n I just began writing this current blog we had come full circle and back to KL after a holiday away in Sri Lanka. After a three hour flight to Colombo and going back in time we found ourselves with the lovely Acarnley’s in the famous Galle Face Hotel. ‘Asia's Emerald on the Green ... since 1864,’ very quirky hotel with signs on the walls like the one in the picture.Our main purpose for going to Colombo was to
witness the wedding of the now Amy and Ben Hunt, Ben’s parents are old friends of Liz and Patrick. The whole wedding wasn’t without its Sri Lankan traditions, an unreliable priest, no rehearsal, a beggar walking down the aisle in front of the bride then singing loudly while the vows were being said until he got paid to leave. All in all a very memorable day, in a very beautiful setting. Some more pictures are on Facebook of the wedding, please click the link below;
After five days in Colombo we drove three hours down the coast to the beach resort town of Hikkaduwa. Here me and Sophie were in surfing heaven, board hire started at 2 pounds an hour and the waves never disappointed. The town is well known for custom-made boardies (3 pounds) and rashies (5 pounds) so we went shopping to our heart’s content. Our villa we stayed in was a great modern build with a sofa (! – first one in ages!) It is
owned by a English women so had been furnished to a high standard and was nice for us to have a proper base for more than two days.During our time there we witnessed a surfing competition held by one of the surf schools. The competition was to a very high standard off the large reef break to one side of the beach, where we actually saw a few barrels (not were we usually surfed!) At the time Hikkaduwa had been infiltrated by the Welsh, 30 beach bums had come for
a 6 week holiday, but none of the Welsh could beat the Singaliese talent.One day we visited a Turtle Farm and Hatchery which was an enlightening experience; In Sri Lankan turtle eggs are viewed as a delicacy and so people actively search for turtle tracks and nests to claim recently laid eggs. The farm we visited finds these eggs and hatches them in safety and then releases the day old baby turtles into the sea en-mass to give them the highest possible chance of survival and even with that they only have a 1 in 1000 chance of surviving due to other sea creatures and birds. They had some day old babies (which Sophie tried to steal!) At the centre they also rehabilitate injured or sick turtles with the hope to release them at a later date.
We also had the privilege of meeting two of the biggest wild Ridgeback turtles I have ever seen, they were easily a metre long. They are wild turtles although are lured into the shallows most mornings with some seaweed, *Caution when feeding turtles or tortoises, their teeth/beaks are sharper than they look!* As well as seeing these turtles in the shallows nearly ever day while we were surfing we would see the odd head pop up in the surf or glide along in a wave, a very cool experience!
If you want to see more photos from our time in Sri lanka pus more cute turtle ones, please click the link;
As on Phi Phi the stories of the tsunami were still as raw as ever. The owner of the farm Nimal, had lost his wife, sister and daughter in the disaster. Hikkaduwa t
own lost 1,200 people on one train after it was swept inland and over 50,000 people died in Sri Lanka alone. Our Welsh contingent on Boxing Day joined in a memorial service in the sea. Fifty-some surfers gathered in a circle on their boards and laid petals in respect for their brothers lost. Talking to friends we made the actual area we stayed in wasn’t so badly affected as the reef there took most of the impact and they only suffered from high water levels, whereas further up into the town there was more damage. Someone suggested this is because they have pulled up their reef to sell to tourists so had no breaker, true or not it is a example as to why not buy and take coral or shells from your holiday.
We heard many other sad stories from survivors; One man we met e
scaped only by climbing to the very top of a coconut tree with a broken leg and clung on for dear life until the water levels had dropped. Another one of our favourite beach sellers had suffered a lot of injuries after the water came into her house and left her with inches of air by the ceiling. She now even five years on has trouble sleeping. It just makes you think it was an ordinary day for ordinary holiday makers and locals. It appears the government has learned from this disaster, all the houses previously built on the coast have been moved i
nland, but the ruins of the homes are still there as an ever present remind to the tragedy. If my parents had fallen in love with Sri Lanka or Thailand instead of the Seychelles mine might be a very different story.
