A Closing Retrospective
I’m sitting at the airport retrospectively thinking about this trip. My time in Sri Lanka and Singapore has come and gone along with this trip in general. I feel and don’t feel ready to go back home but those are the breaks.
Sri Lanka
After a week in Singapore I had a lot of time to look back and put into context and comparison my trip in Sri Lanka. Everything I type and feel at this point is in retrospect of Sri Lanka and after my time in Singapore so things will obviously be very slanted and construed.
Overall I had a good time in Sri Lanka but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed with the country in general. I wouldn’t recommend anyone going to Sri Lanka nor would I want to go back myself. That’s pretty harsh sounding but that’s sort of the way it is. I`d go back to Thailand and Laos and recommend them anyone. Sri Lanka is a beautiful country with a lot of diversity and friendly people but it’s lacking in a lot of other ways that other Asian centers don’t. It’s hard not to compare Sri Lanka with other places but I’m human and it’s what we do; comparison brings context to everything we experience.
Food: Easily the most disappointing thing about Sri Lanka was the food. It was ok to good in general but there was nothing I ate that I will be waking up in the middle of the night craving or anything that I’ll be pining over The curries were good but not great and the complete lack of variety in general didn’t help. In all honesty I never ate so many omelets in my life; they were easy, quick, cheap, and safe and were without surprise. The same could not be said for food in general in Sri Lanka.
Other Travellers: Albeit I met some great people while travelling Sri Lanka, I did find it was hard to meet other travellers in general; there wasn’t an abundant of other “backpackers” travelling the country. Instead most of the other travellers that seemed to be frequenting Sri Lanka were older vacationing Europeans and middle-aged Europeans travelling with their children; lots of grey hair, families and small children in the country.
Getting Around: Getting around was a bit of a challenge at times but overall taking public transit was cheap, easy and except for the trains, were pretty fast, except for the last bus ride I took to the airport. That was the most ridiculous and insane bus ride yet. What was to be a relatively quick trip from Colombo to the airport 30km away turned into a 2 hour long painful journey with the bus driving 30km/h, which meant no breeze or wind into the bus, and then proceeding to stop at EVERY bus stop, regardless if the bus was flagged down or not. This added another hour to the trip. On top of all this, the ticket guy on the bus would get off at each station and call out “aipit-aipit-aipit-aipit-airport!” in an annoying Corky the Pig fashion (ask me to do an impression of this sometime). After about the fifth time of him doing this I was ready to knock the guy’s teeth in but refrained, regardless of the call continuing on for the next 2 hours. Fortunately I left to the airport with 9 hours before my flight due to boredom in the capital Colombo.
As painful as some of the buses and trains were, travel in general was part of the highlights of Sri Lanka.
Costs: I hate to make it about this but the costs in Sri Lanka were way too high for what you got. From the accommodations to food to activities it just wasn’t worth the bill. When I sat down and tallied my day-to-day costs covering transit, food, accommodations and activities it came out to about $38/day. For what I got, where I slept and what I ate I don’t feel that was a worthwhile price-tag. I didn’t “spurge” on any meals or accommodations, I skipped out on a number of activities that held higher price tags and there were days I kept my meal expenses pretty low (omelets, omelets, omelets!). I think if you did spend a bit more, which I’m sure the European vacationers were doing, you’d get a bit more of bang for your dollar but for the budget backpacker it was more a fizzle. I figure with a bit of conscious thought and budgeting one could easily spend the same amount per day in Singapore as in Sri Lanka, while sleeping in better places, eating amazing meals and seeing some pretty nice sites. Even public transit was cheaper in Singapore. This is all hard to come to grips and terms with comparing one is a developing nation and the other is a first world country. All in hindsight and by comparison I suppose.
