TravelStream™ news feed for member lyncraven on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/lyncraven en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 22 Jul 2009 08:19:56 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lyncraven/1/1247638192/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lyncraven/1/1247638192/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lyncraven/1/1247638192/tpod.html Wed, 22 Jul 2009 08:19:56 -0400 RTW 2 - a second bite of the cherry!

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Kandy, Sri Lanka

Kandy

I arrived in Kandy late morning and met Tara, a really nice 28 yr old rickshaw driver who looked like a Tamil (a sizeable population in Sri Lanka). I asked him to take me to some digs, stopping for an ATM along the way. After trying several with no success, it turned out that my bank had put a stop on the account 'because of unusual activity', which must have meant my camera purchase in Singapore. Apparently this happens automatically, so no amount of telling them you’re travelling will make any difference! The digs were in a lovely location.

In the afternoon I arranged to visit a number of places with Tara, but the afternoon was to prove to be a disaster in one way, yet not in another! Kandy is an absolutely lovely town. Capital of the Hill Country, at 500m altitude it’s got lush, forested hills, nicely landscaped settings and, its piece de resistance, a beautiful lake. Thankfully, there are no bridges to spoil the setting, with the very famous Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa) sitting on one side. Town planners have definitely got it right here, with no ugly buildings around the lake area. And because there are hills around most of the lake, it gives a smashing setting, with trees rising up towards the clouds and lush vegetation in between all the discreet buildings.

Unfortunately, my guide book didn’t mention anything about Monday being a closing day for many sights (apparently the local council had a change of heart 6 months ago), so after a beautiful climb thro’ soft, deep green hills to the Hanthana Tea Museum, we found it closed. So too was the National Museum and Udawattakelle Sanctuary (wooded area) got the thumbs down from me. Again, tourists pay 660 rupees for a pleasant walk (nothing more) and I was sick of paying out for simply everything! My guide book also said it was ‘seriously overpriced’ so I walked away from the ticket office, while locals were all busy just walking thro’ free of charge.

In terms of the time and distance of other sights, this only left a visit to the British Garrison Cemetery. No-one was around as we entered (another place that asks for donations!), so we went in to read some of the inscriptions on the gravestones in this tiny cemetery. Altho’ many were victims of malaria, cholera, jungle fever or sunstroke, what was staggering was the numbers of young deaths! Of the 163 graves containing more than 500 people, there were many young men in their 20s, tens of tiny graves for infants, several for young mothers and 2 particularly sad graves: one for twin baby boys and another for 5 infant brothers! It was so tragic to see so many tiny gravestones. What was hilarious is that while we were looking inside, the caretaker had come and locked the gate and gone home!! But we managed to climb our way out without any bother!

In the early evening I went along to the Kandyan Arts Association & Cultural Centre to see a performance of the national dance of Sri Lanka. Kandyan dance became popular with its kings and has gained so much recognition that it’s performed in Buddhist temple courtyards, too. It’s also an integral part of the Kandy Escala Perahera festival, honouring the sacred tooth in the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (TSTR). This is the most famous and magnificent festival in Sri Lanka and one of the most famous in Asia (and I’ll miss it by a fortnight to its final night!). It’s a procession led by thousands of Kandyan dancers and drummers, beating thousands of drums, waving banners, cracking whips and performing back flips and great leaps, as they proceeded!

The evening programme also included some low country dances too. A number of musicians playing 5 traditional instruments (Pancha Thuryas) started off the evening with the Blowing of the Conch Shell & Drum Orchestra number – an all male affair. Then there was a Pooja Dance (paying homage to the guardian deities) undertaken by the ladies. Panteru Netum (panteru meaning like a tambourine) was performed by the men, wile the ladies danced a fine Cobra Dance. The action turned extremely colourful and dramatic with the Mask Dance performed by 2 of the guys (where the bird kills the cobra, driving away evil spirits) and the Mayura Vannama involves the ladies dancing with graceful movements and peacock styles. Excellent performances revealed the Roban Dance, where rhythmic dance patterns are involved while a single drum is spun in the air) but nothing could surpass the Ves Dance.

Performed by men in traditional attire of a Kandyan dancer, this takes years of rigorous training to attain full Ves dancer status. They wear a wide skirt-like lower outfit and sport a bare chest adorned with silver and ivory necklaces, with their arms and ankles covered in silver bangles. A total of 64 ornaments complete the red and white outfit, with a red headdress covered in silver adornments. The dancing is incredible and very professional, with huge back-flips and leaps, but very gracefully performed, while musicians beat drums etc.

Then there was a low country fired dance, showing the power of the dancer over the fire (running a stick of fire up and down their arms and in their mouths) and finished with a fire walking act over hot coals. Those performing apparently seek the divine blessing of the goddess Patini before performing this ritual, which obviously works, as both pairs of feet looked fine to me!

After leaving the theatre, I went on to the TSTR, constructed in the 17th and 18th centuries as a temple complex that was part of a royal palace. Housing Sri Lanka’s most important Buddhist relic (the tooth of Buddha), it was originally grabbed out of Buddha’s funeral pyre in 543 BC and smuggled into Sri Lanka in the 4th century AD. It started off in Asia, then Pollunaruwa and finally in Kandy, during centuries of being snatched by the Indian Army, nicked by the Portuguese and hidden all over the island. Its documented travel history is almost an epic in itself, but its importance is such that all Buddhist Sri Lankans make at least one pilgrimage here, with many worshippers constantly flowing through!

I went in the early evening, after the cultural show, as the heavily guarded shrine is open to devotees. During pujas (prayers or offerings), many local groups are received into the inner room (Vedasitwa Maligawa) for devotionals, the first being herded into a ‘pen’ where they make prayers etc before going inside. I was in a tourist queue, that walked in front of the open doorway, where a gold stupa-shaped casket was decorated with many ‘necklaces’ or chains of gold, sits 3 metres away. The casket contains 6 more stupas of diminishing sizes, with the tooth inside the smallest (altho’ no-one knows if it’s a replica, with the original securely retained elsewhere). We only got to see it for about 10 seconds, before we were forced to continue walking around.

The outer temple on the ground floor had very ornate doors, with drummers and clarinet-like instruments playing thro’out. I also visited the Alut Maligawa Buddhist shrine with its Thai Buddhist design, also with about 30 paintings detailing the turbulent history of the tooth’s journeys thro’ the ages! There were a lot of Buddha statues all around the periphery of the temple. I visited 2 more small temples opposite the tooth shrine: the Pirith Mandapaya (expositions of the STR on special occasions takes place here) and Pallemale Buduge (lower floor shrine). This latter contains a large gold-plated seated Buddha and a small crystal Buddha shrine. A very friendly monk talked to me here and I told him how the temple was very reminiscent in style to the Tibetan Buddhist temples. A Cambodian monk also appeared and was chatting to me in a very broad American dialect!

I also went into the Pattirippuwa (Octagon), which contains a library of valuable Dhamma books, some written on Ola leaves. The Pansiya Panas Jathakaya has 1,055 leaves (containing Five Hundred and Fifty Jathaka stories), under glass. As the temple closed at 8pm, I left the complex and walked back along part of the lake. What a funny day in such an outstanding setting! I couldn’t wait to see what tomorrow would bring!

Pinnewala, Peradeniya & Kandy

Tara and I met early the next morning, as we had a fair bit of travelling to do to reach the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage. Unsurprisingly, I had to fork out another 1,250 rupees for the privilege! But the sight was more than worth it. Originally we made towards a sheltered area, where 2 young elephants were being bottle fed with 2 huge bottles each! They were funny little things and kept coming over after slurping their milk and dribbling down their chins!

We then walked over to an open sanctuary area where the animals were free to roam (altho’ under supervision while we were there). There were just so many elephants all over the place, with several little ones tucked under their Mums within their family group. All the elephants were making a lot of noises, many I’d never heard before (and so unique an experience it seemed to be that there was a sound engineer there, recording them as they roamed).

We watched the groups for a long time, quite fascinated, before they headed over to a nearby river for bathing. I counted over 70 elephants, altho’ only a few got down to lie in the water and be scrubbed. Most stood and a few roamed about, whereas in Chitwan NP in Nepal, all the elephants filled their trunks when they got in the water and immediately started to spray themselves with water! They did perform a lot of very loving gestures within their groups, wrapping their trunks around each other’s heads and one large bull elephant tended to oversee the proceedings, altho’ one was being very loving towards him.

There were absolutely loads of tourists at the river, when we accompanied the elephants, that were not at the sanctuary and it made me think that they probably hadn’t paid at all! After all, this was an open river area and strictly anyone could view, so I wondered if many had been warned about the costs at the sanctuary and given it a miss. Ironically, when I checked my ticket afterwards, there were 2 tickets (altho’ we were asked for the total amount as one ticket): one for 750 rupees for the sanctuary and one for 500 rupees for the river!!

I returned from Pinnewala to the lovely Peradeniya Botanical Gardens, with the heavens opening just after we’d entered. Cultured and developed since 1371, the gardens were properly formed in 1821 by the English and nurtured ever since. Occupying a long stretch of peninsula with the Mahaweli (Sri Lanka’s chief river) flowing on 2 sides, the gardens occupy 147 acres, with over 4,000 plant species.

The Orchid House contained some beautiful flowers, including the largest orchid in the world, producing flower spikes of 2.5m long! The flowering trees and arboretum were stunning. The Pride of Burma is particularly beautiful, with a row of them at the main entrance. The 20 ha arboretum contains more than 10,000 lovely trees! There were also more than 200 species of palms with the beautiful Double Coconut looking stunning and producing the largest seed in the plant world (the fruits take 5 years to mature!). Then there were 3 brilliant palm avenues were: Cabbage (over 21m high), Palmyrah and Royal Palms.

