Sri Lanka, The Spice of Life

By 4:01 pm on December 20th, I was chalked full of Christmas chocolate and in hyper-vacation mode. I dashed to KL Sentral (yes..with an 'S' and not a 'C') to meet Tyler and we were set to make our way slowly to Sri Lanka. Being frugal (a much more becoming word than cheap) we had booked a very taxing route to Sri Lanka; Leaving KL at 8:00pm, stopping in Maldives, and arriving in Colombo at 4:00am. Did I mention it is a four hour direct flight? When checking in, the Malaysian Air worker was pretty baffled, and would not accept our itinerary. Instead he hooked it up! He got us on a direct flight leaving at the same time and signed off on some dinner vouchers. With our bellies full of complimentary airport food, we booked a hotel for that night in Colombo, feeling good that we weren't going to be sleeping in airports and starting our vacation off with little to no sleep. This was surely a good omen for the trip to come!

I need to mention that we traveled over Christmas with one pretty amazingly, awesome gal, Catherine Barker. Catherine and I had done our Education degree together almost five years ago at UNB. We hadn't seen each other since then. She is currently teaching in Qatar, and as she wasn't heading home for Christmas either, we decided to end the Barker/Mary drought and vacation together! The hilarious conversations, laughter, and company of this trip is a large reason why we are coming back to work feeling rejuvenated. Needless to say, so much love for Barker!

So, a little background on Sri Lanka; Geographically, it is an island country just south of India. Politically, the country just ended a thirty year civil war in 2009. Culturally, most people are Sinhalese or Tamils, speaking those respective languages. Most people practice Buddhism. How's that for generalizations?

So we collected Barker and we were straight to catch the bus from Colombo to Kandy. First lesson learned; Public transit in Sri Lanka is to be way underestimated. What was supposed to be a 2 hour drive lasted about 5 hours with a fair share of interesting smells, near collisions and body contact. No problem; we arrived in Kandy in one piece. When we arrived, I was completely overwhelmed! The trip's planning by and large was left up to Tyler and Catherine (thanks!). I hadn't so much as googled a picture of Sri Lanka, and was going in completely blind and misinformed. For some reason I just assumed it would be another S.E Asian country. A place for us, where at this point, we are still in awe, but more or less comfortable. I was wrong. As our tuk-tuk dodged people, cows, and buses from the 1960's busting with people, I turned to Catherine and said "India!?" In response she said "Uhh yah. Sri Lanka is India's 'Little Brother'". For the first time since we had traveled to Asia three years ago, my head was truly spinning with all the new sights, smells and way of life. A pretty great feeling!

Where's Barker? This trip could have easily been dubbed 'Public Transport Tour of Sri Lanka'.

 We spent two nights in Kandy upon a hill looking out over the city. We hired a driver, Mr. Mo, and he took us to various tourist spots in the area, collecting kickbacks the whole way as we bought tons of souvenirs..and good on him! Our first stop was the beautiful botanical gardens in Kandy. The gardens themselves were amazing, but on top of that, there were tons of monkeys and giants bats flying around (more crazy would have been flying monkeys...I wonder if the Wizard of Oz was actually just Sri Lanka..?) We frolicked, avoided the guano and drank tea. It was a great change from the exhaust and concrete we left behind in KL, and for Catherine, the dry, sandy desert!

Next we headed off to spend some time with elephants. Now this was a longtime tourist want for me, since we had first started traveling around S.E Asia two years ago. I had fantasized about bathing and feeding the elephants, snuggling them and leaving them with big smiles on their sweet faces. However, the places we checked out seemed to be a bit of a harsh reality (I know I can be painfully naive). The elephants, although not being abused, were very much in captivity, and it was not the 'Jungle Book' magical scene I had imagined. Nonetheless, we did get to feed and bathe sweet Nona. I left with mixed feelings, but totally glad we experienced, and as lessons are learned, next time we will seek an elephant sanctuary setting.

Next we went to a spice garden. Kandy is very well known for its spices, and we were keen to taste and buy! By the time we left, we had indulged in a name-your-own-price massage and bought several home remedies. We also left feeling inspired to learn more about herbal medicine...we can now add that to the ever growing list of future careers. Leaving the spice garden smelling of cloves and fresh vanilla beans, we ended the long day with a quick stop to a tea plantation and a seedy underground liquor store. Before leaving Kandy the next day, we made a pit-stop at the market, buying a mass order of fresh spices..but not before sampling the very best fruit we have ever tried. Seriously. The mangoes, lemon bananas, papaya! I am ruined!

