Why go to Sri Lanka?

if you ask people who have been to Sri Lanka, why go to Sri Lanka? The answer may be varied: because the scenery is more diverse because the people are simple. After all, prices are cheaper, but for me, the only reason for going to Sri Lanka is that I suddenly have a holiday of about ten days, and the visa here is convenient. temporary air tickets are not expensive, so it is taken for granted that it has become the best spare tire destination to go to as soon as possible.

then again, about three or four years ago, I thought about going to Sri Lanka, but I couldn't make it for various reasons, and the status of this country gradually degenerated into a spare tire on my destination list. If I have a long vacation, I will go to South America; if I do not have a long holiday, but have enough time to prepare for a cheap plane ticket and visa, I will go to Japan or Spain to find food, or go to some strange and remote country such as Iceland or Montenegro; if I don't have a long holiday, I don't have the money to buy an expensive plane ticket and I don't have time to prepare my itinerary, then go to Sri Lanka. As for other cheaper Southeast Asian countries, they have been there or have little interest. )

so, until the plane landed at Colombo airport, my knowledge of the country was limited to a small playbook I read a few years ago and a Lonely Planet guidebooks in hand. In addition to booking accommodation at the beginning and the end, I just walk around on the rest of the itinerary. I don't have any expectations anyway.

later this experience proves that if you don't expect much of a place, it tends to be what you want it to be.

my first day in Sri Lanka began when I slept half-dead until five o'clock in the morning at Colombo Airport. I stopped a taxi out of the airport gate and drove half-awake to the early morning fish market in Negombo. Some time ago, I didn't get up early in Tokyo to go to the Tsukiji market to see the tuna auction. It would be nice to have a look here instead.

when we arrived at the Negombo fish market, a strong smell of fish came across the fishing port, which made people feel refreshed immediately. Most of the vendors are warm and kind, but it is also interesting as a place to stroll around. But after all, this is not a Tsukiji market, and there is no way to get to a plate of sushi or sea urchin-covered rice. After only half an hour, I went to the bus stop to catch a ride to Kandy.

then, I took a half-day ride in Sri Lanka-- I went somewhere to have a look-- Oh, why is shit so boring here?-- get up early the next day and take a ride-- take a look at the next place-- Oh, shit, why is it such a boring cycle mode here?

Kandy this place, how to say, for Sri Lankan Buddhists, it is worth a visit, after all, it is said that there is a Buddhist tooth Seri. But for ordinary tourists, they don't know where to go if they stay here for half a day. The Foya Temple is worth seeing, and several museums nearby are shaped like chicken ribs. My friend Ye Jiang told me that she had been here for four days. Please allow me to express my high respect to her. If you don't give me a case of wine or ten books, with the wifi speed of the old cow pulling a broken car here, I can't live there for more than three days.

Kandy Street View

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the lake in the center of the city

when I came here, I asked Ye Jiang to recommend a hotel. When I entered the door, I found that the decoration was good and clean, and when I walked upstairs, I thought the room looked good, and it seemed to be a good value for money, but I never found the type of room I lived in. Later, after looking at the sign, I realized that the so-called capsule room where I lived was in several buckets piled on the rooftop.

if you don't tell me, I don't know this is a room. Hey! Are you sure no one will lock the door and push the bucket to the bottom of the lake in the middle of the night?

Ye Jiang says that we all sleep in the first bucket. Oh no, where is the first bed? is this the so-called ten years sleeping in the same bucket? You slept in a bucket for four days without fermenting!

in a mixed mood, I went out to eat a KFC and ended up with a burnt chicken leg.

so I got up at 7 o'clock the next morning and went to the railway station to pick up the train.

anyone who knows a little about tourism in Sri Lanka may know that there is a famous alpine train line, which is from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya. The train is divided into one, two, and three seats, and the first-class seats are available, but they have long been fully booked. Most people can only buy second or third-class seats and then grab seats in the spirit of first-tier cities crowded too and from work.

the scenery along the way of Alpine Train

as a weak chicken who has never squeezed a bus during commuting time, I naturally have to sit on the floor. It is not difficult to hold a travel backpack on the ground and clang for four hours. It is said that the destination Nuwara Eliya is called Little England by locals.

when I arrive at my destination, I just want to ask: Excuse me? Brother, have you ever been to England? Apart from a few strange colonial-style buildings, there are fewer pedestrians on the road, and without KFC, I don't see much difference between this place and Kandy. It was still raining halfway down the road, and the fog was as foggy as Beijing, and it wasn't long before I ran back to the hotel and shrank back.