There was also a spice garden, with trees of cinnamon (the main spice export in SL), pepper, cardamom and nutmeg (some planted in 1840 are still bearing fruit!). The great lawn was a huge expanse, with a whoopingly huge Java Willow/Fig tree. Like a giant, living umbrella, its ground spread is 2,500 sq m! My absolute favourite was a structure formed by a 2-tier circular hedge, where the inner hedge was raised up above the outer, lower one. Both acted a bit like pergolas, with covered vines and flowers wrapped around them. Within, there were beautiful plants around the periphery of the hedged circle and a big central display, like an island. It had 2 entrances/exits and was quite, quite stunning!

The circular hedge was close to a pretty little Japanese garden and a beautiful flower garden, with a fantastic hedge of golden, lime green and deep red coleus plants in huge shrub form (not at all like our little pots at home!), that lined one path leading to the circular hedge. Another firm favourite was the Bamboo Collections, with Burma Giant Bamboo being the largest known in the world. The stems are 30-40m high and 25cm in diameter, with an average growth rate of new shoots of 30cm a day!! I always think of Hellfire Pass (Kanchanabury, Thailand) when I see large creaking (or in their case I think moaning) bamboo.

There was also a medicinal garden, beautiful rock borders, a fernery, cactus house, plant house, mini lakes with marsh plants and Sri Lankan ebony trees (another favourite). There was a lot of rain at varying intervals, but it didn’t matter to me at all!! I’m in paradise in most gardens, most of the time!!

We moved on for a second attempt at the Hanthana Tea Museum, where we just got in before they were closing at 4pm!! In a lovely building that previously housed the 1925 tea factory, 10 years of abandonment was solved by the SL Tea Board and Planters Assoc’n. In typical wooden buildings, we were shown the old process machines associated with drying, fermenting, rolling, cutting and sorting etc, all reinforced by a display of the total factory working process performed by a scaled working model of the factory.

The museum also featured many artifacts used by the workers in the offices and there were photographs with detailed memorabilia about the lives of James Taylor (the first tea pioneer here), followed by none other than Thomas Lipton. A cute pair of small wooden shops sold varieties of tea from the different growing areas of SL (Nuwera Eliya, Ova, Fibula, Kandy and Ruvuma – all producing very different flavours and strengths), along with ornamental elephants and china.

I made my way back to the TSTR with my previous day’s ticket (another 500 rupees, not part of the Cultural Triangle ticket!), to visit their museum. I wasn’t disappointed. Located on the 2nd and 3rd floor of the Buddhist temple Aluth Maligawa, it contains many articles and books about the tooth’s turbulent history and many, many valuable articles offered in honour. There were loads of jewellery in gold and silver (including the popular 7-necklaces worn by brides at SL weddings). There were lovely carved ivory Buddhist tusks, Buddhist statues in every pose and every possible item associated with Buddhism.

While I was there, I also visited the four devales: Natha Devale with its sculpture gateway, Pattini Devale with its goddess of chastity seeing many women playing a role in its rituals and festivals, Vishnu Devale with this Hindu pantheon god being a guardian of SL and kataragama Devale, worshipping Skanda. Again, absolute evidence of multi-faith temples working in close harmony with each other on the same site, just like India.

Kandy lake

I would have loved to stay longer, but with such a short trip I had to move on the following day, so I got up early to walk right around the lake. I walked part way round, marveling at how lovely it was, before noticing 2 crocodiles lying on a horizontal tree branch overhanging in the water! It was so lovely, that it was difficult to believe that local chiefs who protested on behalf of the workers, who were unhappy to be working on the project, were put to death at stakes on the lake bed!! There’s also a small island in the centre that the last ruler used for his harem! The English added a white-painted parapet round its edge, while there’s a monks’ bathhouse near the Malwatte Maha Vihara monastery, close by.

Since the bombing of the TSTR in 1998, security has tightened considerably around one area of the lakeside, with traffic prevented from using the road, but thankfully pedestrians are fine to walk around, albeit under the watchful eyes of the guards. I made a detour from the lake to visit the National Museum, which was also used for the king’s ladies, just across from his original palace. It was a bit dusty, with old Royal costumes, jewellery, Buddhist ware, kitchen ware, household items and so on. There were some stuffed formaldehyde exhibits that fascinated the schoolchildren, but left me cold! It was worth a quick visit, but returning around the other side of the lake was better!

My time in this gorgeous part of Sri Lanka had come to an end and I collected my things to take the bus to Nuwera Eliya – a stunning Hill Station right in the centre of the southern part of the island
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lyncraven/1/1248110537/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lyncraven/1/1248110537/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lyncraven/1/1248110537/tpod.html Wed, 22 Jul 2009 08:17:53 -0400 RTW 2 - a second bite of the cherry!

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Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka

Nuwera Eliya

I knew that the landscape was about to change dramatically, but I wasn't expecting quite such a dramatic change! I thought it was lush in Kandy, but the terrain took on a whole new rainforest look about it, with so much humidity in the air that it caught your breath!

This stunning bus drive climbed 1,400 m, around deep green hillsides and tea plantations, with beautiful reservoirs sprinkling the valleys with lush, clear waters. The speed and style of the bus meanderings, together with roadside shrubbery, made it impossible to capture this beauty, so I keenly watched as the true scale of this beautiful area formed before my eyes. There were pretty waterfalls, mountains, lakes and a lot in between. It was between Kandy and Nuwera Eliya, in mountains between the Loolecondera Estate that the first tea leaves were harvested, after disease saw off the island’s entire coffee plantations.

The British soon established NE as the tea capital, bring in South Indian Tamils to pick the leaves. Now the cornerstone of SL’s economy, this breakthro’ in 1867 was successful because tea requires a sloping terrain, a warm climate and altitude – and the Hill Country met the criteria! Altho’ the bushes can grow up to 10m high, they’re kept at 1m high, with new leaves/shoots systematically picked each day. Part of tea categorization depends on where it’s grown, so those high-grown teas (1,200m+) produce slow growing, subtle flavours while low-grown (-600m) produce strong growing, low flavour, high 'body’ teas and mid-grown somewhere in between. The area of growth is also a determinant as well as the process itself.

I arrived in NE to find it colder and very English, with a village feel. There were British buildings and homes, hedges and flowers. I walked into NE, which was a concrete, dismal looking drab town and met a guy who put me on to a motorbike rider who could take me to the places I wanted to visit, more cheaply (since 4WDs are usually used and come very expensive when the cost isn’t shared!). His prices were okay and I was dead chuffed, as Horton Plains and World’s End were part of one tour (I thought they’d be 2, but they’re right next to one another) and I could take a second day tour of Ella – somewhere I really wanted to visit but didn’t think I’d have time.

That night, the temperature plummeted and I froze! I kept all my clothes on (thankfully I’d bought a hat that evening to wear on the bike and was glad I did, as I wore it in bed!) and pulled up the blankets on the bed, but the pillow smelled musty and there was a rattling outside my window, due to the winds. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep much!

Horton Plains and World's End

NE has a lovely lake that we passed on our way out of town. There are a number of country houses with large gardens, where many now grow vegetables and flowers (1 of SL’s main market gardening centres). From the outskirts of town to my destination, all the surrounding hills and fields were shrouded in low cloud forest. It was decidedly damp, gloomy and cold. I was to see tea plantations, scores of vegetable farms (cabbages, carrots, beetroot, onions, potatoes etc) and an abundance of flowering annuals and perennials. Farms were neat with tidy, tiered areas all growing corps in a variety of growth stages. Lush, rich, loamy soil, along with the climate, seemed to guarantee success, as nothing was wilting here!

This was one trip in SL I’d been particularly looking forward to. Horton Plains is a beautiful national park, with stunning views stretching many miles in places. Two of SL’s 3 largest mountains feature here (Kirigalpotta 2,395m and Totapola 2,359m), on the edge of a dramatic plateau, while undulating hills up to 2,000m are home to the Plains themselves. It’s got all the usual ingredients of good, country fare, with the weather a major determinant of what you’ll see. Early morning is the best time to visit, as cloud mist can quickly obscure all but your feet in front of you!

I wanted to walk thro’ Horton Plains to World’s End - literally an end point (or almost) of rock that almost vertically drops away by more than 800m. After 9 weeks of very hot and arid India (lovely as it all was!), and a week and a half of hot SL, I couldn’t wait to do some walking in the countryside! Equipped with a thick, woolly hat, walking boots & socks, 2 pairs of trousers, 3 tops and a Jack Woolfskin jacket (courtesy of the bike rider), we set off in a clearing, open area of parkland, after the shock of paying the park fees (almost 3,000 rupees!!).

We made our way to Little World’s End and then walked on to World’s End itself, where the cloud shrouded part of SL’s big peaks (across from our rock face) and the intervening lush valley, far below and between us. Thankfully, it soon started to clear and within half an hour the gods had answered my prayers! The furthest views were amazing, seen from a lush, rocky escarpment that dropped dramatically away. Tow Japanese gents, fearful of heights, almost ad angina attacks when I walked to the edge (they were only 2 of 7 tourists we saw all day).

We continued ahead, as it seemed we might be able to reach the furthest point before returning back round on the other side. Altho’ the track wasn’t signposted as part of the route, it was often covered in brambles, grasses and shrubbery but the path was well worn, so we ventured on. This was very wet terrain and our clothes were soaked, but it didn’t put us off penetrating further into the tropical jungle! But we had been dropping for some time and I felt there seemed to be an almighty fissure somewhere between us and the next big outcrop. It was simply covered in tree canopy and shrub overgrowth and created the illusion of land in between. I said we should go back before one of us fell away 800m below!

