Reality vs reality

Labuan Bajo, Flores, Indonesia. 25Feb2017

Yesterday talking to some people at some point I mentioned 'well, I look totally different when I'm traveling' and the answer was 'everybody does'.

I didn't mean that I behave different , I do not have two different personalities, but the thing is that traveling around, you do things that you wouldn't even imagine back home.

I travel for hours in buses, I have done it even sitting on the floor. At first you couldn't even imagine that, 'people standing up? No way that's not safe', then you get so used to it that you really like it (but you get tired sometimes). 

I travel for hours in boats, spend hours waiting for flights connections and don't complain much when there are 5 hours delays.

You sometimes eat with your hands, most of the times you don't have a knife, just a spoon and a fork.

Toilet is mostly a hole in the ground, in guest houses and hostels the shower is in the middle of the bathroom )so everything around gets wet, no courtins here), sometimes your shower is a bucket.

You (almost) don't scream when you see a cockroach or a rat, sometimes even next to the place you're eating in. You get used to cockroaches in some bathrooms, rats in markets. It's normal.

You lose all sense of intimacy, boys see me in underware 5 minutes after meeting in hostel's dorms! ahaha (you get tired of covering up all time to change clothes when you share bedrooms).

You wear the same clothes for 2 or three days in a row, wear always flip flops shorts and bikini. You use only the clothes that are on top of your backpack, having packed too much even packing light (that is my case). You buy  2 euros t.shirts.

At home I go out for diner every weekend and during the week, and never mind about it, here you become gready with money, spending more than 3 euros for a meal seams a lot! Ahaha. You find yourself arguing for a discount on prices of 0.5 euros! But hey, the less you spend the longer yo get to travel.

You make friends with almost everyone who crosses your path and go out for beers or join them on your trip just after one short conversation (one of the best things of traveling solo).

You make even more selfies than when you're back home! Ahahaha.

You see more sunsets and sunrises than ever. 

You wake up early and you don't really mind. 

Some people say that 'real' life is the one you have at home,  that this is just a 'holiday', I have catched myself saying that too, but this is also real, so real that I love every minute of it, I crave for it when I'm home and gives me goose bumps when I am traveling.

Decisions

One and a half years ago I made the decision of requesting a leave from my job and in October 2015 I started my 5 months leave through Southeast Asia. What I wanted back then was to have the opportunity of traveling longer, not to feel the rush of a holiday and therefore be able to enjoy every place as much as possible, with the possibility of extending or shorten my stay as I wanted, mostly depending on the places' vibes, the people I met and the way I felt in every moment. I seldom felt lonely, I am a person that feels right with my own company, but it is true that I was alone in rare occasions. I met beautiful people and heard great stories about their lives and travels.

It felt so good that I wanted to stay longer but it was not possible as in my job they were waiting for me. At the end of those 5 months I was waiting for that feeling to come, where I started missing my family and friends and my life back home, but it never came and I went back to Madrid feeling so miserable.

I think it took me more than 2 months to accept my life back at home, it started to be a bit better when the good weather arrived :).

At the end of summer I decided to go on holiday for 3 weeks, again on my own, to Sri Lanka. I felt, somehow, that it was the continuation of my trip, the extension that I wasn't greanted back then.

In that trip I didn't feel the same way as before. It was such a weird sensation, so new to me, and at the end I was really eager to go back home. I though that maybe, that was it for me, that I have completed the cycle and finally started missing my life in Madrid. That I had enough of traveling solo. It was also a sad feeling.

But life moves in misterious ways. Here I am again. I quit my job, packed my bag and took a one way ticket flight again to southeast Asia. This time, there wasn't the same things that moved me into take the decision. I already had had the experience of a long time travelling solo, this time I needed a break and a brand new start. I wanted to change things and I needed to feel at home away from home to understand all my reasons.

Here is a trip into my thoughts, a new version of this blog, used before as a tip guide for fellow travellers. I will keep on giving advice if you're happy to take it, but I would also try to open up a little bit and let you know what goes on in my head and, I believe, in many of the heads of you travellers.