`
Leaving Kandy, we ventured forth on the train. The train was pretty full, and there was standing room only. We had heard that the views from the train routes throughout Sri Lanka were second to none, as they meander through tea fields and upon mountains. The rumors were true! Truly amazing vistas! We got off in a town called Hatton, and took a scenic hour long tuk tuk ride through the rolling tea fields to Dalhousie where we prepared for a hike up Adam's Peak, or Sri Pada. Depending on your beliefs, this mountain is said to be the place of Adam's (of Adam and Eve) first footprint on Earth (or Buddha's or Shiva's). Adam's Peak is a 5200-ish staircase pilgrimage up a mountain. As we made our way, huffing and puffing, we were passed by babies and elderly making the trip up the steep, steep slope totally putting us to shame. It's popular to leave at 2:00 am, to make it to the top for a 6:30am sunrise..and that's what we did. Although tough and exhausting, the sights from the top were pretty spectacular!

Adam's Peak from afar.

 

 

With no sleep, we headed back to to train station to make our way to Ella. As it was Christmas Eve, the train was packed. So packed that we held our bags above our head, my face was pressed up against the wall, all the while, a man was trying to pickpocket Ty. Oh, and it was a steam-engine train from the 1800's! After three hours, we got a seat on the floor, and rode out the rest of the trip in comfort. As I said before, the scenery was second to none and worth feeling like a sardine (don't get me wrong, a little forethought, and a first class ticket would have been the cherry on top..but where's the adventure in that?) So, after being up for 30+ hours and having our legs feel like jelly from the hike, we finally landed in Ella, where we would spend the night before Christmas!

Waking up the next morning, we reminisced about the best things about Christmas in Canada as it rained in the mountains of Sri Lanka. We suffered from about 30 minutes of pathetic fallacy, then picked ourselves up, had a massage and made plans to get to the beach for the remainder of our time in Sri Lanka! Having had our share of public transit, we opted for a private car for the trip (it was Christmas Day after all..) We made it to Unawatuna Beach and never looked back! Unawatuna was a village that was hit by the tsunami in 2004, but because it is such a loved place by tourists, bounced back really quickly. The spirit and kindness of every person we met in this village was amazing. I can see why it's so beloved.

Boxing Day spent on the beach, pizza and beer in hand!

Our final stop before leaving Sri Lanka was Galle. As we rolled into town, Sri Lanka did it once again! Another completely contrasting, equally beautiful setting. This time it was a colonial European town situated within fort walls, much like Old Quebec City, but with a tropical feel. We wondered the streets, ate the most amazing curries, and prepared to say goodbye to Sri Lanka....but not without one more crowded ride on a bus that broke down every twenty minutes.

I know I say this about every country we visit, but I can say with confidence that we will visit Sri Lanka again. It was genuine, diverse, beautiful ...and not to mention the head bobble is literally the best response to everything and anything! Try answering any question with the head bobble. Don't say a word, and see where it takes you!

Blue Christmas

This past summer, when making the 13 hour drive from Tyler's hometown to mine, we stopped off at a campground in Quebec. By total chance (questionable luck..?) it was indeed the completely unecessary holiday 'Christmas in July'. As we sat around the campfire sweating, drinking beer and listening to Christmas carols, we both felt a little Scroogy McDuck, as we found ourselves not totally in the spirit of the trailerpark traditions.
Fast-forward six months; We are still sporting flip-flops, listening to Christmas music and trying to figure out how to get ourselves out of this perma-deja-vu funk and into the proper decking the halls, cookie baking, Bailey's drinking, candy cane spirit. Besides the fact that this will be the third Christmas spent away from our families and Canada, I can easily say that besides a broken heart (I've always been a  bit melodramatic) we are seriously suffering from seasonal depression. This is the first tropical Christmas we have ever had, and I can honestly say, the palm tree adorned with twinkle lights is not cutting it. Nonetheless, I'm not one to wallow..at least not too long. Here's some ways we have been trying to kick the 'winter' blues, and highly recommend to anyone who is not quite feeling the holiday spirit as of yet;

1) Find the Christmas lights. There's nothing more satisfying than hitting your favourite mall, only to realize that it has been blanketed with sparkly lights, over-sized Christmas trees and  mountains of fake snow. Although sometimes (often) tacky, no one can deny that an abundance of Christmas lights makes them feel some measure of glee. In a city where it seems like there are more malls than anything else,  Santa's villages are a plenty. That coupled with the blasting air conditioning, is the only place I can comfortably order a hot toffee nut latte and imagine that the winter wonderland isn't just a ploy. This really gives new meaning to 'retail therapy'!

