UNAWATUNA - A CAPSULE OF FROZEN TIME // LAST DAYS IN SRI LANKA

DAY 9-16 

UNAWATUNA

The 31th of January, we got fed up by the German lady and the dead corals and violent waves of Hikkaduwa and packed our suitcases for another beach town called Unawatuna, after being tipped of that there was supposed to be a beach reachable only through a walk in the jungle, that was supposed to have calm waters and very little people. Jennifer was longing for snorkling and I was just longing to get away from the hotel owner and her cheap internet, so we jumped on a train and 40 minutes later, we were there.

PICTURESQUE GALLE FORT

 Along the south west coast of Sri Lanka,
there is a small town called Galle 

with an UNESCO-certified fort.

We spent a day there, traveling back to Europe for a lovely couple of hours. 

~ HERE'S OUR STORY ~ 
~ IN PICTURES ~

THE MAN AND THE WATERBOTTLE SECRET

This is the story of what happened in Hikkaduwa a few days ago. 

We stayed a couple of days in Café Ceylon and except for the weird German lady, the staff was very lovely.  One day we bought a papaya and asked if one of the staff members could split it for us since we didn't have a knife.
He came up to our room with two plates with each half of a papaya, some napkins and a slice of lime. We thanked him smilingly and he stayed to talk with us for a while. He introduced himself as Haryana.

SEA TURTLE CONSERVATION & HATCHERY IN HIKKADUWA

WHAT:
A a family business conservation of sea turtles where the eggs are hatched and re-released in the sea after they are fed and looked after.

UNPLEASANT GUESTHOUSE OWNERS & CHANGED PLANS

DAY 6
HIKKADUWA

We've arrived in the beach town Hikkaduwa, a place where there was supposed to be great conditions for snorkling, something Jennifer's really been looking forward to.

RECOLLECTING MY ENERGY

DAY 4

KANDY

The last two days has really charged my batteries. Arriving in Kandy, we were alarmed by the noise, the traffic, the never ending "MISS! TAXI!?", the squawking birds. It was night time, the train arrived two hours late and we were solely exhaused.

First taxidriver approching us said 1000 LKR to go a couple of kilometers up on the hill. I strichtly said no and went on, as he approched us again asking for what we were willing to pay.
"500." I said ice cold as he just wrinkled his nose. After that a medival dance of taxidrivers starting coming towards us with the same offer. We quickly jumped in to the first guy who said 400 and we arrived at the hotel just a couple of minutes later.

TRAIN THOUGHTS FROM THE SRI LANKAN HIGHLANDS

DAY 3 
COLUMBO - KANDY 

Writing this, I am cruising through a landscape greener than anything else I've ever seen, taking breaks from the computer to stare wideeyed at the ocean of trees and mountains, all glazed in an etheral afternoon light. Through my body is in perfect harmony, finally in the timezone it is supposed to be in, my mind is somewhere else. 

DANGEROUS WATERS & AMAZING BREAD

DAY 2 
COLOMBO, SRI LANKA

I woke up this morning to the smell of coffee, which was idyllcal, and to the sound of my seven alarms, which was less pleasant.
"I did an experiment on you", Jennifer said from the bathroom. "I wanted to see how long it would take for you to wake up so I didn't turn of your alarms."
"And what was the result of this experiment?"
"That I wanted to throw your phone in the wall. Or possibly on you, but I doubt that would wake you up."
I laughed and drank my coffee.
"Where do we start today?" I asked.
"We need to do a cash withdrawal, find out where we are going after Colombo and hit that beach, finally..." She was abrupted by my grumbeling tummy, which made sounds suitable for ogres.
"Or we start with breakfast?"

____________

THE FIRST 48 HOURS - ASIA 2018

It has been a couple of looong days. 

In less than 48 hours,  I've gone from leaving my mom at the airport to take a unexpected detour touristing in London with Jessica just two hours later;
 to stress back to the airport to sit on a plane for 10 hours and cry because I felt so alone and didn't want to sleep on a strangers shoulder, but at the same time longed for closeness possibly more than I ever done before;
to entering Sri Lanka with no idea if I'd get a Visa or not, to being stuck at the airport with the same cluelessnes in next task - getting to the hotel;
to wandering the streets of Colombo in aftermidday sun with the task to find Galle Face which was supposed to be a great place for catching the sunset;
to falling asleep at 20 pm and being waked 1 am by Jennifer having trouble to enter the room.

At Galle Face Green, great spot for watching the sunset and eat cheap food.