Liliana

Day 3 : Lucerne to Peschiera del Garda

Thursday, 20th June 2019

A cup of morning coffee, a rolled cigarette, an amazing sunny view………… Gerry enjoys the waking of Lucerne from our little balcony

After the heavy thunderstorm we had last night, we woke up to a beautiful clean view from our bedroom balcony – it was great watching Lucerne waking up – down on the quayside, the sunshades were being assembled again and tables and chairs arranged so that the first customers can either have their breakfast or a simple cup of coffee. In no time tourists were crossing the wooden bridge again and taking pictures of the spectacular sights.

Goodbye Hotel des Alpes – and our room with a view

We were in no hurry but we had everything packed and ready to leave after breakfast which we had enjoyed out on the front terrace. However by the time we were ready to go to the parking garage across the lake, it had started to rain. The sun was hidden behind the grey, wet clouds!

Rain turned into a drizzle
Gerry feeling relaxed behind the wheel
2km traffic jam leading to the Gotthard Tunnel
Scenic views on the way
Reaching the Italian border
And onto Milan

By 11 am, we had left the parking garage and although it was still raining, we had a good traffic flow out of Lucerne. Our first long tunnel was the Seelisberg Tunnel – 9.250 meters!

By 12.00 noon we were stuck in a 2 km traffic jam leading to the Gotthard Tunnel, however it took us only 15 minutes to get through it and head into the 17km long Gotthard Tunnel. We were hoping by the time we arrived at the other end, we would have bright sunshine x but we were wrong – still a drizzle coming down!

We stopped for a coffee break at Bellinzona (and a smoke for GerryJ at about 1pm . Here the motorway splits to Lugano and Milano. By now the sun was out again and temperatures quickly soared up 27 degrees. We had coffee on the outside terrace where we enjoyed the warmth of the sun. Once we were on the road again, it only took us half an hour’s drive to reach the Italian border and by that time the outside temperatures had climbed to 35 degrees…….

Oh yes, we had changed our original plan to head to Como for two reasons – we wouldn’t be covering enough mileage for the day as well as most overnight places were overpriced! So we planned to continue driving to Peschiera del Garda, a pretty UNESCO World Heritage site. We found a lovely hotel in the old town – Palazzo ai Capitani and made the reservation yesterday evening.

Fortress ramparts
The waterways providing city defenses
View leading to the city gate
Crossing the bridge leading to Peschiera
A lone gondola waiting for customers

Peschiera was always a fortified city and the old name used by the Romans in the first century BC was Arilica. Over the years Peschiera remained a fortified city and the Venetian government back in the 16th Century modified the flow of the River Mincio to have three exiting branches into Lake Garda and hence have better city defenses.

Of course today Peschiera is a peaceful historic town welcoming the many tourists who land here each summer. The surrounding countryside is rich with vineyards that produce the local white wine Lugano.

After checking in to our hotel, we parked our car at a central parking area just outside the city walls and then we strolled back into the town. Most of the terraces and restaurants were getting filled up with tourists – some were having a late lunch and others an early supper, however we were not ready for either but certainly Gerry was ready to have what seems to be his daily portion of ice cream!

That’s me relaxing and posing with Gerry’s coupe and my smoothie
Gerry’s coupe with wild red berries

When we got back to our hotel, it was time to have a shower and get ready for our evening meal. The concierge suggested Restaurant Al Lago which was only a few hundred meters away on the Garda shoreline. Indeed his recommendation was gut – we had a great meal comprising of a grilled turbot accompanied with a Mediterranean sauce made up of cherry tomatoes, olives, capers, onions and accompanied by roast potatoes. We also ordered a side dish of roast vegetables. All this was downed with a fantastic bottle of Lugana white wine!

Back at our hotel, we were dead beat – tomorrow another 3.5 hours drive and this time we have again changed our plans – we will stop for coffee in Venice (only an hour’s drive away) and then onto Porec in Croatia.

Day 2: Nancy to Lucerne

Wednesday, 19th June , 2019

This morning, we woke up to a bright sunny day. We had a good breakfast and by 8.45 we were back on the road again. Our first stop was the old town of Nancy which was only an easy 10 minute drive away.

After parking our car in a public, we walked to Place Stanislas, a majestic UNESCO listed square surrounded by buildings such as the town hall, opera house and the Government house.

Apparently, after the War of Polish Succession in 1737, Nancy, which was the capital of the Upper Lorraine Duchy, was given to Stanislaw, the ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. His bronze statue stands in the middle of this square which had a complete makeover between 2004-5 when it was returned to its former glory instead of being used as a parking area…….