Although we had sadness in our time in Sri Lanka the good times and the amazing people bowled us over. We met a very nice Tuk Tuk driver and his family who gave us possible the best dinner of our entire trip. Lonely Plant also agreed that this was the best way to sample Sri Lankan cuisine. The whole family is geared around getting their daughter, who has dreams of becoming a doctor, the best education possible. The schooling although free in Sri Lanka isn’t great; the teachers even hold private lessons after school which parents have to pay for, which does bring up ethical issues as to whether they hold back teaching in order to get paid more in extra tuition!
own lost 1,200 people on one train after it was swept inland and over 50,000 people died in Sri Lanka alone. Our Welsh contingent on Boxing Day joined in a memorial service in the sea. Fifty-some surfers gathered in a circle on their boards and laid petals in respect for their brothers lost. Talking to friends we made the actual area we stayed in wasn’t so badly affected as the reef there took most of the impact and they only suffered from high water levels, whereas further up into the town there was more damage. Someone suggested this is because they have pulled up their reef to sell to tourists so had no breaker, true or not it is a example as to why not buy and take coral or shells from your holiday.We heard many other sad stories from survivors; One man we met e
scaped only by climbing to the very top of a coconut tree with a broken leg and clung on for dear life until the water levels had dropped. Another one of our favourite beach sellers had suffered a lot of injuries after the water came into her house and left her with inches of air by the ceiling. She now even five years on has trouble sleeping. It just makes you think it was an ordinary day for ordinary holiday makers and locals. It appears the government has learned from this disaster, all the houses previously built on the coast have been moved i
nland, but the ruins of the homes are still there as an ever present remind to the tragedy. If my parents had fallen in love with Sri Lanka or Thailand instead of the Seychelles mine might be a very different story.Although we had sadness in our time in Sri Lanka the good times and the amazing people bowled us over. We met a very nice Tuk Tuk driver and his family who gave us possible the best dinner of our entire trip. Lonely Plant also agreed that this was the best way to sample Sri Lankan cuisine. The whole family is geared around getting their daughter, who has dreams of becoming a doctor, the best education possible. The schooling although free in Sri Lanka isn’t great; the teachers even hold private lessons after school which parents have to pay for, which does bring up ethical issues as to whether they hold back teaching in order to get paid more in extra tuition!
So we have begun our 6 day journey to New Zealand to see the folks! Two days were spent in KL where we found possible the best hotel in the world! For a bargain price of 17 pounds a night (relatively unheard of in KL,) we stayed in the AirAsia hotel. The entire place is a walking advertisement which is how they keep their costs down. It was like staying in halls again though my room at university didn’t have a sign above the bed; ‘McDelivery 24 hours a day – NO MINIMUM ORDER!!’ It was hard to resist having a MacDonald’s brought to our bedside but we managed it, no wonder Malaysia is full of fatties!
We spent a brief day in Singapore with our new Kiwi friend Larnie, who we met in Southern Thailand. We wandered around the city in awe, the streets were clean and quiet. The public transport system worked and people didn’t drive cars like they are being chased down the road by Godzilla. Possibly the nicest city we have visited on our travels, although more expensive than we are used to, it was still cheaper than London…and did I mention quieter…and nicer...and everything worked…and the weather was hot! There are actually signs up saying ‘low crime doesn’t mean no crime, please stay vigilant’…! Not the London equivalent; ‘keep hold of your personal belongings as you're about to get mugged!’
We visited the world famous zoo and Sophie saw her nellies so all was right with the world. We also went to the newly renovated Sentosa island where a new Universal Studios is being built, we had great fun on the rides and attractions currently there, including a man made beach (see
again better than London!) We all went on the Luge and our picture of using going to the top is pretty funny (none of knew there was a camera there!)
So in short the past two weeks have been amazing, a massive thank you to the Acarnley’s for putting up with us and for taking back 15kg of our stuff (aka rubbish!) We gained an amazing experience going to Sri Lanka, a country we probably would never have visited and also loads of toiletries, a bottle of gin and champers! We are looking forward to meeting the Magoo’s although not so much the 20 degree weather of NZ!
We spent a brief day in Singapore with our new Kiwi friend Larnie, who we met in Southern Thailand. We wandered around the city in awe, the streets were clean and quiet. The public transport system worked and people didn’t drive cars like they are being chased down the road by Godzilla. Possibly the nicest city we have visited on our travels, although more expensive than we are used to, it was still cheaper than London…and did I mention quieter…and nicer...and everything worked…and the weather was hot! There are actually signs up saying ‘low crime doesn’t mean no crime, please stay vigilant’…! Not the London equivalent; ‘keep hold of your personal belongings as you're about to get mugged!’
We visited the world famous zoo and Sophie saw her nellies so all was right with the world. We also went to the newly renovated Sentosa island where a new Universal Studios is being built, we had great fun on the rides and attractions currently there, including a man made beach (see
again better than London!) We all went on the Luge and our picture of using going to the top is pretty funny (none of knew there was a camera there!)So in short the past two weeks have been amazing, a massive thank you to the Acarnley’s for putting up with us and for taking back 15kg of our stuff (aka rubbish!) We gained an amazing experience going to Sri Lanka, a country we probably would never have visited and also loads of toiletries, a bottle of gin and champers! We are looking forward to meeting the Magoo’s although not so much the 20 degree weather of NZ!
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