We switched over back to the Bakers Falls pathways with pockets of forest providing interesting relief to the outcrops and climbs. The walks were lovely – all very different and really pretty! Then we arrived at the waterfalls – a fairly dramatic splurge over a huge, wide rocky area and into rocks and a plunging waterway below. We also passed meandering rivers and small lakes, while travelling across wild grasslands and craggy paths. Because it’s an important watershed and catchment area for rivers and streams here, sambar deer, wild boar and even some leopards feed in the meadows here. There’s also a purple-faced langur (shaggy bear-monkey) that’s often in the WE area, along with the tocque macaque (saw a couple of these endemic varieties!).

The grasslands were very rich, with ubiquitous, strong-leafed rhododendron bushes growing everywhere! I found just two with small blood-red flowers. There are a number of boggy areas here, altho’ the marshland promoting it wasn’t so evident from our paths. There are bog mosses and lichens here, to say nothing of a whole variety of SL birds (only saw the Ceylon blackbird and hill white-eye!), but there was lots of gorse growing well here and another plant called Neela or Nella. This plant produces a fruit that the birds eat, but it makes them drunk, causing them to become very noisy and vulnerable to their predators!

There were lovely views all around us, with healthy trees, shrubs and grasses. The steps towards the end of the 12kms walk (since we’d gone further than the 10.5kms) were a test of patience, as they only seemed to serve a soil erosion purpose. We soon found a track around them!

Meeting a Dubai tourist was interesting along the way! He was with a guide who told my driver that he was lost and had never been here before (but not to tell his walker!). They got lost twice; he didn’t know the area at all and charged him 1,000 rupees too much for the entrance fee! He said he could walk 120kms, but was out of puff just walking along the track! I felt very sorry for the Dubai young guy that he’d fleeced!

My driver and I enjoyed meeting up with an elk, which suddenly turned up just as we had finished our walk! He stayed around for quite some time, before turning to leave. We had some roti, vegetables and dhal at a small shack by the car park and then made the return (much brighter) journey to NE. We celebrated our good day out with a few beers at the local ‘pub’, where Lion beers were 4.8% but the regularly drunk stout is 8.8%!!

Ella

The next day started out absolutely pouring with rain (not uncommon up in this area), but I wasn’t put off, since Ella is at a much lower elevation and is known to be much warmer and sunnier. Unfortunately my driver was so incredibly ‘careful’ on his bike that we took an age to get there (the day before I thought it was due to the bad, potholed roads).

I was so delighted I’d made the trip! Apart from it being a beautifully sunny day, this was a quiet little village with just a few low-key shops and accommodation. But it’s when you drive thro’ the one-horse town that your real reason for visiting, comes into view. Just before taking a right-hand bend, you suddenly see the most stonking views thro’ Ella Gap to a plain nearly 1,000m below! It’s lush, green forested country, with loads of opportunities to take walks here in tea country.

We continued around the bends in equally pretty hills to the big Rowana Ella Falls, by a bridge, where yellow irises grew with stunning orange centres. Monkey families abound all along the roadways and swinging thro’ the trees – it was lovely. We drove for some considerable time, checking out all the scenery along the way, before turning round and appreciating the views from the opposite direction!

We then moved on to visit the Uva Halpewaththa Tea Factory, 6kms away. Again, more lovely hilly terrain was present in every direction. This factory buys leaves from growers & pickers in the area, rather than growing it themselves. I went around the factory, with the beautiful rich smell of tea infusing my every bone! I was shown the long metal troughs (10 troughs), which are filled with leaves and then have fans blowing underneath them at a fixed air temperature, with people turning them over, for about 10/20 mins (it’s very precise but I don’t exactly remember the time). Then the leaves are crushed, to start the fermentation process, as the leaves are laid out on long, cool racks for exactly 21 minutes! The leaves are then fired to produce the black/brown tea after further processes that may have to crush the leaves further or remove stems etc. Then, thanks to a highly developed Japanese machine, the tea is sorted into black and brown, with some teas having white buds still present.

I watched local girls bagging up the tea in what looked like 52kg bags, ready to send them all to market for auction by buyers, who will then blend the teas after purchase. There are 30,000kg of tea produced a day by this factory in the good, wet season and 20,000kg in drier times. The metal trough process is finished by early morning and all the factory machinery is cleaned and prepared for the following day’s delivery! FBOP1 etc are typical examples of up to 32 different tea types. Orange Pekoe 1st class is part of the description, but I’ve forgotten the rest!

Nuwera Eliya

We returned to NE via Bandarawela (a reasonable looking town) and beyond on the decent A5. Then we arrived at the utterly depressing Welimada – a really poor area full of grotty places and dismal looking folk. Then it was back via lumpy roads to NE with rain pouring down! I had to put my jumpers back on and a waterproof, but the water seemed to get into every pore! I couldn’t stop shaking when we got back and was keen to get something to eat and get off to bed. I really didn’t feel well at all and left all my packing for my early leave, til the following morning! This was definitely out of character for me, so I knew I wasn’t well!

I was up early but felt terrible, shaking internally and all my body trembling, but I managed to get packed and on to the bus to Galle – a good 8hr journey from where I started. Needless to say, I drank plenty, ate a snack and kept nodding off along the way. The upside was that we passed through Ella on our way, so I plucked up the strength to take some more pictures from higher up in the bus. The day was beautiful and sunny, so it looked just as good as before! And then the coast roads arrived and all that beautiful ocean looked really inviting! Fabulously turquoise and clean waters looked just like its neighbour, the Maldives!!

Galle

I arrived in what looked like a nice town and headed into the quiet fort area, away from the town. It was very peaceful and very, very quiet, so it suited my mood! I liked my digs and went out to just buy some more drink and snacks, before tumbling straight back into my room and sleeping for England!
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Galle, Sri Lanka

Galle

Suffice to say I had a pretty bad night with a high temperature and fever. Obviously I ran thro' the possibility that it could be swine flu, but I needed to have contracted the symptoms within a week of travelling and I’d been in Sri Lanka for 2 weeks. I took things very very steady that day, but filled it with getting my diary up to date, sorting out all my States dates and booking requirements, did a load of washing and edited all my camera shots. The day quickly came to an end and I’d never left the room! The fever persisted.

The following day I decided that I would keep Galle as my base, not only because I wasn’t well, but also because it was a lovely place and I liked my cheap guesthouse and the cheap internet! I had an expensive late breakfast at the guesthouse and then took some Ibuprofen – I didn’t want to waste any more time!

Unawatuna

Eventually I walked into town thro’ the fort and went to try and find a sleeping bag I could buy. That, along with a USB camera cable and a jumper were not to be found, so I shopped for some salad (which I really craved) and got the bus to Unawatuna. This is an utterly delightful tiny village and gorgeous beach. It’s a lovely quiet idyllic place, with little traffic, no crass commercialism (only a few little tourist shops) and no big, gaudy hotels – just perfect!

I walked down straight onto the beach, which is in a great setting. The beautiful, blue clear waters and clean, bright white sand are all se in a crescent-shaped Unawatuna Bay, with palm trees and tiny beachside cafes, unobtrusively hidden among the shrubbery. It’s clearly recovering, but this area, along with many other south-west and western beaches, suffered horrendously from the tsunami. It caused major damage and hundred lost their lives (many more hundreds in all other beach locations here, too). Guesthouses, trees and vegetation were all gone in an instant. It’s clear many have worked hard here to recover their lost jewel and it certainly doesn’t show too many scars.

I walked the bay around and back, thoroughly enjoying the beautiful weather and the sea waves, guzzling around my legs, as I paddled into the surf. The west coast isn’t as calm as the east, at this time of year, but it’s still stunning, very warm waters and immensely swimmable!

Eventually, after buying local crafts from a beach seller, I had a papaya fruit juice and toasted sandwich at a beach café, where tens of crabs were all walking on and around a small pile of natural rocks, below the café. I also found a piece of coral – the only real reminder I found of the disaster. Afterwards, I walked the narrow lanes behind the beach, where novel little shops engaged me for a while. It was magical and so peaceful. Everyone was really friendly and the café owner and I spent a good 20 minutes chatting.

Galle

I returned to lovely Galle and bought some water and snacks from a friendly shop 'at the junction’. Then it was time for another serious 4 hours internet before crashing out at 12.30. Thankfully, the long-lasting ibuprofen had really worked today!

I set my alarm for an early start the next day, but I fell asleep again for another 2 hours. Clearly I must have needed it! I started off at the railway and bus stations, getting times for my last journey up the coast to Colombo, ready to fly out. Then I got duped into going to a handicraft shop that robbed me of 30 mins time. Eventually I got my bus to Ambalangoda.

The coastline from Galle was noticeably different, with many long stretches of beach with no buildings or palm trees. It was then that I realized why. The main road is very close to the beach, along with the main western train line, so the tsunami caused terrible damage her for many kilometers and killing hundreds more. About halfway into the journey, more and more shells of old buildings and basic old foundations , with the odd wall here or pillar there, appeared with lots of graves interspersed among them. In other areas there were larger groups of graves, some with pictures. Monuments had been erected, with one I saw donated by a monk. Other shrines and monuments appeared intermittently on the other side of the road. A huge gap in the palm tree line uttered its own silence and the small waves lapped innocently onto the shore, And silence.

Ambalangoda

I arrived in the bustling town of Ambalangoda and made my way to the Ariyapala Mask Museum. The art of Sinhalese masks has been passed on for generations. They’re not simply costumes for a dance or a craftsman’s product but rather a symbol of Sinhalese culture. Every mask has its own folklore based on their religion, rituals and social values.

