Beautiful Mountains and slightly less scary monkeys

The temples I've seen here have been very special, but I decided it was time to do something other than temple finding. So I headed for the mountains. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but even the journey up to the little town I stayed in was stunningly beautiful. We climbed about 2500ft with views down into sheer green valleys covered with pine and gum trees.

My accommodation was exceptionally cheap but not overly exciting and had rank smelling pillows. The main thing though was that they gave me lots of blankets. Southern India is boiling hot right now but in the mountains, at night time, it is freezing! Unfortunately the bathroom was outside which did put me off washing. They provided me with hot water though so I at least washed my hair even if the rest of me minged.

I went on walks through the mountains and found what are known as Pillar Rocks - beautiful pillars of rock (funnily enough), and had wonderful views across to other mountains. It was a national holiday of some sort and so lots of Indian tourists were about. At a view point there were gangs of monkeys. I was naturally terrified - you can never trust a monkey - but everyone else happily stood right next to them. Apart from one monkey dipping his hand into someone's bag, I presume to look for food, they were all extremely well behaved. This has lessened my fear a small amount. At least around the monkeys here anyway.

Back down in the town there was a pretty lake. Again there were lots of Indian tourists, all cycling, horse riding or boating around it. I just decided to walk. In other places I've travelled there have very rarely been tourists from the country I'm in, so this is something new!

More Temples in Trichy

My next stop was another temple town called Trichy, or Tiruchirappalli if you want to say it's full name! Here I splashed out on an 'expensive' hotel. And for what was probably less than 15 pounds I got a lovely room with a telephone and big Tv, eat as much as you can buffet breakfast (so a good opportunity to sample some South Indian dishes which I had no idea what they were), an amazingly posh lobby with shiney floors and fish in huge tanks, and a swimming pool.

I'd heard that you could hire a bicycle and my plan was to get one and cycle to the temples. After asking many people and searching in many places however, I decided that no, you could not hire a bicycle in Trichy. So instead I got the bus, which considering the confusing and very busy roads, was probably a good thing.

One of the temples was part of a rock fort. There were many, many steps to get up to the top, but once there the views across the colourful buildings, rivers, churches and temples in the city below were amazing. So were the soaring buzzards who flew by all around us.

The second temple I went to is called Sri Ranganathaswamy and is apparently one of the biggest temples in India. Here I obediently handed in my flip flops to the shoe looker afterer and then wondered through. Part of what I would have thought was the temple didn't seem to count as the temple, as here there were all sorts of shops and stalls and people walking around with their shoes still on. Inside what really was the temple were lots of intricate carvings and I even accidentally found myself in a line to prey to one of the Hindu gods. Too late to turn back I apologised and then I received some sort of blessing so I guess it was ok that I was there after all. I'm not sure which god it was that I was supposed to be preying to though.

My start in India

After flying into Chennai, my first stop was a place called Tiruvannamalai. Even now if you asked me where it was I went, I could not tell you without (very slowly) reading out the word from somewhere it was written down. Fortunately lots of place names in India seem to have abbreviations which does make things a little easier. Although like in Sri Lanka, it often takes a while before people understand what I'm saying.

My journey to Tiruvannamalai involved the first of what I now know is a reoccurring sequence of events when trying to find something in India, be it a bus, or train, or anything else. What happens is this - the first person you ask points you in the direction of whatever it is you're looking for. However, when you get there and ask someone else, they point you in another direction. This will normally happen a few times before, more often than not, you find whatever you're looking for in roughly the same place as somewhere you previously asked directions but got sent somewhere else. Another thing I've found is that sometimes if people don't understand you, they get a slightly anxious look on their face and then just completely ignore you as if you're not there at all.

Whilst in Tiruvannamalai I visited a Hindu Temple. It was pretty impressive to look around, covering a huge area, with extremely tall intricately carved gopurums (the word which I have recently discovered refers to the big white towers). Another thing I discovered is that you can't take shoes inside the temples. I knew that you mustn't ware them, but I just put my flip flops into my bag to avoid paying someone to guard them for me. They are very old and I'm pretty sure no one would want them, but you never know. Well, to get into the temple you had to go through a scanner thing like at the airport. For me it bleeped and so my bag was checked and I was sent straight out to leave my flip flops with the guarding man!

In Tiruvannamalai there was an extinct 800m high volcano. I climbed to the top for amazing views down over the town and the temple. It was a very hot but enjoyable climb and at the top was a little shrine and a hut where you were invited to sit and drink sweet milk tea.

Last few days in Sri Lanka

My last few days in Sri Lanka were spent in a little town called Kurunegala, and on the west coast. I was expecting Kurunegala to be a bit different to how it actually was. So rather than enjoying the scenery as I had expected, I enjoyed the company of some of the people who live there.