on the way, I met two foggy friends with a child and asked me if I would like to carpool to hike in Horton Plain the next day, where there is a scenic spot called "the end of the World". The following is the course of my thinking: I didn't go hiking when I went to Bokala, Nepal, nor did I go to many other places with good scenery. This is also a famous national park. As a boring tourist who doesn't love the natural scenery and is lazy, I should challenge myself and take this step bravely, uh-huh.

so I set an alarm clock at 05:30 in the morning, connected with the taxi driver at 06:00, and headed to Horton Plain. According to the friends who have been there, the scenery is very nice. However, the scenery we saw along the way was like this.

you can't even see a ghost! What is the end of the world? this is the end of life! I might as well go to Beijing to smoke the haze or go home to play Silent Hill!

after struggling for half an hour to buy a ticket in front of the scenic national park, we drove back. This is the so-called pity that he fell ill and died in the army at the beginning of the battle against Wei Weijie.

then I went to the so-called tea garden, and I didn't feel the meaning of traveling there. So they decided to take the afternoon train to Ella, another mountain town.

people play hanging trains along the way

I can still set my backpack on the floor on the train between Kandy and Nuwara Eliya, but there is no room for my ass on the train from Nuwara Eliya to Ella, so I have to stand for three hours all the way. Ah, the world is so big, the train is so long, but there is no room for my ass.

the weather in Ella, is still cold and humid, just like Guangzhou's return to the south in March. Perhaps the greatest comfort of the day was that I checked into one of the best hotels on this trip. The price is about 150 yuan, open a room to send bottled Coke (Sri Lankan Coke is very expensive! There is also a fake rose on the double bed.

in this bad weather, the nearby Little Adam Peak is naturally in no mood to climb. And the town itself is just a tourist station full of hotels and restaurants. I can't help growling in my heart because I haven't been very interested in activities like sunbathing on the beach: I'm going to the south beach! I want hot sun!

my wish came true the next day. On the bus from Ella to the seaside town of Mirissa, the hot sun woke me up from hibernation mode. As for the desquamate after the sun, that is later. The change is a bit too drastic.

however, tropical beaches also have the troubles of tropical beaches. I don't know how the cheap Youth Travel Service I stayed in got so much praise on Booking. Climb into the upper bunk and take a look. Er, there are several dead bugs on the bunk.

it's all right, but luckily there are new sheets that have been washed nearby, so you can pretend to be all right when you put them on, hold the sheets and shake them.

there are dozens of dead bugs on the bed now.

what the heck is this? Hey! How bad my recent travel luck is! He went out the door and was chased by a dog again!

taken one second before being chased by a dog

nothing, calm, something beautiful must be ahead. By the way, Mirissa's reserved program is to go out to sea to see the blue whale, the blue whale! Go out at once and book a whale-watching group to go out to sea the next day.

at 6 o'clock the next morning, I was sitting alone in front of the dark hotel, waiting for the tutu car to pick me up to the dock. I went out to sea at 7 o'clock and floated in the sea spray for more than two hours, but after seeing nothing, I finally vomited a plastic bag without suspense. The girl who had vomited half to death in front of her handsomely handed me a tissue with her back: "do you want a tissue?"

I took the tissue, and the two continued to revisit what they had for breakfast in front of the plastic bag.

the little brother on the whale-watching ship also works very hard. The main job is to pick up the vomit bags of tourists back and forth. I don't know if the collection of ten can redeem the prize. A white girl in front threw up until she collapsed on the ground and fell asleep. In the end, it seemed that the whale didn't see it either.

Oh, as for me, of course, I still see a whale. It looks like this.

it is to see a column of water sprayed by a bulge on the sea surface from a distance. But from 7 o'clock to 12:00 to go out to sea for five hours, the time to see dolphins and whales add up to no more than five minutes, the rest of the time is brewing aftertaste of today's breakfast ….

when the ship docked, a tourist looked up to the sky and sighed: it's better to be a land animal! As I staggered along with seasickness, I wondered, what on earth is the point of this painful entertainment?

when I remembered to sign up for the whale watching group, the advertisement sign read: you can't see whales on the first day, and you can play again for free the next day!

anyone who wants to go there again will be damned.

in the evening, I went to the beach to eat seafood with my Beijing friends. I waited for nearly two hours and served it. The meat was dry and the cooking skills were poor. Compared with seafood, it seems that the little brother who still sells seafood looks a little more delicious.

Seafood seller

and seafood that is not so delicious

compared to Mirissa, I prefer Unawatuna Beach, which is closer to the ancient city of Galle. Here, the wind and waves are relatively small, the beach is dense, the facilities are complete, and it is not too noisy. It only takes 10 to 20 minutes to come from Galle by tutu or bus. If you are tired of soaking in the sun on the beach, you can also go to the SPA center next door to do Ayurvedic health care. 2000 words are omitted here.

