around, hung out with dogs, and snuggled each other for warmth. Then, we watched the magic happen. It was a glorious sunrise, where suddenly the mysterious terrain around us illuminated and into view came a stunning lush and hilly landscape. Our guide hooked us up too with a great vantage point we’d otherwise have missed out on. By the way, we did hire a guide which was entirely unnecessary though I think worth it. It cost about $15 and it took out any fear of not being able to find our way from the hotel to the path (about a 10 minute walk and mind you it’s pitch black out while you do this), and even coming back afterwards (you’ve walked it already but nothing looks familiar on the way down because, again, it was pitch black when you climbed it). After soaking up this view and snapping a few (hundred) photos, we went into the temple. Like most temples, we had to remove our shoes, which is much less pleasant when you’re cold and wearing hiking boots, but ah well. Part of the experience, as they say. There is supposedly Buddha’s footprint up at the top, but it’s closed during the off-season.

What goes up must come down, and it is a LONG way down. I thought it would never end. Thank god you do the uphill when you’re half delirious from sleep deprivation. That said, I think it took less than an hour and a half to fly back down all those stairs. And I did get to meet this little guy, Vindu, on way down:

::me and Vindu::

::so many stairs::

Having been up since 1:45am and eaten only a handful of nuts basically before 9am we feasted on the hotel breakfast, and then got in a car for the long drive (6 bumpy, windy hours!) down to the beach in Mirissa. The drive was beautiful. It took a while to get out of hill country, during which we passed many tea gardens and watched the women picking tea leaves in the fields with baskets hanging on their backs and secured by their foreheads. The landscape was primarily green, but there also lots of these gorgeous May trees that look like they’re full of bouquets of red flowers. The landscape eventually becomes forested and covered in eucalyptus trees.

::collecting tea leaves::

::on the drive to Mirissa, passing through a more Muslim area::

We found our hotel in Mirissa, which is on the main road that is busy and noisy like most roads in Sri Lanka. Then, we walked through the door and stepped out the other side into paradise. Suddenly the noise and chaos of the city is gone, and it’s peaceful beach time where you hear (almost) nothing but the waves crashing into the shore. It’s incredible, and hard to believe once you’ve spent a minute on the “other side” that the craziness you just left behind lies just a few meters away from this luxurious little spot.

::view from hotel::

::to the left of the hotel::

::our hotel is in the back to the right slightly::

::to the right of the hotel::

Our hotel (Palm Villa) was amazing. Not perfect of course (minor things like lots of mosquitos and an ant infested bathroom), but we love love loved it. Our room was a few yards from the ocean, and we could listen to the waves as we fell asleep. There are hammocks and beach chairs laid out for lounging. Kids playing cricket on the beach, and lots of Sri Lankans swimming in the ocean. Great food (and insane portions). Highlights being the spectacular string hoppers for breakfast (along with massive plates of fresh tropical fruits), the cuttlefish curry and the banana juice. I may or may not have ordered a banana juice or lassi with every single meal. And you eat your meals at the tables that are set out on the beach. All this for about $60 a night, including breakfast. We walked the bay (which I think is all of Mirissa beach), and I think we picked the very best spot. That said, a big reason I wanted this hotel was because I saw pictures on the reviews of the white bunnies that hop around the property. When we arrived though, there were no bunnies to be found. When I inquired I discovered that the dogs ate them! Oh well, the house cat and dog (stray, but they are always there) are super sweet and adorable. While I was trying to pet the cat he jumped onto Alan’s lap. I got a kick out of this (he’s allergic and none too fond of our feline friends).

::ahhh, relaxation::

::cricket on the beach::

::breakfast, not even all of it!::

::massively impressive man who climbs up the palms to trim them::

I was very sad to leave Mirissa, but we did enjoy the conversation with our driver on the way to the airport. He told us how he works two jobs, normally at a tire repair shop, but also as a driver on holidays (our last day was a holiday as it was a full moon), in order to make money to send his kids to classes. He was distraught by the high cost of living, which has been going up in the recent years. He also lost his home in the 2004 tsunami and told us the terrifying story of how he and his wife ran, holding their children’s hands as the tsunami hit, having never even heard of a tsunami before. “It’s my life,” he kept saying as he shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t mind.”

Random Thoughts on Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans

I will never get used to people shaking their heads yes. I remember this also from India.

There is no drinking or smoking in public, and as such we rarely saw people smoke. In fact, I think I only saw tourists smoking and it was only at the beach resorts. We also drank very little in Sri Lanka.

“Five minutes” = 1 hour.

Here I am tall. Also, I ever realized how annoying umbrellas are for tall people. I have a newfound respect for tall Americans on rainy days. (Note also that many Sri Lankans carry umbrellas to block the sun).

While the roads here are often crazy and people pass with reckless abandon (often causing the person they are passing to have to slam on the brakes in order to avoid a three-way collision), there is absolutely no road rage. I am hoping that by osmosis the Sri Lankans will impart the zen-like driving attitude to me. We even saw a guy run his motor bike into the parked van of a shop owner just across the street. There was no fight, the owner just calmly came out to deal with it while people walked by and smiled at the clumsy biker.

The roads are wide enough at times for a van and 2 tuk-tuks. Other places one vehicle will have to back up because the road is only wide enough for one. The quality of the roads varies – some make you feel like you’ve been put through the washing machine, others are quite smooth. Either way, they take a long time to travel on given the quality and the traffic. Sri Lanka built their first highway about a year ago, and they are now working on another. I suspect this will change tourists’ experiences here drastically, for better and worse. The roads can definitely be unpleasant at times – all that jostling around and waiting for a convenient area to pass other vehicles – but it’s part of the experience, and the surface streets allow you to drive through and experience the towns and cities along the way.

There are tons of public buses. It would have been nice to try to use them, but it looked near impossible with our bags as the buses are crammed with people and barely stop. I’ve even seen people jump off moving buses rather than waiting for them to stop.

I am amazed the dogs are not killed my cars/buses/tuk-tuks more often. We didn’t see any road kill while here. Dogs are to Sri Lankan roads as cows are to India’s. Except dogs move quicker, and stupidly run out in front of moving vehicles, so they’re probably a bit more dangerous.

It’s nice to see that so many religions can live in harmony here. The country is predominantly Buddhist, but there are also substantial populations of Hindus, Christians and Muslims.

It’s very easy to get by with English here. Almost everyone we met spoke English quite well, and the signs are almost all in three languages, Sinhalese, Tamil and English.

Overall, I feel that Sri Lanka is a country of much beauty and also much potential. The people are kind and happy (except at the elephant orphanage), there is beautiful scenery, wildlife, nature, history, a collection of religions (now) living in harmony, but the tourist infrastructure has room for improvement. It’s expensive to see the sites, yet there is no information provided unless you hire one of the many people hawking their services as your guide (whom you may or may not be able to trust). Being less than five years removed from war and less than ten from a devastating tsunami, I would imagine Sri Lanka to be a rapidly evolving tourist destination.

And lastly, they have very graphic anti-drunk driving ads. Viewer discretion advised:

Asia, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: From Meh to Yeah

December 16, 2013 aleavitt77 1 Comment

Our time in Sri Lanka got off to a rough start but improved dramatically. We landed late at night on Sunday December 8. If you forgot to pack a refrigerator or other large appliance, don’t worry you can buy it at the airport. Our itinerary was: Negombo – Pinnawala – Yapahuwa – Anuradhapura – Sigiriya – Kandy – Adam’s Peak – Mirissa then departing for Kochi, India on Monday December 16. With a long wish list of places to visit on this Asia leg, we decided to keep our time here to 7.5 days and that made it challenging to sort the right itinerary. There are so many places we left out, like much of the hill country and tea plantations, national parks, some ancient sites, lots of beach areas, etc. In general, I think the west and south of the country (where we were) are more oft-visited and the north probably has a very non-touristy vibe while the east probably has some lovely, isolated beaches. Perhaps another time…

In my quest to strike a nice balance between being informative but not reading too much like a guidebook (which are not THAT fun to read unless you’re a real travel geek), I am going to try using a “Practical Info” section at the bottom to cover some nuts and bolts and more details on accommodations etc.

Highlights of the trip were Adam’s Peak, Mirissa and Yapahuwa. Lowlights were Pinnawala, Anuradhapura and our first driver.

Sri Lanka’s long civil war ended (controversially, as you may have heard in the news as recently as the Commonwealth Summit last month) in 2009, and its tourist star is on the rise. This is a fantastically colorful island with a rich Buddhist heritage, historical sites, spice and tea plantations, beautiful hill country, wildlife parks, nice tropical beaches and smiling locals. I remember nothing from my 1981 visit and was excited to return at long last.

My eyes were opened to Sri Lanka’s peculiarities and at the same time I was reminded of many characteristics shared by developing nations. The way so many more interactions and services take place in plain sight. You might see a guy repairing his engine on the side of the road instead of enclosed in some workshop set back from the street. And there is just so much more activity on the road with tuk-tuks, mopeds, bikes, buses, cars, dogs and pedestrians. The way five minutes often means 30 and there is time aplenty for sitting and chatting, but on the road a wasted second is worse than a sharp stick in the eye. Yet at the same time I never saw even a hint of road rage. You over-extended yourself on a pass and will crash horribly if I don’t let you back in to the lane? No problem, I will come to a virtual stop and not even honk. On a related note, as we were leaving Kandy a moped rammed into and dented a van and the reaction of the owner and everyone around was so calm. It was heart-warming to see such poise and respect. Nobody seemed perturbed in the slightest when we took pictures of them.

I was reminded how the manual transmission redline is treated as 3k RPM and not 6k, with upshifts often taking place below 2k RPM so someone is driving less than 10 miles per hour in third gear.

And I thought a lot about how often we equate GDP with comfort and happiness. Sri Lanka has GDP per capita of less than $3k vs. the US at about $50k. But we saw so little evident poverty or discontent. If you live in a village with tropical fruit, fresh fish, a cohesive family and lack of conflict, is GDP that big a determinant of your well-being?

One of my favorite peculiarities (though in India they do this, too, so maybe it is more common) is how a question is often answered in the affirmative by the responder shaking his head “no” in a figure eight motion. You need to get used to this, because you will think you have been denied when it fact the response approximates “no problem, that’s fine.”

We were told that neither drinking nor smoking is permitted in public, and I was pleased at how few cigarettes we observed. The consistent response to our question of a local’s favorite place in Sri Lanka was “the hill country, where there is less heat.”

Did I mention how colorful Sri Lanka is? That was probably what struck me most about this island. It is green everywhere and we saw countless rice fields, palm trees and tea plantations. Between the tuk-tuks, saris, buses, boats, signs, doors, shacks and fruits the colors were just so tremendously vibrant. About the only white we saw was the clothing worn by Buddhist worshippers and white sheets hanging across the road to signify a funeral.

Negombo

The first night we stayed at Amaya Chalet which is about 20 minutes from the airport and not near much. Note that the airport is a good bit outside Colombo, so depending on what direction you are headed, you would be well-advised to do some research on your hotel’s location…lest you find out you booked an hour each way in the wrong direction.

Negombo

Negombo fish market

On Monday we did a quick little tour of Negombo before heading inland. The Negombo Lagoon area had a lot of colorful small fishing boats. We briefly perused the fish market which had some large specimens like mahi and what appeared to be a baby hammerhead shark. On the sand were guys drying out fish on mats. The Dutch built a lot of canals in and around Negombo, and there are many Christians in the area. While on that topic, Sri Lanka is mainly Buddhist but Hinduism, Islam and Christianity are significant. There seems to be general religious harmony here.

Drying fish

Negombo fish market

Big fish at Negombo

Pinnawala

From Negombo we drove a long way on bumpy back roads to the Pinnawala elephant orphanage, stopping nearby for some roadside juice and flesh of the ubiquitous, orange king coconut.

I had read mixed reviews of the orphanage but we thought it was on the way (not so much given the roads) and seeing lots of elephants seemed like a good idea.

