Asia

 by Red

From the Coast to the Highlands

The Serendib Chronicles – Day 4
1st Nov10, Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka

So having decided to go ahead with a driver and van for the next 6 days, we planned our route to see the main sites in Sri Lanka. With a vehicle, we would be able to see more, and spend less time waiting for buses and public transport. In the end, it would add up to be cheaper to go ahead with this arrangement, especially since there were four of us. The downside would be less interaction with the populace.

So the driving route today was to follow the coast from Hikkaduwa all the way to the next big city Matara, before heading inland to Nuwara Eliya. Nuwara Eliya is 1880m above sea level, and it would be a major change from the sunny beach weather we had been having over the past few days.

Breakfast. In one of the restaurants just out of Hikkaduwa, serving a buffet of (140 Rp) of rotti, string hoppers (a noodle like dry flour staple), with some dhal and other side dishes. Basically, rice and curry, or a flour variant in this case.

During the journey inland, the altitude began to rise, and soon we were in cooler weather, passing by Rawana falls, which has a backstory that I cannot recall. Headed towards Ella, and the journey from Ella to Nuwara Eliya is punctuated with spectacular views of the hills below, the tea plantations spread across the hill slopes, and villages duly equipped with the obligatory resthouse for travelers.

Nuwara Eliya is Sri Lanka’s hill station, set up by the Brits stationed here long ago. The architecture of the houses are unlike anything I have seen in Sri Lanka so far, and most of them would not look out of place in the English countryside. It is pretty surreal, since I was not expecting little pastry shop huts, golf courses side by side with temples and mosques. The weather was also much cooler than in the lowlands, and I had to put on 2 layers and a windbreaker to keep out the cold. The city centre where we went for dinner was pretty much like any other Sri Lankan town, albeit it was much cooler. The unusual dinner dish we had was kottu rotti, which is basically roti prata with some sort of meat, in this  case chicken, chopped to small bits till they resembled noodles instead of roti prata. Oh, and we had hoppers, which is like the mee chiam kueh in Singapore, except its an unwrapped bowl shaped version.

After dinner, did some strolling in the local Nuwara Eliya bazaar where I made the best buy so far! I was hunting for a souvenir Sri Lankan tshirt, with an elephant print on the front, which I saw an angmoh wearing, when instead I came across a Sri Lankan national cricket team jersey. Blue and yellow, I look fantastic wearing it. (yes, I know, my skin is thick, but we all know that don’t we already 😉 )Bargained it down to 1100Rp. The quality seems ok, I just hope it doesn’t come apart after one or two washes.

CSC = 3 (what else, the cricket jersey!)

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 by Red

Daytripping Galle and Diving Hikkaduwa

The Serendib Chronicles – Day 3

31 Oct10, Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka

Early at 9am, made the way down to Blue Deep Dive. Hikkaduwa boasts at least 12 dive sites, with a few easily accessible wrecks. The tourist season is not yet in full swing, so there was only an Austrian couple diving that morning. Diving season on the western coast runs from November to April, so the waters were just clearing and hopefully visibility would be good.

Two dives in the day (rather dear at 25 euro each), the second dive with just me going out for the dive. The first was Goda Gala, current was strong, highlight was probably the barracudas and the squid. I couldn’t really see because the mask took in water incessantly. Second dive at the Cave, an 8 to 15m depth dive, was much better, because it offered the opportunity to do some nudibranch spotting, a favourite of mine.

One personal highlight was the Rotti joint which I came across in between dives. Just across the dive shop, off the main street in a little nook, lies the tastiest vegetable rotti. Rotti, resembles the Singaporean roti prata, except the Sri Lankan version is way spicier and hence a real treat if one can take the spiciness. I ordered 2 at first, but finished by lunch with 4 after repeated orders. It was that good.

Galle, a 30 min bus ride from Hikkaduwa, is a UNESCO heritage site, a former dutch fort built in the 17th century. Walking along the circumference of the fort, overlooking the Indian Ocean, was pretty surreal. It was also a Sunday evening, so throngs of locals and their families were having picnics, evening strolls, with kids dreaming to be the next Sanath Jayasuriya playing the odd cricket game, a national obsession here.

CS Count = 2 (finding that rotti shop, and the chance introduction to the local rotti!)