Finding a place to stay proved tricky but a kind guy showed me a hotel that belonged to his friend which was right on the lake. For some reason I got mates rates and so for less than I've paid in other places I got a huge room with air con, a TV, and a lovely bathroom with hot water!

From here I moved to Mount Lavinia, on the coast a little south of Colombo. This was unlike any place I've been in Sri Lanka and seemed to be full of very rich people. I stayed in an older ladies house who was lovely but could most certainly talk! She spent hours talking to me, and I spent hours listening to her. She was very rich and had a 'servant' who she referred to as the creature. This probably makes her sound horrible but it was actually quite a funny situation. She would tell me in horror about what her 'creature' had done and at the same time her 'creature' would be cursing to herself in the next room deliberately loud enough for us to hear. I think secretly they wouldn't know what to do without each other.

There were a few very posh hotels of which I was able to have a look around. I spent a day relaxing by the pool of one of them, whilst four Sri Lankan weddings took place. The ladies were absolutely beautiful in their saris.

I also did a couple (well kind of) of dives. The first dive was down to a ship wreck which ordinarily I think would have been a lovely ship wreck to explore. However, on this day there were strong currents and not good visibility and so it not only was quite hard to see, but also quite hard to relax for fear of being swept away and lost. The second dive was down to a different wreck, but this wreck I didn't even see. The visibility was so bad that all you could see was blackness. We aborted the dive and returned to the surface.

When it was time to leave I had my first and last train journey in Sri Lanka, which apart from the train being late (I think the only transport that has been late in all of my time here) went smoothly and I got to the airport in time for my onward flight.

Peradeniya Botanical Gardens

As a day trip from Kandy I visited these amazing botanical gardens.

There were so many beautiful flowers and trees. Some of the most beautiful ones I noted were from Central America.

There were huge trees in one section, absolutely full of noisy fruit bats.

And there was even a collection of lots of different lawns from around the world (there were many more that wouldn't fit in the photo).

Kandy

Kandy is a town in the hills in the middle of Sri Lanka.

Here I tried to play the game in the first photo which seems to be played a lot all over Sri Lanka. You have to flick a disc at one of your coloured discs to try and make it go into the holes at the edges. The little guy in the middle was the champion and he made it look easy. I think I only managed to pot one of my discs. Fortunately (for me) I had someone else on my team who could play a little better than me.

I also walked up to a huge Buddha statue on a hill, which I could see from my hostel. There were stairs attached to the back of the statue which you could climb up, but at the height of it's armpit there was a gate which stopped you going any further. I did try and get someone to unlock the gate but without any success. I was given two different reasons why the gate was locked. One man told me it was because people didn't know how to respect the Buddha and didn't cover their shoulders (I did point out that my shoulders were covered but still the gate remained locked). Another guy said that it was locked because you weren't aloud to walk on the Buddha's shoulders. Then a monk suggested I should just climb around the gate. I decided not to follow his suggestion as apart from anything else, falling would have meant certain death.

There was a little room inside the Buddha with sculptured pictures on the wall and painted flowers all over the ceiling.

In my hotel (the YMCA) there was a tiny kitten. She was so sweet and we played together a lot. She was as acrobatic as Mimi - our cat - and Mimi was very acrobatic! I was told that the kitten was three months old, although she was barely bigger than my hand. She had flees but they didn't bite me.

The North

I next headed right to the North of Sri Lanka, where things were quite different to the South. Everything is very dry there and evidence of the war is clearly visible. Many of the buildings have been half demolished and lots are covered in holes/craters, which is really very sad to see. The further North you go, the more military people and police checkpoints there are. On the way to Jaffna - the main town there - I had to show my passport and answer questions about my intentions whilst I was there. I felt a little sorry for everyone else on the bus, as being the only tourist I was the only person who had to do this. I discovered that although the people who live in the North are Tamils, all of the policemen are Sinhalese.

I visited a little village called Manalkadu, which lots of people were very helpful in showing me how to reach. Here there were sand dunes and the ruins of St Anthony's church and graveyard half buried in the sand.

There was also a pretty beach as far as you could see. All along the shore was a line of little shiny blue things that had been washed up by the sea. At first I thought they were some sort of litter or part of a plant, but after a closer inspection I found they were tiny sea creatures. They were only about the size of a thumb nail and felt like jelly. They had little kind of wings which looked almost feathery at the tips. I've no idea what they were as have never seen or heard of anything like them! Any ideas??

I went to a little town called Manar where there apparently is the largest tree in Asia. It's a Baobab tree like the ones in Africa although here it's called a Biobab tree. It was quite short but did have a huge trunk, and unlike all the ones I saw in Africa, also was covered in leaves. Another addition to the town were lots and lots of donkeys, often looking very thin.

One thing the North and South of Sri Lanka definitely have in common is the wonderful people!