Unless this is your only chance to see elephants or perhaps you have small children, I would skip it. They charge Rs 2500 (nearly US$20) for admission, which seemed steep for this part of the world, and then aggressively try to up-sell you on everything inside. Want to feed an elephant? Extra Rs 200, please.

What is worse, though, is that it was impossible to tell who worked there and was offering a legitimate extra and who was just trying to scam you. And the workers were generally not warm. Most of the elephants are in chains, and who knows but one looked sort of drugged to us. The vibe was angry and depressing, just the opposite of what I wanted. It was exciting to feed an elephant, though. You just put fruit in its mouth, like a banana with its peel or pineapple with its skin, and when it breathed on me it felt like walking past one of those industrial vents on a New York sidewalk.

View from lunch

Pinnawala

Lunch

Lunch at Hotel Elephant Park was quite good and we had a front-row table to view the 2 pm bathing of the elephants in the wide, mild rapid river below. This was our first proper meal and it is quite a spread. Sri Lanka is famous for rice and curry, so I ordered fish and Jenni prawn. They brought a huge plate of rice and we each got a small bowl of our respective protein curry, but they also brought several more bowls with things like dhal, mango chutney, wonton shaped crisps and roasted pumpkin.

At dinner that night Jenni made an astute observation. If you order one meal to split, you get almost the same meal as if you order two…just without one curry bowl and for half the price. In general I thought the food in Sri Lanka was quite good, and I was shocked at how mild it was. There was spice, but nowhere near the level I expected. Our waiter misunderstood and thought we said the food was too spicy instead of not enough. I think they assume white foreigners have no tolerance for spice. Perhaps Americans in general like spice more because we normally eat ethnic food like Mexican or Indian, whereas say if you are Russian or French then you do not normally eat spicy food?

After lunch by the elephants we had our first of two little spice garden tours. Sri Lanka is rich in fruits and spices and we saw clove, vanilla, citronella, a peculiar pineapple variety, ginger, turmeric and more.

Yapahuwa

We continued north to Yapahuwa, which was awesome. It was briefly the capital several hundred years ago and at one time home to the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha. At 5 pm we were the only ones there aside from a worker or two and a couple monks. The stone steps ascending the face were steep and narrow, followed by a trail going up and to the side and then rocky ground towards the top.

Ascending Yapahuwa

View at the top

There were many toque macaques (reddish-brown monkeys with hilarious hairdos that Jenni dubbed the bad toupee monkeys) and splendid views over the plains below with rice fields, palm trees, smoke stacks and mountainous outcrops. It was near sunset when we descended and got a five-minute private tour of the cave temple with some paintings and a bronze buddha from several hundred years ago.

Oh, and by smoke stacks I mean not the hideous industrial type but the little plumes of smoke rising from the waste fires that are so common in the tropics. It cost Rs 1000 and came with a bottle of water.

Anuradhapura

Monday night we stayed at Milano Tourist Rest in Anuradhapura. Dinner was fine but not as good as Lonely Planet hyped it, and thankfully we did not get hit by any of the mangos falling from trees in the charming front courtyard. By the way, Lonely Planet was surprisingly wrong on several matters which partly caused us to miss seeing a dance in Kandy. To punish them we went with the Rough Guide for India.

Tuesday we got more cheap breakfast pastries at Family Baker, and I am definitely digging the $1 for two person tasty breakfasts.

Ultra cheap breakie

My seeni sambol had a nice little kick to it. These bakery shops are very popular with locals. And next door at Family Grocer, a 5L jug of water was only Rs 150! I love my water and at times whispered sweet nothings to this new stout comrade.

We were somewhat severely underwhelmed by the ancient Anuradhapura sites. Perhaps our expectations were off, or we are spoiled from Angkor Wat and lots of other magnificent sites. There is much historical significance to the area which was the first capital and birthplace of Buddhism in this country, but we did not find it all that beautiful or interesting.

It cost Rs 3250 to enter and with that you do not get any sort of map or explanation how to tackle the spread out ruins, museums and dagobas. There were monkeys, though, and monkeys make everything better. If you are really into Buddhism and/or history then you might find this a worthwhile visit, but we would skip it.

Dagoba

Siril blessing me

Dagoba

Moonstone

Sri Maha Bodhi

It was funny, though, to see Jenni in her pink neon shirt while most of the visitors wore all white, and the first place we stopped was the famous Sri Maha Bodhi but due to our sub-optimal driver/guide we did not know this until we had left. The Sri Maha Bodhi is considered the oldest historically documented tree in the world.

Due to our disappointment with Anuradhapura and desire to reduce drive time and enjoy our splurge at Hotel Sigiriya, we bagged Polonnaruwa. This is considered one of the top Cultural Triangle attractions and perhaps we would have enjoyed it more. Alternatively we could have tried a jungle safari at Kaudulla or Minneriya National Parks, but we needed a little rest.

The woman running the roadside stand where we got mangoes was cute. She was excited to have her picture taken with us and then wanted to see it, so she grabbed the camera by the lens to admire it.

Needing a bit more sustenance and seeking an authentic and spicy lunch, we dined at a roadside spot where there was a little buffet. Jenni was the only female and I ate with my hands, like the locals do. Not so easy to eat rice soaked in dhal with no utensils. One of the dishes was spicy but only because there were lots of chopped green peppers in there. To me it doesn’t really count if I can pick out the spice. I could serve a magret de canard avec beaucoup de chili peppers on the plate but that doesn’t make it spicy food.

Sigiriya

Arriving at Hotel Sigiriya we were greeted with cold towels and fresh wood apple juice. The lobby offers wonderful views over the nice pool to the rock of Sigiriya, considered the premier site of the Cultural Triangle.

It was pretty hot and humid everywhere but Adam’s Peak so a dip in the pool was mighty refreshing. And this huge lizard walking by the rooms looked like a baby Komodo dragon.

On Wednesday morning it took half an hour for us to walk from our hotel and grab tickets (Rs 3900, cash only as with most places) to Sigiriya. There are dogs everywhere in Sri Lanka. They hang out all along the streets and even lie down in the road. It is remarkable how rarely they seem to get hit by cars because they do not even move quickly to get out of the way. On this walk Jenni held the first puppy of what I am sure will be many.

At Sigiriya the activity is a climb to the top on narrow stairways, with a brief diversion on the way to see ancient cave paintings. It was neat and we enjoyed the views from the top. Plus we saw a couple snakes, some weird squirrel looking creature, a dog with a litter of puppies and tons of monkeys.

Our whole time here we did not encounter any aggressive or scary monkeys, which was refreshing. Unlike, say, Cambodia or Bali where a monkey might jump on you or try to steal your bag.

It took less than two hours to ascend and return with plenty of time to enjoy the views. While Sigiriya was very nice, I was generally disappointed with the prices charged to visit the cultural sites and the value received. I felt as though the government is looking to take advantage of tourists rather than build a lasting relationship. With the cost of living what it is, paying US$60 for two to enter Sigiriya and getting no information or maps is somewhat offensive. I am not saying this is apples to apples, but I am writing from India and in Kochi it cost the two of us about 16 cents to enter some sites.

After Sigiriya we drove to Kandy and stopped on the way at the wholesale fruit market which was very cool to see, and then snapped a few shots of the huge (modern) Buddha at Dambulla. We also visited the Ranweli Spice Garden in Matale for a tour with pressure to buy product. The prices were absurd but the tour was neat. They are very into Ayurvedic medicine in Sri Lanka, and I imagine there are some great benefits.

Ranweli

Dambulla

Kandy

We arrived in Kandy at 4:45 and soon reached the nadir of our relationship with our driver. I won’t bore you with all the details because I know that nobody wants to listen to someone traveling the world whine, but basically we really wanted to see the famous nightly Kandyan dance performance and missed it because of our driver. So instead we drove around a little and did see some nice nighttime views of the lake and city from the hills above it.

First Sri Lankan beer

Room at Charlton Kandy

Thursday morning I decided to pull the trigger and cancel our driver mid-trip. He and his boss reacted admirably well and we struck a fair deal. While I was nervous this could cause a confrontation, it was absolutely the right move and our trip got so much better with the albatross released. I am reading The 4-Hour Workweek and Tim has a theory that success can be measured in the number of uncomfortable conversations you’re willing to have. I hope he is right.

Kandy market

The fish and meat market in Kandy merits 5-10 minutes, and when we stopped into the Queen’s Hotel to inquire about a new driver we were fortunate to witness a Sri Lankan wedding and at least got to see a brief display of some Kandyan dancing and music.

The Temple of the Sacred Tooth is undoubtedly the most famous attraction in Kandy. While you don’t actually get to see the tooth, there are some lovely buildings and museums and I found it far more interesting than the historic sites because of the glimpse it offers into present day life. There were hundreds of Sri Lankans and everyone is herded like cattle up some stairs for a 10-15 second glimpse through an opening into a room where allegedly the Buddha’s tooth is hiding behind protection.

At many places long shorts seemed fine, but here pants are required. And security is pretty tight after an attack several years ago.

We enjoyed our lunch at Devon Cafe which had an extensive menu and really cheap prices. Jenni’s vegetable curry with rice cost $1. The attached bakery was packed.

We did not have much time in Kandy but other activities nearby include the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens, Kandy Garrison Cemetery, trekking in the Knuckles Range and Udawattakelle Sanctuary.

Adam’s Peak

Traffic getting out of Kandy was brutal but we made it to Adam’s Peak in about three hours, not so bad. The last 37 km are on narrow, bumpy mountain roads with two-way traffic. It is quite impressive that public buses pass each other on these roads. We saw a few monkeys on the drive but no more during our brief stay in hill country. As we neared our hotel we could see Adam’s Peak and its steep, triangular top is quite imposing.

Road a bit scary

Room at Slightly Chilled

Adam’s Peak!

After seeing how beautiful the hill country is with its tea plantations, red soil, rivers and waterfalls, I wished we had spent a little more time here. The weather was cool, there were pine forests and eucalyptus groves, green trees bursting with red flowers, and women carrying baskets full of tea leaves with straps on their heads. I did not research accommodation beyond where we stayed, but when driving away I noticed Bogawantalawa was a lovely area.

Preparing to plant tea bushes

Hiking Adam’s Peak was perhaps my favorite activity in Sri Lanka. Pretty much everyone wakes up in the middle of night to summit for sunrise. I believe the “season” runs from December full moon until May full moon, so we just missed it by a few days. In-season there are lots of religious pilgrims, all the tea houses lining the path to the top are open and I think the whole path is lit.

We spent Thursday night at the Slightly Chilled Guest House which is a 10-minute walk from the trailhead. I liked this place a lot. After many dubious time estimates over the preceding several days, we decided to wake at 1:40 am and leave the hotel with our guide at 2 am. Since it is pitch black there is not much reason to stop along the way except for exhaustion.

Sunrise

Tea house on the ascent

Shelter

Waiting at the top

The trail ascends gradually for a while with and without steps, passing a few open tea houses where one could buy water and snacks. Then the steep stairs begin, and end only at the top. I had a hard time finding accurate stats, but I think the trail is a little more than 3 miles and ascends more than 3k vertical feet. It is fairly grueling but we were mentally prepared for worse.

We summited at 4:30 am and hung out with lots of other foreigners shivering in the cold wind until sunrise around 5:45 am! The dogs helped entertain us and for the last 15-20 minutes we waited inside a shelter around the corner. A couple nights later I commented that we had not seen so many Americans on the trip, and Jenni said “yeah, except those three at the top of Adam’s Peak who talked about farting for 15 minutes.”

The sunrise views were wonderful with other mountains in the distance, a lake below and a cliffside waterfall. The Buddhist temple at the top opened around 6 am (I think you only get to see Buddha’s footprint in-season).

We paid Rs 2000 for the guide. You do not need a guide, and I think in-season this is especially so given the lights and traffic. But we felt it was money well spent since it removed any additional stress beyond hearing our alarm at 1:35 am, and he led us to an uncrowded and better vantage point for sunrise. (From the top, descend the Hatton trail perhaps 10-20 steps and then climb up on the ledge on the left hand side.) If you do this hike, bring a headlamp and layers for the top, and some salty food or electrolyte tablets because you will sweat a lot.