As we had arrived early, we had the whole square to ourselves and could admire its building and take pictures without waiting for other tourists to get out of the way. By the time we had a walk about and sat down to have a coffee at one of the cafe’s on the square, tourists started gathering around.

Gerry admiring the still empty square
The Hotel de Villa
The bronze statue of Stanislas
Grand gates leading out of the square
A cafe on one of the corners of the square
One of the fountains on the corner of the square
That’s me enjoying the view from the fountain
Arc de Triomphe
Palais de Government
One of the many churches
Bronze statues
Pedestrian shopping streetback at the square
Back at the square
Anti terrorist blocks leading to the pedestrian street
Macaroons originated here

By 11.30 we were back in the car and driving to Lucerne – a stress free drive as we had no traffic jams and no heavy traffic.

Our route to Lucerne where we arrive just after 15.00 in time to check into our hotel

On the way, and just outside Colmar, we stopped for a break and we we surprised to see a stork being friendly to people- and then I saw that the nest on the pole had two stork chicks – so fascinating!

mummy stork taking a stroll on the parking picnic area

The hills outside Colmar
Baby chicks up in their nest
Back on the road – it’s 27C

At the French Swiss border, we bought our vignette to drive through Switzerland – we had another 1hr 30 minutes to drive and reach our destination, Hotel des Alpes In Lucerne.

The view across the river
The iconic wooden bridge
Our hotel across the river
Another view of the lake
Gerry on the wooden bridge

After checking in to the hotel, we went on our walk about – as the hotel is situated in a car free zone, we had to park the car at the train station parking garage across the river so our walk about started from there. What a magnificent and historical town this is. I remember coming to Lucerne for a client meeting when I was still a banker but then there was no time to go sightseeing…….

And of course we had to have a break which we did at our hotel cafe terrace overlooking the river and as we did not have a proper lunch, Gerry had his ice cream while I had an Affogato

Posing in front of the wooden bridge
The shore line with beautiful buildings
Another pedestrian iron wrought bridge
In this oldest timber bridge, there are painting s depicting the Dance of the Macabre
Another view of Spreuer Bridge built in 1408
And of course Gerry enjoying his ice cream

Once we were ready to stroll again along the shore line filled with restaurants, pubs (Mr. Pickwick) and cafes, we heard a brass band playing and of course I was drawn to the music so we made our way up the stairs and saw a whole defile of a colorfully dressed band followed by a squadron of Swiss Guards……. we could not exactly make out the reason for this defile’ but it was fun to watch – further down an alley way we also saw soldiers in uniforms dating back to the beginning of the 1900’s waiting to saddle their horses as well as really antique horse drawn machine guns. We did not stay to watch this parade but it was all very interesting.

We then went for a stroll along the lakeside where lots of young people gathered around on the grass to relax – such a great atmosphere…….. our walk back to our hotel was just beautiful with all the various colours in the sky – yes we were in for a great thunderstorm and just as we arrived, we were greeted with huge thick rain drops and a heavy rumble of thunder. We were able to relax in our room and enjoy the view from our little balcony.

After the thunderstorm, we decided to have dinner at the hotel restaurant. We had walked some 12km today so we just wanted to relax.

Stroganoff with noodles for Gerry
Risotto with asparagus for me

Tomorrow we will be driving down to Lake Garda – Peschiera del Garda, also an old historic town on the shores of the lake – a 3.5 hr drive……

We’re on the road again! Road trip to Greece.

Tuesday, 18th June, 2019

Today is the day that we begin another new trip – this time it’s going to be a road trip to Saronida, Greece – however we are supposed to be going on a leisure trip which means driving some 400km per day and stopping overnight close to a place of interest to do some sightseeing.

We left the Vlietkade just afternoon 12 noon leaving behind us a family of ducklings swimming leisurely in the canal in front of Gerry’s house and a beautiful warm and sunny day with temperatures already reaching 23 degrees Celsius.

Mummy duck with her little ducklings
A ruff brooding on its nest
Our backage ready to be packed into the car

The kilometer gage on the Range Rover is 244.926 km and we will be driving well over 3.000 km by the time we reach Saronida ( that is if we don’t make any detours or get lost somehow).

Well our first detour was only a few kilometers into the next village of Lekkerkerk as Gerry had misplaced his valid Green Travel insurance for the Range Rover and needed to pick up a temporary one from his insurance agent……this cost us a good half hour before we were back on track and on the motorway to Antwerp.

