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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
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Jan 29, 2015 08:00 PM Hosted by friends in Sydney
It was almost 11am local time when I landed in Sydney. Welcome to Australia! I have been to Sydney many times, but I am coming again and again because Sydney is important transportation hub and one of the most beautiful cities of the world regarding its picturesque location.
I have a pleasure to be hosted here by a great couple of Polish travelers: Michal and Evelina, who temporary live here. Michal last year was awarded by "Kolos - achievement of the year" prize for his Unmotorized Solo South America Crossing. I am proud to have such a friends in distant Sydney.
We spent toogether lovely afternoon visiting well- known Sydney's places, enjoying the views of the bay and botanical gardens. In the evening there was still time to talk about past and future travels and share the experience.
Sydney still has its cosmopolitan atmosphere and definitely is worth one more visit...
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Jan 28, 2015 08:00 PM Colombo - Last naked night?
It is very hot here, even in the night. So you probably understand that I sleep naked under working fan. In my cheap room mosquito net is a must to protect my sweaty body. But they will find the way through the net anyway :).
So very often in the middle of the night I get up to kill these beasts. I hope they do not transmit malaria.
At sunrise time little car is wondering through the alleys near the beach waking you with a music and offering fresh bread, rolls and other breakfast stuff. Thank you for such a nice wake-up call! It is time to pack up my backpack again! At 9.30 am I was already on the public bus crawling the traffic jams on its way to the center. I decided to go to the airport early and this was good decision, because the road congestion.
Opposite the Fort Railway Station I changed to bus 187 going to the airport (100 rs) - allow minimum 3 hours from Mount Lavinia to the airport!
Colombo airport is much nicer now then 20 years ago. I am surprised - they offer at the gates free internet stands. I am waiting for Malaysian flight to Kuala Lumpur...
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Jan 27, 2015 08:00 PM 3rd class to Colombo
A calling from the mosques is waking me up here, on the south coast of Sri Lanka. Quite a lot Muslims live here. It is easy to recognize them by the white clothes (men). The 3rd class train ticket Weligama to Mt Lavinia near Colombo cost me only 110 rs - less than a dollar for 3 hours journey. The train was full, but as usual this was a chance to see how the real life looks like: mothers were feeding babies, vendors were selling food, drinks, lottery tickets and many other things. Through the open windows of the train you can enjoy the views of the beaches and coastal villages. Co-passengers ask you where are you from and what do you think about their country. I think is is lovely!
Back in Lavinia Beach Hostel I made a general laundry. Tomorrow I am leaving beautiful and peaceful Sri Lanka. It is time to spend last rupees and prepare for the trip!
In the evening I met in the same hostel Keiko - charming young Japanese lady traveling alone around Sri Lanka. I had a pleasure to travel with her from Kandy to Ella. What a surprise! I was so happy to see her again - she is exceptional person. Welcome to Poland, dear Keiko!
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Jan 26, 2015 08:00 PM Selling the fish on the roadside :)
Do you like fish? I do! I prefere fish to any kind of meat...
Today in the morning I went to the Weligama beach. Along the coastal road I found many stalls with a fresh fish, octopus and shrimp were also present. After days on my cheap B&B (bread and bananas) diet I had a big temptation. Fish must be cheap here, just meters from the beach! - I was thinking. Nothing like that - they ask 800 rs (like 6 USD) per kilo! I started to joke with sellers. One of them said: I am going for my breakfast, if you will sell at least a kilo at that time I will give you one middle-size fish! Ok! I started to encourage people passing by. There was even one little shark on my stall... Sorry... Nothing was sold, but I had a lot of fun! Neighbours from other stalls kept eyes on me all the time. People passing by were saying (I agree with them) that 800 rs is too much. Finally they put the fish with ice into the boxes and sent them by car before 12 to Colombo.
No fish today. But I am patient traveller, I am sure I will try it on Sarurday! :)
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Jan 25, 2015 08:00 PM History in Galle, fishing boats in Weligama
Mirissa has nice beach, but I do not like it too much. It is now like a kind of Gringolandia, like Boracay in the Philippines - too much white tourists! In the morning I took a bus to Galle (62 rs) to see once again historic Galle Fort with ramparts, old churches, museums and narrow streets within the walls. It is very interesting place - no wonder that they put it on UNESCO World Heritage list... But the old fort area is also very expensive regarding accommodation - I did not find anything for less then 2500 rs (usually I pay around 1500 rs for single room),
So I decided to take the train (3rd class - 30rs - what a experience!) back to the fishing township Weligama. Here I am happy wondering around picturesque fishing boats on the wide and empty beach! I have a chance to see real life... And the single fan room in a quite Raja's GH costs only 1000 rs!
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Jan 24, 2015 08:00 PM Sri Lanka end to end..
