mirandanjarrod

Wednesday 17th Hers… 6am rise n shine! Time to pack up camp and head north, back to Colombo and then train it to Kandy. Up high in the hills. A local talked the talk at Colombo railway station and offered us his guest house. Including a transfer it sounded like a good deal so we gave in… no commitment required. We arrived at Rodney’s Guest house and with a view across the valley, hot water, and within budget. We were sold. Our location was around the corner from Temple of the Tooth Relic. With the main hoopla starting at 6.45pm we headed off down the mountain to check out what all the fuss was about… $10 bucks each for entry was a little steep, but hey, everyone was flocking here - so must be worth it, ... read more

Monday 15th Feb. Day 2 in Hikkaduwa. I spent the entire day in bed…. No, I did not have dreaded food poisoning, it was instead self inflicted alcohol over indulgence. Jarrod cruised around going on a few walks and kicked back on the beach front. Our hotel has little cabana things on the beach which are pretty comfortable and nice shade from the hot sun - averages about 33 degrees at the moment. It does cool down at night though, and the few degrees makes it easy to sleep, especially with no AC. TIP OF THE DAY: Buy spray on sunscreen and insect repellent - means you are not just rubbing the dust and dirt even further into your skin with a cream. ... read more

His… Friday 13th. We took the train down to Hikkaduwa, about 100km south from Colombo. The journey took about 2 and half hours and cost us 3.5 Australian dollars. The train ride itself was fine, everyone was seated, so there was no sniffing armpits, no air con but all the windows were open so was plenty of fresh air. Arrived in Hikkaduwa where we were escorted down to the ‘happening’ area, where there are all these great guesthouses by the ocean, costing about 10-20 dollars per night. We chose one, for about 10 bucks, that was a bit dirty but had a nice little beach front bar with cheap beers that cost about 2 bucks for a long neck of local beer. Miranda got some ‘threading’ done, if don’t know what it is then look it ... read more

Hers… Entry - Wednesday 10th February. Camera à tick. Mosquito coils à tick. Seasoned travellers à tick…..Or so we thought! Woke at 6am for a 1.30pm flight, butterflies and full of excitement. A nice wholesome breakfast of scrambled eggs and teary goodbyes and we were off on our journey. Air Asia was brilliant, highly recommended. A brand new airbus with excellent service, but as we quickly discovered Asians don’t do western food à so get the Malaysian meal, it was small but yummo. Landed in KL at 7pm and was greeted with the expected wave of heat… its been sitting in the low 30s with high humidity. We set off to our $5 a night hostel - Wheelers Guesthouse. Within 20 minutes of leaving the international airport we both agreed that we would need to loose ... read more

Hello all, just 5 hours till we fly off on our trip around eastern asia. Me and miranda have been saving hard (with exception to Miranda's weekly, unsacrificable hair and facial appointments) for the better part of a year to go on an adventure throughout Asia. we have enough savings to see us through about a year and then we will find some work to extend our stay. I will be looking toward a teaching role within Vietnam, while Miranda has already lined something up via the net. It has felt like the waiting would never end, but finally we are outta here. First stop is KL, Malaysia. We have three nights there and then fly out to Sri Lanka for two weeks, then back to KL, where we will travel overland throughout Malaysia and Thailand. ... read more