Our road trip itenarary to reach Saronida, Greece

Today’s road trip will be driving along Antwerp, Brussels, Luxembourg, Nancy and stop over just outside Nancy at INHotel located just off the motorway in Nancy Frouard. Anyway, a road trip of maximum 5 hours and 466 km took us finally some 7 hrs.30 min to reach our destination due to traffic jams caused by accidents and doing a detour to actually drive through Luxembourg to fill up the car with diesel and for Gerry to get his supply of tobacco for our 6week trip ( much cheaper in Luxembourg and as we are pensioners, we do have to mind our pennies!!)

We arrived finally at our overnight stay and by this time we were ravished and decided to have dinner – conveniently at the Buffalo Grill just down the road from the INHotel. We only snacked on raw veggies (for me), cheese sandwich and magnum ice cream for Gerry so we treated ourselves to a really good meal.

Our cocktails for this evening – a virgin monitor for me and beer for Gerry

And of course a cool beer to go along with Gerry’s steak

Back at our room we finished of some admin and social media stuff and had an early night as we have an early start tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow we will first do some sightseeing in Nancy and then start driving to Lucern for our overnight stop.

Our last stop: Colombo

Sunday, 17th February, 2019

It was again great to wake up to the chirping of birds and somewhere far away, we could hear some singing going on – we could not guess whether it was Buddhist, Hindoe or Christian but it was very pleasant to hear. From our verandah I could sense that it was a Sunday – there was a peaceful and relaxed atmosphere.

Before going down for breakfast, we had rearranged our luggage so as not to have any loose bags and we managed to get everything packed. It’s a wonder how it seems our luggage got heavier on the way while we have not exactly bought anything bulky – only some spices and some small wooden carvings…….

Indika was already waiting for us when we were ready – polished and clean.

Indika, ready to take us to Colombo inhis polished and clean car.

When all our luggage was packed into the car and we were on the way out of Bentota along the sea front, Indika told us that we would be stopping just outside Colombo to meet with Randima, my travel consultant at Olanka Travel. She was the one who assisted me in putting this trip together and for that I am really thankful as we were given the company’s prize chauffeur – Indika.

On the way, it was getting hotter and I dozed off for a while – outside temperatures had soared up to 34C……….

When I was awake again, I remarked that it was about time we stopped for a drink and Indika drove into the parking lot of a coffee bar. Apparently this was where we were meeting Randima!

A selfie with the main players in our trip: Indika, Randim Gerry and myself – thank you for a wonderful trip to the “Wonder of Asia”

Besides meeting Randima and her little boy, we chatted a while about our trip – she told me that she enjoyed following my posts on Facebook and she shared some of the pictures with the company. Of course I had only excellent feedback about Indika…… what was really sweet is that Randima had a gift for us – a photo collage of our trip – pictures that Indika had made on his iPhone were sent back to Randima and hence the result. Also another gift was a mask of the Blue Buddha representing prosperity and good health! I felt somewhat embarrassed as I had brought gifts for Indika as he was driving us all round but didn’t think I would be meeting Randima…….. perhaps I should send her something when I am back in Holland??????

Having said our goodbyes and Randima asking us to come back and visit (well I don’t think we should wait too long as Gerry has been to Sri Lanka, Colombo some 25 years ago but did not recognize the city as there are so many high rises everywhere.), we made our way to the city centre. Indeed we were treated to many new high rises and wide avenues.

Indika took us on a whirlwind city tour starting off with the great Buddhist temple, Gangaramaya Temple – a centre of the most extravagant Vesak celebrations ( celebration of Buddha’s birthday or Buddha day to be celebrated this year on May 19) in Colombo, then onto the Independence Hall, Old colonial buildings, the Red Mosque and the Old Town Hall. It was really too hot to wander around and were very glad to get to our hotel – Fairview Hotel with its beautiful rooftop terrace facing the ocean. Finally we will get to see the sun set this evening……..

The gangaramaya temple

Independence hall

Town hall

Various colonial buildings

The red mosque

Train and bus station, street markets

The old dutch hospital

And finally back to the hotel – while it is not in the centre of Colombo, it really is a good hotel which is slowly transitioning us into the western way of life, however with the typical Sri Lankan hospitality with a smile. Indika dropped us here and made sure check in went smoothly. Our room was on the 7th floor and facing the ocean – great after relaxing and catching up with our social media, we went up two flights of stairs to the roof top terrace to watch the sunset – which although not perfect was fantastic to witness this great orange ball disappearing behind the clouds and down into the Indian Ocean.