Lackings
Of some of the minor things that I felt Sri Lanka lacked was the simple things like renting a bike and riding around the country side. I did a lot of this in Thailand and Laos but it was rather dangerous and sketchy to do in Sri Lanka as most of the towns were built around the main road with few or no smaller roads leading out to the country side. Riding along these main roads with the buses, cars and motorbikes flying along them was a death wish. Even the towns were pretty sparse and didn’t offer much wander and exploring like other cities and towns I’ve been to in Asia. There was a large absence of foreign ownership, for good and bad; often these foreigners open nice restaurants and cafes that help break the curry and rice routine. Overall I feel the country was a bit one dimensional and lacked a deeper level.
I don’t regret going to Sri Lanka, in fact I had a good time regardless of all the smack talk. Just simply getting out back on the road was great for me. Going at it alone was really good too. I gained a lot personally and feel I`m a fuller person than when I left. That probably sounds a bit hippy-dippy but I feel a greater appreciation for what I have, the life I live and the world I live.
Towards the last couple of weeks in Sri Lanka I couldn`t help but keep my eye on my calendar, counting down the days I had left in the country. Looking back, that`s obviously a bad sign. At the time my thoughts were that I was probably done with this type of travelling, that I just didn`t have it in me anymore and would probably stick to Canada and Europe from here on in. I figured I wouldn’t travel alone again and would probably travel with a partner from here on out; it’s not that I was lonely but that I was a bit bored. Then I went to Singapore and like a wave rushing over me I was reenergized. So much to see, so much to do, places to aimlessly wander, markets to check out, great food and other travellers to hang out with. This is the feeling that I wanted and didn’t really experience while in Sri Lanka. Yeah it’s hard to compare the two places but compare I shall.
Singapore
What a place. What a town. I had an amazing time there and wish I could have stayed longer. I originally was supposed to stay only 4 days but shorted Sri Lanka time and extended time in Singapore and I probably could have added another week onto it and not been bored. Did a fair bit of touristy stuff (museums, zoo, gardens) but also did a lot of market wandering and a tonne of wandering around through the cities many cool neighbourhoods. I spent a good amount of time and kilometers wandering around checking out different cafes too. I figured I walked over 12km a day there and that was with using the buses a fair amount. A great city to do one of my favorites; wander and explore. The food markets were amazing too. I had some of the most amazing curries and dished I ever had in those places and al for a few dollars a serving, it was awesome. I kept going back to this one place in the Indian market that made the most amazing butter chicken and mutton masala. What we have for butter chicken in Canada is nothing compared to what they were serving there and the mutton dishes were amazing. You don`t get mutton or sheep like that back home. Those were dishes that I`m already pining for and make up for the poor food in Sri Lanka
Overall Singapore was great and from what I could see and feel, it would be a great city to live in. I have half a mind to seek out a nursing job there but that`s a bit of a crack-pot idea and scheme; then again maybe not… Leaving was tough but I felt the same way when leaving Montreal a few years ago or Oslo last summer. It`s hard leaving cities you could see yourself living in.
Hungry
I’ve left Singapore with a bit of regret that I wasn’t still going on, that I wasn’t heading into Malaysia and Indonesia for another month in each respective country; the travel bug has bitten me again and my fire to see more as been rekindled. I was thinking that I would probably sit tight for here on in and not go on a major trip again until I’m done with getting my degree but nuts to that; life’s just too short and you need to make things like that a priority or another 6 years will pass by again before you realize you haven’t left home. All things considered I’m heading back out there next winter but longer this time. 8-10 weeks in Malaysia and Indonesia is the loose itinerary. Again, all things considered.
So that`s the end of this little trip. It was a good 5 weeks. When I left home I was very hesitant to leave and was tempted to cancel it all; I`m glad I didn`t. I feel that I gained a lot out of it this trip and it has me hungry and excited for more. I learned what I would do differently, what I`ll take with me and leave behind for next time.
I like having this blog kicking around for future travels and rambles. It would be cool to be 60 years old and still be contributing to it after x-many years.
Until then, safe travels.
Tags: Australia
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