Rest of Sri Lanka

Phil and I arrived at the Colombo train station with our full packs on and ready to take on Sri Lanka's capital. Knowing that when we'd walk out of the station we'd be endlessly harassed by tuk-tuk drivers, we decided to walk on our own to the nearby YMCA. (Only $6 a night!) Phil had his compass handy so we followed our map and walked. And walked, and walked. In the midday heat we finally solicited some help from an old shopkeeper, who was terribly excited to be able to be of some assistance. It didn't take awhile to notice that everything he was pointing out on the map wasn't where we'd thought it'd be. And since the old guy looked like he doesn't do much but hang out in that area, I had a hunch and dug around for my own (badass) compass to find out that Phil's bulls*** Brookstone compass was exactly right if the world was upside down. Phil = minus one point.

Now Phil would want me to mention that we almost missed a train because I was having some stomach issues, so now the point spread is about 0.5 points. Hope that makes you feel better Phil, you and your little girl compass.

Later that day we fell victim to our first tourist scam. We were walking by the presidential palace when this guy started asking us where we are from etc. After a bit of walking we noticed that there were tons of Sri Lankan soldiers on the road and no one else in sight. The guy with us said that area is restricted (which it was) and that we should hop into this tuk-tuk that conveniently just showed up, so we did. Long story short the tuk-tuk cost us about 1500 rupees, which is about 15 US dollars, which is also about enough for the driver and his friend to go on an all expenses paid beach holiday with their extended families. Phil and I were not pleased, but we took some consolation that it was a cheap lesson for us to learn for the rest of the trip.

Colombo doesn't really have all that much to see, and the markets were full of horrible name brand ripoffs like ESPPIT, so there wasn't much to buy. Who even buys real ESPRIT these days anyway? We left early the next morning for Kandy hoping that the lush interior of Sri Lanka would offer us something more.

The Sri Lankan trains are much more comfortable than the buses. Phil and I spent lots of time on the doorway of the train and looked out onto the tracks. The cool air was refreshing and the never-ending sceneries made it arguably more comfortable than sitting inside (although more dangerous). The steady incline up to Kandy provided us with a contrast of the beach Sri Lanka we have come to know, as the drop off cliff rolled into a continuous sea of green foliage. Sri Lanka natural beauty: A+. Sri Lankan Cities: C+ at best.

Kandy was a passable city, the one main tourist attraction was a temple where apparently Buddha's tooth lies, hence the aptly named Temple of Tooth. Great. We strolled along and constantly got harassed by the locals, which we were warned about as Kandy is a popular tourist city. Anxious to get away, we went on local train to the Pinewalla elephant orphanage, ranked number 3 of things to see in Sri Lanka according to our guide book. (Rough Guide to Sri Lanka = D-. Lonely Plant, sorry for forsaking thee.) While there were numerous elephants and it was cute watching them eating, and while yes we got excited and took loads of pictures, it wasn't really worth the trek up there. It was as if Jurong Bird Park was 5 hours away from Singapore and someone made a trip to see that. Plus the elephants were chained as if they were in some Oliver! style orphanage. Yeah anyway.. lame singer joke. I apologize.

We decided to take a local bus instead of a tuk-tuk. And since the bus was a completely packed 16 seater van with people pouring out of the windows, the bus guy told me to just hang out of the door and hang on to the window pillar. Phil made it inside because he's not as big (fat?) as me. Holding on the bus was easy until it started to make turns away from the door, making it significantly harder to hold onto the pillar. After five minutes with one leg in the air and the other straining to keep a grip on the step, I made my way inside the bus as people left. Phew. Hanging on to the side of a bus checkbox, is now checked. Done. By the way if you are my mom reading this, everything is complete fiction.

We hopped onto a train back to Colombo during when all the schools let out, so the train was crowded with school-kids and their ESPPIT backpacks. As we got closer to Colombo it got considerably more packed. When we got back to the YMCA, we were pretty ready to leave Sri Lanka and excited to see what India has in store for us.

Oh and I did laundry in the sink, I washed my Exofficio travelling boxers, which Phil and Scott also have. They are made of nylon so they dry really fast, AND they are incredibly comfortable. Is it weird that while we sleep in the same bed we are wearing the exact same thing?