128
km
24.11.
– 10.12.2016
Colombo
Our flight took off in Shiraz, and we
knew that we would land in Dubai, but we had some surprize. First of all, over
the Persian Gulf there were so many turbulences that on board we had to hold
the back of the front seat. We never had this bumpy flight before! The next
thing was the Sharjah Airport which was a small dirty budget airport in UAE, a
little bit like a refugee camp, not the world’s largest airport in Dubai that
we expected.
Buddhist temple in Colombo
We arrived to Colombo at 3 a.m., no
pieces of luggage were broken, and in three hours we could assemble the bikes.
When we had left the airport in the morning, we realised that we entered a new
world where people drive on the left, my gosh! Palm trees everywhere! Cheap
mango, coconut, papaya! It was hot outside! Fried rice, fried noodle, spicy
food! People were smiley! Sweet! I liked this country!
On the first days, Alifiya and her family
were our hosts. We met her once by chance in Győr, Hungary when she was on a
cycling tour. She is Indian, but the last few generations of the family have
been living in Sri Lanka. 80% of the population in Sri Lanka is Singhalese, the
rest is Tamils (Indian folks). Alifiya’s family is Sunni Muslim as well, so
they are the minority of the minority.
Theater
She organized cultural programs for us,
this was how we got to the concert of local musicians, and to a play which told
the story of the 30-year Sri Lankan civil war and its beginnings. This war
ended only in 2009. During this dark time of history, the Tamils and the Singhalese
people fought and massacred each other. Once, hundreds of policeman were
killed, despite they gave up fighting…
Pettah district in Colombo
Feeding parrots at home
We visited the beach, where I could fight
enormous waves, but the way to the beach was more interesting: as we were
walking towards the shore, one man started a friendly conversation and invited
us to a Buddhist temple which was on the way. It was a little suspicious, so we
asked if we needed to pay. “No, there’s no ticket!” “Are you sure? Because we
didn’t bring money.” “Well, you can give some donation after the visit…” We
didn’t check out the temple. Later another man helped us to find the entrance
of the beach, then he asked for money, because he wanted to support his poor
family. This isn’t Iran anymore. Everyone was looking for our money; people
weren’t selfless anymore…
Colombo – Warakapola, 63 km
We rode inside the island and the road
was a little hilly through the jungle. The national road was noisy and busy,
but only some meters from that it was quiet, peaceful, we saw palm forests and
rice fields, buffaloes and cows. The nature was really fascinating. That night
we stayed at a Korean girl’s (Couchsurfing) who was teaching her language to
the locals who want to work in Korea to make more money from the jobs that
Koreans refuse.
Our home in Warakapola
Buddhist stupa
Buddhist altar
Warakapola – Kandy, 59 km
This road was much hillier. Due to much
of uphill and high humidity we couldn’t drink enough water and we were sweating
constantly. The climbs were hard, and the last 3 km to the Warmshowers host
were brutal. He had welcomed us with some tea and dinner, then he asked if we
could pay for the food. The bed was broken, we didn’t have access in the night
to the bathroom, plus he expected us to pay for the food only after we ate it.
Very unfair. We set up our tent upstairs in front of a room, which was rented
out on Airbnb, and the next morning we left for a hostel…
Kandy
Meanwhile it turned out, that our plan to
get an e-Visa to India wasn’t a good idea, because it’s valid only up to 30
days, not extendable and valid only at some airports. In Kandy we found a visa
office, but we had to wait 2 days until Monday, when it opened again. Then we
had to wait another 10 days to come back and pick up the visa. We had to
reshape our plans, and this resulted in the idea of backpacking around the Hill
country for 10 days.
Have we mentioned, that people eat by
hand here?
Kandy – Hatton
On Monday, we handed all the forms and
photos to the visa office, we parked our bicycles at the friend of a friend, we
borrowed a sport bag, and we took the train to Hatton. The train was one hour delayed,
thus, we arrived only at around 9 p.m. We were asking around for cheap lodging,
but we weren’t lucky with it. One tuk-tuk driver told us that he knew a cheap
place. “Okay, but do we have to pay for the ride?” “Come on, just get in!”
Well, neither the first, nor the second hotel was cheap, then the driver asked
200 Rupees (1.3 euros) for the help, therefore we had to fight with him for a
while, until he left. We bargained from the price of the room, and we stayed
there for the night.
Snacks sold on the train
Hatton – Nuwara Eliya
In other words, Nuwara Eliya is called
“Little Britain”. It has a cool climate and many British styled houses, plus
it’s famous for its tea gardens. We visited two tea factories and we saw that
at the picking step they didn’t pay attention at the best quality. The workers,
in stead of picking the 1st to 3rd leaves, plucked the 4th
- 6th leaves as well and the main products are only at tea-bag
quality. The tea is sold to bigger companies who make their own blends while
the even worse quality dust and OP tea stays in Sri Lanka for the local market.
This is the reason why the locals cover the original taste of tea with milk,
lots of sugar, and sometimes with herbs.
Who said Britain is only in Europe?
Nuwara Eliya – Ella
Ella was a real tourist ghetto as we
hardly met locals. The downtown was packed with overpriced bars and
restaurants, waiting for it’s foreign customers, who love to see these
senseless slogans: “Eat. Drink. Be happy.” Instead, we took a train back, in
order to climb a mountain, where on the top wass Lipton’s seat: from that point
Sir Lipton was watching his tea plantations. Despite the early start, we
reached the top only at around 10 a.m., when the surroundings were covered with
clouds, and there was no view. As said, the road is important, not the
destinations and so on the way we crossed incredible beautiful lands with tea
gardens. After the mountains we left the region towards the Southern coast…
Tea everywhere
A cuppa with Sir
Lipton
Enjoying the
view from the train
Péter
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