Start the descent

Glad I didn’t carry those

Adam’s Peak in the back

The way down was faster but with quivering quads and quaking calves (it took us 2 hours 15 minutes to ascend and 1 hour 35 minutes to descend the trail). I really liked how we got to experience the trail in the dark as well as the light. And while we may have missed out in some ways by doing this hike off-season, the upside is that it was not crowded at all. Near the end Jenni made friends with Vindu, we met a nice Aussie couple at breakfast back at the hotel and then we were on our way to the beach!

Jenni and Vindu

Mirissa

There are lots of beach towns in Sri Lanka, and after a little research we chose Mirissa. It is maybe 45-60 minutes from Galle Fort, a top attraction that we missed. It is also near Unawatuna, a more popular beach town that we read had become just a bit too developed. Approaching from the road, glimpses of the ocean are rare and the area is uninspiring. But after passing through the gate of Palm Villa, our worries disappeared and stresses melted away. Ah, our first of many tropical beaches to visit on this voyage.

Palm Villa

Cricket on the beach

We loved this place. The first evening near sunset there were a bunch of Sri Lankan boys playing cricket on the beach. For about US$60 we had an oceanfront room. Our hotel was small and charming with a welcoming owner. It is perched a handful of feet above the sand and its location means that very few non-guests cross in front, thus giving the feel of a private beach with larger bays on either side. The water was warm yet still refreshing.

Sorry about my shirt

Not a bad dining room

Insane breakfast spread

Mirissa is a popular whale watching spot, but after moving around so much and hiking Adam’s Peak we did little but relax. There were quite a few surfers, and the bay immediately west had several beachfront restaurants and bars, usually playing reggae. We had lunch one day at a place that seemed to be called Surf Bar, near the western end of this bay.

This guy didn't care much about my allergy — This guy didn’t care much about my allergy

Some of the places have parties on specific nights, but we be acting all old on this trip for the most part. Active where possible, but minimal drinking and partying. I know my mom will be elated to read this.

View of Palm Villa from outcrop

Cutting down coconuts

We ate most of our meals at the hotel and the food was solid. Life is good when your diet is rich in tropical fruit and fresh fish. Breakfast each day was enormous, with a plate of papaya, mango, pineapple and banana followed by eggs and about six pieces of toast. Jenni got the traditional breakfast of string hoppers with multiple curries and coconut sambal one morning and it easily could have fed three. Banana juice or banana lassi was perhaps our most difficult decision here.

Overall we had some really enjoyable experiences in Sri Lanka though I cannot say I loved it. It reminded me that it can be difficult to distinguish a destination from one’s experience there. Sometimes a trip just clicks and you get all the good bounces. Other times this is not the case. I think it is helpful to take guidebook recommendations or personal advice with a grain of salt because it is exceedingly challenging, at times nigh impossible, to evaluate something independent of the specific experience you had there. The kind smile or cold response from a stranger on the street can transform one’s enjoyment.

Sri Lanka has a lot going for it and my guess is that it will continue to gain in popularity as it recovers from years of war.

Practical Info

The exchange rate was about 130 Sri Lankan Rupees per 1 US Dollar.

We got visas on arrival for $35 each and it was quick and painless. It is probably better to use the online system as I think it costs less and the line was growing by the time we finished…and this was 1:30 am so I can imagine it might be bad at busier times.

There are ATMs at the airport and in larger towns and cities.

Communication: At the airport we bought a Rs 1300 SIM card from Dialog. It did not work on my iPhone 4S but that must be a Verizon/Alan issue because it works fine on Jenni’s AT&T iPhone 4S. Calls to the US are crystal clear. That got us Rs 850 of credit and it costs Rs 6/minute to call the US, plus we get 1.5GB of data. It is amazing how inexpensive mobile usage has become. Oh, and a good tip: bring something like an SD card case to store your other SIM. WiFi was widely available.

Transport: We hired a driver, and this seemed like just about the only option given how much we tried to cram into several days. I suppose we could have taken some public transportation mixed with taxis and local tuk-tuks. There are loads of buses but they looked real crowded and we have little rolling duffels that would have been tough. Some trains exist and I think the Colombo/Kandy route is particularly well established. The roads move quite slowly so it takes longer to get anywhere than you would guess by looking at a map. Though there is a new highway so getting from Mirissa to the airport took only 2.5 hours (it was a holiday which may have helped).

Sri Lanka has plans to improve its infrastructure and add more fast roads, and the second international airport (Mattala Rajapaska) opened recently on the southeast part of the island.

To find a driver, I requested several quotes from tour agencies or hotels we had booked. These were typically in the range of $550-600 total for our trip. We chose Menaka Arangala, who I found on Lonely Planet’s thorntree forum. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend you do the same. While his price was noticeably lower than others ($420), he assigned one of his associates and after telling us we would be in a Prius gave us a slow, diesel mini-van. Mr. Siril turned out to be a real downer. He was that lovely mix of incompetent and dishonest lacking a side of humility. If you do hire a driver and you are cost conscious, consider asking if hotels you book offer free driver accommodation because if not you will have to pay your driver more.

We ended up paying our initial driver $200 to take us from the airport through Kandy, and after switching to separate legs we paid Rs 6,500 from Kandy to Adam’s Peak, Rs 14,000 from Adam’s Peak to Mirissa and Rs 10,000 from Mirissa to the airport. Wasantha Sendanayake from Rainbow Tours drove us to Adam’s Peak and he was very speedy and spoke good English…0094 715 265 238 and the company is info@rainbowtourssrilanka.com

Accommodation: Some brief thoughts and info on the places we stayed, note that for some we may have chosen not to get AC to save money but it might be available at the property…

Negombo – Amaya Chalet, $25; no AC, it was plain but clean and fine to rest after arrival, you could probably find places closer to the beach etc. in Negombo

Anuradhapura – Milano Rest, $27; AC, nice enough, WiFi in room was slow, restaurant setting was nice and food fairly good, a little removed from the main commercial area

Sigiriya – Hotel Sigiriya, $95; AC, great pool and view of Sigiriya from the lobby, room was fine but nothing special, dinner buffet was great as was included breakfast…they offer massages and can arrange safaris and bird watching tours

Kandy – Charlton Kandy, $34.50; no AC, very simple room, kind of loud, the owner was nice (charltonkandyrest@gmail.com and ask for Saman) and location is quite central and courtyard restaurant was pretty good…your most important decision in Kandy re accommodation seems to be whether to stay in the hills or down in town, obviously in the hills you get better views and perhaps peace and quiet while in town you can walk to bars and restaurants and the Temple…the lobby at Queen’s Hotel was nice and this location is great, along with Olde Empire Hotel; Hotel Suisse looked impressive from the outside

Adam’s Peak – Slightly Chilled Guest House, $50; no AC, up in hills don’t need AC, liked this place a lot, our room #10 was spacious w/ a balcony w/ great views of Adam’s Peak, it included solid breakfast and dinner, they arranged a guide for us…there are other guesthouses nearby that I saw, including Siusi Rest, Adam’s Peak Inn, White House and Achinika Holiday Inn

Mirissa – Palm Villa, $61; no AC, ocean view basically on the beach, loved this place, the room was fine but owner is nice and it was lovely and cozy with a good restaurant and I thought overall good value

December 8-16, 2013 (Sunday-Monday)

Asia, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: The Cultural Triangle

December 10, 2013 champagne&backpacks 1 Comment

It takes a bit to adjust to a new (especially developing) country. For me, it took about a 15-minute drive and my first taste of an egg curry bun. And I was settled. Which is not to say it was all smooth sailing from here, but I was certainly filled with excitement for all this island nation had to offer. Sri Lanka is a beautiful country. It’s lush and green nearly throughout the entire island, but especially so in the hill country. The beaches are tropical and serene, tucked away quietly from the hubbub of the bustling streets, the cities vibrant, and the whole country full of color and happy people (except at the elephant orphanage. There will be no fun had at the elephant orphanage. More on that later).

We flew into Colombo, arriving very early in the morning, and our driver, Siril, picked us up at the airport, dropping us at our $25 a night hotel in Negombo at about 2am. It was here I realized that Sri Lankan hotels aren’t big on sheets and/or blankets. The first place had nothing but a sheet to cover the mattress and two pillows. There was no A/C, but a strong fan, and I wound up sleeping with a towel and a jacket over me. This was probably the cheapest hotel I’d stayed at yet in my life. I was a little bit unsure what to expect, but it was perfectly reasonable. Sure, the little luxuries you come to expect in fancier hotels are missing (a blanket, shampoo and other toiletries, the occasional wall or curtain separating your shower from your toilet, a television or phone) but it’s really all we need, and we “splurged” at most places for the rooms with private bathrooms. Always a good decision in my opinion.

After waking up on HK time and getting ready for what I thought was 9am, I sadly discovered it was only 7:30am local time. Grumpy and exhausted, we hit the road with Siril. We’d hired Siril to drive us everywhere, as we were staying in 5 hotels our first 5 nights (you read that right… oi, what were we thinking??), and did not want to waste time arranging transportation on our quick jaunt through (what we thought were) the highlights of Sri Lanka. I’ll spoil the surprise for you and let you know that Siril got fired before we made it to hotel number 5, but more on that later too.

For breakfast, we picked up our egg curry buns for about 30 cents a piece, at a bakery called Calton. Shout out to Lauren! Your people are making great, cheap pastries in Sri Lanka! We also quickly stopped at the Negombo fish market, which we loved. While it’s supposedly much more lively in the early hours, there were still plenty of market goers buying from the stalls of fresh and dried fish. We even saw some baby hammerhead sharks on sale. I loved the way they lay the fish out to dry on big straw blankets on the sand.

::that’s a big fish::

::boats in Negombo::

::laying the fish out to dry::

::hammerheads!!::

Then it was onto the long, windy, bumpy road to Pinnawala. Parched from the long drive we stopped for some king coconut on the way. About a quarter each got us a large coconut of delicious water, and afterwards you could scrape out the meat from inside. Yum. Food is plentiful in this country, they grow a wide range of fruits of vegetables, spices and rice. For a relatively poor nation, I suppose this is why not many people are starving, and quite a few are actually pretty heavy.

The drives were longer than we’d anticipated, and after a lot of time in the car, we arrived at Pinnawala elephant orphanage. I had high hopes for this, because hello! Baby elephants! It was a strange experience. We were very confused as to who actually worked there, who you actually needed to pay, and who was trying to sell you (unsanctioned) stuff. We were also pretty surprised that in a country where you can buy breakfast for 30 cents, that entry to this place cost about $20 a person. Anyway, we headed in, and while the elephants were adorable and majestic, there was a sad, stern air about the place. All of the workers seemed angry. People constantly tried to get you to give them your camera so they could take your picture touching the elephants and charge you. This is not to say it stopped me from taking the opportunity to (pay extra to) feed an elephant. I hadn’t expected I’d be such a chicken shit, but when I sat down next to a creature that large, with a big ole basket full of delicious looking fruit and that honker of a tusk started wagging in the air, I got a little nervous. I kinda threw the first banana at him because I was so scared. Please enjoy the picture of me in terror below (reminds me of the photo of me from the one time I went scuba diving, that same fear in my eyes). I did manage to feed him some more fruit in a bit more civilized manner. Then I handed the basket over to Alan and let him finish off the pineapple and other fruits. P.S. elephants must have some serious digestive skills – they ate banana, watermelon, and even pineapple skins.

::check out the look on my face::

We also watched the baby elephants being fed from the bottle, which was more sad than cute, as they were chained so tightly and I felt certain that at least one of the elephants was sedated, given the way he rocked back and forth and the milky look in his eyes.

