End of Trip

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It is the end of our trip. We had a great end! We stayed in a real hotel, with hot water and comfortable beds and air conditioning! That was a really nice treat. And we were able to stay there for 2 nights! While we were in Colombo, we met a Sri Lankan lady who was actually of dutch decent but she spoke full Sinhalese. She talked us into going out in the town and she recommended a great place to eat! This place was really chic, I believe it was called The Gallery. It was a place straight out of Santana Row, very chic, very sophisticated, and expensive (like $7-10 a meal) but very worth it! Nora and Allegra ordered a banana milkshake, and I wanted to go back to get one but we never had a chance to eat there again. We also had a chance to spend half a day at the beach. We went to Mt. Lavinia and spent the day sun bathing at the beach resort there. We also ate a very good lunch there with an awesome view of the city. The food and the comforts of the city life was a nice welcome back to civilization, and much needed!

After tearing ourselves away from Colombo, we went to the Coconut Research Institute for our last night. We couldn't have asked for a better last night in Sri Lanka. In our backyard, there were millions and millions of fire flies all around us! We just stood there in the dark in the backyard for a long time, soaking in the beauty around us. It was something I will probably never see again. The fire flies were literally everywhere, some close enough to touch but they shut off their lights whenever we came close. It was so beautiful. They were all in the trees too, it looked like ornaments. They were a different color than the ones in Galle Bungalow, which were blue. We also looked up at the stars with a small telescope. It was so gorgeous!

The next day was our last day of lectures. Then, we had the afternoon free! We stayed at an eco-friendly beach resort. 100% of the resort was made from natural resources from the nearby village. It was a very nice place, and the food was good. The name of the place was Ranweli. We are scheduled to stay there until 10 pm when we leave for our planes and say our goodbyes. I spent the afternoon sun bathing on the beach. I was able to watch the sunset. It was beautiful and the perfect end to a wonderful trip.

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Photos

Tsunami Damage
Yes, people were still living in their ruined homes

View from the Mt. Lavinia restaurant
I couldn't get over the view, and I couldn't believe we were having lunch there. I think our lunches were less than $5 each

Bird Sanctuary
Saw many endemic birds here

Ranweli Resort
Climbing for coconuts. They tie ropes along all the trees so they could just walk across instead of climb each tree

Ranweli Resort
Waiting for the sun to set

Ranweli Resort
We had the beach all to ourselves!

Ranweli Resort
It was amazing! The picture doesn't do it justice

Comments

[mom]

good for u
I am glad you have a good time and did not get sick from eating food. Nice to you back home. mom~

[Jon Pearce]

nice job
I really enjoyed reading your blog. You're lucky. Most people find it difficult to express themselves in writing. You should consider developing a habit of keeping a journal or a blog. You don't need to record only the big events of your life. Actually the small events can make better entries. Phtography is another nice touch to add to your blog.