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 by Red

Ayurvedic Massages and No. 3 haircuts

The Serendib Chronicles – D2
30th Oct10, Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka

Left for brunch at 10am, walking northwards along busy Galle Road, which cuts through Hikkaduwa, towards the administrative end of the town. Found ourselves in the local rice and curry joint, where we had our dish (130 Rp) of rice, dhal, black pepper fish, potato spicy curry and a spicy sweet grated coconut mix. First taste of Sri Lankan rice and curry. Each side dish leaves a different taste in the mouth, which blends together to create an irresistible mix.

Back down, finally caught up with W and a friend she met, Shane. These two came up from Mirissa after a few days of relaxation there. Visited a local barber, to add to my collection of haircuts from unlikely places. It was a pretty decent cut too.

Went back for a nap (Why Not?) before being woken up by W to view the local lad fishing out on the stilts just in front of our guesthouse. The sight of these men on stilts is unique to the southern coastline of Sri Lanka, and I was earlier bemoaning the fact that I didn’t have a chance to get to see these guys. And there right in front of me was one. Granted, he was bare-bodied and in three-quarter khakis. But he was the real deal, doing actual fishing. And not those who dress up and pose atop the stilts for tourist dollars from pictures. Serendipity =)

Also, tried out the ayurvedic full body massage (1500 Rp, A came a day later an had one for 100 Rp elsewhere, but ours told us he “was the real deal”) 1 hour, 3 types of body oil, 1 type of facial oil, and a sprinkling of sandalwood oil on the face later, I was done.

Dinner was buttered prawns (600 Rp) after which I told myself that for the rest of my stay in Lanka, I would only have local cuisine, which I find delicious!.
CSC = 1 (stilt fisherman found outside my guesthouse)

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 by Red

Introducing Sri Lanka

The Serendib Chronicles – Day 1
29th Oct 10, Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka

The Cathay Pacific flight arrived into Colombo airport at 10.40pm. After deliberating for a bit, I decided not to overnight in Colombo. Instead, we will take the public bus down to Hikkaduwa through the night, where W will meet us from Mirissa.

The free shuttle service goes 2km to the airport bus station, from which service 187 takes you to Bastian Mwatha station in Colombo. The only problem is at 12.30am, the bus (which normally waits till full before moving off) doesn’t look like its going anywhere anytime soon. So, not wanting to wait 2 hours at the deserted bus station, we decided to take a three-wheeler (henceforth called tuk-tuk for simplicity’s sake) after some bargaining(1200 Rp) to Colombo. The Sri Lankans are a nice lot. Not too pushy. Yes they will ask you for a tuktuk or propose some other offer for you, but if you decline firmly, they won’t persist. And they always have a smile for you no matter what the outcome.

Tuk tuk ride. Braving the nightime draft, along the coastal road. Of particular interest are the local policemen standing guard in the middle and at the roadside every 500 meters or so. At 1am in the night!

Bastian Mwatha by night. The only late night service in operation seems to be the Colombo – Matara line. We would need to drop off at Hikkaduwa along the way (160 Rp on the tix, we paid 350 Rp for two, don’t ask me why). The bus interchange itself must have been very busy in the day. In the night however, the sundry shops and eateries by the wayside are open, yes. But that’s about it. The other bus service queues were empty. Only at the Colombo – Matara service was there a queue. We waited in the queue for 2 buses to load up before our turn to board. The bus stopped whenever there were passengers, and even though we left Colombo all seated, by the time we exited Colombo City, it was a “sardines in a can” situation. How I managed to sleep under the circumstances, during the 2 to 3 hour bus ride, in a crowded bus with Sri Lankan music blaring through the speakers, is beyond me. Also, I realised much later that clergy, meaning the monks, get the front seats in the bus reserved for them.

Reached Hikkaduwa around 4am, walked south along the coastal Galle Road to the budget place “Why Not? Guesthouse” which stood out, because the name just screams out “Pick me!”. 1200 Rp for the cheaper rooms on the ground level.

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 by Red

The Serendib Chronicles – Day 0

Serendipity – a propensity for making fortunate discoveries while looking for something unrelated.

Call it Ceylon, Serendib, Taprobane or The Pearl of the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka is a teardrop-shaped gem of an island. Compact with good transport links, it offers something for each and every intrepid traveler out there. Ancient cities? Check. White sandy beaches? Check. Safaris, tea plantations, bustling cities, highlands, waterfalls, white water rafting? Check.