I visited the small museum below the shop. It had dioramas and explanations of the various ways in which the masks are used. It detailed the art of traditional Kolam dances of the west and south-west costal regions; the use of demon specialists wearing appropriate masks to perform healing rituals to drive away demons (still used today!); those used in theatre plays, telling favourite old stories and masks used in homes to keep away evil spirits.

I went upstairs to a beautiful shop, full of colourful, highly carved masks of every possible kind. They were beautiful and the diversity in style and arrangement was terrific, but they were a tad expensive, so I sought out other local sellers.

Hikkadawa

Eventually I returned to Hikkadawa – a very popular beach resort half-way between Ambalangoda and Galle. I just didn’t like it – it was crammed with (albeit) low key hotels and a couple of larger blighters, but it all looked so much busier than Unawatuna. I didn’t stay long. The beach was quite lovely, but the backdrop wasn’t. I returned to Galle and found a mask shop, buying two little cuties. Then I continued with the camera cable search, to no avail.

Galle fort

Now it was time for my walk around this lovely fort area, to investigate the place where I was staying. Built in 1663, this 36ha fort was built by the Dutch and still houses many of the old Dutch buildings, some over 400 years old. What I loved about Galle was its convenient, pleasant shopping areas, nearby train and bus services and the contrasting peaceful, mellow fort area. It’s such a charming place it’s now a WHS.

It’s also a very thriving area, with a host of (low key) companies, shops, a court, admin offices and churches, all being supported by a large community living within the fort walls. It’s so unique and non-touristy, that it won’t be long before this place will have become a tourist’s haven!

I walked the entire perimeter walls, taking in the stunning ocean views all around (the fort occupies all the promontory land of old Galle) its edges. I passed along the main gate (more recently built by the British in 1873) and its heavily fortified walls. Originally built by the Portuguese and enlarged by the Dutch, who divided the wall into Sun, Moon and Star bastions!

Walking around, I passed the old bell tower (19011) and the old gate, with its 1669 inscription and VOC (Dutch East India Company) sign. It’s located within along, old Dutch Government House that has recently been renovated to house the National Maritime Museum. Continuing around, you pass a Black Bastion (Zwart Bastion), altho’ there is no longer access and then I continued right down to the bottom of the wall, having a good look at the stunning ocean views over the wall. At the bottom is Point Utrecht Bastion, with an 18m lighthouse (1938) on top. The lovely warm sea views and temperature was so nice, with lovely landscaped walls and grassy lawns following up to Flag Rock, where a Portuguese bastion once stood. Ships would be signaled from here, to avoid nearby dangerous rocks. Further round, Triton Bastion also sat around fine views, where a windmill was used to help keep the streets free of dust~

Within the fort, I found a lovely Dutch United Reformed Church (1755, rebuilt after 1640 original, using original gravestones as its floor!), with a 1760 organ inside. A nearby hotel built in 1684 used to house the Dutch governor and his officers and another hotel looked quite traditionally grand, was where P & O European passengers would stay. I also loved walking round the Clan House building, which used to be the Old Lloyds Agency office, with its Ships Arrival Board and inscription of the Clan Line of Steamers Ltd, Asiatic Steam Navigation and Royal Dutch Mail Lines! Apparently there used to be a ship in the building, but as it’s now been closed for 2 or 3 years, it’s been removed.

There were lots of interesting buildings and architectural delights as I wandered around, but there’s no doubt that this is a lovely place to stay and base yourself in the south-west (Unawatuna excepting!). I returned to my digs, having had two lots of snacks at my favourite local tiny café at the top of Lighthouse Street) and got on the internet almost straight away. Six hours later, I crashed!

The following day was reluctantly an admin one, sorting out the backpack and sending a parcel home with my little goodies and another Lonely Planet. I had one more day in Colombo and it was going to be part enjoyment and part shopping (ugh!) as I needed to find a sleeping bag for camping in the States! Another jumper might be good too, along with a USB cable for my new camera!!

This had been the most delightful of trips and I loved Sri Lanka everywhere I visited. It’s the most stunning, beautiful place with so much to offer: history, stunning scenery, opportunities for hiking and walking, gorgeous beaches and fabulous people.

The tourist hype would say ‘Sri Lanka – a small miracle’. And I think they’re absolutely right!

My flight is at 01.45 on the 24th July. The States here we come!
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Dambulla, Sri Lanka

(After standing for almost the entire journey to Pollunaruwa, I was horrified by the actions of one selfish young mother on the bus. She was sat on a seat with a 3yr old boy asleep on her knee, whereas her mother was sat on the floor of the bus, in a space in front of the daughter, who had another passenger next to her. The mother clearly wasn't well and had to lurch her head out of the bus 3 times to be very sick. The daughter (I didn’t know that’s who she was) made no response at all and didn’t help in any way. After the second time, I asked if anyone had any water and the passenger next to the daughter gave some to the sick woman. When she appeared to be getting worse, I tried enquiring who she was and if there was anyone on the bus that knew her. That’s when she owned up and I indicated that she should sit on the floor and let her mother have the seat, but she pointed to the child as if she needed to sit for him!! I shrugged her off and said he would cope on the floor much better than her mother! Many on the bus took the same line as me and she was highly castigated. Eventually, she decided to put her arm on the back of her mother, as she continued to be sick in a bag on the floor, as if she thought we’d think she really cared!!)

Pollunaruwa

I arrived in Pollunaruwa and got digs in a lovely guesthouse out of town and down a little country lane and the digs offered cycles for hire, so the following morning I was ready bright and early to explore. This was an absolutely beautiful area – lush, green, neat and tidy with terrific roads, views and a twee, tiny village in between my guesthouse and the ruins.

Pollunaruwa was the replacement capital after everyone had tired of the ceaseless battles with Anuradhapura. The South Indian Cholas made it their capital after they’d captured Anuradhapura, as it was a much better guarded location. Local hero Vijayabahu I saw them off in 1070 and retained the capital. When King Parakramabahu I took over in 1153, he embarked on a huge building programme of buildings, parks and lakes/reservoirs, with really impressive water systems to support them all. Nissankamalla tried to follow his engineering masterpieces, nearly bankrupting the place, but Pollunaruwa became ass susceptible to invasions by the Indians, as Anuradhapura and it was abandoned for a western preferred site. Like Anuradhapura, Pollunaruwa became another ancient city.

I started off my tour of this lovely, lovely area by cycling from the outskirts into town for a breakfast snack of egg samosas and a big glass of tea, before moving on to the superb Archaeological Museum, near the river. A modern museum with excellent displays, it divided its exhibits into distinct areas of the ruins. Within each exhibition area, explanations were given for the purpose of buildings, what finds had been made and what relationship they had within the complex and a whole raft of other information. It was a breath of fresh air after Chennai’s Government Museum and everyone in there was really interested in all the exhibits. It also provided an excellent background of knowledge, before going out to visit the ruins.

Becoming an important capital from the 11th to the 13th century, the ancient city contains a complex of buildings to support this. Carefully planned and laid out, there’s an inner walled citadel and an outer walled city, with 4 gateways. Inside the walled citadel is the royal palace, originally a 7-storey building, built by King Nissankamalla. There’s also a Council Chamber (with a stone lion serving as the King’s throne), where the seating arrangements of his ministers are inscribed on the pillars. There’s also Nissankamalla’s Bath with 3 levels .

Within the Inner City, there’s Parakramabahu’s Palace and another Council Chamber with an elephant, lion and horse figures carved near the balustrade, with a moonstone in front of the steps. The Royal Bath (Kumara Pokuna) was lower down the side of the palace, with a changing room, loo, shower bath and a stone tablet used as a resting seat.

The Quadrangle is another distinct area with its own set of unique buildings. Included in this area is the Vatadage (Circular Relic House). It surrounds a stupa in which relics would have been enshrined, but the stupa has long gone. A magnificent example of ornamental art, this is the main building in the Quadrangle, which is really the Terrace of the Tooth Relic Temple. Additional buildings here include: Thuparama Gedigee with its roof intact with Buddha images in its inner chamber; a building used by Nissankalata II with a stupa at its centre where the king listened to chanting of religious texts (purit) and the 11th century Atadage (Temple of the Tooth built by Vijayabahu I for the Tooth & Bowl Relics.

Of particular interest was the Gal Pota stone book (9m long, 1.5m wide and up to 66cm thick) with inscriptions that tell us it was Nissankamalla’s and included the fact that the 25 tonne slab was dragged over 100 kms to its resting place! On the side is a carving of 2 elephants sprinkling water on the goddess Lakshmi (Goddess of Prosperity) Nearby there’s a 7-storeyed, pyramid design stupa known as Satmahal Prasada; Rankot Vehera stupa by Nissanakamalla (largest in Pollunaruwa at 54m); Laikathilaka Image House, Seema Prasada (highest building in this group) built by Parakabahu, Pabalu Vehera stupa and Kira Vehera built by Queen Subhadra (Parakabahu’s consort).

From here, I travelled quite some way to visit Gal Vihara – a set of stunning Buddha images carved out of striated rock that was part of Parakabahu’s northern monastery. There are 4 images, all cut from 1 solid lump of granite, altho’ each had previously had a small enclosure built around each one. They really were very beautiful. The standing Buddha is 7m high, the reclining Buddha is 14m and the other seated ones all have wonderful lines of the stone’s grain running thro’ their faces or bodies!

Lastly, I went to visit the Nelum Poluna Lotus Pond, built in tiers to show the petals of the lotus flower and the Tivanka Image House with its Buddha statue – a real survivor from the Jetavanarama monastery. It had brilliant frescoes on the inner walls – the only surviving ones in the whole of Pollunaruwa!