The views from the rooftop terrace were magnificent – also watching trains hooting their way along the coastline…… then it was time for us to go out and find somewhere to have a bite to eat – we ended up on the beach where the locals come and had a black pot seafood curry with roti. A different ambiance and am wondering how it looks in the day time….

Back at the hotel, it was fantastic to get a really good night’s rest – tomorrow we will be flying back to the Netherlands in the evening so I checked us in on the Jet Airway flight via Mumbai.

Finally – leisure time on the beach, Bentota

Saturday, 16 February 2019

Today we were going to spend a leisure day on the beach and hence were in no hurry to have breakfast. We had first tea on our verandah where we had a side view of the river.

Last night we did not see much so it was good to explore a bit this morning before breakfast.
The restaurant was overlooking the jetty where all sorts of boats were moored. On the other side of the river was jungle island with a few luxurious private homes and when we informed how we could get to the beach we were told that they had boats to ferry us across to the is.and where a pathway was cut through the jungle and within two minutes we would be on the beach!

Our view during breakfast overlooking the river

This sounded great so we had breakfast and took our time while watching all the goings on at the waterside. Most of the guests here are Indian, Russian and German – we are the only Dutch-Maltese couple! I had already packed my rucksack so we were ready to go after breakfast!

It only took us a couple of minutes to cross the river and then walk through the jungle path to get to the ocean with its empty beach. It was heavenly just listening to the ocean and basking in the sun. We needed this relax time after being so busy doing the sights….

We spent a few hours on the beach x walking along the shore line, getting into the sea and have the waves break over us and just relaxing x we had the beach all to ourselves and there were only some other people walking along the shore line……. after some hours and of course at the height of strong sunshine we decided to return back to our hotel where there was a swimming pool and we could swim a few laps. When we crossed the jungle path, Gerry just whistled to get the attention of the boat guys on the other side and immediately a boat came our way to ferry us across the river.

Our view from our sun beds on the river side.

Lucky for us, no one was occupying the few sun beds on the river side so we settled ourselves and enjoyed the water activities: banana and mattress riding, jetski riding and water skiing as well as quite a number of Chinese going on a water safari all wearing life jackets – I wonder whether these would protect them from the crocs should they fall into the river…….. anyway we were enjoying our cocktails at the water edge……

Without knowing it, the day was coming to a close so we went up to Our room to shower and get ready to go walking around in town and get some dinner.

We were pleasantly surprised that when we got to our room, our bed was artistically made up and we had two towel swans surrounded by little flowers sitting on our bed!

Our towel swans elegantly sitting on our bed

Our walk around town did not last long as torrential rains came again and we dashed into a restaurant which stated the best Sri Lankan food in Bentota – well I was getting hungry as again we had skipped lunch. By this time it was really pouring but we hoped that by the time we had finished dinner it would be dry again

Waiting for our meal while rain was pelting down

Well after a superb meal, we decided to take a tuc tuc back to our hotel and as it was dry now we thought we would have a night cap before going back to our room – papaya cocktail for Gerry and pineapple cocktail for me, both made with Sri Lanka’s national drink Araq.

Our night cap before going to bed after spending a leisure day in Bentota

Tomorrow we will be picked up by Indika at 10 am so we will have enough time to organize our luggage before we head off to Colombo, our lost stop in Sri Lanka

Seeking the moonstone and beach – travelling from Galle to Bentota

Friday, 15th February 2019

We had a peaceful night at our Secret Garden- while during daytime, the fort is ever so busy with tourists, tuc tucs, restaurants guests and shoppers, the nighttime turned out to be very still. Well our alarm went off at 7 am as Indika was supposed to pick us up at 9am.

We had a very good breakfast of fresh fruit and juices plus coconut rotis and Gerry ordered an omelette. When we were ready I sent a WhatsApp to Indika that he could collect us. He was somewhat delayed as the bus he was travelling on from his home town decided to stop for 15 minutes tea break. Apparently this was the bus from Colombo to Galle and the bus driver is allowed to have a 15 minute break………. well we didn’t mind as we were enjoying the sun in the street terrace lounge chairs and watching Pedlar Street waking up – shopkeepers opening up their shops, postman delivering his letters by bike and some tourists already out and about……

Today we had quite a few activities before we reached our resort at Bentota. Our first stop was at a Moonstone mine and factory – we had specifically asked Indika that we were interested to see this as the moonstone gem is only mined in Sri Lanka and specifically in this area – Meetiyagoa.