Too bad I only have slightly more than a week there. Let’s see how much we can cover =)

And since I’ve decided that the theme is Serendib (an old name for Sri Lanka, from which the word serendipity originated), let’s just see how many serendipitious discoveries I’ll accidentally come across. Current Serendipity Count (CSC) = 0
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 by Red

99 – DXB to home

5th Mar, on plane to KL


Slept in. Went up to the lounge, printed my flight tickets, and in general lazed around while waiting to go to the airport later in the afternoon. I was just talking to Fabian earlier and i realised the first Singaporeans I met on this trip was back on Day 1 were Tristan and Geordie, on the KL to Abu Dhabi flight. Then they are linked to Fabian whom they met for the first time in Yemen and subsequently traveled together for a bit over there. And now on Day 99 i’m ending my travels with Fabian at Dubai airport. Kind of like coming round a full circle for me. I’m not sure whether you know what i am ranting about, but yeah, i find it amusing.

Checked in luggage with no problems. I took out my yellow fever vaccination papers and put them in my hand luggage just in case i get stopped at KLIA. Walked around the airport’s duty free shopping area for a bit, but really i was just looking past the shops.

Malaysia Airlines, decent and actually pretty good service. I’m typing this from the plane. I imagine i would be a little jetlagged later today since its 2am in KL and im still wide awake! It’s a 7 hour flight. I’m comfortable enough, but my peeling skin is really getting to me, since it itches like heck and i feel like scratching the layers off. Try to catch some sleep now. Signing off.

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 by Red

98 – One round around Dubai

4th Mar, Dar Al Sondos, Dubai, UAE
Today was spent all over Dubai, courtesy of my good host =). I was chaffeured around the city. First to Dubai Mall, the largest around. I was left to wander for a bit inside the mall, to look around. And there was plenty to look at. Inside was of course every single conceivable shop you could think of. Besides window shopping,  I also people watched. Besides tourists, which i think formed the majority of the people roaming around, there were also the local Emiratis, plus all the service and retail workers, many of whom were Filipinos. Other shop tenants were arabs, and many were of Indian or pakistani origin. Pretty much a cosmopolitan city, and in striking contrasts to the places i’ve been to. Here, the eastern, western, arabic worlds all meet and coexist together.

When i had enough of getting lost inside the mall, which includes a fountain, aquarium and an ice skating rink. I made my way just outside to the promenade leading to Souk Al-Bahar. From here, you could get the best views of the Burj Khalifa, the talling building in the world.

Later in the afternoon, i made my way to the Mall of The Emirates. By then, i was pretty mall-saturated and just relaxed with a Costa Coffee. Oh, and Ski Dubai, the indoor ski park, is located here.

In the evening, we went down to Mina Al-Salam, a really upmarket hotel, with room corridors that stretched on and on and on. Next was the Madinat Jumeirah, with bars, lounges, under fantastic dim lighting, with the buildings in a consistent architecture that evokes the old arab souqs. Inside is a shopping area, made to look like a traditioanal indoor souq. It is pretty upmarket here, with the twin hotels, and i must say, a fantastic ambience.

Then i was whisked to the Palm Jumeirah, that patch of land made to resemble a palm stretching outwards into the sea. Yes, its great to travel by car and having our own guy to drive us around, instead of taking a bone jarring bus on bumpy roads. Ok, back to the Palm. It was mostly residences, but at the last frond of the palm was Atlantis. Yes, Atlantis, which happened to be the site of a really posh, (even more posh!), hotel and shopping area. The highlight was a huge see through aquarium, more than 10 meters high. Inside were all manner of pelagics. From reef sharks, spotted and black mantas, barracudas, a whale (!!) and a host of other fishes that i could not identify. It was pretty awesome, like diving without the need to get wet.

Then i’ve got to mention this one ice cream place, Cold Stone Creamery. Just because of the way the staff do their business. They toss the ice cream in the air, throw ice cream around, dance with brooms, and in general are having a load of fun while they work. It reminds me of Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle. And the smoothie i had was good too!

From there we went to JBR, Jumeira Beach Residences, which is located by the beach and is a stretched of eateries and restaurants, where the yuppies hang out. It was pretty late by this time, but the place (it was thursday night, the start of the weekend here) was packed. Everyone was out in full force. Nice (and i mean nice!) cars, well dressed expats, fashionable locals, just having a drink and socialising.

Pretty much covered most of Dubai today, definitely a lot more than if i had been traveling around by metro myself.