'Santa's coming! I know him!'

2) Mention the word 'Santa' to a group of children. As a Grade One teacher I do admit that I have had to muster, encourage and put out some serious Christmas energy, in particular, in the lead up to our Christmas school concert. As we rehearsed our (spectacular) rendition of 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town', wrote letters to Santa, baked gingerbread men, made ornaments and erected our own Christmas tree, nothing, and I mean nothing winds my students up like the four simple words "Santa Claus is cooommmiinnnggg!". This instantly cues a jumping, arm waving, screaming reaction, and why not? Let's face it, Santa is a rockstar.

3) Help others. Recently, our friend Hutchy, Tyler and I headed over to a community centre in our neighborhood that feeds about 500 homeless and needy people. We spent the morning peeling, chopping, and in Tyler and Hutchy's cases working the woks. We met a couple of super friendly 'mom-types', Jackie and Jane. While the boys used their muscles to cook up over 200 chickens, and about 20 pounds of cabbage, I got to talking with Jackie; A spicy, 60 year old widowed Chinese woman. She had a great sense of humour, gave sage relationship advice and shared openminded opinions about all areas of life. She was one of those people that you find yourself having a deep and meaningful with, despite only knowing her for 5 minutes. In the course of our conversation she shared so much optimism and positivity. It was great to get out of our regular, self indulgent routine and connect with the community we are making our home!

4) Belt out the tunes. Void an embarrassing home video, you can imagine how this one goes.

5) Get together. I think the biggest difference between celebrating Christmas in Asia opposed to North America is it's only celebrated for one day. ONE! This is clearly not enough. To feel complete I need at least a solid two weeks of cheese platters, ugly Christmas sweaters, potlucks, eggnog, friends and family. This year, as we will be traveling over our Christmas break (to Sri Lanka and Borneo!) we won't be doing the makeshift Christmas dinner with all the other 'Christmas orphans'. Instead, we did it the best way we knew how; Santa hats and drinks by the pool...it is 40 degrees after-all.

If all else fails, draw the curtains, blast the air conditioner,and Skype yourself into a Christmas party!
When it's all said and done, that is pretty much it for us and Christmas 2013...We are off to Sri Lanka on Friday! Without a doubt, we will be thinking of all our friends and family throughout the holiday season with a big smile and lots of love in our hearts. xoxo

Bali Bali and Beyond ☀

As we had hoped our vacation to Indonesia was filled with beautiful sunsets, colourful cocktails, whitesand beaches and amazing people. The Land of a Thousand Kings did not disappoint!

We left KL almost two weeks ago heading to the island of Bali. After a quick flight and an hour drive through the countryside, we arrived in a village called Padang Bai. Padang Bai is very small, and only frequented by travelers who are into diving, or taking a ferry to the next island. As a seemingly random place to go directly, we did have a purpose; diving. Tyler and I have wanted to try it for awhile, and as some of the best diving sites in the world are in and around S.E Asia we decided to pull the trigger! I was a bit nervous, but the whole thing was awesome and as a result, maybe becoming our new obsession! The first day we got some confidence and spent the day getting used to the gear and learning some skills in a pool. The next couple of days we were out with our instructor on a boat and under the ocean! We dove (dived?) between 12-18m which sounds a bit scary, but once you are under water, everything is so calm and there's lots to check out, your mind is not thinking about the depth. I was seriously blown away with the colorful coral, creatures (my favourite was definitely the giant sea turtles!) , and the feeling of breathing and swimming under water! Needless to say, we loved it! If anyone is thinking about trying diving, go for it! (...and if you're in Bali, Indonesia, check out OK Divers, Elana was great!)

Besides diving in the days, we did the rounds of the local night spots (we were on vacation after all..) Being a pretty small town, there are only a few bars and restaurants, and each night seemed to be happening at a different spot. Our evenings consisted of fantastic seafood dinners of Mahi Mahi (so fun to say), barracuda and snapper on the cheap and cocktails made with arak. Arak is local coconut liquor probably best compared to Korea's soju....but made in a man's bathtub in the jungle (or the Indonesian equivalent). Needless to say, we were easily able to kill some time when not diving.(Side-note and big UPS to our friend Danielle who wasn't diving; She was a trooper to hang around and got to know every vendor, bartender, traveler and spa worker) Our fav. was Sunshine Bar, who had some live music (with cameos from Danielle and I), fire poi shows, and the smiliest, friendiest staff! On the island of Bali, the Balianse are Hindu, and through chatting with some of the bar-staff, and asking a million questions, they explained that the Balanese Hindus live their lives with respect, and by respecting others. They even respect the demons, leaving offerings of fruit and flowers on the ground outside their doors each day, in order to show respect, and in return in hopes of getting respect. The philosophy sounded wonderful, and must ring true in some senses, as as a whole, every person we met while traveling was very personable, had the warmest smile, and most positive attitude!

