Not much to say about today. We caught the bus to Ella. That’s about it.
So, two weeks in, a few impressions of Sri Lanka…
First and foremost, Sri Lankan people are lovely. Everywhere we go we’re met with smiles and kindness, (“Hello!”) and when people see you confused, they rush to help.
The heat can be quite challenging, especially in the middle of the day, especially in the jungle where the humidity can really drain you.
Everyone says it’s incredibly cheap, and they’re right. We’re using Booking.com rather than turning up and bargaining, which I’m sure would halve the prices, but we’re still paying no more than £10-£15 a day for perfectly nice accommodation. Always clean, always comfy. Trains are absurdly cheap – an hour’s journey will typically cost 30 or 40p. They are pretty ramshackle, generally filthy, and often with heinous seats, and quite often you can’t even get one, heinous or otherwise. But they usually leave on time and get there when they said they would. Tuk tuks, again, crazy. We had to take one yesterday – many miles, over an hour, and it was a tad over six quid. And as for the food, it’s bonkers cheap, always good, and often fantastic. You have to stress hot & spicy or they’ll bland it down, but when it comes it’s invariably not just hot but delicious. For dinner last night we had stirfry vegetables and chicken kottu, more than we could finish, and the bill with a bottle of water came to about £3.50.
The beaches are beautiful. Almost everywhere is a Hollywood tropical fantasy: miles of golden sands, fringed by palm trees. And the water is warm. Not oppressively so, just perfect.
There are Russians everywhere. You can always spot them because they always look pissed off. Always. I don’t think I’ve seen one smile yet, they blank any hellos/nods, and they are surly and dismissive with the locals.
And so much for that.
So, four hours in a comfy air-conditioned coach has brought us to Ella – a travellers’ paradise up in the hills, with a main street lined with restaurants, tat and tourists from everywhere. We went in one shop which was I think the most impressive cornucopia of crap I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a fair few over the years. And then the rains came. YeGods, monsoon on a stick. Thunderous rain for about 20 minutes, then it stopped, leaving the town dripping gently. We grabbed a beer at a roadside bar, then came back to our room in the clouds for a bit of chill time before heading out to a restaurant V’s found on Google that promises the kind of real Sri Lankan food we love. Hot hot hot!