Unawatuna Beach

luckily there is Galle, otherwise, my trip to Sri Lanka would be full of troughs.

Galle is a small town on the Indian Ocean, but it is not famous for its beaches, but for a castle built by colonists. The area of the castle is small, with churches, mosques, and Buddhist temples. Of course, like many such tourist destinations, there are more houses and restaurants converted from old houses, cafes, and many souvenir shops that sell jewelry that can't tell the difference between the real and the fake.

in other countries, Galle is probably an uncharacteristic Wenqing refreshing photoshoot, but in Sri Lanka, especially after so much bad luck. Oh, this is a paradise.

first of all, I can finally have a normal meal. Let's forget about KFC's burnt chicken legs and all kinds of dark Sri Lankan cuisine. Tuna steak and tomato spaghetti will start with two. Don't ask me why I ordered western food. At least find a better restaurant in a place with a long colonial history without stepping on mines.

restaurants on the street of Galle

tuna steak

secondly, the travel experience has a lot to do with the people you meet on the road. Most of the people we met at Galle were kind and interesting. The owner of an ice cream shop in the castle asked us if we could give him a small box of wind oil essence, which is said to have a refreshing effect. We were right, you put on a little of this, and then rub it on yours. How do you say temples in English? Oh yes, rub it on your sun hole.

then the boss took this box of essential oils to demonstrate to other guests: this is a refreshing secret medicine in China. Oh, you see, rub a little on your sun hole like this.

when the ice cream shop owner explains how to paint sun hole

when the sun sets, many Sri Lankan locals will gather for a walk on the city wall on the other side of the sea. Some people carry guitars and tambourines on Sing, some people perform snake tricks, and some people are said to perform wall diving, but it's a pity I didn't see it. During the two or three days of Galle, it is also very pleasant to empty the city wall when nothing happens and to wait for the sunset in the Indian Ocean to sink below sea level.

I also went to the cinema to see Deadpool in Galle, but all the sex scenes I saw in the online trailer seemed to have been cut out. What about the sex scene? SARFT of Sri Lanka, you give me back my sex scene! I also signed up for a cooking class learning to make Sri Lankan curry. When the German girl next to me ate the first curry, she said it was delicious. After eating all the curry, the girl said, it seems that the best food is the first course.

Curry Cooking lesson

but the good times didn't last long. When I was about to leave Galle, I had bad luck again.

in order not to have to stand on the train for another three hours and give my poor ass a place to live, I bought a first-class seat at a high price of about 40 yuan two days in advance. I also specially chose the train that left at 03:30 in the afternoon, so that I could just watch the sunset in the Indian Ocean on the legendary seaside train. But when we set out, the railway station staff first said that the train was late, and then directly told us that the train was canceled. A first-class ticket can only take a second-class seat with a price equivalent to a few yuan. As for the legendary seaside, train to see the sunset in the Indian Ocean basically can only rely on the night to listen to the sound of the waves to imagine.

the scenery is seen by the seaside train in the evening

Colombo, as the capital, does not seem to have many bright spots as rumored. After visiting Hindu temples, mosques, and Dutch colonial museums in the fortress area, I bought some tea at Odel, the city's most luxurious department store packed with Chinese tourists, and was too tired to walk around. Fortunately, the big crabs in the Ministry of Crab restaurant, which made the list of Asia's top 50, give me a lot of comforts.

downtown Colombo

the mosque on the streets of Colombo

Sri Lankan crab

has been wandering in Sri Lanka for 9 days, and it's hard for me to call it a pleasant trip. When I was in Nuwara Eliya, shivering in the quilt with cold, I asked my friends who had been to Sri Lanka puzzled: what's so funny here?

but I have nothing to complain about. Compared with many countries, Sri Lanka's natural and cultural landscapes are indeed inferior. But the people here are one of the friendliest people I've ever been to the country. The children on the road will greet you warmly, but they don't say one dollar or candy to you. Tutu drivers are mostly friendly and don't cheat people, even if they cheat people. If you ask passers-by for directions or other things, most people will tell you the answer in a friendly way, unlike some people in their neighboring countries who are pestering you for tips.

and what if the weather is fine and you see a lot of animals when you go hiking in Horton Plain? What if the train is not late when you leave Galle and you are happy to see the sunset in the Indian Ocean on the seaside train? In that case, will I like this country? I don't know. All I know is that the weather, luck, people I meet, and mood all affect how you feel about a trip. Maybe it's just that I happen to encounter a bad combination of factors.

after all, boring and depressing experiences take up quite a long time in both travel and life. There is no such a good thing that you have to high every time you travel.

if you feel angry and upset, just come back and buy a plane ticket and order a meal. Anyway, I can count on supporting my life hope at the Arzak restaurant that San Sebastian has booked this year.