India
India is like someone else's very unruly child that you have no right to reprimand, but the times when you give up your resistance- you see through the eyes of the unapologetic parents and love the child for who he is. Leading up to our departure, though, an overwhelming giddiness arose within us. We hadn't realized just how excited we were to escape the chaos, filth, and heat. Of course, now that we're gone, I miss that little wayward child! Especially the cuisine...
The last night of our Goan beach paradise lives, we lucked out and got a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, air-conditioned apartment for the very low-season price of $15. We enjoyed the air-conditioning more than words can describe. We took an early train to Hampi, a once sprawling metropolis of half a million people in the 14th century now only has a few thousand people. Hampi is covered with temples and ruins with amazing landscape that closely resembles the Flinstones town of Bedrock. Unlike our previous accommodation, we barely slept a wink as one could have baked cookies in our room/oven. Following Hampi was 2 straight grueling days of traveling to get to our first destination in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka
"The Island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) is a small universe; it contains as many variations of culture, scenery, and climate as some countries a dozen times its size." -Sir Arthur C Clarke
We have been very busy, having to travel pretty quickly through Sri Lanka with only 2 weeks here. So far we have really been enjoying this small universe. Our first destination was Kandy, home of the the Temple of the Tooth, where the tooth relic of Buddha is enshrined. We stayed two nights and enjoyed the beautiful lake, lush scenery, and cultural dance performance. Next we were lucky to get a seat in the observation car of the train to Newara Eliya. The scenery during the 4 hr ride was spectacular. Newara Eliya is the highest town in Sri Lanka, and home of many rolling tea plantations. We stayed one night, and toured the Pedro Tea Factory. After Newara Eilya we took a few buses to get to the village of Dolhousie to climb Adam's Peak.
Adam's Peak (a.k.a. Sri Pada which means Sacred Footprint) is Sri Lanka's holy mountain sacred since ancient times to Buddhist, Hindus, Muslims, and Christians. Thousands of people make the pilgrimage to the summit every year, young and old alike. We woke up at 1:45 a.m. and got to the base of the mountain at 2:15 a.m. For the next 2 hours and 15 minutes it was like being on a stair climber. I thought I was going to die, or at least throw up. I couldn't believe how old some of the people were, climbing the mountain. And also, parents climbing while carrying their children on their hips. Most people were either barefoot or wearing flipflops! We got to the summit much too early and sat in the freezing cold for an hour and a half waiting for the sunrise. We were quite disappointed to find that they had covered up the "footprint" with a Buddha shrine at the summit. The sunrise was breath-taking, though, and worth the climb and the cold. It has been a few days since the climb, and we are still wincing around in pain!
After a couple days in Dolhousie we spent hours on a bus and a train (standing room only, on mountain roads and rails) to the mist-shrouded mountain village of Haputale for recovery. We are staying with a great family at their very nice hotel for $5 a night. Last night we were invited to watch and help the mother cook the dinner she was preparing for us. It was great to see the local way of cooking, seeing all the spices and curry leaves being thrown into the dishes. It was great to eat as well.
We have been in Haputale two nights already, but are sticking around for one more night as the whole country is celebrating Vesak tonight, which is the most important full moon of the year as it marks the Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and passing away. Next we will head to Ella, which is supposed to have some beautiful waterfalls and a Little Adam's Peak! We are also planning to go to the east coast for, hopefully, some surfing lessons, then maybe head north to see the Sri Maha Bodi- the oldest documented living tree and also grown from the same tree that Buddha supposedly reached enlightenment. We only have a week left here and then we'll be off to Bali!
We have now been gone for 3 months, but feels like years. We miss you all and hope this finds you well!
India is like someone else's very unruly child that you have no right to reprimand, but the times when you give up your resistance- you see through the eyes of the unapologetic parents and love the child for who he is. Leading up to our departure, though, an overwhelming giddiness arose within us. We hadn't realized just how excited we were to escape the chaos, filth, and heat. Of course, now that we're gone, I miss that little wayward child! Especially the cuisine...
The last night of our Goan beach paradise lives, we lucked out and got a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, air-conditioned apartment for the very low-season price of $15. We enjoyed the air-conditioning more than words can describe. We took an early train to Hampi, a once sprawling metropolis of half a million people in the 14th century now only has a few thousand people. Hampi is covered with temples and ruins with amazing landscape that closely resembles the Flinstones town of Bedrock. Unlike our previous accommodation, we barely slept a wink as one could have baked cookies in our room/oven. Following Hampi was 2 straight grueling days of traveling to get to our first destination in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka
"The Island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) is a small universe; it contains as many variations of culture, scenery, and climate as some countries a dozen times its size." -Sir Arthur C Clarke
We have been very busy, having to travel pretty quickly through Sri Lanka with only 2 weeks here. So far we have really been enjoying this small universe. Our first destination was Kandy, home of the the Temple of the Tooth, where the tooth relic of Buddha is enshrined. We stayed two nights and enjoyed the beautiful lake, lush scenery, and cultural dance performance. Next we were lucky to get a seat in the observation car of the train to Newara Eliya. The scenery during the 4 hr ride was spectacular. Newara Eliya is the highest town in Sri Lanka, and home of many rolling tea plantations. We stayed one night, and toured the Pedro Tea Factory. After Newara Eilya we took a few buses to get to the village of Dolhousie to climb Adam's Peak.
Adam's Peak (a.k.a. Sri Pada which means Sacred Footprint) is Sri Lanka's holy mountain sacred since ancient times to Buddhist, Hindus, Muslims, and Christians. Thousands of people make the pilgrimage to the summit every year, young and old alike. We woke up at 1:45 a.m. and got to the base of the mountain at 2:15 a.m. For the next 2 hours and 15 minutes it was like being on a stair climber. I thought I was going to die, or at least throw up. I couldn't believe how old some of the people were, climbing the mountain. And also, parents climbing while carrying their children on their hips. Most people were either barefoot or wearing flipflops! We got to the summit much too early and sat in the freezing cold for an hour and a half waiting for the sunrise. We were quite disappointed to find that they had covered up the "footprint" with a Buddha shrine at the summit. The sunrise was breath-taking, though, and worth the climb and the cold. It has been a few days since the climb, and we are still wincing around in pain!
After a couple days in Dolhousie we spent hours on a bus and a train (standing room only, on mountain roads and rails) to the mist-shrouded mountain village of Haputale for recovery. We are staying with a great family at their very nice hotel for $5 a night. Last night we were invited to watch and help the mother cook the dinner she was preparing for us. It was great to see the local way of cooking, seeing all the spices and curry leaves being thrown into the dishes. It was great to eat as well.
We have been in Haputale two nights already, but are sticking around for one more night as the whole country is celebrating Vesak tonight, which is the most important full moon of the year as it marks the Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and passing away. Next we will head to Ella, which is supposed to have some beautiful waterfalls and a Little Adam's Peak! We are also planning to go to the east coast for, hopefully, some surfing lessons, then maybe head north to see the Sri Maha Bodi- the oldest documented living tree and also grown from the same tree that Buddha supposedly reached enlightenment. We only have a week left here and then we'll be off to Bali!
We have now been gone for 3 months, but feels like years. We miss you all and hope this finds you well!
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