::at least the Sri Lankan kiddies look happy::

::chained baby elephant::

For lunch Siril took us over to a restaurant on the water, which we feared at first was overly touristy, but we were pleasantly surprised to see that we had a front seat view of the elephants bathing in the river while we ate. (They looked happier here, until one ventured too far and got stick prodded back). We also tried our first of many rice and curry dishes (the Sri Lankan staple). Rather than some rice and some curry, you get a heaping serving of rice, and about 6 other dishes of accompanying sauces, toppings and so on, one of which is the actual curry. One of my favorites was the mango chutney, and I also love the daal. This was our first intro to the surprisingly unspicy nature of the foods here. We’d heard prior that Sri Lanka has the spiciest food in the world, so we’re either totally bad-ass spicy eaters, or it’s not actually that hot. Somewhat interestingly, I’ve been keeping pescatarian while in Sri Lanka. For no particular reason, other than I tend to want to order the veggie or prawn options almost always. It’s so easy to keep vegetarian in this part of the world – so many delicious veggie foods! I swear, by the time we left we’d had every fathomable vegetable or fruit curried (my favorite probably being pineapple, lease being cucumber).

::so much curry::

Just before sunset, we made it to Yapahuwa, which was a highlight. We were literally the only people there aside from a handful of monks and a guy collecting entrance fees. The ruins are not terribly impressive, though there is a steep stone staircase with some carvings in it, which takes you to the beginning of a small hike to the top of a hill. Despite being provided no information or having any trail markers (not hard to follow, but confusing as I hadn’t realized we were hiking even), we continued on, and were very pleasantly surprised to share the sunset with a group of monkeys I shall refer to as the bad-toupee monkeys (see pictures below for clarification). On the way out, we also got a quick peek into the cave temple with several hundred-year-old paintings on the walls and ceilings. Not too shabby.

::did you say something about my hair?::

::monkey snuggles::

Our second night in Sri Lanka was spent in Anuradhapura. We got another uber-cheap room, which was passable, though we could have done without the rock hard mangoes falling dangerously close around us as we ate dinner at the restaurant. We figured switching tables sounded like a better idea than to risk finding out what Sri Lankan hospitals are like. The dinner was again barely spicy, but the waiter saw me blowing my nose (still sick, wahhh) and asked if it was too spicy for us. They must think us tourists are bona fide pansies. The trend of no blankets continued as we made our may through Sri Lanka, though our last 5 hotels were at least generous in providing a sheet.

In the morning we again grabbed cheap pastries, this time trying sami seemi, which had a nice little heat to it, and an egg rotti, which is basically a crepe with egg very thinly cooked into its folds. Then it was off to begin the famed cultural triangle… Anaradhapura at least was a little womp-womp. The sites were underwhelming at best. This is not to say that if you are terribly interested in history or religion (and Buddhism in particular) that they might be interesting (and definitely more so if you hired a guide I’m sure), but they are not nearly as beautiful or impressive as the ruins you find in Cambodia or India. In addition, they cost a ridiculous sum to get into (think $30 a person in places, in a country where I can get a nice hotel for $25 a night), and you are provided with no information. There are no placards with history, no maps or brochures handed out. In fact, we went to one of the most famous sites – the Sri Bada Bodi tree (I think maybe the oldest tree in the world or something?!), and didn’t even realize what it was until after we’d left!

::alan getting blessed? by siril::

::breakkie::

::listening to the buddhist priest::

In light of this experience, we decided to skip Polonnaruwa, another collection of temple ruins and dagobas in the cultural triangle. Instead, we decided to enjoy our splurge (still reasonably priced by American standards) hotel in Sigiriya. Except that I was feeling super sick again and wound up sleeping from 4:30 in the afternoon until the next morning. Womp womp again. That said, we did manage to squeeze in some fresh mango from a roadside stand (delicious, and very different from the mangos we eat in the states), and Alan got in some pool time while I snoozed. We also asked to stop for lunch on the way at a local’s restaurant for rice and curry that’s for real spicy. The curry was still not too spicy, but I did enjoy watching Alan eat with his hands. When in Rome.

::mango lady::

::getting ready for my local’s curry::

The cultural site of Sigiriya at least, piqued our interests more than Anuradhapura. We walked from our hotel over to the temple in the morning, paid the again exorbitant fee, and attacked the little hike to the top of the rock. The views are great, but the highlight for me (as per usual) was the animal life. There were monkeys galore, and puppies. Oh my god, the puppies. I found the scraggliest, crustiest little pup on our walk over, and stopped to pet him and get lots of puppy kisses (crusty pups need love too), saw a whole pack of baby pups near the top of the rock, and another little cluster of adoreableness again at the bottom. I was in heaven. Dogs are everywhere in Sri Lanka, and this brings me immense pleasure. I stop to pet them constantly. We also saw a strange raccoon-like animal being fed by a tourist (shame on them), and some slithery snakes up top. Don’t worry, I protected Alan (when I wasn’t having panic attacks from the heights on those rickety and steep metal staircases – which reminds me! there are guys who try to “help” you up the steep staircase for a tip. I flipped out at one guy with maybe five PLEASE DON’T TOUCH ME’s. Last thing I need is someone touching me when I’m having a fear of heights induced panic on a rusty staircase suspended off the edge of a giant rock).

::not a bad view::

::ancient paintings::

::terrifying staircases::

::view at top::

::mmm bananas::

::i lost the staring contest::

::crusty puppies need love too::

::elephant traffic::

::love!!!::

::this is pure happiness::

The climb up was scary at times, but not terribly difficult and quite quick. It helped that we were fueled by a most delicious breakfast spread. While not as spicy as I’d anticipated, I am very quickly falling in love with Sri Lankan cuisine. The bananas here are ridiculously amazing. I also enjoy the curry, and especially the coconut sambol that you sprinkle on top (shredded coconut, red pepper and red onion… it has a bit of a kick to it, sweet and spicy). I’m also loving the string hoppers, which are little noodley pancake things that you pour curry or other delicious mystery saucy stuff on top of, and of course more coconut sambol. After Sigiriya we enjoyed the pool and some fantastic fresh papaya, watermelon and pineapple fruit juice.

On our way out of town we checked out a wholesale produce market that had an impressive array of, well, bulk produce. People are so friendly, they want to know where you’re from and practice their English by talking to you. The skeptic in me assumes they’re also interested in tips and/or pickpocketing, but who knows.

Next stop was a spice garden tour where our guide rubbed some ayurvedic cream on my nose and forehead to try and help clear up my cold. When that didn’t help he also gave me a couple syrupy substance and a few herby drinks to try. While it was interesting to hear about the natural treatments, we didn’t buy anything, and my sampling of the treatments did not provide much in the way of relief from this now irritatingly stubborn cold.

::in lieu of awkward photos of me having cream applied to my nose, please look at this other temple::

We arrived that afternoon in Kandy with plenty of time to enjoy the main attraction – traditional Kandyan dancing. Only thing is, our driver told us he would pick us up at 6 for the show. Well, the shows started at 5 and we missed them all. So we missed our chance to see the dancing on our one night in Kandy. This was pretty much the last straw for Siril. We’d been questioning our choice with him for a while, given the fact that he never knew where he was going (including one stint where he drove 45 minutes in the wrong direction before asking for directions), fought with a hotel manager because he was offering us tips on what to do in the area (presumably because the spots he recommends will not provide kick-backs to Siril), spoke worse English than most other people we met in the country, and so on. We realize we’re not in a modern city and service will not be perfect, but Siril totally sucked. So, Siril was fired. We ended up paying a bit more for car service as we had to arrange the rest of our drives one at a time (and they were long ones!), but all in all we felt it worth the extra cost and headache.

By the way, every source we found had a different time listed for the start of the dance, and all were wrong, including Lonely Planet. Still getting used to this third world planning ish. Guess it’d make a lot more sense to NOT stay only one night each place (which we hopefully never do again) where you can’t count on reliability.

Dinner at our Kandy hotel was spicier than most. We had some delicious deviled prawns. I still can’t quite figure out what “deviled” means here, but it’s a sauce they cook things with that is similar to sweet and sour sauce. After seeing us handle the spice like champs the waiter brought over something he called “cobra sauce” for us to try. It was spicy, but still not that bad. I maintain that food is spicier in India. The hotel manager and owner and their family here was so nice though. I thought I’d lost my bracelet here, and the owner offered to call my old hotel and ask them to look for it for me. Seeing me coughing, he made me an ayurvedic drink that he promised would make me feel better in the morning. The large mug was filled with what looked pretty much like dirty toilet water. It tasted not much better. I managed to choke down about half of the drink, and I did feel slightly better the next morning. Perhaps had I drank the whole glass I would have been cured.

::villages we drove through::

::buses everywhere::

For our quick morning in Kandy we checked out the local market and wandered around the fish, meat, veggie and fruit stalls. Again, the Sri Lankans were super friendly. They all want their picture taken, to speak English with us. We went next to the Temple of the Tooth. Wow is it crowded. The personal space bubble here is non-existent. Expect lots of uninvited touching. That said, it’s a neat experience to see these locals who push and shove and wait in line for just a few seconds to pray at this sacred site. The grounds are quite large too, and you can walk around and explore this temple, which is far more interesting than much of what we’d seen in Anuradhapura.

::lines at temple of the tooth (no pictures at the top)::

Before leaving Kandy we ate a great curry lunch at a restaurant called Devon. My whole meal was a buck! I get irrationally excited when my meals cost a dollar (best meal in Cambodia was $1 beef noodles from a street cart). We then accidentally attended a wedding procession while stopping in another hotel to try to arrange a driver.

On the road again, we head out to Adam’s Peak with a new driver. The trip picked up from here, as the latter half (hill country and the beach) was definitely the best. I’ll cover that in my next post.

Asia, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

December 8, 2013 champagne&backpacks 2 Comments

On the road (skies?) again, and this time for good (well, a good 6 months at least). We said goodbye to LA with a 14-hour flight to Hong Kong, the first stop on our six-month jaunt around Asia. We flew Cathay Airlines (first time for me) and it was pretty nice. They are super organized, and very meticulous about lining you up for boarding. I, as an organizer, appreciated this.

Before even making our way through immigration, I was impressed by the local technology. They take your temperature as you enter the HK airport, by somehow scanning your head (you have to take your hat off as you walk through). This of course set off my paranoia and hypochondrial fears of bird flu (second case in HK was confirmed during our visit). Luckily my head scanned a normal temperature and I didn’t have to experience the pleasure of finding out what happens if you fail this test.

I’m so impressed with the public transportation in HK. We took the airport express train from the airport, which couldn’t be much easier to use. It cost about $20 for the both of us, takes a mere 24 minutes, and then we were pleasantly surprised to learn that there is a free shuttle bus from the train station that dropped us off at our hotel (these go to several of the popular hotels in HK and run every 20 minutes or so).

Excited as we were to begin stuffing our faces with dim sum, it was only about 7am local time, so we dropped our bags at the hotel and ventured off to explore the island side of HK. We got a pastry to snack on (for less than $1) at a little shop in an alley, I believe called Gilman’s. I have no idea what we ordered, but it was maybe the best thing we ate during our time in the city. It was some kind of buttery, sugary bun, and it was delicious.

::apparently this is the hangout spot on Sundays::

::please note the Psy balloon::

This held us over for a walk to the Peak Tram, which we took up to the top for the impressive views of HK and across the water to Kowloon. The smog makes the view a bit hazy, but not much if any worse than your view of downtown LA on a smoggy day. HK is fascinating, in that you have these massive modern skyscrapers and high end shops, alongside old alley-ways of food stands and markets, all jutting out of tropical looking hills. We’re fairly close to the equator here, and you wouldn’t know it wandering around the city, except that you’ll see butterflies flying around the sidewalks every so often.

::HK and Kowloon::

::rock art at the peak::

We stopped to check out Lan Kwai Fong on our way back to Soho (where we stayed), not realizing that while it is a very happening spot in the evenings, it’s pretty dead on a Thursday early morning. Back in Soho, the dim sum shops were opening up and we stood outside what we thought was Dim Sum Square, waiting for them to open. Turns out it was a random noodle shop, and Dim Sum Square was open the whole time, just a few doors down. Luckily Alan realized the error of my ways, and we wound up eating at the right spot, which for about $10 fed us a great meal of four different types of buns and dumplings. The BBQ pork buns were great, and I was surprised how sweet they were. Dim Sum Square, along with most eating establishments we ventured into, put hot tea on the table without question, though they never serve water unless you ask for it, and also nobody gives you napkins. For an American who is a novice-to-intermediate chopstick user, this often proved frustrating to me.

