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Published: March 8th 2014
This morning we went for a walk through the rice paddies. Sujee had been talking about this during our trip and we had passed many of them, so he would tell us about the rice paddies. Except he called them 'faddy fields'. I knew what he meant, but I didn't realize other people on the tour didn't understand him. When we were taking pictures in the faddy fields, I heard some people in the group talking and I was cracking up when I realized the whole time he was telling us about the faddy fields they didn't make the connection.
The rice paddies were actually really beautiful and while I had seen a lot of them in Asia, I had never walked through one. Got some great photos. I would really like to try planting rice. Not as easy as they make it look, I bet. The best part of the walk through the rice paddies was when Sujee stopped to talk to us about the women who work in the fields. They work long days away from their families and they sing a song about how they miss their family while they work. Sujee sang the entire song for
Grows on Trees
These large pods contain a cotton-like substance and they use it to stuff pillows. That explains a lot about some of the pillows I've slept on.us. It was so beautiful even though I didn't understand a word. And it made me that much more crazy about Sujee. He is an awesome guide.
We took a local bus back to the hotel, only about 2km. I think it was for the experience. A walk would've been nice, but I didn't realize that we actually did have time to walk back. I rinsed my feet in that nasty shower and then I was ready to move on to Ella, a small town know to attract a lot of backpackers. We took the bus to the train station and most of us took the train to Ella. I think, again, that this was for the experience. The train ride took 1.5 hours. But one couple just stayed on our bus and it took them 30 minutes to get to Ella. Haha! Joke was on us. Ella is definitely small. Definitely a backpacker place. Several cafes and restaurants, but not really any shopping. Not much of anything really, but I did like this little town. Our hotel is Country Comfort Inn and it is awesome. Very English on the outside, nice big rooms, nice black marble bathroom. I
call it the porn star bathroom.
We took a walk around town. Didn't take long. About 15 minutes. We went to a restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet to have some drinks. Good decision. Excellent drinks. We liked this place so much (something Cafe? Cafee? Coffee?? Damn, can't remember the name.) that we went back for dinner and had an excellent thin crust pizza. It had the coolest lights hanging everywhere. Great atmosphere. And even though the banana and honey roti I had earlier at a roadside stand was fantastic, I've had enough roti for a while. That pizza really hit the spot.
The next day we left early for the long drive to the southwest, to the beach! We stayed in Ahangama, arrived at 1:30. There is really nothing in this town to see or do, except we did have a good view of the stick fishermen on the beach next to us. We were warned in advance that if we wanted a picture of them and went over there, we had to pay them 200 rupees. Umm, no. Luckily, I have an excellent zoom lens. We spent some time on the beach, had this chopped roti thing
for dinner from a street stand since the hotel food was a) expensive and b) not good. And then most of us in the group had way to much Sex on the Beach since they had a great drink special on. I felt it the next day too.
Spent the morning on the beach and realized I'd been eaten up by sand lice yesterday! Yikes and yuck! I had red bumps on my legs from the bites. They weren't too bad, but when they started to itch, they ALL started to itch and nothing I did seemed to stop it. But after a few hours on the beach this morning, and a lazy afternoon by the pool, now I look like I've been on holiday! Got some okay pics of the stick fishermen. Had another roti thing for dinner. I was getting really sick of Sri Lankan food. We felt a bit trapped in this hotel because the town was not nice and had nothing to do, although there was a place that gave surfing lessons.
The next day we headed to Galle. Just for the morning, which was disappointing. I could have spent much longer here. Galle
was greatly affected by the tsunami but seems to have fully recovered. It is a beautiful town from what I could see. We spent the morning in the touristy area inside the walls of the fort. None of the fort is left except for the walls. Inside are beautiful homes, streets, shops, cafes, restaurants, and it is quite expensive for Sri Lanka. We had just a couple of hours to walk around and take photos. I didn't bother shopping because it was way more expensive than other places, but pretty much sold the same stuff except for the local pottery and paintings which are beautiful. The best part of Galle was I got a latte. A real latte! An American sized latte with real coffee! Not an easy find in Sri Lanka. Lots of places here serve real coffee, but I got my latte at Dairy King, owned by a lovely family. The father has obviously been to the west and spoke excellent English.
When we left Galle, it was time for the group to separate. Some people were staying in the South. So we said our goodbyes (bleh) and were on our way to Colombo. I will be
in Colombo three nights, two of them at Galle Face Hotel. A major splurge. Hope it is worth it.
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El Eterno Caminante
Greg
Hi Mary
Loved the Blog, what was your favorite beach in Sri Lanka when you were there? Any clear water beaches there? Thanks so much! Feliz Viaje! --Greg