Public buses here are cheap and frequent but do not expect any published timetable. Locals will tell you where is the bus stop for your destination and you have to stay there until the bus will come... Do not expect a/c luxury - they are all the same: sticky seats, open wide windows and doors. I was lucky today to wait only 10 minutes for the bus Tissamaharama - Dendra. 3,5 hours ride cost me 140 rs. Dendra, located on the southern coast has nice Buddhist Temple in the center. But the real attraction of the little town is elegant, white lighthouse located on the rocky coast and surrounded by high palms. This is the highest lighthouse (50 m) in Sri Lanka. It was built on the southernmost point of the island. So now, after my trip from Point Pedro in the north to Dendra in the south I can say that I travelled Sri Lanka end to end! :). Sweet lighthouse keeper offered me climbing to the top gallery. For 500 rs, without any ticket, of course. It seems that he established profitable private business in the state lighthouse. I refused because I do not support the corruption.
From Dendra I took another bus to big city of Matara, it has nice coastal promenade and little Dutch fort, before sunset I reached Mirissa, famous for the lovely beach... It was 35 deg. Celsius...
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Jan 23, 2015 08:00 PM Yala National Park
No reason to look for safari organizers. They will find you - already on the bus! Touts offer three version of safari - from 4 via 7 to 12 hours. Let you know that you will spent 1+1 h to approach the park gate. So I decided that 7- hours expedition makes the sense. Bargaining is the must - otherwise you will loose. Different entry fees (almost 4000 rs) and breakfast plus water were included in the total amount of 7000 rs in my case. Now I know that paid too much...
They pick you up from the hotel at 5 am. You go in the dark to the park gate via bumpy road. There they pay the entry fees while you wait. Then you enter to enjoy the sunrise. There were 4-6 comfy, soft seats in each jeep. But that was end of the comfort. The roads in the park are badly maintained - take care of your head and backbone. Crawling the park we saw elephants, buffalos, crocs, deers, mangustas, iguanas and a lot of birds. Yala NP has the highest density of leopards (they say), but we were not lucky to see one... Our young driver spoke very poor English - no animal comments at all. So now I know and advice you: Want you see animals? If you have a choice - better go to Africa. But Sri Lanka has the other highlights and people are more friendly here... Just one more experience...
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Jan 22, 2015 08:00 PM Great waterfalls of Sri Lanka
Badulla has nothing to offer except the Buddhist temple in the center and colonial church of St Mark. I came here to see third waterfall of Sri Lanka - Dunhinda Fall located 8 kms out of the town. It was early morning when I boarded red junk bus going north (20 rs). Locals told me whe to get off for the fall entrance. Then there was 20 min hiking through the path on the slope - bring at least strong sandals to get through - it is stony. At the end of the path there is nice terrace to enjoy the beauty of the upper fall - 63 m high. The load of tge water thumbling down was huge. What a view! You know I am waterfalls fan... There is also lower fall (some 20 m) but you can see it only from the distance - just after the entrance. Bach in Badulla I took a train to Ella - nice mountain settlement with great views of the green mountains. The nicest is Little Adam's Peak (nicer then proper Adam's Peak I climbed 20 years ago). From Ella a windy road goes down the picturesque Ella Gap (deep valley) and after 5 ?ms I saw there another nice fall - Ravana Ella Fall. It has only 25 m drop, but below tge drop there are white cascades - giving toogether more then 100m of the nicely falling water.
Then by hitchhiking and public bus I reached Tissamaharama - the gateway to Yala NP. I hope to see elephants and crocodiles tomorrow!
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Jan 21, 2015 08:00 PM 7,5 hours in the mountain train
Kandy is a cultural capital of Sri Lanka, but I know it from my first visit. This year I decided to jump on the famous train going through the mountains to Badulla. In the evening they said that reserved 2nd class seats are not available. I was today at 6.15 at the station and I got the ticket. It cost now 600 rs for 7,5 hours journey. It wonderful trip to the level of 1890 m through the tea plantations, bridges, tunnels and wondeful landscapes. The only problem is that the single track is very bumpy, so you cannot write on the way... Bring the food and plenty od water - there are stops on the tiny stations but they are very short and no supply. Great day and not too hot because the high level above the sea...
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Jan 20, 2015 08:00 PM Take the shirt off before you enter! Why not ladies?
Kovil is the Sri Lankan name of the Hindu temple. Since so many Tamils live in Jaffna you can see there few nice kovils. Nallur Kandaswamy kovil is the must for the traveller visiting Jaffna. Its yellow-and-orange gopura (gate) you will see from the distance. At the entrance few priests were waiting. -If you want to go inside take off your shoes and your shirt! Wow! In my travellers career I visited thousands of different temples. Very often they asked me to take off the shoes (one my pair was even stolen) but top-less was never required! Well, I did and entered just to recognize that this requirement does not apply to the ladies... So bad! We are discriminated here, gentelmen! They do not allow to take pictures inside. There are rows of ormate columns and chapels, where they put offerings. Intresting!
I saw also Jaffna fort - quite huge and picturesque stronghold built during colonial period. I did not see fort pictures in the net so far so we will have one more premiere on Gs.
In the afternoon I took a tranin back to Anuradapura (3 h, 500 rs) and crowded bus onward to Kandy (4h -190 rs) It was already dark when we reached Kandy...
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