After checking into our room we set off on foot once again to explore the island side. We wandered up and down the streets, passing by Wellington Street and the many markets sprouting out of the alleys off of it, lots of skyscrapers, and the antique shops on Hollywood Ave. Whereas an antique in the states might be 100 years old, you’ll find “vintage” pottery and other items here are thousands of years old. We checked out Man Mo temple – I’ve never seen so many incense going off at once. People coming in to pray would light them by the fistful, and from the ceiling hang countless coiled incense. I’m still fighting this cough from Chile, and walked out of there barely breathing (and singing Duncan Sheik in my head, obvs). Here, the juxtaposition of old and new in HK is pronounced, as the old temple sits nestled in between huge modern towers and 7-eleven’s on every corner. Just a short walk away you can get your fix of designer brands, Tiffany, Louis Vuitton, Armani… you name it (if shoppings your game, you’ve come to the right place).

We also popped into a wine store to check out the prices and selection, and got some free tastings from a very happy salesmen. We were surprised and delighted to see Castoro Zin on the shelves, one of our favorite bargain California wines.

We ate noodles for dinner at Mak’s on Wellington, which was nothing to write home about (though I suppose enough to write to my bloggers about, eh?). Noodles were weirdly undercooked. Still, it was cheap and it was noodles, so I was not complaining. The streets are much fuller in the evenings (as well as weekends), as everyone gets off work. The hustle and bustle and the ever-present neon lights keep you stimulated despite the massive jet lag (16 hour time change from LA).

::banyan trees::

::old and new::

::love the different snacks at 7-eleven::

I was quite frustrated by the foot traffic, though. Despite driving on the left and keeping left in designated areas of the MTR (mass transit railway), there is absolutely no rhyme or reason to the walking patterns of those on the sidewalks. At the first opportunity to fall out of line with a pattern, people do. It’s madness on the streets. You just gotta push and shove your way through (especially once you get to Kowloon). That said, I had very low expectations of protecting my personal space bubble whilst in HK, and was pleasantly surprised at the lower than expected level of bubble invasion and violation, especially on the island side. People were super polite, and a few even apologized for bumping into me.

That said, as soon as we walked out on the streets on the Kowloon side the next day, I was all but groped by ladies trying to give me flyers and sell me “genuine fakes.” Meanwhile every fifth man tried to get Alan to buy tailored suits. I was admittedly tempted by the guy whose pitch included, “you no want my fly suit?” We avoided the hawkers, and made our way up Nathan Road and into the Chungking Mansions. I didn’t do my research, and assumed these were going to be nice big houses. Nay, they are massive shopping malls with apartment buildings on the upper floors. Alan got his hair cut by a Pakistani man while I eyed the cockroaches on the floor and marveled at how much my life has recently changed.

We walked a long ways up through Kowloon, passing through various neighborhoods and countless markets, including the Ladies’ Market (everything you never knew you needed, and all genuine fake), the Jade Market (I was tempted to buy some pretty jewelry or Christmas ornaments, but quickly remembered our overstuffed luggage), Fa Yuen Street Market (impressive array of seafood, dead or alive, and mesh bags full of live frogs), and lastly the Goldfish Market. I was most excited for the Goldfish Market, as it is full of pets for sale (you know me and my animals). It was rather disappointing. There were a few shops with caged dogs and cats (adorable, but sad), a few others with rabbits and hamster/gerbil type things, and lots of fish shops. But it all made me so sad. The fish were in little plastic baggies that sat out in the sun and collected condensation from the heat. It was a pretty impressive collection of fish and turtles though. We kinda walked through fast as well, as I’d read that some shops sell spiders and I didn’t want to see any of that.

::jade market::

::bag o frogs::

::goldfish market::

We tried to check out a café on the 4^th-6^th floor of a building in Mongkok (the population density here is supposedly the greatest in the world, hence locales going vertical), but they were unfortunately not open yet. Instead, we stopped for lunch at a spot called Ajisen Ramen. I now think that this is a chain, and for a moment, we feared we had walked into a children’s themed restaurant as the kid’s menu was extensive and there were a handful of young’uns in there. Either way, it was delicious ramen. I highly recommend the kimchi ramen.

We took the MTR up to Nan Lian Gardens next. The public transportation in HK is phenomenal. The star ferry that takes you from HK to Kowloon is dirt cheap, quick and easy. The MTR is super clean, modern, and tourist-friendly. The ticketing machines let you select your destination and it tells you how much the fare will be, the tracks are blocked by glass walls so you can’t fall down on them, each train has a display letting you know which direction you’re traveling, which stop is next, which side the doors open on, etc. Everything is in English as well as Cantonese, and they even warn on the escalators, “don’t keep your eyes only on your mobile phone.” All the little details are done nicely, and as someone who finds public transit somewhat challenging to master (having never really lived somewhere it’s frequently used), it was most appreciated.

::ferry from HK to Kowloon::

::double decker trams::

So getting to the gardens was easy, entrance was free, and the experience tranquil. You meander around a little path through the bougainvillea, bonsai trees and a little pond. At the end we checked out the Chi Lin Nunnery. It’s a nice little respite from the craziness that is Kowloon.

::nan lian gardens and skyscrapers::

::nunnery::

We stopped to rest our feet over a cup of coffee at a Starbucks, and Alan stealthily snapped this photo of the monks at Starbucks.

Back in Central we met up with a work acquaintance of Alan’s and his wife for a drink. It was at this time that we truly were able to appreciate the overwhelming ex-pat presence in HK, and especially in Central, as everyone at the bar was white.

Our last full day in HK we took a light bus over to Stanley Bay. As they say of life, the journey was more exciting than the destination. I really enjoyed the views of the densely forested hills jutting out of the water, as our bus wrapped around the narrow streets towards the little bay. Stanley itself was pleasant, albeit quite touristy. It reminded me a bit of Malibu. We walked around the market and the pier, grabbed a little dim sum (cheap, not so delicious) and a mango smoothie, and then took a double decker bus back to Central.

::stanley bay::

We headed next to Luk Yu Teahouse for some delicious, not so cheap dim sum. The service here is epic. It’s almost like those places in the states where the whole appeal is how mean the waiters are. Luckily the food is pretty good. I accidentally ordered a strange looking dessert, which looked like a thick black fruit roll up. It was quite tasty though.

After lunch we wandered around a few more neighborhoods, checked out the Graham Street and Gage Street markets, ogling at the mystery animal tongues hanging from the walls, and the construction workers standing on nothing but bamboo scaffolding.

We made our way back over to Kowloon to meet Sally, a friend of ours we’d met in the Galapagos Islands some years ago, for a walk through the Temple Street Night Market, and then dinner and drinks. We checked out Temple Spice Crabs and were shocked to find out the crabs cost about $100. We opted instead for the sweet and sour prawns and the duck. The duck was just that, the whole duck, beak and eyeball included. Most absurd portion I’ve ever seen. After dinner we watched the laser show of the HK skyline which is touristy (and packed), but amazing. That skyline is unlike any other.

Before heading to the airport on Sunday, we took the double decker trams down to Wan Chai, which is a neighborhood full of a nice mix of lively markets (yes, more markets!) and high end shops. We got more noodles at a little shop for lunch where the tables are communal. A local (somewhat) politely suggested that we ask for forks in lieu of chopsticks. We declined to take the suggestion.

Our last surprise of the trip, we were blown away that you could check in for your flight, and even drop your baggage, at the train station. I’m impressed, HK, very impressed (though maybe I should withhold judgment until I know whether my bags have safely made it with us to Colombo).

Asia, Hong Kong

First Stop in Asia

December 8, 2013 champagne&backpacks Leave a comment

December 5-8, 2013 (Thursday-Sunday)

Before I get to Hong Kong, have you seen the new Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX? It is so nice, we considered just staying there the next six months. But we stuck with the plan, boarded our 14+ hour Cathay Pacific (really good airline) flight and landed in Hong Kong at 5:15 am on Thursday December 5.

Hong Kong has been high on my list for years. It is a fascinating blend of East and West, old and new. Perhaps the expectations were a sliver too high. I was not as blown away as I expected, though in fairness I was sick the whole time and we mainly abstained from nightlife that I imagine enhances the experience. It is a great city, just not quite at the “best in world” level I had built up. The verticality is awe-inspiring, though. On my roof deck on New York’s upper east side years ago I liked to count how many 20+ story buildings I could see. I think I got into the 70s. I reckon this could be beaten handily in Hong Kong.

Kowloon

Central

Technological advancement was on display before even passing customs, as passengers must remove headwear so that an infrared thermometer can scan you for fever as you walk by without breaking stride. The airport express train was spotless and smooth and efficiently whisked us to Hong Kong Station in 24 minutes. Note that an individual one-way ticket costs HK$100 (US$1 = HK$7.75) but a pair costs HK$160. When we tried to use the machine at Hong Kong Station to buy our return tickets to the airport, we learned this deal is only available at the customer service counter. And that we could check our luggage there instead of at the airport, which is pretty amazing.

There is a free shuttle bus from Hong Kong Station to various hotels, including our Holiday Inn Express Soho. There is also free WiFi in MTR (Mass Transit Railway) stations and many other locations throughout the city. Public transportation here is superb. In addition to the MTR, there is the legendary Star Ferry that crosses Victoria Harbour from Central to Kowloon for about HK$2, lots of bus lines, the old-school double decker trams and 16-person mini-buses. I am probably missing some, but anyway it is cheap, reliable and tourist friendly to get around. We never once took a taxi.

Island from Star Ferry

Trams

After dropping our bags at the hotel, we started wandering the early morning quiet streets. This megalopolis sits just south of the Tropic of Cancer, so there is a somewhat tropical/jungle feel to go with the 7+ million residents. We saw butterflies on the sidewalk and banyan trees crawling down concrete.

Man vs. Nature

Look at that tree

Dipping into Gilman’s Bazaar, we had perhaps our most enjoyable bites in the form of a HK$6 fresh-baked pastry that had some sort of delicious buttery sweet filling.

We continued to the Victoria Peak Tram for some fabulous views and orientation. The Sky Terrace 428 (as in meters above sea) did not open until 10 am, so we did not have to decide between buying the ticket including entrance thereto for HK$75 return vs. the regular HK$40 return. It is cash only, unless you have an Octopus Card…which is worth looking into if you plan to use public transportation a lot.

The tram ascends very steeply. There are several shops and restaurants at the top, along with a walking path. The air quality was pretty bad our whole time here, so if the photos look clear that is owing to Jenni’s editing work.

Victoria Peak

More west, from Victoria Peak

Descending the tram

After descending we walked back through Lan Kwai Fong. It is underwhelming to say the least during the day, but I am told it is a rollicking good time at night. I was pretty bummed to spend three nights and never partake. Next time…

Ready for our first dim sum, we waited outside a spot we thought was Dim Sum Square (recommended by our hotel) til it opened, only to realize we were a few doors off. The real spot was pretty solid, especially the crispy BBQ pork buns.

On the island, white folks are abundant. It is much easier to get by with only English than I recall in Tokyo, though plenty of locals speak only Cantonese and e.g. ordering food in a non-touristy restaurant may not be straightforward, nor explaining your destination to a taxi driver. Which is why the one time we did attempt to take a taxi, we aborted the mission. It would be savvy to take a picture of your hotel’s address written in Chinese.

Central and I think much of the island is very vertical, with major streets running east/west (at the same elevation), some north/south and lots of alleys and stairways going north/south. Man Mo Temple is around the corner from our hotel on Hollywood Road so we checked it out. It is neat to see this building from 1847 amidst modern skyscrapers, and really that is a big part of why Hong Kong is special.

You will constantly find in the same line of sight impressive, gleaming skyscrapers, crowded markets in alleyways and old Soviet-looking concrete buildings with so much grime that no power washer could conquer it. Hong Kong has a 118-story building and plenty of construction sites with bamboo scaffolding.

The temple was not so exciting, but the copious incense coils and sticks create a thick, exotic air.