I returned to the guesthouse and picked up my bags, taking another bus a good distance to Dambulla, arriving at 7.30pm. After a disastrous journey to a guesthouse recommended by a rickshaw driver (5kms away!!), I eventually found some reasonable digs in good proximity to the sights and bus station. I found a good local café nearby and after more snacks and tea, slept like a baby!

The following morning I took the bus to Sigiriya. It’s not the easiest of places to get to from Pollunaruwa, but there are direct buses from Dambulla. With Dambulla being the next place I wanted to visit, it made sense to move on in this way. When I arrived, I decided that I would take a guide here.

Famous for its 5th century planning, architecture, garden designs, engineering, hydraulics and art, it also looks impressive from a distance! A huge, flat-topped rock formation rises up, independent of its surroundings, like a colossal, huge, sentinel. It’s supposed to have a palace and garden on top, while the army supported the king with might from below. Present theories suggest that there was never any fortress or palace here, but rather a school of Buddhist monks, studying Buddhism. Either way, the gardens are quite spectacular in design and I don’t think I’ve seen any Buddhist locations with such amazing gardens!

King Kassapa needed somewhere new to live after overthrowing and killing his father, Dhatusena, and set about designing unique features of the place: water gardens, cave, boulder and terraced gardens, an outer moat and city, an inner moat and ramparts, a lake, entrances, a mirror wall and paintings, a Lion Platform, a palace on the summit and so on.

Nestled within a forest, this was a lovely place to visit. It’s quite remarkable what one king could transform so much out of rock! Initially, you pass over the inner moat, which is kept beautifully, with lovely clean waters. Then a short walk takes you to the royal gardens, where you can see straight away that everything revealed in structure on the right, is mirrored by identical designs on the opposite side of the site (these haven’t been excavated yet – deemed to be left for future generations!). It was here that I saw a pair of the most beautiful brown-throated kingfishers also enjoying the water features!!

The water gardens have been symmetrically laid out to include bathing pools, mosaic and pebbled pathways, small water islands with pavilions, and extremely elaborate water causeways and conduits. The fountain gardens have long pools with fancy marble slabs & kerbs with fountains fed by underground conduits, still operating today!

Then there is the higher level of garden including terraces, halls and pool, with boulders that were incorporated into the design and used to form parts of buildings,.

I walked around the Cobra Hood Cave (so called because of its resemblance and climbed up, over and around some of the gigantic boulders, brought into the design of halls, guard posts and lookouts. Many had small irrigation channels dug out of them, while others had step-like features from deep, oblong holes dug out and others circular & rectangular openings were evidence of wooden support structures of roofs and canopies. There were lots of lush trees and shrubbery all within the boulders and rocks, making the whole area look quite lovely.

Then it was time to walk up a few flights of stairs and a spiral staircase to a long, sheltered cave where famous 5th century paintings appear quite vividly in a depression in the rock. They were amazing! There are only a few now, but they used to cover the entire east and west rock surface here – about 13,500 sq m! There’s some conjecture as to what the figures represent, but it’s generally believed that the remaining 22 figures of buxom, small-waisted women represent apsaras/celestial nymphs. They look incredible, with lots of detail and very clear images. The faces, too, are very detailed, with one woman looking very African. The path outside the frescoes is protected on the outside by a mirror wall, so called because it had a highly polished plaster finish. There’s a lot of ancient graffiti on the wall (altho’ it’s not easy to see), where visitors used to place their comments about the frescoes!

Eventually the path leads out into an open area, where 2 huge lion paws sit either side of some steps (hence it being called Lion Rock). A huge brick lion used to sit upright against the rock, so that the final ascent to the summit necessitated climbing stairs that led up and thro’ the lion’s mouth. After climbing another number of metal steps against the rock face, a flat summit area of 1.6ha shows loads of evidence of a plethora of building foundations, with a 27m x 21m pond, troughs and tanks. Whether this had been a palace or a monastery, someone had enjoyed mighty fine views from the top!

Dambulla

I returned to Dambulla, first visiting their very busy Sunday market. There were many stalls selling the usual vegetables, fresh fish, clothing, hardware etc but surprisingly, there weren’t many fruit stalls. I did find a number of stalls selling crystallized sweets and cherries, along with fresh dates. A 100g bag went down very nicely, as I toured around the complex, people watching!

Then it was time to walk to one of the largest rock temples in Sri Lanka, with history from prehistoric to modern times. Originally Buddhist cells for monks, they were gradually enlarged and transformed into shrines. There are 5 totally separate caves (altho’ the building outside suggests one long continuous one!), replete with many Buddha images, where caves have been painted many times, leaving little trace of their original form or composure.

The 1st cave, Devaraja Viharaya, contained a 15m reclining Buddha and is often referred to as the Temple of the King of the Gods. However, the Temple of the Great King, the 2nd cave, is particularly impressive at 52m long, 23m wide and 7m high, it contains 2 of various kings’ statues (Valagamba & Nissankamalla). There’s a central shrine flanked by attendant deities, a rock cut stupa with 8 Buddha images around it, many Buddha images around the periphery of 3 walls, a huge reclining Buddha and a protected vessel that collects water constantly dripping from the ceiling. Believed to be sacred, it’s used in daily temple rituals. Over the entire area, the ceiling contains a vast number of Buddhist frescoes with associated stories since its arrival in Sri Lanka.

Maha Alut Viharaya, the 3rd cave, also has a reclining Buddha, while the 4th, Pachima

Viharaya, contains a Buddha figure under a makara torana (dragon decorated archway),

like cave 2. There’s a little dagoba in the middle of the cave and many more frescoes. Interestingly it also contains Hindu images, as does the last 5th cave, which also has a reclining Buddha.

It’s a very pretty area up high on the rock, with fabulous views (including a very distant Sigiriya Lion Rock) and some interesting monkey family groups. There are nice walks to and from the caves, but they were slightly spoilt by being charged US$10 (1,250 rupees) to see tem via a ticket office near the ghastly Golden Temple. This garish, tack, modern building with a huge lion mouth and large gilt Buddha image sat above, looks cheap and gaudy, with its line of brightly-robed plastic monks supposedly queuing to pay respects at one side.

Sri Lanka is slightly more subtle with their charging policies than India, but 'non-residents’ charges are really starting to annoy me. You have to buy a Cultural Triangle ticket to see all the main sights here (but it doesn’t include all the main sights) and that costs US$50. If you don’t buy this, you have to pay US$25 at every site, so you would be paying US$75 just at An’a. Poll’a & Sigiriya!! And of course it’s never the equivalent in rupees, as you’re always charged much more! I’ve paid over UD$100 so far and altho’ Dambulla is on the Cultural Triangle ticket, it doesn’t include the caves!! And for a Buddhist temple to charge 1,250 rupees, is disgusting!! I went to spend a penny afterwards and was asked for 5 rupees, which I told them to stuff!!

After a diary write up and kit pack up, I was ready for bed and an early rise, for tomorrow I was off to Kandy – somewhere I was told everyone liked!

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Canadian Rockies, Alberta, Canada

This is what I'll be up to in the coming weeks (detail to be added on my return to the UK):

Canadian Rockies (camping)



5 Sep – 7 Sep Icefields Parkway

Athabasca Glacier

Canadian Rockies, Lake Louise

Banff NP

8 Sep - 9 Sep Yoho NP

Kicking Horse River

Takkakaw Falls

10 Sep – 11 Sep Glacier NP

Mt Revelstoke NP

12 Sep Vancouver
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Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

My Cathay Pacific flight was comfortable and the food was good, but I wasn't interested in the films as I was desperate for sleep! Altho’ I didn’t get much, I hoped I’d get a bit more at Colombo airport, but it turned out a bit more difficult than I’d imagined. After a snack at a tumble-down shack across the road, I tried in vain to sleep for a couple of hours on the chairs before starting a nightmare trip of grotty buses and dodgy men, to Colombo at 3.30am. By 5.45am I was grateful to be winging my way to Anuradhapura on a train!



Colombo to Anuradhapura



After arriving in Anuradhapura in a tired stupor, I took a rickshaw to a few places to stay, before settling on a nice hotel called Shalini. The staff were incredibly nice and I chatted to one while having a well deserved 2 pints of Lion beer. Then, despite it being daytime, I had to sleep and sleep and sleep! My evening meal at the hotel was good and the staff were proving to be really nice people. Before long, I was back in bed and sleeping well!

Having lost one complete day to sleep, I was keen to find my feet on day 2, as I only had 2.5 weeks in Sri Lanka (shortened because of the wedding in Singapore)..Anuradhapura played an important role in Sri Lankan history, being the biggest and most important royal capital. It was also where Buddhism first too root in the 3rd century BC, with the king converting and forming a strong alliance with Buddhist religious orders and a political economy forged between the two.

A new social identity, customs, literary focus, state & religious stability went from strength to strength. Dutugemunu (1st century BC) initiated huge building programmes, including some of Anuradhapura’s best monuments & Mahasena (2nd century BC) built Jetavanarama Dagoba, 16 colossal tanks and many canals, Then great feats of engineering in the 5th and 6th centuries by Vijaya (an ousted North Indian king’s son), produced sophisticated water channels and reservoirs and the city flourished. But there was a continuous round of war, destruction and reconstruction and the 11th century king Vijayabahu I moved the capital elsewhere. Left abandoned, the building were slowly shrouded by the natural might of the jungle for a thousand years, until the British rediscovered them. Major archaeological work has now provided Sri Lanka with a wealth of knowledge about their ancestry, due to the many inscription tablets and artefacts found.

