Blogs from Sri Lanka, Asia - page 16

One last adventure before we begin our journey home is a train trip to the Hill Country. It consists of a 6 hour journey and a 13 degree difference in temperature. We go to the station for our 9.45 train. The rolling stock looks like it belongs in a museum. However, at 9.46 a whistle blows, and we’re off. One minute behind schedule – how often can Southern Rail manage that? We have tickets in Observation Class, which is supposed to offer a good view, but the seats are facing backwards, so looking out of the window for too long makes me dizzy. Once out of Colombo we start to climb, a total of 1889 metres in total. The scenery is stunning but the journey is like something from a nightmare. We are crammed into a ... read more

We have booked flights to Colombo via Singapore but our first plane has been cancelled, meaning an earlier flight and a 9 hour layover in Singapore. One last attempt to liberate our laundry - thankfully it is open. She looks as relieved to get her hands on our dollars as we are to get our clothes back. Then off to the airport for our first flight. We are seated separately because the plane is full of school groups. I sit next to an Australian teacher accompanying students who have been doing voluntary work. He tells me how they have taken disabled kids swimming, brought gifts for orphans and sung with blind children. It makes my sightseeing followed by cocktails feel rather shallow. Passengers transiting Singapore are offered a free 2 ½ hour city tour. So we ... read more

Donnerstag, 29.03.2018 Colombo (Sri Lanka): leicht bewölkt, Min. 28°C, Max. 34°C Wir haben heute Tag 83 unserer Reise um die Welt. In Phuket mussten wir zum letzten Mal die Tenderboote besteigen um an Land zu gelangen, bei den restlichen Destinationen liegt unser Schiff am Pier im Hafen. Bei den zwei Seetagen von Phuket nach Colombo, sahen wir einige Male Delfine von unserem Balkon aus. Das Meer im Indischen Ozean ist leider nicht immer sauber, oftmals sahen wir ganze Inseln aus Plastikmüll am Schiff vorbeiziehen. Im Atlantik und Pazifik war das nicht der Fall. Wir hatten in Colombo eine 4stündige Stadtrundfahrt, bei der uns einige Sehenswürdigkeiten der Stadt gezeigt wurden. Besonders sehenswert waren die Tempel auf der Tour. In einem Tempel steht, wenigstens den Buddhisten zu Folge, der älteste Baum der Welt. Er wurde aus ... read more

As it seems always the sea was still very rough for our last couple of days but I spent quite a lot of time playing in the surf and getting knocked over by the strong waves. I thought we might lose Caroline at one point when she went a bit too far out. At lunch we had a funny insident when Caroline fell between two bench seats and disappeared under the table. No drink was involved, promise. We just had a couple of lazy days in the pool and on the beach apart from packing our bags for tomorrow. Our last evening was a Sri Lankan Evening but the music was terrible so we chose a table on the other side of the restaurant so it wasn’t so bad. Feeling sad to be going home but ... read more

Although overcast for some of the day it didn’t rain so we were happy. The driver that Upul had arranged took us to the enchanting town of Galle, about one and a half hours along the dangerous coast road. I would like to have gone by train and I think it would have been safer. Probably because it was a cloudy morning and everything looked shabby and neglected I felt really sad for the people of Southern Sri Lanka who are still trying to put their country in order after the tsunami. Such an enormous task. We stopped at a memorial for the local people that died that terrible day and we saw many derelict houses along the way. The resilience of people never fails to amaze me. I loved Galle. It is full of old ... read more