Man Mo Temple

Nearby are antique shops and some trendy looking restaurants. We entered Liquor Land on Staunton Street and the sales guy was hilarious. He greeted us with tastes of a California zinfandel, and we were happy to see they had bottles of Castoro zin, the same wine Jenni and I had at Treebones in Big Sur on our first trip together. So here we are, same same but different.

Dinner at Mak’s Noodle on Wellington (one of my favorite streets with lots of action and markets/alleys to the side) was fine but nothing special. Earlier we sought Butao Ramen but could not find it, til wistfully we passed it a few doors down.

At meals here you typically get hot tea right away and they bring you the bill just after you order (at least at casual places). Quite a contrast from Chile where you might wait many minutes after requesting the bill. And here is another theme for Hong Kong: efficiency. Nobody has time to waste. People run on and off buses. The escalators in the MTR stations move faster than the rest of the world. A guy seeming to work for Hong Kong’s government or tourist bureau interviewed us after we passed security for our departing flight, and I have never in my life seen someone get through 15 questions faster. Not sure I want to live this way, but I respect people being on their game. I also generally found people polite, if at times brusque. When someone knocks into you, they tend to apologize. I expect nothing of the sort in mainland China.

Though we never stayed out late, it was apparent at once that the city comes alive at night. We were surprised how calm it felt our first morning, but that was before anyone went to work. Throughout the day and evening it became progressively busier. All those movie scenes where it is nighttime and there is some alleyway with neon showing through the steam of cooking noodles…well, Hong Kong to me felt like that. And I loved the rhythmic ringing of the walk / don’t walk signals.

On Friday we took the Star Ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon. There are fewer whiteys here and far more attempts to hawk tailoring services and authentic fake watches. Or is that just because my jeans are kind of long and I wear a Casio?

We walked up Nathan Road and into Chungking Mansions. If you are ignorant as I, you might think these are really expensive houses. But they are large buildings with Indian/Pakistani/Turkish etc. food stalls, electronics stores, apartments or hostels on upper floors etc. Apparently back in the day these were dens of iniquity. In modern times, it is where I got my first haircut of the trip (HK$50) from a Pakistani gentlemen who was the first to put the straight razor to my neck in many years.

Chungking Mansions

First haircut of the trip

After passing through a little clothes market (I think on Bowring) we continued up Shanghai to a pleasant jade market. Long-term travel makes it easy to avoid buying things we do not need.

Jade Market in Kowloon

We tried to get lunch at Full Cup Cafe but it was closed until 3 pm. It is on floors 4-6 of a nondescript building that you enter off an alley in the Mong Kok area. This reminded me of Kyoto and I would imagine this and other spots like it are quite enjoyable when open. Actual lunch was at Ajisen Ramen, and I am embarrassed to say we did not realize it is a Japanese chain. We just saw it was very crowded and ramen sounded good. Then sitting there it occurred to me a McDonald’s might be very crowded, yet this does not mean I should eat there (except at breakfast). Counterpoint: In-N-Out is a chain, and I should eat there. It was not half bad, though the extra spicy denomination for my bowl could give a false sense of confidence for Sri Lanka, which I am told has some of the spiciest food in the world.

Goldfish

Samoyed!

Ladies Market

Ladies Market is loaded with iPhone cases and handbags and could easily be skipped, but the Fa Yuen Street Market had an impressive collection of seafood in a small space, including bags full of live frogs which I have not often seen. The Goldfish market (also selling lots of turtles) was less inspiring, though there are regular pet stores so we scoped some cute puppies, including a baby samoyed to remind me of my long-lost loves.

Thanks, dad, for the great suggestion to check out Nan Lian Garden and Chi Lin Nunnery. This is an oasis of calm, with bougainvillea, neat lumber miniatures, Dahua colored scholars rock (aka jaspilite), etc.

Across the street is the Plaza Hollywood mall. Even with just a few days we managed to hit a Starbucks. More important, what is a monk? Seriously, I do not know. Because I always thought monks were silent or at the least swore off material possessions. But now I see monks wearing fancy watches, playing with their iPads and drinking Starbucks. Is a monk just someone who does not work?? So if I start wearing a saffron robe all the time, would I now be a monk? Please enlighten me.

More on the MTR…the stations are so nice. The trains seem a little wider than e.g. New York, and me likes smaller people with wider trains. You need to insert your ticket on entering and to exit, i.e. the fare is determined by the distance of your trip. The lady’s voice on the speakers advises you to keep your hand on the rail and do not keep your eyes only on your mobile phone.

That evening we had drinks with Jody and his wife at La Piola, a bar/restaurant in Central very popular with expats. There are two levels and the bar is open to the sidewalk, creating a fun apres-finance atmosphere. La Cabane wine bistro on Hollywood was crowded, and we passed a pop up store. There is a vibrant and sophisticated air to this part of town.

On Saturday we left the crowded city environs a while and took a minibus to Stanley on the southeast side of the island. The ride itself was worth the trip as we got to see so much more of the island, and the scenery was fairly impressive. We went through the tunnel and then drove some windy, hilly roads with views of a futuristic-looking aerial tram over an amusement park built on the mountainside, huge luxury apartment buildings, Repulse Bay, etc. The Ferrari dealership suggested there is money in this area.

Stanley from pier

Stanley

Stanley with Murray House back left

Stanley Market is pretty small and there is a waterfront walk with restaurants connecting this side of the bay to Murray House (with pricey restaurants) and Stanley Plaza. The whole area is quite touristy. Lunch at Momentito was forgettable. We had also considered Shek O beach nearby or Lamma Island, which I hear is quite nice. If we had more time or just were not sick, we might have visited Lamma island for some hiking and seafood. Sally said the Lamma Hilton (no relation) is a good spot for lunch. We also wanted to visit the Lei Yu Mun seafood bazaar on Kowloon but did not get around to it. Nor the Sham Shui Po neighborhood in Kowloon or Macau, just a ferry ride away.

Confused by the bus options home, we took a big double decker back to Central and grabbed a more proper lunch at Luk Yu Tea House on Stanley Street. This is a well-known place. The service is rumored to be gruff as part of the package, and certainly it was. We were not amazed but enjoyed the meal. Jenni ordered a black sesame roll expecting a pastry, and instead got something that looked like a cross between an eel and a fruit rollup.

From here we passed through the Graham Street Market selling mainly fruits and veggies and then walked Gage Street with seafood and meat, including tongue and assorted organs.

Graham Street

Gage Street

That evening we connected with Sally, our friend we met in the Galapagos islands in 2010 who has been living here a few years. Sally traveled by herself about 2.5 years straight through South and Central America, plus tons more at intervals. I do not cede the bigger balls title cavalierly, but Sally has earned it.

We covered the Temple Street night market in a handful of minutes then dined at Temple Spice Crabs. I planned to gorge on these spice crabs til the waitress said it cost HK$500. So instead we ordered what turned out to be pretty much a whole fried duck plus sweet and sour prawns and some large brewskis.

Temple Street night market

With Sally at Spice Crabs

We made it to Tsim Sha Tsui just in time for the nightly 8 pm laser show. It was packed, and apparently is every night. Seeing the skyline at night is a must, since it is so colorful and the smog is less offensive.

Imagine New York’s skyline, only with the whole thing like Times Square and backed by mountains. I also saw squash being shown on a huge screen and then realized they were playing a tournament in a glass bubble right there. Ashley Road seemed lively and we had a nightcap at Ned Kelly’s Last Stand, where a jazzy band came on just before 10 pm. We took the Star Ferry back and then walked home.

I like defining milestones, so Sunday’s was the first malaria pill of what will likely reach triple digits on this leg alone. Then we took our first tram ride to Wan Chai which is a lively part of town to the east of Central, passing on the way workers who on their Sunday off lay out cardboard for picnic and conversation. I liked the energy in Wan Chai and we ate at a locals spot (I think called Sun Hungyuen) in a market alley.

Seating was communal, the chili oil was fiery and my noodles with fried fish balls (like lightly fried sticks) were priced right at HK$24. The markets have knick-knacks plus lots of meats, sausages, veggies, dried fruit, nuts, mushrooms, etc. I wish I knew what 1/5 of it actually is.

Trams with some orange event

Workers on Sunday

Wan Chai but bag like this at goldfish market

When planning the trip I asked friends where to stay and the resounding response was “Central.” I agree with that. Clearly Kowloon is a reasonable option. After all, the new Ritz is there as is the Peninsula, perhaps Hong Kong’s most famous luxury hotel. But Central felt most like the unique, special Hong Kong I imagined. I might analogize it to New York. Sure Brooklyn may be cool and some would argue it has more flavor, but if you were visiting the city the first time for a few days and could afford it, I think it would be obvious you want to stay in Manhattan.

Gangnam style, always

Asia, Cambodia

Cambodia (old notes)

November 30, 2010 aleavitt77 Leave a comment

For some years before I started a blog, I took notes on trips. Sometimes friends ask for these notes to help with trip planning. To organize everything in one place, I’m adding my old trip notes to my blog. These were written shorthand and probably not too enjoyable to read but hopefully useful to plan a trip.

I do not have access while traveling to my old photos, but I think through the link below you can see Jenni’s Facebook album from this trip even if you do not have a Facebook account.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.832103361035.2478054.414086&type=1&l=a00c0128e7

We spent a week in Cambodia over Thanksgiving 2010, visiting Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. It was a phenomenal trip. So much so that I cannot but wonder whether Cambodia is that terrific or was there an element of this being one of those trips that just clicks…as I discussed in my Sri Lanka post. But now that I’ve reread all my notes, I think Cambodia is just awesome.

11/19-21

Airport in PP small but very smooth, easy visa ($20) etc. Take 4 pm flight to Siem Reap on turbo prop, about 40 minutes.

Met at airport by driver with V12 Benz (which ended up being about the nicest car we saw the whole trip, only two seats in the back), usually charge but hotel got us free because had told me could send car to pick us up in Phnom Penh then said no because of boat festival.

Terrasse des Elephants Hotel is nice. Room is $65 and has sitting area where first enter with a day-bed type thing, big balcony off to the right that connects to back staircase which could take to the pool or dining area, to the left is bed with mosquito net and then beyond that a step or two up with a cool carved fountain and on either side a shower and a sink, rooftop edgeless pool. Right at old market and pub street etc.

After a swim, we saw fireworks from the roof, then we ate dinner at Khmer Kitchen across from old market. J had Khmer Curry with pumpkin and tofu and I had amok with fish. That, big water and two Angkor beers for $10.

Then walked down to river where boat festival going on. Awesome. Tons of people, band on a stage, almost walked into a little boy peeing. Saw cars with long wooden boats on the roof, like 8 ft hanging over the car on each side. Then just walked around a bit more before returning. Area is great, lots of alleys with bars and restaurants. Very happening. Weather is hot and humid but not super oppressive.

11/22

Breakfast at hotel around 7:30. Pancakes with homemade pineapple jam and honey, eggs with hash brown and grilled tomato, delish coffee, fresh oj, dragon fruit. Then met our guide thai and driver yan ($30 and $40 for day because went farther away) and drove to Angkor entrance and bought 3 of 7 day passes for $40 each. Crowded. Drove through villages and past temples. Houses mainly on stilts for water and to keep out snakes, scorpions, etc. Saw people making palm sugar, water buffalo, cows, etc.

Got to Kbal Splean maybe around 10 and walked about 1.5 km on trail through light jungle. Quite a few others around. J with flip flops, oops. It’s the River of 1000 Lingas which is the phallic symbol. To represent water flowing off mtn (like Mt Meru), all is Hindu, holy water. Hike not too tough but rocks etc so tough for oldies, lots of butterflies. Saw a cave, waterfall, some sanskrit writing on the rocks. At start a bunch of puppies and kids and peeps trying to sell t-shirts and scarves and books. A little pushy but not too bad and rather sweet.

Drove maybe 15 minutes back to Banteay Srei, saw water buffalo in water and taking mud bath. Ox cart. Road is two lanes, pretty wide and nice. Driving not too crazy.