I made a start by hiring a bike and followed a guy who’d been trying to sell me a partially used ticket for the sights. Finding I’d be worse off, I left him and made my way back into town to get some Sri Lankan money (taking ages as the ATMs didn’t want to give me any money!) and to return to the sights. By this time, much of my morning had gone. But I had had plenty of time to look around the countryside and a bit of the town and I really liked what I was seeing. Apart from the countryside being very pretty, it was also reasonably well maintained and I couldn’t see piles of rubbish, like in India. I couldn’t get over how friendly and pleasant everyone was (for no reason!) and there seemed to be a lot of pride with the people. Homes were bettered tendered (however poor) and land seemed to be ordered. There was clearly a far better infrastructure here and the government appeared to be spending the people’s taxes. I was liking what I saw!

The ruins of this old ancient city are spread over a wide area and I was to find it extremely difficult, as the locations didn’t adhere to the map at all and the signs were very few and in bad places (ie on top of the monument instead of down the road, arrow directions not in the right place etc). I first visited the Kuttam Pokuna (Twin Ponds) which are tow different length, but same width big bathing tanks, probably used by monks from the nearby Abhayagiri monastery. Then I moved on finding the Samadhi Buddha statue, one of the best in SL, along with a reclining Buddha. Afterwards I found the huge Abhayagiri Dagoba (a Buddhist monument represented by a solid hemisphere containing Buddhist relics – like a stupa). Currently swathed in scaffolding due to restoration, it was built in the 1st/2nd century BC and stands 75m high! This was the focus of the surrounding monastery of 5,000 monks where both Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism was studied, with the monastery part of the 'School of the Secret Forest’!

I found a huge and very beautiful Elephant Pond, along with many other ruins and then eventually arrived at Thuparama Dagoba – the oldest stupa in SL, containing the right collarbone of Buddha. Three concentric circles of old pillars surround the stupa, once supporting a wooden roof over it. By now, I’d travelled some distance, switching backwards and forwards to try and find appropriate sites. Signage was terrible and exacerbated by locals constantly giving me wrong directions (believed to be because they didn’t understand me!). I didn’t mind all the cycling, but the time taken to keep trying to find the places was getting silly. A couple of other tourists I saw also commented about the real difficulties they were having getting around. The problem is, most visitors here are standard tourists, who take organized trips to see the sights. Unlike travelers, who don’t have the money for the big tours and use cycles to get round!!

Eventually I came across Sudassara Padhancighara cave temple and finally found Mahasena’s Palace, with its beautiful famous moonstone carving. Located at the foot of steps leading into the building, it’s a semi-circle where the outer motif represents the world on fire (symbolizing desire), with the next inner ring depicting the 4 animals representing birth, disease, ageing and death. Within is a ring of creepers and leaves, symbolizing life force, with the inner ring of swans representing purification. The lotus at the centre represents Brahma worlds.

Extremely frustrated, I eventually found Ratnaprasada. – used as a chapter house by the monks of Abhayagiri. Originally built in the 2nd century BC, it still contains one (of 2) famous guardstones – 1 of the finest in SL. Lastly, after great effort, I found a Bodhi Tree Shrine, where a seed was planted from Sri Maha Bodhi tree in India. The irony was that there was no tree there now and the locals I asked in the area, didn’t even know the shrine was there!!

Aware that it was getting dull and couldn’t understand why, I found out that my watch (despite the second hand going round and it appearing to be working) was 2 hours wrong and it was 6pm!! Needless to say, I got a bit of a bat on and managed to get back to the hotel for 7pm, by which time it had got pretty dark! Thankfully the hotel had good, cheap internet and I managed to get a journal typed up before hitting the sack!!

I set off early the next day, after a great local breakfast of string hoppers (rice noodles, sampa (mixed coconut with tomato, onion etc) and fish curry (tuna), washed down with lots of coffee! I first visited the Sri Maha Bodhi sacred bodhi tree. Literally and spiritually central to Anuradhapura, the tree was grown from a cutting brought by Princess Sangamitta (from Bodhgaya), who was Mahinda’s sister (Ashok’s son who brought Buddhism to SL). Because it forms the basis of Sinhalese culture and religion and is the oldest documented tree in the world, it’s been carefully tended and guarded over the last 2,300m years! Apart from the original, central tree there are many other bodhi trees in the area, a temple and several outlying buildings. I came across a large open building, where many young people were chanting and reciting, with several monks sat at the top centre of the room. To the Sri Lankan Buddhist, nothing is more sacred than this tree and the Tooth Relic in Kandy. It was evident by the volume of devotees, school groups and the number of prayer flags around the site.

Eventually, after a good cardiac workout, I found the Royal Palace. A huge disappointment, they were very basic ruins with 2 guardstones (Kuvera – god of wealth’s 2 attendees). In this area was found an inscription saying that the nearby ruins with tall stone columns was a Tooth Relic Shrine (it may have been the first in SL). Also, I eventually found Ruvanvelisaya Dagoba – a beautiful huge stupa with a wall of hundreds of elephants acting as guards around it. King Dutugemunu arranged for it to be constructed but didn’t live to see it completed. Today, at 55m, it’s much less than its original height (thanks to invading Indians) and is no longer its original bubble shape, but there are still many ruins, ponds, columns and pillars nearby, signifying its importance.

Brazen Palace nearby now stands as a foundation building with 1,600 pillars, said to have originally had 9 storeys and accommodation for 1,00 monks. Lastly, I made my way over to Jetavanarama Dagoba – a colossal dome originally standing 120m but now 70m high. Like Abhayagiri, this was the centre of a huge monastery complex of 80 hectares. I’d already visited the Jetavanarama Museum earlier, holding many artefacts found within the monastery complex (coins, beads made from every possible form, bronze ware, sculptures, water jar filtering systems, Hindu bronzes and stone slab paintings) so it was fascinating to go around the site from which they’d all been found.

Behind this lovely complex (nice for cycling around) there is a form of stone fence around the foundations of a building. Known as the Buddhist railing, it demonstrates even more flair in sculptured design than limited to figures etc. Having been given more instructions and trying to follow the map, I cycled several more kilometers to see what was supposed to be a good Archaeological Museum, but after an hour and a half of several sets of wrong instructions, I gave up!! I returned to the hotel to visit Mihintale with a friend I’d met, but there had been a problem and we couldn’t go. So the internet won again and more journals got updated!!

Mihintale is another town 16kms from Anuradhapura and is the location where Buddhism was first embraced in SL by King Tissa in the 3rd century BC, after meeting Mahinda, son of the Mauryan Emperor Asoka, round a hill in Mihintale.

Mihintale

I left Anuradhapura early and after leaving the bus, walked up a long road and left-hand fork to what I thought was the route. I had to confirm with locals that I was going the right way, because there were no signs in English and little in Sinhalese to suggest this was the way. I met a guy along the way and decided to have a guide, since I couldn’t help thinking that my excursions might be long and fruitless without one! We passed the ruins of an ancient hospital with a stone trough, where people would be immersed in healing oils. There’s loads of evidence of a steam bath room grinding stones for medicinal herbs, slab inscriptions stating the precise rules and regulations of management and payments to physicians and attendants.

There were areas with beautiful boulders, where monks would reside and meditate, before I started to climb over 2,000 steps up the hill. All up and around the hill are networks of monasteries, rock cells, religious monuments and water works. Kantaka Cetiya sits at the end of the first flight of steps and King Tissa had 68 cave monasteries built nearby in the 3rd century. It has 4 vahalkadas (solid building block at 4 cardinal points of a dome). Famous as one of the oldest and best preserved in SL., each block contains the sculptured heads of animals and at either end of each block is a pillar topped with an animal (altho’ the reason for these vahalkadas and their designs isn’t really understood).

I came to the ruins of Sinha Pokuna – a small pond on top of a 2m lion’s remains, where water used to stream from its mouth. Next I saw a huge monks’ refectory with stone troughs, used for rice, and a relic house with 2 huge stone slabs containing inscriptions regarding the rules of the house and the conduct of those persons using/responsible for it (including the servants and monks). An assembly hall was next to the refectory, on the same level and then I climbed the final stairway to Ambasthale Dagoba, where King Tissa met Mahinda. Ambhasthale (meaning Mango Tree) refers to a riddle Mahinda used to test Tissa’s intelligence before initiating him into Buddhism.

There’s a huge white statue on the left hand side at the top of the hill, on a separate raised area and a modern relic house underneath, nearby, housing a stunning 120kg solid silver Buddha statue, recovered from one of these ancient buildings in Mihintale. It’s absolutely beautiful and the best one I’ve ever seen! There’s a steep path up a rock to the right of the dagoba, called Aradhava Gala, with a railing, but there were so many school kids up there that I had no time to wait for them all to come down, to see the views! I walked on the Naga Pokuna (Snake Pool), with a 5-headed cobra carved into the rock behind. I continued on to Mahaseya Dagoba with an old bodhi tree nearby. A small temple close by had a reclining Buddha image inside.

I made my way back down the original road, visiting the ruins of Rajagirilena & Indikatu Seya Complex (again, more interesting compounds) before reaching the main road and returning to Anuradhapura. After another quick delicious and very late breakfast of string hopper, dhal, sampa, curry and coffee, I was on my way to the bus station with my kit. I was really sad to be leaving here, as the staff had been brilliant and I couldn’t have got better value for money from the hotel (breakfasts included in the room charge). I wanted to take them all with me, so I only hoped I’d find a similar bunch, elsewhere!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lyncraven/1/1246497511/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lyncraven/1/1246497511/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lyncraven/1/1246497511/tpod.html Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:53:37 -0400 RTW 2 - a second bite of the cherry!

