Ayubowan! (Sinhalese greeting, meaning have a long and healthy life)

The question I asked myself several times last month: how do I feel about Sri Lanka? Before I arrived I didn't know much about this country. In fact before I left home Sri Lanka was not on my bucket list, but Nicole (who I met in the ashram) was so positive that after India going to Sri Lanka felt like taking a holiday from travelling. But I realize (now being my third day in Bangkok) that I am still looking for answers how to define this island, a.k.a. the Pearl of the Indian Ocean.

My reflections on Sri Lanka...

Difficult not to compare
First of all - after my overwhelming travel time in India it is difficult not to compare Sri Lanka with India. The first one and a half week I was still travelling with Martin and we were aware of the big differences. India felt so pure, it is how it is. Poor is really poor and it is there right in front of you.
Sri Lanka is beautiful, but on the other hand...it has two different faces. They are doing serious tourism business, as a result of which it not always obvious to see the real Sinhalese life.

For example - most people go to Negombo when you arrive, so did we. This is a small town along the coast that is about a twenty minute drive away from the airport. It has a long beach strip filled with exclusive hotels, gem shops, restaurants with neon lights and Western menus. But if you go a couple streets behind, where most tourists don't come, there is a lot of poverty. Then it suddenly feels very strange eating two scoops of very overpriced gelato for the amount that most local people don't even earn in one day or maybe even in a week.

Still.....
Sri Lanka is amazing if you love nature, wildlife and beaches with their azure waters. Spotting grazing wild elephants on the road in Habarana was definitely one of my highlights. It is the country where the man always wear nice blouses and the woman skirts with colorful prints. The country where most people in rural areas have red teeth (and sometimes no teeth anymore) from chewing paan.

Wealth and poverty are living next to each other. People go on holiday with a car with a driver to take them to fancy resorts while passing small villages with basic huts and no water supply.
I felt so lucky that I discovered Sri Lanka on two wheels which enabled me to go away from the main roads with polluting busses and gave me the chance to see how the local people really live. This scooter bike experience really made my time here very special. The people were always surprised to see Western people with two backpacks on one bike. This cannot be compared with the Indian staring. Picture it like seeing a ghost. And the moment you start smiling and waving they are even more confused and finally...they smile back.

In the east of Sri Lanka I also had some additional experiences. Although the civil war ended in 2009, you still see many military presence on the east coast. Many camps and lone soldiers keeping watch with machine guns. The government is now building new roads in this undeveloped area, but for who I wonder - most people don't even own a bicycle. Here I slept in a beach hut on an almost deserted beach. Memorable experience on the troubled yet mysterious north/east coast.

Ayurveda
After six weeks of intense travel time together with Martin from Germany and we said goodbye to each other, this was not easy. Surprising how new people in your life can immediately feel like old and dear friendships.
After this goodbye, I decided to give my body a break from travelling. Fully recharge. Here for I found a wonderful Ayurvedic clinic in Kandy.
Ayur (life) and Veda (knowledge) are two Sanskrit words, meaning knowledge of life. People who know it, probably know it from India. But also on Sri Lanka you see it at most places. Ayurveda is the world's oldest system of health science of healing and rejuvenation. Six days I spend with Dr. Kehelella and her staff and I wish I had more time, this was so nice for my body. Every day massages, steam baths, oils, scrubs, herbs and three times a day a healthy and delicious(!) Ayurvedic meal. At that moment I was the only guest who stayed there as a resident, so I felt like a queen. In the morning mister Singe came for private yoga lessons and after lunch the husband of the doctor brought me to beautiful Buddhist temples in the area. I totally enjoyed the rhythm of the days, not having to worry about anything. The only thing I had to do was to surrender. So I did! Afterwards my body felt so nice and soft. Not only because I was healthier, but I also got a little bit peace of mind. I used my free time between the treatments as a chance to listen to and record my thoughts, in my otherwise fast paced life.

Leaving footprints
After my detox I felt relaxed and ready to pick up Wouter from the airport for a short holiday together. Although ready...? Really nervous, like being on a blind date nervous. It was so nice seeing his smiling face and not difficult to miss - him being almost three heads taller that the Sinhalese people. Jetlagged, only one day of rest and one day on the scooter Wouter was brave enough toclimb Adam's Peak with me. At 2,243m with 5200 steps this holy mountain is a pilgrimage up for many religious worshippers and some tourists. The Sinhalese name translates as ‘sacred foot', is sacred for the Buddhist, Christian, Muslim and Hindu. All having their own truth about the peak's rock that looks like a foot. We started at 2.30 am so we would be on time for the sunrise, but did not calculated the enormous crowd of people that hike up in the weekend. We missed the sunrise moment, because of a traffic jam on the steps but had special views along the way. Families with sleeping babies in their arms, groups of teenagers singing and elderly couples with walking problems. All of them coming in the middle of the night to do this meditation walk and pray.
The moment that the alarm clock was waking us up was not the best moment, but when we started we felt immediately the excitement of the climb. At 8 am we finally arrived on the top. We just climbed a mountain, tired but happy.

New sights
Even though Sri Lanka is not that big, it is surprising how many different landscapes there are. Just a two hour drive from the beach to the middle part of the island and you are in the hill country and drive through green forests and tea plantations. The only thing that sometimes stopped us from driving the scooter was the rain. Sri Lanka has a divided seasonal weather pattern - while the sun is shining on the west coast, it's raining in the east coast. I was there one month, saw all the sights and in March it was raining almost anywhere. This slowed down driving, but with the scooter it is easy to find a shelter. Bus stands, a school and sometimes we were lucky and people invited us in for a warm cup of tea.

In the end
If I enjoyed Sri Lanka? For sure! Four weeks was enough time to really explore the island. If you are travelling to Sri Lanka you will be amazed about the amount of nature. And the foodie within me was always happy with the rice&curry meals, fresh fruit and sweets from the bakery.
Wouter and I had a wonderful time together. In the last three months it was not always easy to stay in contact, both having totally different lives and landscapes. So there was so much to tell and share. Despite the short time we had, we really discovered beautiful parts of the Islandand each other.
I feel happy and energized to now continue to my next destination: Myanmar.

Love Marjolein