Banteay Srei is temple with very intricate carvings, lots of Hindu mythology representations. Surrounded by a little moat. Saw big chameleon and a snake winding through the stones. Big trees all around. Sampled some fresh jack fruit. After walk through area with stalls selling things and then lunch. J got fried noodles with veggies and egg and I got fried pork with garlic and pepper (as in tons of both, green peppercorns on the vine). Cans of lychee and soursop. Finished lunch about 1:45.

See a lot of people with medical masks. Still are Khmer Rouge around but I guess nobody fights. But guide said in the 90s it was still dangerous.

After lunch stopped where making palm sugar which sell in little brown discs, yummy. Make by boiling palm juice in wok type thing over little oven made of cow dung, clay, rice stalk…burning wood. Said 80% of country perhaps still cooks with wood. Where got sugar also grow bananas, tamarind, mango, lime. There’s poverty but not much hunger it seems because have lots of rice, fish, fruit etc. Maybe more in Phnom Penh .

Our car has driver on right side even though country drives on right side.

Next up was Banteay Samre. Legend is that it’s the farmer’s temple because was a king who loved sweet cucumbers and he gave the farmer a spear to protect his farm if anyone but the king tried to take cukes. Then one day the king wanted to test him so he went and farmer didn’t recognize him so killed him at once and then buried king under his house. And tradition is if they don’t know who is king then have elephant walk around and whomever elephant kneels before is the king. So elephant went to farmer’s house and knelt and everyone thought he was kneeling for the farmer but really was paying respects to the king.

We liked this temple, not so crowded.

Then went to Pre Rup, has 5 towers, much higher than others we saw. Big and steep stairs. From top nice views, green all around. Can see in distance one of towers of Angkor Wat.

Next was Banteay Kdei which is Buddhist temple. Not restored as well as others. Long day, glad we got car with A/C for today.

Back to hotel around 5:15. Volleyball is popular here. Our hotel great but room has shower that’s just elevated by the fountain in the room, so wouldn’t be good to share other than with s/o!

Swam again, pool is one of those flush with ground, looks nice. There are rooms on pool/roof level. I had an ABC Stout, 8% alc and tasty. Then signed up for cooking class at Le Tigre de Papier and had dinner Angkor Palm. Sat outside on sidewalk, comfy wicker chairs. J got sambor curry with chicken and a Tiger beer, I had 7 plate sampler with a Beer Lao. Both lagers, solid. Then some sweet banana dessert that came with my meal and then we got ice cream at Blue Pumpkin (jackfruit with coconut/pistachio). Walked down Pub Street and over by food market and then across Sivatha St to Angkor night market. Couple places saw groups playing music that said mine victims. Night market has jewelry, t-shirts, carvings, etc. Fish foot and regular massages all over.

Exhausted, back to hotel around 8:40. Shorts with short sleeves at night and still hot.

11/23

Woke before 6 am and went to roof for sunrise but already had risen. Then walked through old market and saw food vendors setting up. Cutting meat, chickens, fish, fruit, etc. And a few places that serve food. Crossed river and walked around, went into tour office to inquire about getting to Phnom Penh and heard over 300 people died in Phnom Penh . Called J’s rents and found out it was a stampede from the boat festival. Lucky we planned trip in this order and smart we didn’t change it once knew about the festival. Walked around a bit more, that side of river is less touristy. Then back to hotel around 7:30 for breakfast. American again but also French toast instead of pancakes, which was delish. And really good coffee. We both agree we like this part of the world. Exotic feel, cheap, people seem peaceful and very deferential. Yesterday our guide sat in the front seat and had his seat so far forward to maximize J’s leg room, even though she didn’t need it.

Hotel dining area has that Indochina colonial feel.

Guide said our hotel used to be a nightclub/karaoke.

Today we’re taking a cooking class at Le Tigre de Papier ($12/p) at 10 am, which is in the alley.

About 8 in our class, teacher was Jenni. Started with walk through the market to show us things. J made mango salad then chicken curry, I made banana flower salad and Samlor Kteas (pork, coconut milk, winter melon, pineapple, broth, tamarind liquid, lemongrass paste which think had lemongrass, turmeric, lime kaffir leaves, red chili). A little tough to understand teacher but was fun and good value. Then sticky rice with mango for dessert. Ended around 1:30 pm.

There are lizards everywhere here. After lunch went to pool and got crappy piña coladas and read.

Afternoon went to Bodia Spa which is on side street near Blue Pumpkin. Got 90 min aromatherapy massages in one “room” with little wall type thing in between. $38 each is very steep for Cambodia , but place was nice and worth it. Nicer than eg Touch in BH where 60 min is $57 and you have to tip.

Then walked around a bit more and back to hotel to shower. Oh, after lunch also went to book store with illegit but cheap. I bought Kitchen Confidential and also The Lonely Planet Story for $11.

Had a glass of wine in room then went outside and got fried noodles with beef from street cart right in front of hotel. Bought water (about 50-60c for 1.5 litres) and looked for some pancakes without luck. Ate noodles in room, $1 fed us both dinner. Siem Reap definitely has some backpacker vibe but perhaps not quite as much as I expected, which makes sense given it’s a world famous cultural attraction. Not the same vibe as Thailand , at least in the islands or Khao San Rd.

11/24

Woke around 5:15 and got tuk tuk to Angkor Wat, arrived around 6:30. Beautiful weather on ride, ticket station empty where Monday was packed. Main entrance is on West so sun rises behind temple. Pretty clouds reflecting in the moat. Very crowded right inside gate but walked through and over to East entrance where not crowded and pretty. Saw some cows by the moat. Romped around for a while, went up steep wood steps to upper level once opened (think 8 am). Nice views. Scaffolding in many places which a bit of a bummer but oh well. Also saw tons of monkeys playing on East side of temple, very fun. Around 9:30 had breakie at Matthieu next to Chez Sophaea outside the temple (think Mathieu and Chez Sophaea are same). Great scrambled eggs, baguettes with jams and butter, latte and espresso. Peaceful spot, pricier than most but very civilized meal. Kenny just texted me that Thursday has been declared National Day of Mourning so we’ll see what that means.

Our tuk tuk driver is Naro (?), $13 for the day, didn’t bargain at all.

After late breakie we drove through Angkor Thom to Ta Prohm. The jungle temple, was fairly crowded but neat and liked it with trees growing all in and around. Feels more natural though is maintained whereas hear Beng Melea (sp?) farther away is more truly wild. Then around 12:15 went to Bayon (54 faces) and walked around a while. Hot and not ideal light but also less crowded than usual. Then walked back along rd to Bauphon and Elephant Terrace etc and got ice cream before meeting our driver. More restoration work and closed areas than I expected, in general. J was bummed 😉 she didn’t get to ride an elephant because have em in morning at Bayon but we kept on to Ta Prohm and when returned…

People use bikes and mopeds for a lot, eg sell sunglasses out of big case attached to back or grill food on a built in. Back to hotel around 2:30 pm.

Went to internet cafe around corner from our place. Good connection for $.75/hr. A number of work peeps, Cubell, Sharath, Cheech emailed to check in after stampede (reports now say 378 dead). Then went across street to Cafe Central which is open air (big windows with plantation shutters, kind of colonial vibe with the potted plants and wicker chairs) caddy corner from old market on Northwest. Got mango daiquiris and margarita pizza. Western menu with some local as well, slightly more expensive than some but seems nice. The pizza was ok, sweet potato pakora (like fritter with corn etc) with mint dip I loved. Around here, not that many Americans. Lots of Europeans and Asians and of course quite a few tour buses.

Back to hotel and washed a few clothes then up to pool where I read and J napped. Really nice on roof in evening when cooler and lights on. J slept a while and I read, back in room.

Dinner at Socheata on market. More authentic, J got fried noodles with beef and a jackfruit shake, and I got khmer chicken (with palm sugar), quite tasty. But also got green papaya salad which was awful. Think has some kind of fermented paste or something which to me tastes rotten. And reminds that on Monday at start of 1000 lingas hike our guide had me taste some liquid from a cut branch which was like sour glue tasting. Guess it’s supposed to help ease pain…hopefully more than it causes in the mouth. Later for us tonight, finished dinner around (gasp) 9:30.

There are other parts to Siem Reap we didn’t see, we really just did temples and stayed around old market area except a brief foray across the river yesterday morning. Didn’t do FCC or Hotel de la Paix or National Museum or any bars or restaurants on airport rd…

11/25

Breakie at hotel then check out and get in car with our driver, $85 to Phnom Penh with stop at Kompong Plukh to see flooded forest. Drove about 1 hour, nice to see more of Siem Reap and countryside. Driver used to work for UN and NGOs, think as…driver. KP about 6 km off rd, dirt with villagers around and a little market etc. Then stop at station and paid $20/each for entrance and boat tour on long wooden boat that has maybe 24 seats on wooden benches, two rows of 6 doubles. Just us and car and boat driver on our boat, each seems to depart with only a few tourists…not efficient but guess more full employment. Boat driver is orphan, maybe 16 years old and think paid about $85/month by government and boats til about 1 pm then goes to school. Driver says men get married usually 25 and up, women 17 and up. Often live with her family a few years to save money. He says KP is much better and less crowded than Chong Kneas floating village. He said no mosquitoes on lake now, only at night. Hope he’s right!

On drive to KP also pass turnoffs for the Roluos temples I think.

No mosquitoes confirmed. KP very cool and unique experience. Boat through narrow low tree-lined water lane maybe 20 minutes and then pass government buildings and then get to village, with wooden houses raised maybe 20 ft above water. Lots of kids. People live here to fish. Also saw some pigs in little floating pens, a couple little wooden dug outs with fruit. You pass a monastery on the way too, which is on land. Could get onto smaller boat without motor and go more inside the trees but we didn’t. Get out to open lake and just chill for a bit. Could swim but I was afraid of sickness. Then returned to land around 11:30 am. Funny how everyone is always hustling, but in pretty mellow way. Like our driver telling us can do Phnom Penh in one day and then one day go to Kep and islands and he could drive us and cheaper than if arrange through hotel…something about 35%.

KP has some other tourists but quite few, does not at all feel crowded or touristy.

Always fascinating to see a way of life without materiality. Really all you need is food and water, so if you can get that you just hang out and do odds and ends. And hope you don’t need much in the way of healthcare. See some hospitals and clinics around. Think guide first day said government provides care for everyone up to 15.

Boat has fine looking life jackets but nobody uses. Not a ton but of course see trash in water, and driver throws in his cigarette after a few puffs.

Saw a wedding at market by KP and then many more on the drive. Says they last 2.5 days. Real aggressive driver, no margin for error. And again wheel on right side (another Camry from Japan ). Road to Phnom Penh in pretty good shape. Speed limit 90kmh, sometime he goes about 100-110.

Our Monday tour guide asked a lot about how many lanes we have on our highways. And he laughed a lot at things we wouldn’t necessarily laugh at. And of course they’re amazed at the money we have. The top tax rate, hard to fathom someone can make $250k in a year. Seemed to have a negative view of Obama of late.

Lunch today at some place on the way. Looks like tourist stop but at same time pretty bare bones. Like big place with lots of big tree tabletops and stools but authentic menu and lunch with two sodas was $6 and bathrooms have hole in the ground.

Everywhere takes $ and quotes in $ but often give small change in riel and use interchangeably at 4000 riel per $…think now official exchange rate is about 4050. But at ATMs I’ve tried/used they only dispense $, so you can’t arb for the extra 1.25% 😉 Outside more populous areas and even some within you can buy petrol in plastic or whiskey type bottles.

Almost everyone seems looks healthy, at least where we’ve been very little evidence of war, and nobody is fat nor looks malnourished.

Pass through Kampong Thom which looks like decent sized city/town. River runs through.

At lunch J had fried noodles with veggies and I had spicy soup with fish. So so, fish had bones. I got spicy but was easily tolerated. Chili sauce generally hasn’t been that hot either. Either light for tourists or food not THAT spicy here or a bit of both.

Every Lexus SUV I’ve seen has big Lexus writing and logo on driver side. And some (all?) Land Cruisers as well. Not much military or police presence that I’ve noted. And granted we stayed in touristy areas pretty much and never out past 9:30 but Siem Reap felt very safe.