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Singapore, Singapore

Arriving in Singapore after India was like stepping onto another planet! Singapore is as futuristic as you can arguably get and as sterile as an operating room!! There are strict rules of behaviour for the great outdoors and cleanliness and tidiness is paramount!! My trip on the metro from Changi airport to my Sleepy Sam's digs in the Bugis area made me feel a leper, with my disgracefully dirty backpack and daypack (courtesy of Indian buses and trains), particularly as this was early morning, with incredibly smart, clean and coiffed workers all checking to make sure their shoes were spotless on the train!!

I only had 5 days in Singapore. Having lived here and visited on my last world trip, I was happy simply to spend time with my family and enjoy the celebrations we were here for. Dawn (my cousin), her husband David, daughters Helen & her husband Matthew and Jade, were accompanied by Steven (her son) and Ashika. Ashika is now David's wife, as they were quietly married by an imam in the UK in June. Her family travelled to the UK to be there for the wedding, but understandably wanted her to have a reception in her home town, Singapore, so that all family and friends could attend.

Steven's birthday

So after quickly meeting up after my arrival, we enjoyed a first day of catching up with events, enjoying a fabulous meal out together, doing a little shopping and then travelling to Hougang to meet Ashika’s family. It was Steven’s birthday and we were all having a get together to celebrate their son-in-law’s new age! Ashika’s family is Muslims and couldn’t have been nicer and more obliging! It was strange to see her mother remove her headdress, but of course she was in her own home and among people she knew. Ashe’s parents put on a lovely spread and lit candles on a huge chocolate cake! By the time Ashe’s father took us all to our respective homes, I was spaced out. A total lack of sleep the night before was taking its toll!

A day out in Singapore

I had originally planned to check out my old boarding school (St John’s School, Dover Road) the following morning, but my body had other ideas. Horrifyingly I woke up to find it was 10.45am!!! Clearly, I needed the sleep, so had a delicious Sleepy Sam’s breakfast and took things easy, until I met up with everyone at 2pm. I was also meeting up with my 2nd cousin Marc, who’d flown over to be with us for a week. We made our way to the Singapore Flyer, which was celebrating its 1st birthday, this year. Deemed 'The World’s Largest Giant Observation Wheel’, this is a larger version of the London Eye. It takes riders up to 165m slowly, in pool capsules similar to London’s.

Its construction has been very well thought out, like most things in Singapore, sitting across a 2-level complex of shops, restaurants, service areas and event venues, with a rain forest discovery park under the Flyer. It must have in the region of 34-36 shuttles and provides impressive 360 degree view of the island. In addition to all the usual Singapore sights, 2 huge land expanses nearby, are evidence of Singapore’s quest to provide centres for amusement, fun and relaxation. Between Kallang River & Marine Bay, the finished area will become the Gardens by the Bay complex, where green vegetation, parkland and many other innovative ideas are advancing fast.

Immediately to its right, the Future Integrated Resort is well advanced, with a host of hotels, parks, swimming pools and other buildings are taking shape. In addition to these, a new Financial District between Marina Bay and Sentosa, in the port area of Singapore. What’s quite impressive is the big, looping freeway all around the Marina Bay area are now home to a new yearly spectacle – the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix Night Race! It’s now expected to become an annual event in Singapore.

I had a good look around the island during my last visit and this one reaffirms my view that the island never stands still. This constantly changing, improving, paradigm-shifting metropolis is well ahead of the game. While there, the 1st Asian Youth Games were being held, which is a certain yearly precursor to the 2010 Youth Olympics being hosted here. It’s ultra-modern, ultra fast and ultra constantly being updated, with so many new constructions, roads, condominiums, airport terminals and land reclamation that Singaporeans must find it hard to keep up with the changes, the price increases and the ever-advancing modernity. And its impact doesn’t just provide advantageous improvements and well-being. It’s the locals that will no doubt feel it more.

We were all keen to do some indoor bowling, but were quite disappointed to find the whole place had been privately hired for the afternoon, so we went for a trip to the beach and stayed awhile. Then it was time to return to Dawn’s hotel for a nice swim, with us all having fun on the rock slide. We actually stayed there until after dark, which was pretty impressive, as the pool is on a roof terrace half way up the hotel, so the views all around were really impressive!

After getting changed, we all walked over to the City Hall area, where the Forbidden City restaurant beckoned us with the lure of a riverside table. We were all a little taken aback at the prices, particularly with one pint of Tiger beer costing S$20 (@ 2.38 to the Singapore dollar!). Everyone was very kind and all chipped in for my meal (thankfully, not expensive!) and I repaid them with McFlurries at the local McD’s!

Meeting the extended family

The following day was a bit of a disaster, with the internet at my digs 'hanging’ after I’d typed up a journal in Word!! I was reluctant to leave the PC, as anyone could just delete it that came on the computer after me, so by the time the ‘engineer’ had resolved it, most of the morning had passed. Dawn et al had left their hotel earlier than the time arranged, so when I arrived, they’d already left, so I made my way back across town and up to Hougang.

This afternoon, we were at Ashika’s parents to meet all her family, who’d all arrived with lots of delicious food for us to try! There was such a lovely variety of everything and it was nice to try all local foods and be able to ask about the ingredients etc. We’d already had Malay dishes such as mutton & beef kebabs with peanut (satay) sauce, so it was nice to see the satay sauce again, for dips with chicken. There was also a delicious tuna curry and a host of other meats. There was rice, spicy pasta and other local dishes, along with many sweet dishes. These included a banana-leaf wrapped parcel of sticky cake, tiny pink daisy-shaped puffs, gorgeous sticky fruit cake and much more. This was all washed down with lots of Coke.

The family was lovely. Ashe’s paternal grandmother was there, who’d had 10 children (9 surviving, 1 died at 1 year old) and looked amazing. Her youngest brother was the same age as one of her sons! She’d lost her husband just 3 years ago. Ashe’s maternal grandmother was another dear soul who’d had 5 children and was nursing her poorly husband, who was wheelchair bound. Needless to say, with all those aunties and uncles, it was a big gathering, with lots of children behaving very well, but having a lot of fun.

There were also some close neighbours present, including a lady who was decorating Ashika’s hands and feet with lovely henna designs. We were amazed to find that she wasn’t a professional tattooist, as her designs were so polished and pretty. After completing Ashika’s, she went on to decorate many of us with nice little design to wear for the wedding!

After a nice afternoon and early evening, we returned to Dawn’s Robertson Quay hotel, where she coloured my fading hair. Then it was time to get back to my digs, as the metro stops working at midnight, so you have to make sure the last full leg of your journey will finish before 12! I just made it onto the last train at 11.40pm!

The wedding reception

The following day I was over at Dawn’s hotel by 9.30am, so we all had plenty of time to get ready for the wedding. We were picked up shortly after 12 noon and made our way over to the reception. There were lots of people there when we arrived and we were ushered to a nicely laid table with special table linen, crockery & cutlery. There was a central turning table full of different dishes. As all the other tables were bare, we assumed this was for the bridal party, but it had been provided just for the overseas visitors!!

The celebrations had already begun, with a Malay ensemble playing background music. It was quite a big group of people, with at least 8 different instruments being played. At this point, Steven and Ashika made an entrance in stunning Malay traditional dress. Ashika’s outfit was in red and gold, with a stunning hair design of a long hair extension, jewellery and flowers. Steven wore the Malay style of a long tunic with turned up collar & long sleeves in ornate red, with matching tunic trousers and a flat Malay-style hat. They both looked quite stunning and made their way to 2 throne seats, set within an ornate chamber with canopy. This was when the first of a whole round of photographs began.

Then the proceedings continued with 2 male Malay dancers, followed by 6 Indonesian dancers in colourful costumes and baskets of flowers & fruit. The Malay dancers appeared to include elements of fighting poses and the use of long sticks, whereas the Indonesians performed very gracefully and with a lot of style. The entertainment was completed with a performance by 4 young girls on (wooden) horses. They were very serious as they concentrated on their moves and looked quite cute as they twisted and turned. All performances took place directly in front of Steven and Ashika.

The lovely couple had about 30 mins reprieve, when they joined us at our table for food. We were really surprised because Ashika’s family didn’t join us (to be fair, there wouldn’t have been enough room at the table, but if just the immediate families were there, it would have been possible). We felt quite bad about it, but they were very happy and kept making sure we had everything we needed. What was interesting was that Ashe’s make-up lady also sat with us!! The food was delicious: crispy baked tiger prawns, rice, chicken, vegetables, soup, salads and a plate of delicious cakes!!

Over a thousand people had been invited to the reception, but all came at different times of the day. It was a buffet meal for all the other guests, having the same choices of food as ourselves. There were absolutely loads of dishes, with people free to keep returning. Staff were on hand to serve everyone, but there was a very welcome self-service area where lots of tea and coffee were readily available. There were a large proportion of Muslim families there, with almost all the women covering their heads, but not their faces. There were lots of adorable little ones, with one lovely little boy who was so soft and cuddly I wanted to put him in my backpack!! I could have eaten him!!

The room was decorated in fairly Western reception styles, with circular tables and a host (who sang, told jokes and kept things going). The elevated ‘throne’ area was somewhat different and had elaborate designs all around it, including a large display of silk tulips with a net feature half way down the stem to hold a boiled egg (presumably sign of fertility?). There was also a green tree-like structure with shelves around four sides that held flower petals. On a nearby table against the entrance/exit door, people were handed heart-shaped boxes containing flannels and boxes or packets of chocolates. The wedding cake took the form of 3 separate but identical looking cakes decorated with flowers. I was later to learn that each had a totally different filling!

