Troy Archie – Everybody Knows This is Nowhere

It’s been nearly two weeks in Sri Lanka, I’ve been busy busy and have neglected to do much writing.  I spent a couple days in a beach town called Negombo before taking off north to an area filled with ancient temples called Anuradhapura.  I`d upload photos but it`s too much a pain and too time consuming.

Anuradhapura
Anuradhapura was a bit of a dive and the ancient temples weren`t too much a spectacle.  I suppose having previously seen Angkor Wat my expectations are a bit high.  The temples were pretty touristy but mainly by Sri Lankan pilgrims, which was cool but very busy.  There wasn`t too much going on in the town either and all in all it was a bit of a dump and the guesthouse was a bit dodgy and then some.  The only redeeming thing about the place was that I met up with some other great travellers; Andy (England), Danika (Australia), Case and Sonia (Holland).  The opinion of Anuradhapura was shared by all and we all got out of town on the same day via separate buses and somehow managed to all land in the same guesthouse in Sirgiriya.

Tattoos
The Sri Lankan`s really like my tattoos.  I get a fair bit of attention because of them with many people asking to take a closer look at them and to take photos of them.  At Anuradhapura some people visiting a shrine took a picture of my tattoo saying, “thank you, very spiritual.”

Sirgiriya
Sirgiriya is this huge rock formation that was used by monks long ago as a monastery.  I guess the locales say it was a king’s palace or fortress but anthropologists say different.  Anyway to climb the rock was $25, which I was willing to pay until the really amazing owner of the guesthouse we were staying at recommended climbing the giant rock right next to it called Lion rock that was only $1 to climb. It was a fun climb and I ended climbing lion rock twice and I completely skipped out on climbing the Sirgiriya rock.  Sirgiriya is usually a 1 day stop for most people but we ended up making it a 4 day stop, exploring to area and going on a jungle hike, a safari where I saw about 30 wild elephants, got a Sri Lankan massage and hit up one of the 5-star resorts pools for an afternoon.  Also met up with another really cool guy, Sebastian (Chile) who joined Andy, Danika and I.

Adam`s Peak
From Sirgiriya we bee-lined it a mountain called Adam`s Peak, which is a holly mountain that is sacred to the Christians/Muslims/Jews because supposedly at the top is the footprint of Adam’s form when he was cast out of heaven, meanwhile Buddhists believe the footprint Is that of the Bhuddha as he walked into paradise and to top it off the Hindi think it’s sacred for something that I can’t remember.  Anyway, climbing it was a must thing to do in Sri Lanka and because of the heat it’s best to start the climb in the middle of the night.  I met up with some other Canadians and we all started the climb at 1 am, which in the back of my mind felt was way too early but decided to keep quiet.  All the way to the top were vendors and little shops selling food, drink and bizarre stuff that I`ll get to later.  Sure enough Sebastian and I got to the top before everyone else at before 4 am and proceeded to stand around waiting for the sun to rise.  At this point I started to freeze my ass off; the top was probably about 15C, windy and it was all concrete and cold rock at the top.  I ended up having to descend down a bit to warm up by some vendor’s fire and watched the sunrise from a lower vantage point, which was probably for the better as I had no crowds bothering me and it was just me on the way down.

Trains, Buses and Tuk Tuks
One thing about Sri Lanka is getting around from place to place usually takes a full day and can be quite exhausting.  To go even 50km is a full day’s journey and a “4 hour” train ride usually turns into 8 hours pretty quick.  The town near Adam’s peak was shit and to get to it was about a 10 hour journey, where we travelled all day, slept for 5 hours (maybe), hiked up and down the mountain and got back into a bus and train and travelled another 6 hours.  What was supposed to be an easy 3 hour train ride turned into 6 hours crammed on rails.  It’s fun times though and part of the experience here.  It’s also Asia.

Tourism
Tourism in Sri Lanka is pretty funny.  A lot of tourists are Sri Lankans visiting their own country, which has led to a void of kitchy and cheesy tourist souvenirs.  I’ve yet to see any Sri Lanka t-shirts and I was certain you’d find dumb little replicas of Adam’s peak for sale as souvenirs but none exist.  Instead what you find is the weirdest shit for sale in the touristiest of places; random articles of clothing, stuffed animals, plastic statues of everything from Buddha to Bambi and cheap dollar store plastic junk by the boat full.  Completely bizarre from a westerner standpoint and the entire time I never saw a single person, specifically the Sri Lankans buying any of it.  Meanwhile all I want is a bloody t-shirt that says Sri Lanka on it.

Buddhism and Hinduism
One thing that makes things hard to put into context is that everything revolves around Buddhism and Hinduism.  They`re really interesting religions and I can appreciate them for what I know about them but it makes it really hard to put into context history and a linear time span.  Yeah X temple is super old but it means nothing to me because it`s not my history or culture.  It`s quite strange and hard to put to words.  I suppose I felt the same way in Europe with old ass churches.

Food
Up to this point food has been pretty disappointing here in Sri Lanka.  It`s good but very lacking.  Their mainstay is curry and rice, roti with curry and deep fried bread items. Past that there`s really not much else.  Even western foods are a bit hard to come by and I find myself craving a basic roast chicken and veggie meal.  There’s little street foods and what of it there is, is typically deep fried battered rice or weird bread items; not my flavors.  The curry’s are pretty good overall but there hasn’t been any that have stood out for me.  Typically you order curry and rice, a couple of hours ahead mind you, and you get an array of curries and rice.  It’s not like in Thailand/Laos or restaurants back home where you choose the red chicken curry or the eggplant curry, instead it’s a bunch of different curry’s that you have to guess what they are.

Costs
Overall Sri Lanka is a bit more costly than I thought it would be and most costly than Thailand/Laos.  Accommodations are bit pricier at around $15-$20 a night, which typically gets you a basic room with mosquito net, warm water and your own bathroom.  Food it alright at around $4-$6 a meal but again, pricy by Thai standards especially compared to what you get.  Travel on the other hand is stupid cheap; less than $0.50 for a +50km train ride or take a 3 hour bus ride and pay $1.50.   It’s pretty funny.

Highlands
From Adam’s peak we made our way to Nuwara Eliya, a British colonial town in the highlands.  It was a hard day’s travel to arrive there but worth the visit.  The temperature there was much more temperate than elsewhere in the country.  The temperature up there was probably around 25C tops and around 15C at night; made for some chilly nights when you only have a hoodie and shorts.  That said it was a nice reprieve from the usual +30C every day.  I was envious of the temperature there though; the guesthouse I was at had a wide variety of veggies growing in their garden ranging from cabbage, kale, and lettuce to lemons, citrus fruits and other exotic fruits.  The English started growing the cold-climate veggies and the Sri Lankans continued on with them.

It’s taken a bit but I’m starting to get into “travel-mode” and feel I’ve gotten past the WTF am I doing here, I miss home mindset.  It’s a good feeling I know there’s only more good things to come, namely beaches and Singapore.  I haven’t had coffee in nearly 2 weeks now and my tea consumption has gone down a lot.  I wish I was living my regular lifestyle as I was back home, diet and working out wise, and could see how the lack of caffeine makes me feel without the other changes.  That said I’m jones-ing for a cup but am holding out until I get to Singapore, which has some reputable cafes.  I’m also excited about the food scene in Singapore too.  But before that I have some more of Sri Lanka to see and some amazing beaches to sit on.

Tags: Australia

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