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 by Red

2 – Wandering Abu Dhabi

Here I am right now, sitting in CaribouCoffee, in the middle of Marina Malls shopping centre. Off the breakwater in Abu Dhabi. Visited the giant flag pole overlooking AD’s central area, but the Heritage Centre there won’t be open till 4pm cos of Eid holiday. The beachfront is under construction to make it a swimming area. I figure when I return here in Mar it will probably be ready. =P

Had breakfast after taking the 901 bus (3 AED from outside Terminal 3, 1 hr) down from airport to the city. Roti Prata set 8 AED! off the little shops. With Tristan and Geordie, who left for the airport thereafter.

Me I made my way to the Breakwater, where this mall is. I tried to upload pics onto Flickr and here’s the message that popped. “Access to this site is currently blocked. The site falls under the Prohibited Content Categories of the UAE’s Internet Access Management Policy”. Wha?

I’ll add on to this entry when there’s a chance…Heading off to Sharjah later. Before that I’ll pop by the Emirates Palace, maybe.

28th Nov 2030pm, Sharjah Airport Departure Lounge
At Sharjah airport, which resembles more like a budget airport terminal compared to Abu Dhabi’s relative grandeur, waiting to check in. It’s 8.30pm UAE time (1230am Sg) and i am bloody exhausted. It could be the jet lag, or (coming to) two consecutive nights of sleeping on airplanes, or some 3 hours of bus rides today. Or even hunting around for AirArabia’s pickup point in town (its across the road off the eastern wall of Qasr Al-Hosn (white fort). It could be walking down half the distance of the corniche just now (didn’t get to go in the Emirates Palace, cos of the crowd and i was probably too shabbily dressed with my giant pack to be allowed in). Ah…i know the reason. It’s the damn bag…My thighs ache and i just want to get on the plane so i can sleep. (4.5 hours flight this time –> and i reach there at another ungodly hour (0130am). I am REALLY looking forward to a nice clean hotel bed at Alexandria where I can just sleep for a bit and get a proper shower. It would be great to finally settle down on one location for a couple of nights.
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 by Red

1 – AirAsiaX we will go!

1: Flights

Hello all. The SG to KL flight was delayed by an hour, due to weather. Its a good thing I gave 4 hours allowance then. Reached LCCT at quarter to 7 with plenty of time to spare for dinner. Checked in the bag. I don’t feel comfortable with the weight. Firstly it seems like too much weight. Secondly, its a bit top heavy and bulky. I’ll try to adapt and adjust. Better get used to it, that and I’ll try to drop off some weight along the way.

Met up with Tristan and Geordie. Both on the same flight out to Abu Dhabi. From there we split, I make my way to Alexandria while they’re off to San’aa.

Right now Im in my first AirAsiaX flight. 2200hrs set off, reaches 0130 hrs. Its a 7.5 hr flight on a budget airline. =). The plane itself is an Airbus 340 instead of the usual AirAsia 320 models. Larger, with two aisles to walk down. Best of all, it’s half empty, so everyones sprawled across 3 seats. Me i took up 5 seats. Pretty comfortable for a relatively long haul flight.

Reaching Abu Dhabi at 130am later, will stay about the airport till there’s light then make my way into the city. I’ll need to catch the 4.30pm bus to Sharjah Airport.

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 by Red

-1: Of last minute visas (Eid Mubarak!)

The idea is to get the Egypt visa on arrival at Al-Nozha airport. No problem here, since all major airports there issue visa-on-arrival. Until an innocent email to the Singapore embassy in Cairo inquiring about a Letter of Introduction. The reply came “…oh and by the way, the embassy is closed from 26th to 30th because of the Eid Al-Adha holidays…” Hmmm, that got me thinking, if these guys are closed, then where would my arrival into a secondary airport at 2am in the morning without a visa leave me? Not a brilliant idea to be stranded at the airport. So early Tues morning finds me queuing at the Egyptian embassy for a last minute visa (2 days processing time).

“Eid_Mubarak” goes the guy in the pressed shirt at the embassy “Your visa will be ready on Monday, because we’re closed on Hari Raya eve”. Lovely, i thought, i fly this Friday. ><. The staff there were accomodating though, i plucked out my flight itinerary from back at the car and gave my most pathetic face. I got my visa this afternoon today (1 day processing time!) =)

On a sidenote, how am I going to carry so much cash on me? TCs have lousy rates, and ATMs are hit and miss, even if there are ATMs in the first place. I need to find space in my underwear to chuck stashes of USD notes. 2 days and counting. Woot!

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