Trincomalee

Trincomalee is a lovely little town on the East coast of Sri Lanka. It is apparently monsoon season here, and going by the guidebooks the weather should be windy and rainy. However, as you can see, this was very much not the case!

All along the beach here are ruins left from the tsunami in 2004, which were interesting but sad to see.

My visit here almost left me despairing about a lot of Sri Lankan men (after asking where you're from and whether your married, the next question will often be a very to the point proposition), but instead my trust in the people that live here grew. I found that a lot of people will show you no end of kindness and not want anything at all in return.

I was treated with such wonderful hospitality - cooked for, bought cups of tea and snacks, given free lifts in tuktuks, introduced to peoples family and friends, shown around peoples homes and lovely gardens... and yes, I was also aloud to drive someone's tuktuk! That was a lot of fun, and very amusing seeing the looks on people's faces as I, the tourist, drove down the main road with a Sri Lankan passenger.

I also spent some time climbing up a big hill through the army barracks, to where there was a Buddhist Temple half way up, and a Hindu Temple and views all around the coast at the top. There were loads of very noisy green parrots in all the trees on the way, and also lots of pretty spotted deer. I wasn't really allowed to take photos there because of being in the barracks, but the kind army guys allowed me to so long as they could check the photos were ok afterwards. Apparently they were.

A cycle ride through the Jungle

Still in Sigiriya I spent a day cycling around the jungle. My first plan was to find a statue of a giant standing Buddha which we'd seen in the middle of the jungle from the top of Lion rock.

This was surprisingly easy to find and I thought was a pretty good statue. There was even a purring chatty cat there.

I cycled on, eventually coming out of the jungle and into fields and views of mountains. I past a peacock who's feathers shone almost metallicly in the sunshine. Unfortunately though I was going quite fast and when I pressed my breaks they were extremely noisy and so the peacock ran away.

I also came across a monitor lizard (who ran away too), another snake (possibly dead in the road), a Buddhist temple, and some more ruins. Oh, and a lot of heavy rain in between the sunshine.

Sigiriya

I travelled on from Ella using a number of buses to my next destination – Sigiriya, and an ancient Buddhist Temple and Palace around and on top of a huge rock.

The buses here never shut their doors and for part of the first bus ride, the bus was so full when I got on that I had to stand in the open doorway, which was a bit tricky with my bags and the bus braking and accelerating sharply whilst going at top speeds around the tight bends. Still I managed not to fall out and got a safer position as people began to get off. The next bus ride took me through beautiful green gorges and then after the forth bus ride of the day I arrived in Sigiriya.

Sinhalese is a very tricky language to learn, for me anyway. I just can’t seem to be able to say the words correctly and so consequently people don’t understand me. This is the same when I’m trying to pronounce place names. A lot of the buses only have the places they’re going to written on them in Sinhalese, which is very pretty writing but by now way resembles our letters at all. Generally when I ask someone where the bus to a certain place is, for example Sigiriya, they ask me 'where?' a number of times and then finally will say ‘oh, Sigiriya’ in exactly the way I thought I’d said it in the first place. Another thing I struggle to find quickly is a room to stay in, as the conversation generally goes like this:

"Do you have a single room?"

"What?"

"A single room?"

"What?"

"A room?"

"What?"

"Room"

"What?"

"Room"

etc...

..."Oh, room!"

And this exchange of words happens between me and the owner of a guesthouse in the reception area of their guesthouse.

Anyway, back to Sigiriya...

I have been very fortunate in meeting friendly people - either locals or tourists - everywhere I've been so far in Sri Lanka, and here was no exception. So the following day I set off with a new friend from Canada to climb the Sigiriya Rock. We set off early and after buying the rather expensive one time only entry ticket we crossed the first of two moats, passing fish and kingfishers, and found ourselves in the 'water garden'. I have to say I was slightly disappointed as perhaps foolishly after reading in a guide book that said we'd pass through two water gardens, I was looking forward to seeing water. Only this was an ancient water garden and there was no water. As we walked on to the next one though, I was pleased to discover that here at least in some places there was still water.

There was a boulder garden with the hugest boulders that you could climb up onto, walk under into little caves and walk through as if walking through a massive bottom crack. Then there were no end of stairs and a cave with frescoes on the walls. Then more stairs and we arrived at the Lion's Paws. Apparently there was once a lion's head too, which must have been gigantic if you think about it in relation to the paws. Then there were plenty more steps and finally we were on the top. Here there were the ruins of the palace which was perhaps built (along with the moats and water gardens) between AD 477-485. There were also magnificent views across the jungle below.

On the way down we found a guy with two snakes. One was a big python and the other a cobra. Although very pretty, the cobra was also a little scary as continually hist and looked angry. Not surprising really though, what with being stared at by lots of people and being confined to a little basket which the guy kept tapping to make it go for him.