Sri Lanka: back on track

Tras unos meses, vuelvo de nuevo a la aventura, aunque esta vez con un viaje corto: 22 dias en Sri Lanka.

Los que me conoceis sabeis que me quede con ganas de alargar mi viaje viniendo aqui, y de alguna manera, al final he conseguido lo que tenia en la cabeza.

No me voy a extender mucho hablando sobre Sri Lanka:

Pais situado en la ruta de las especias, muy goloso para todo el que pasaba, fue ocupado por portugueses, holandeses y britanicos. Finalmente, la antigua Ceylan se independizo en el 48  pero ha estado en guerra civil entre sus dos grupos etnicos (tamiles y cingaleses) hasta no hace demasiado tiempo (87). Es un pais mayoritarimente budista (70%) con solo un 13% de poblacion hindu.

A pesar de que poco a poco comienza a llenarse de turistas, es aun un pais por descubrir.

Comenze mi viaje llegando a la capital, Colombo, pero me dirigi directa al tren en direccion a Galle. me quede en Fort Galle, un pueblecito construido por los holandeses en el 1663. Me recordó mucho a Fort Kochi (Kerala, India). Esta rodeado por una muralla que le valio de proteccion durante el tsunami y que locales y turistas recorren de lado a lado para contemplar las vistas. 

De ahi me diriji a Mirissa, y finalmente decici salir en busca de la ballena azul desde alli. 

Mi siguiente parada seria el parque nacional de Uda Walawe, para ver elefantes y con suerte, leopardos (no hubo suerte).

After some months, I am back on track in a new adventure. This time only 22 days in Sri Lanka.

Those who know me know that I would have loved to continue my last trip here, but by that time it couldn't be. I got it in the end though!

I am not going to tell you much about Sri Lanka: you might already know that it was formerly known as Ceylon and that it was in the middle of the spices' route, what made it very appeling to everyone who went by. It was occupied by portuguese, duch and british and finally got its independence in 1948, though it has been in turmoil in a civil war between cingalese and tamil until 1987. The mayority of its inhabitants are buddhist(70%), with only a 13% of hinduists.

Although tourism is getting bigger, it is still a country to discover.

I flew to the capital, Colombo, and took a train straight to the south, to the city of Galle. Í stayed in Fort Galle, a town made by the duch in 1663. It reminded me a lot to Fort Kochi (kerala, India). It is surrounded by a wall that protected it well from the tsunami, and that is full of both turists and locals that wander it to admire the lovely views of the town and the sea.

From There I headed to Mirissa, and finally decided to go whale watching. 

My next stop would be Uda Walawe National Park, to See elephants and what have you ( I wasn't lucky, no leopards for me today).

Tips:

Bus from Colombo airport to Colombo bus station (besides Colombo Fort Train Station) 130 ruppies.

Train express to Galle, 2nd class 180 ruppies(1.2 euros). No matter what you do it is diffcult to find a seat, so be prepared for the 2.5 hours ride. I was so tired after the flight but it was so cool to see the views from the door betwen 2 carridges. I shared a tuk tuk with Alex to my hostel, Galle is a bit expensive and we paid 70 ruppies each for the ride. We spent the day together visiting the town.

Pedlar's Inn Hostel: nice white rooms with 3-4 beds for 15 dolars the night. 

Mama's restaurant: for me, the curry and rice wasn't worth it.

Dairy King for the best passion fruit ice cream.

I visited the vegetables and fish market outside the fort with Nicole, that I met again in Mirissa...I'm running a day ahead of her everywhere!

Up to now I have moved in bus that has been so funny and so cheap:

Galle bus station is just outside the fort. From there I took a bus to Mirissa ( is the one to Matara) for 60 ruppies (0.4 euros).

Hangover hostel: 4 beds room for 10 dollars per night.

The sea was really rough, not the best time of the year for surfing or whale watching, but I decided to go as I was told that you could see whales everyday. They never told me the sea sick I was going to get, maybe i would have given it a second thought. Hey!!! but I saw blue whales!! 3000 ruppies including the tuk tuk ride to the marina ( apparently you can get it for less but that was already half price compared to high season).

Visit Number 1 Dewmini Roti shop for its fantastic rotis,  it is on the Lonely but also all accomodations will recommend it. 

To go to Uda Walalwe I had to take  buses: first one to Matara (25 ruppies, 0,15 euros), then to Emilipitinya (120 ruppies), from there to Ula Walawe junction (50 ruppies) and finally a tuk tuk (340 ruppies!!!) to the guesthouse (a total of 1.2 euros for the buses and 2 for the tuk tuk, not bad!!!). it was a journey of 3 hours, and I didn't have to wait for any of the buses :)

Silent Bungalows: after reading all reviews I decided to come to this place. It is a bit under construction but they are quite nice (I got here almost at 4 and asked for something to eat and they prepared me a sandwich some tea and bananas). They ofered me a safari with 2 couples that were on the guesthouse and it was a total of 4700 ruppies, 28 euros for a 5 hours safari: we saw elephants, many peacocks, marabues and other birds along with buffalos, jakals, deer, crocodiles...

It is enough to stay for one night as the morning safari starts at 5.45 and ends around 11. I booked  nights not wanting to be on a rush...