Sri Lanka: surf en Arugam Bay

Y con esta entrada acabo mi viaje por Sri Lanka. He tardado mucho en escribirlo pero ya llegan tiempos de nuevas aventuras y de ir cerrando esta, por lo tanto. 

Mi último destino (casi) seria Arugam Bay, una tranquila bahia al este de la isla. Es conocida por el Surf y a ella acude gente de todas partes, pero respira un ambiente amigable y relajado, como casi todos los lugares de surf. Habia pensado ir a mitad de mi viaje, para cuadrar mejor el transporte, pero decidi dejarlo para el final y descansar asi en la playa. 

Me aloje en unos bungalows de una familia musulmana (mayoría en la zona) y conoci a unas cuantas parejas alli (en Sri Lanka todo parecen ser parejas viajeras), con una de ellas fui a conocer Whiskey Point, uno de los puntos de surf mas famosos. 

La propia Arugam Bay es una larga playa con una rompiente al fondo siempre abarrotada y el pueblo recorre la carretera principal, se atraviesa tranquilamente en unos 25 minutos.

La dificultad que le encontré fue el transporte, principalmente para ir de ahi a la capital, Colombo. Hay como unas 12 horas en bus local, y no es recomendable ir en buses nocturnos, con lo que se hace complicado. Al menos en la época que yo estuve no habia buses turísticos, y no encontré gente para compartir un taxi (que saldría a unos 50 dólares por persona), por lo que me diriji hacia el sur para pasar una noche y visitar Hikkaduwa. Para llegar se coge un bus local hasta Mirissa (7h) que sale a las 5 de la mañana y otro desde Mirissa a Hikkaduwa (otra hora o asi). Cuando llegue estaba agotada y me di un paseo por la playa. Es otra zona de surf pero en temporada baja usando fui, con lo que no habia nadie. 

De ahi a Colombo, que visite con dos chicas, una griega y otra Australiana. Fuimos a comprar sarees y a recorrer la ciudad, y sin saber muy bien, porque, me senti en un viaje en el que ya estaba deseando volver a casa....

And this is the last entry for Sri Lanka. it has taken me some time to finish this but as new adventures are coming, it is time to close it.

My last call (nearly) would be Arugam Bay, a quiet bay to the east of the island. It is well known for the surfing, surfers from all over the world go there, but it is still a friendly and relaxing town, as most of the surf places I have been to. I finally decided to leave the visit to Abay to the end of my trip so i would finish at the beach. 

I stayed in some bungalows where I met many couples (it seams that in Srilanka all are couples travelling), one of them really nice, and I visited with them Whiskey Point, one of the favorite surfing spots.

Arugam bay is a long beach with a surf break at the end, always crowded, and the town is extended at both sites of the main road. You can easily walk it in 5 minutes.

It is difficult to go from Abay to Colombo, at that time there were no tourist buses and the local ones are not recomended at night and the journey is about 12 hours taking. Different buses. Si i decided to travel down south in the local bus during the day and I went to Hikkaduwa (bus leaving at 5am to Mirissa, 7 hours, and them from there to Hikkaduwa). I got there so tired that only went for a walk at the beach. On the next day I took a local bus to Colombo where I spent the day with  girls, one from Greece and one from Australia, visiting the market and temples....and I don't know why, but for the first time in my travels, i felt the need to go back Home....

Tips:

Bus from Trincomalee to Kalmunai around 7 hours. 300 ruppies. There they try to trick you telling you that there are no buses to Potuvil but there are. and from there just a tuc tuc to Abay.

Surf and Sand Bungalows: around 20 dolars the double room. The owner organices diners and the breakfast (included) is amazing. 

Hideaway: it is a hotel with little lux villas and a restaurant that serves fantastic food as well as a day and night bar, a greeat place to relax and meet other fellow travellers.

Drift BnB Colombo: really nice hostel in Colombo, close to bus stops to the center and really nice vibe (14 euros shared room).

Visit the market and temples form different religions, for me the nicest was the Jami UL-Alfar Mosque.

I do not have the pics with me now as i'm travelling again, but you can see them in my IG: Bioluck