Not quite as cool as the Ghost Rider.

Padang Bai

Dee entertaining at Sunshine Bar View from our first bungalows :) Downgraded slightly for our last night in Padang Bai...We all loved summer camp tho! After four days, we finally left this town, where most just stop for lunch feeling like we had really explored most nooks and crannies. We jumped on a two hour boat ride headed for paradise by the name of Gili Trawangan. Tyler spent the entire trip on the roof of the boat, and as the boat started rolling and rocking I was convinced I would see him flying past the window into the ocean. Of course, no need to worry, and he got some pretty great pictures on the ride over. As we were nearing the islands, he convinced Danielle and I head up top, only to get soaked! Wet t-shirt contest anyone?

We were instantly in love with this island! Since we hadn't done much beach lounging since arriving in Indo, we had minimal goals in mind for the island, but they did include tanning, diving, cocktails, shopping and spa treatments. Upon arrival, we quickly checked into a bungalow and hit the beach! The water and sand were amazingly clear and one of the most beautiful I have ever seen! On top of that, Gili T. had no vehicles on the island! This means, no honking, no exhaust, and no ducking out of the way for motorcycles on the sidewalk...for anyone who has lived/visited Asia, this is heaven. We were feeling pretty good! That night we hit up the obligatory reggae bar that is found in every tourist spot in S.E Asia...and even though cheesy, they never seem to disappoint! We watched a band, had some drinks and wandered home. The next day we walked past the bungalows, restaurants and bars and lounged at a beautiful resort on the edge of 'town' called 'The Pearl', taking in the again, beautiful scenery. That night we rented bikes and headed down the road (its a one road kind of island) to watch the sunset with a couple we had met, Hannah and Dan. From there the night progressed to a night market, and drinks on the beach, followed by night swims. 

Main street, Gili T.

Lounging at The Pearl

Sunset Bar

The next day Tyler and I biked around the island (which only took about an hour), checking out kilometres of empty beaches, stopping to marvel at the swanky resorts being built up and having a little picnic. That night we all prepped for a quiet night, lounging on giant pillows, and watching a movie on the beach. Just as the movie was finishing up, our friend Hutchy who lives in the same apartment building as us in KL showed up! We knew that he was heading to Bali, and a neighboring island (Gili Air) but didn't know if we would see him...turns out, through missed boats, and beverage-induced decisions, that we spent the next three days together! Our quiet night turned into something a bit different, as Hutchy decided to spend the night on Gili T. and go diving the next morning with us. 

After a morning dive (which is the best cure for a hangover), we met up with Hannah and Dan and all went out on a boat for some snorkeling. Since we had taken a boat and stopped at all three Gili Islands to do some snorkeling, we took advantage of the free ride and got dropped off at Hutchy's island to spend the night there with his friends. Turns out, Hutchy's friend&family were opening a bar and restaurant on Gili Air. They were having an opening party for their friends (and friends of friends in our case) so we tagged along! It was a fun night of drinks, dancing and the most incredible sunset! As small and unpopulated we thought Gili T. was, Gili Air was that much smaller. It still had the beautiful beaches, the dive shops, restaurants and bars, but on a smaller scale (instead of a two lane horse&carriage road, Gili Air was reduced to single lane traffic). 

The next morning, we dove again and got dropped off on Gili T. feeling a bit worn out and down a few pairs of shoes (?) Unfortunately (for him) Hutchy missed his boat back to Bali, so the boys went to do a 'night dive', and as I am afraid of the dark on land, Danielle and I headed off to catch one last romantic sunset. After we all met up again, we spent our last night together eating fish and drinking martinis. Before we left we all ran for the spa and got some treatments, hopped on the boat back to Bali and headed home dragging our feet a bit.
Although not the most culturally enriched vacation we have taken, we met our share of Wayans (Balanese only have a few names and regardless of being male or female, each person receives one of four names based on birth order), had the best time splashing about, getting into a new hobby, laughing it up, and soaking up the beautiful Bali sun!