J noticed some houses are very plain looking with weathered wood but had brightly colored staircase.

Lots of monasteries in the country.

I’ve been reading Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know about/by Ranulph Fiennes, crazy badass explorer/endurance guy. J reading law school outline and Let the Great World Spin. She read I Don’t Remember Anything already, didn’t love it.

Most signs are in English and Khmer (Sanskrit derived I think).

Drive is pretty long, arrived at Blue Lime hotel in Phnom Penh around 5:15 pm, would say at least 5+ hours of driving. Phnom Penh is a real city. Bustling, a little intense.

Saw one KFC in Siem Reap and nothing else. Blue Lime is hip, little bit of Viceroy feel to me. Off alley near National Museum, lobby with couple couches and free computers then walk through pool area (infinity edge, like last place) with several little cabana types and our Room was 21 (last was 201) which is good sized with king bed and private plunge pool in back. $75/nite, but tomorrow we have to switch rooms. Took a dip and left around 6 pm, walked toward riverfront, got some eye drops in pharmacy and went to FCC for drink and ended up getting dinner. Happy hour 5-7, got Mai Tai and Passion fruit drink and strawberry mojito and Angkor Sunset, and 3 small plates. All in $22, pretty good, not amazing. Good spot, on corner on river with 2nd floor (as everywhere, what we call 3rd floor) bar and tables and open air and then rooftop terrace. Lots of white peeps there. After dinner walked a few blocks up riverfront then came back and turned in at Amanjaya. At next corner was spot called Derk Wang which had great looking beef bbq out front. Headed back to room and got home about 8:30. Still warm but nice breeze and a little cooler than Siem Reap. Phnom Penh seems cool, lots of activity, lots of street food. Nice big riverfront area with little park between street and river.

Were planning to do Friends for dinner and passed on walk home (right near hotel) and was closed so guess good decision.

Been taking 4-6 pepto/day and so far, knock wood, no stomach problems.

Rooms here are pretty spacious, concrete bed and grey tile floor. Funny because much more modern looking and has old tube TV where last place had Sony flat screen (maybe 37″ or so) with DVD player.

11/26

Woke around 6:45, ate included breakie out by pool. Coffee, passion fruit juice, bread with jam, scrambled eggs, fruit (banana, pineapple, watermelon, mango). Had to switch to a smaller room (#5, on 2nd floor) so ate then packed up and left bags in room and took tuk tuk to Russian market. Walked around a while, bought some t-shirts and J a top and wicker stuff and little lights to hang, and I got a $3 digi watch. Market has lots of clothes and scarves/throws, prepared and raw food, jewelry, auto/gardening/mechanical stuff. Stayed til about 11:30 then to Tuol Sleng (S-21), the genocide museum. In old high school right in city, pretty depressing. Spent about an hour then same tuk tuk back to hotel. $10 for the roundtrip.

Each place has outlets that take a regular plug. Saw some big houses, of course in middle of all and behind big gates.

Balance must be great because lots sit sideways on the back of mopeds. And sometimes see 3 or 4 peeps on a moped, some kids. Very non-aggressive or confrontational culture as far as I can tell.

Tried to go to Friends for lunch but sign says closed Nov 19-29. Bummer! Then were gonna go to where saw bbq last night but think they grill/roast all day and then serve at night. So walked back to river front and ate at Anjali, with seats side by side right on edge of sidewalk so can watch traffic and river. J got seafood fried rice didn’t like much, I got pan fried fish with kampot pepper and herbs and fries, liked it a lot. Also got shakes and my ice coffee were tasty. Maybe a little cooler / less humid here than in Siem Reap.

Saw a couple gay bars in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, good to see it’s tolerated at least somewhat, not sure extent.

Have barbers on side of street, think cut is about $1.25. And guy had a trimmer device but instead of electric power it’s connected to scissors handle looking things and he just opens and closes scissors over and over!

Toyota seems to dominate car market here, lots of Lexus, Land Cruiser, Camry, some Corolla and RAV4, think one sports car looking thing we saw was like a MR2.

Far bank of river has some truly enormous billboards.

After lunch walked and saw Wat Onaloum (sp?) but can’t go inside, then to National Museum . $3 entrance, liked it. History on country and Angkor , lots of old statues and carvings, lots of bronze and sandstone. Nice courtyard area. Then back to hotel to swim. Refreshing and sat in cabana but mosquitoes. Bites starting to add up. Each night until now our bed had netting around so am a little worried for these next two nights. From museum I wrote: Someone should make a movie about The Reamker, Indian story.

BlackBerry data hasn’t worked whole trip, phone and text work. Saw weekly newspaper at lunch, has listing of activities including music and art and pilates etc. Probably neat to be expat place like this.

Went to Chow/Quay on the river front for 7 Eleven at 7 pm (on Friday? only). Hotel, looks cool. Great rooftop with chill lounge DJ and chairs and tables etc and great cocktail menu. Happy hour so grapefruit basil martinis for $2.75! Dinner menu as well but didn’t eat here. And weather is great.

Talking about how mellow a culture. Serious city but never beef between tuk tuk drivers over customer, and no road rage at all. At most you see someone look at another driver as pass, but no cursing or gesturing or even muttering under breath. Not much begging. Lots of peeps trying to sell you stuff or give you ride but minimal begging.

Country blessed with almost no natural disasters. Minimal monsoon I think and not really anything else. GDP per capita isn’t necessarily a good measure of quality of life since only measures commercial transactions. If you grow fruit and catch fish and collect rain water and have no disasters or violence, your income and GDP contribution might be zero but your life aint so bad. Granted we saw areas close to lake and rivers and I’m sure some in countryside are “poorer” and in city it’s tougher life, but…think may also be an element of after Khmer Rouge peeps stick together and are so averse to conflict so…

Dinner at Van’s in old Indochina Bank building, just off the river. Fairly empty, nice space. Had smoked duck breast and scallops with passion fruit to start, then duck ravioli in sauce and boneless pork shank. Not bad, not blown away at all but pretty good. About $100 all in with bottle of Cotes du Rhone and water. Took tuk tuk here for $3, could probably bargain more and in general than we did.

After dinner went to Riverhouse Lounge. Fair number of bars etc right there. RL was two stories, paper said hip hop but more like top 40. Kind of cheesy yet young and attractive crowd. Were there about 5-10 minutes at 11:15. Many tables with bottles, all black label. Tuk tuk so easy to get when need one, standard rate around town seems to be $3. Hotel location seems really good, most places on/around river front are quite close.

11/27

Didn’t sleep so well, dogs howling and noise etc. Woke around 7:45, at breakie I had fried eggs. Coffee has been good everywhere. Took tuk tuk to Wat Phnom, the buddhist temple on a little hill paid $1 each to go in but seemed like if you came from different side it was free?? Nice decorations inside. Some monkeys around. J devastated that no elephants there that day, guess he was hurt. Then walked past US embassy and to Raffles hotel le royal. Nice place, cute cafe and shops, think elephant bar supposed to be nice place for happy hour. Right next to National Library which is closed on weekends, and across from biz school that’s in conjunction with Malaysian school. Walked South along Monivong past train station and tall Canadia building, then to Psar Thmei, the central market. Has big dome and then many arms shooting off, kind of more of the same. We bought quick dry shirts, scarf, table runner, bed decoration, t-shirt gifts. Got a coconut to drink, surprised how much liquid inside. Then walked over to Sorya shopping centre, a 7-8 story mall. Walked through Lucky supermarket, quite nice. Have these packaged meals to cook with meat, veggies, seasoning etc, for about $1.90. One store we went into (BS Fashion, haha) was not at all cheap. Then got ice cream cones at Swenson’s in the mall, solid if pricey for Cambodia. Can sit down and they’ll take your order. J got macadamia, I got this vanilla with pb thing and blueberry cobbler. Then walked down St 63 several blocks, saw Dept of Plastic Arts and Handicrafts, and went East back towards river on St 240.

Some nice little shops, thought about lunch at Freebird (bar with Western menu) but went to The Shop which is great little cafe/bakery etc. Almost like an Urthh Cafe, but better. Seemed to be spot for either tourists or expats or both. Attractive crowd. J got baked brie sammy, I got roast pumpkin and goat cheese salad. Finished up about 2:15.

Really enjoying Phnom Penh , very much has the third world big city feel but manageable and pretty safe feeling and some hip spots / oases.

Went into some more nice stores…housewares, beads, women’s clothes. At corner of St 19 (?) is Red Apron wine shop and bar and then Rubies wine bar as well. Walked down to Royal Palace but didn’t go in, and tuk tuk guy tried to get us to go to some orphanage but we didn’t because unsure of truth and he said it was 20 minutes each way and tired etc. Walked back to hotel up St 178 and got home at 3:40…drained. Pool.

Earlier today walking we passed used car dealer, prices crazy! Was like $40k+ for a 2004 Lexus SUV. Think an ’09 Camry was about $32k. Went out around 6 pm, grabbed some chicken on a skewer by hotel. Crappy part of wing, cost $.25 and not worth that. Then went into clothes store but didn’t buy anything and then finally the holy grail of Derk Wang bbq! On the same street as Friends but a little North, on a corner. Have cow roasting all day. I got small plate of meat, they serve it with sauces…one is like bbq, one like a lemon pepper with lime juice, another has lemongrass and chilis and lime juice…latter two they put together at the table. We each got a bottle of Angkor beer. They also serve cow innards, braised ox penis, and other things…we refrained. Solid.

Love how no stop signs or lights at all but a few major intersections, yet everyone just gets through. Quote of trip is definitely “hello, tuk tuk”.

Took one to Equinox on St 278 by St 51 (cool little area with bars, shops etc.). Close to Independence Monument . Right across from Elsewhere Bar where have big expat party think first friday of the month. Looks like cool spot with a couple pools and little beds/lounges jutting into them.

Equinox is 3 stories, we sat at bar on 2nd level which is open air and got pizza margarita and mojitos and then a bunch of Angkor drafts. Mekong Pirates is this reggae/funk band with almost a bit of Israeli sound and they went on around 8:30. Maybe 10 or so mainly white dudes and a Cambodian (?) female singer (but some guys sing too), music is in French. Lots of peeps there, seemed to be expats and maybe longer-stay backpackers. Great band and great vibe. Were a couple little kids there with parents, noted how you’d never see that in US but do see it abroad sometimes. Then went up on 3rd floor roof, beautiful night.

Around maybe 10 or 10 :30 walked across street and up to top level (3rd/4th floor) of Top Banana guesthouse and hung out at the bar. That was mainly longer stay backpackers, had bartender Todd from Albany who was very nice. We talked for a while with this guy from Seattle . Really fun. They had happy chocolate truffles on the menu but had run out, and when we left around 11:30 we had tuk tuk driver take us to river front to check out Happy Pizza, and everything was DEAD. FCC maybe was open, but every place else was closed, streets were pretty much abandoned, we were shocked since it was not even midnight on a Saturday. Not sure if most places just shut down early or if there was some effect from the stampede earlier in the week. Guy at our hotel desk suggested was the latter.

11/28

Nobody seems to tip, but I’ve generally been leaving change and maybe touch more at times.

Recalling our driver from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh when telling us about baby pigs we saw said that people buy them and “sponsor” them while they grow up before going to market. Sponsor, to become bacon…haha.

At breakie met a couple from CO (he grew up in Studio City, live Colorado Springs with place in Breckenridge), here a couple days before meeting up with small group for photo safari in Siem Reap then Myanmar.

Asia Life magazine seems good, helpful listing of events etc. That’s how we heard of the Mekong Pirates show last night.

After breakie went to Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. Pay $6.25 to enter, need to cover knees and shoulders. Pretty crowded. Nice buildings and architecture, not incredible but worth doing. Finished around 10, I bought the shirt I’d tried on last night (looks like button down with pullover, all one piece, $16) and back to hotel to shower and pack. It’s hot today.

Brought raincoat and zip off pants and pull over, aside from plane ride never wore anything but shorts and short sleeves.

Cab to airport was $10, takes maybe half hour. Ate sandwiches after security. Drinks there expensive, and have to pay $25 departure tax each.