During the course of the afternoon, we all had a lot of fun mixing with local families and friends and talking to the children. Over lots of cups of coffee, we discussed the wedding couple, our family group (including poorly Aunty Doff and Uncle Chris (who couldn’t be here), the food, the customs associated with weddings in Singapore, what travelling I was doing and how gorgeous all the children were! The time went by pretty quickly and soon Steven & Ashe disappeared, to reappear in traditional Western dress of morning suit and cream dress. Again, they both looked stunning. And again the cameras started clicking!

Other than the half an hour that they’d snatched something to eat, they had been sat on their ‘thrones’ having pictures taken the whole time!! The poor souls didn’t get chance to walk around to talk to people, or even to walk aside and have a few minutes for a drink!! We were told by the compere that Steven was very lucky being European and not living in Singapore, because it’s customary to have 3 days of photographs at a traditional Malay wedding!! They both did extremely well, because they were expected to sport constant smiles all afternoon. Their jaws must have been aching!!

Just before the day ended at 6pm, Steven and Ashika left to change out of their wedding outfits and into their own (very casual) clothes. The make-up lady took care of Ashe’s rented outfits, headdress items and jewellery, wrapping and packing them for return to the hirers. Steven folded up his Moss bros suit, ready to take back to the UK. Just as we were about to leave, the official wedding planner (a very nice gent) came to tell them that they had a special wedding car to take them from the reception!! They were taken aback, as they weren’t aware they’d got one, so it was funny to see them waving at us in their casual clothes!! Both were going back to spend the evening with Ashika’s family and we were being taken back to Dawn’s hotel, with one of the wedding cakes (they had wanted us to take two, but we refused!). Back at the hotel, we all had a piece of what turned out to be delicious cheesecake!

I joined everyone for an evening meal, but I was still full from the wedding, so kept them company until it was time to return to my digs, across the other side of town. Keen to get some more internet work completed, I plodded on until 3.30am and then collapsed in bed!

Finding my old school

On my last day, I caught the MRT over to Dover, to finally try to find my old boarding school – St John’s School, Dover Road. The school was built to accommodate 14 to 18 year old pupils and I had attended this school from Sep 1965 to Jan 1968. My sister attended Bourne school nearby, but they didn’t have enough boarding provision, so those with siblings at St John’s were allowed to board with them there. So my sister stayed in a younger dormitory at Deal House and I stayed in an older dorm in the same boarding house.

I’d tried to find the school when I last visited Singapore in 2007, but to no avail. I was to learn this time that I’d been within 500m of the place, but at the time I’d been searching in extreme heat for 3 hours and had to end my attempts (since no-one locally could understand what I was looking for!). This time I was better equipped, as I’d found out what the school was now being used for. After a further bus ride after the MRT, I found myself walking down the original drive towards the school. Just about everything about it had changed, with all the land round about having been built on and the hill across the road (with our twice-visited Sunday church on top) had all gone. At security gates further up the road, I had to hand in my passport and give my reasons for wanting to enter the premises.

After a phone call to the school, I was delighted to find that the United World College (as it’s now known) has an alumni dedicated person who was actually taking two people around the school at that time! After a short wait, she greeted me and I was to learn that one of the other ladies had attended the school in the early 1970s. We went all around the campus – how modern and different most of it was! This is what I found:

• The original headmaster’s home was still located in its original place but 2 of the heads had died here and subsequent heads had raised concerns about staying here!



• Only half of the drive remained, as there was a huge circular building at the front of the school and other new buildings around it



• The University of Singapore have bought much of the land around the school, with Dover and Richmond boys’ boarding houses having made way for university buildings. There’s also a huge Olympic-style pool and spectator stands before the school on the left



• The original hall is still there and looks very similar, but the well was recently heightened. Everywhere on the whole campus is now air conditioned



• The dining area and the 2 long blocks of classrooms either side of the ‘fountain’ still remain with lockers against the lower walls, but they all have AC now and there is no fountain. This was taken out a couple of years ago to make room for more leisure tables & chairs for the students



• The classrooms previously used for pottery and art have been demolished and a beautiful new Music Centre (with additional rooms underground (!), are in its place



• Deal & Rochester boarding houses were dropped a few years ago, in favour of new boarding accommodation for all the 3yrs to 18yrs pupils here. There are also new premises where the Nurse and Sick Bay quarters used to be



• There are many additional buildings but the original 2nd small hall is still there (this used to be our cinema on a Saturday evening!)



• I couldn’t see if the boarders dining room was still in existence or if it had gone



• The Medway estate houses were still there, but had been fenced right close to the houses, as the golf course land between us was now being prepared as a roadway for access by the university to premises they were shortly to be building



• There are 2,900 pupils here, plus they also have an additional site in Singapore. All are children of ex-pats or international parents who wish their children to obtain a high level of education in a stable environment. Scholarships are available and all pupils aged 13-19yrs study for the internationally favoured Baccalaureate. There’s a high level of focus on individuality, confidence, leadership and independence

A very nice lady showed us round and explained a lot about the changes that had taken place here. She’d been at the school for 10 years, with 2 of her children educated here, so she was equally keen to learn of our stories of earlier times here. What was really interesting was to know that they’d had reunions for pupils of 30, 20 and 10 years ago!! I told her that since many would be my age or younger, she should consider trying to suggest a reunion for those of 40 year ago!! She was extremely keen to learn all about our school exploits.

She told us a lot about what the kids do at the school. They all go on school trips all over the world!! The oldest pupils plan their own trip, go alone and write it all up on their return!! She asked me if I’d known anything about an orang-utan called Rodney when I was here! She said a returning pupil had told her that she’d remembered it at school, its name was Rodney and it sat in a cage near the headmaster’s office!

I told her about my sister Diane at Bourne School and how she boarded here and how we used to go to Kent Ridge, Holland Village, Tanglin, Orchard Road (CK Tangs, Fitzpatrick’s, Robinsons, M & S (with its St Bernard brand!), Change Alley, the infamous Raffles Hotel and all the American sailors in the area with Chinese ‘girlfriends’! She seemed really delighted to hear all about these earlier times and asked me if I would provide her with more information. She said she would send me some old photos of the school and asked if I’d like to contribute details of my trips to Friends Reunited!!

I left the campus and returned across the road, to suddenly see signs I’d seen on my last trip, to St Johns and St Margaret’s. Albeit in a slightly different place, I could see a small hill with signs for St Margaret’s Church and a complex called St John’s and St Margaret’s. It has Christian Fellowship and other buildings on the site, so I felt comforted that the original church hadn’t simply been demolished to just make way for all the huge, ubiquitous high-rise flats that appeared close by and all over Singapore. It was a good day and I was pleased I had plenty of information to pass on to my sister!!

I returned to my family, enjoying some time around their hotel pool. Dawn, Jade and I took a taxi to Sim Lim Square – an area well known for cheaper electronic items. I was after a decent camera and Dawn wanted an MP3 player, so we went in earnest. A couple of hours later and we were all happy, sinking into a Wimpy bar for a quick bite and drink, before making our way back to the hotel. After our return and meet up with everyone at Central’s MRT, it was goodbye to everyone as I made my way back to my digs and then on to Changi airport for my late night flight to Sri Lanka.

It had been great to see the family and I was very grateful for all the kindnesses and generosity everyone had shown me. They’re a lovely family and full of fun, so we all had a good time and thoroughly enjoyed the wedding reception, the family and our time together. But this time, much more than my last visit here, I didn’t leave with any sadness. In its earlier days when Chinese shopkeepers walked barefoot out of their shacks and blew their noses out onto the road, when they lived in fabulous shanty kampongs in very Chinese villages with their livestock close by and we all huddled under waxed umbrellas while the monsoon plundered down, Singapore had real character and an amazing buzz. But the new Singapore is a little too sterile, ordered, futuristic and directed for my liking. I somehow like a bit of disarray, old charm and tangible cultural differences and I just don’t feel any of that on this small island.

I’m so looking forward tho’, to my next destination. The guide books wetted my appetite so much that I can’t wait to get there – Sri Lanka!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lyncraven/1/1248113754/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lyncraven/1/1248113754/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lyncraven/1/1248113754/tpod.html Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:17:03 -0400 RTW 2 - a second bite of the cherry!

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San Francisco, California, United States

This is what Stewart and I will be up to in the coming weeks (detail to be added on my return to the UK):

Canyon Country (lodging)



27 Sep Death Valley

28 Sep Yosemite NP

29 Sep " “

30 Sep Sacramento

1 Oct Napa & Sonoma Valley

Bodega Bay

2 Oct Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz

San Francisco

3 Oct San Francisco
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lyncraven/1/1248113684/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lyncraven/1/1248113684/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lyncraven/1/1248113684/tpod.html Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:15:51 -0400 RTW 2 - a second bite of the cherry!

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Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, United States

This is what Stewart and I will be up to in the coming weeks (detail to be added on my return to the UK):

Canyon Country (lodging)



20 Sep Painted Desert Navajo Indian Reservation

Monument Valley

21 Sep Moab, Canyonlands NP

22 Sep Deadhorse Point State Park

Arches NP

23 Sep Capitol Reef NP

Bryce Canyon NP

Zion NP

24 Sep " “

25 Sep Las Vegas

26 Sep “ “
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lyncraven/1/1248113182/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lyncraven/1/1248113182/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lyncraven/1/1248113182/tpod.html Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:14:37 -0400 RTW 2 - a second bite of the cherry!

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Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, United States

This is what Stewart and I will be up to in the coming weeks (detail to be added on my return to the UK):

Canyon Country (lodging)



13 Sep San Francisco, Santa Cruz

14 Sep Carmel, Monterey

15 Sep Santa Barbara, Los Angeles

16 Sep Los Angeles

17 Sep San Diego

18 Sep Joshua Tree NP

19 Sep Grand Canyon
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