Of course we were shown how a mine works – sand being brought up in coconut baskets and then sifted in water to identify the gems and then taken along to the factory where the gems are polished and then cut into the traditional round, egg or tear drop shaped stones. I wanted to pick some Jewellery for Nicole, Tessa and Martijn; Gerry did the same for his daughters and grandchildren. I think this would be a better gift as it’s precious and typical of Sri Lanka – and not bulky to take back home!
Also it’s interesting to note the meaning of the moonstone: intuition + dreams+energy. It encourages hope, enhances feminine energies, sensitivity, intuition and psychic abilities. Known to bring strong energies of abundance to one’s life. The moonstone is associated with the crown chakra.

The term moonstone was originally coined by the ancient Greeks to describe a particular gemstone that seemed to hold the ethereal light of the moon in solid form. Apparently the process in some mines has been speeded up by using electrical cutting machines but the rest of the work is still handled manually.

Anyway after negotiating a good price, we came away with our gifts and then drove onto our next activity: a water safari on the River Madu where thick mangroves grow and various birds, crocodiles and other animals live.

The waters of the Madu River are dotted with about 60 islands – some of which are inhabited and others have either temples but most of them are left to be inhabited by the indigenous birds and beasts…..

The plan of the Madu River and it’s islands and estuary flowing into the Indian Ocean

This was a unique trip and once again we had the boat to ourselves and our young man taking us on this trip was very attentive and courteous. He was happy to take pictures for us and of us.

Our first stop was at Cinnamon Island where a family lived earning their living by peeling cinnamon tree bark and preparing it to dry. We were shown how it was all done – very interesting especially as I always have wondered how the cinnamon sticks can be so hard but in actual fact one part is skinned from the bark and then other skinned parts are added into it – then hung out to dry in the hut in the shade. The man who was showing us was the same age as Gerry and although skinny and almost no teeth in his mouth, his skin was with any wrinkles……so guess what we will be doing? – drinking cinnamon tea every morning and it’s also good for joint pain, headaches and muscle pain……

We also visited a Buddhist temple located on the Kothduwa island. Next to the temple there is a Bodhi tree which was grown from a cutting in 1860 after the previous one died through neglect. A Sri Lankan business man took an interest and also built the present temple in 1860. There are about 5 monks living in the temple complex and we visited the library of one of these monks who explained how the ancient books were made. He then tied a string of life around our right wrists while chanting a mantra. We’re supposed to keep the string of life for 21 days and then cut it loose ……… up to now we both have our string still tied……

We finally made it to our hotel – Laluna Aryuveda Resort on the River and as we had not eaten all day, Indika was taking us to a special place for a late lunch early dinner, which he promised us would be the best rice and curry in Sri Lanka!

We checked in and first had a good shower before meeting up with Indika. It was close to 4 pm and my stomach was telling me that it was time that I did eat something. Well Friday afternoon, traffic was quite heavy but we got to this homely place and enjoyed our dinner. Truly it was an excellent rice and curry with shrimps and chicken……

And all of a sudden it started raining – quite like a monsoon, however we didn’t mind as we were still enjoying our meal. By the time Indika was taking us back to the hotel, the rain had stopped but the traffic was still as bad……

Got back safely and we decided to have a drink before going up to our room. It was a very pleasant and cool evening after the rains and when we were finally in our room we did not even need the airco on………

Believe it or not we were in bed before 10pm……….

From Yala to Galle – Maltese and Dutch connections on the way

Thursday, 14th October 2019

I woke up early this morning to the cacophony of the jungle; peacocks and other birds all in tune with each other so I decided to go for a walk to see exactly where we had spent the night! I left Gerry asleep and walked around. The tents were strategically placed among tree that you hardly could see them so it seemed as though I was actually walking on a small pathway through the jungle. However I did spot a lone peacock strutting around on his own……

The lone peacock on the campsite early in the morning

At one point there was a lot of movement in the trees close by and I could see a family of black monkeys swinging from one branch to another – they were too quick for me to capture them on my camera! Anyway I continued my walk and climbed up a watch tower. here I could see the sun had just risen above the trees – it was all very peaceful! I then made my way to the central part of the campsite where we had had our dinner last night. It was beautifully set up; on the one side there was a long table and this apparently is for a whole group travelling together as we saw them last night at dinner. On the other side there we single tables for the couples who were staying over and included us.

The dining and breakfast area on the campsite – for couples

We were having an early breakfast as Indika would be collecting us at 8.30 am for our drive to Galle so I went back to our tent to wake up Gerry.

“Tarzan” is awake for another day of adventure!

Breakfast was a real delight and as we were early got all the attention we needed. Usha came along just after 8 am and told us that jeep would be taking us back to the entrance on time to meet up with Indika.

We had only taken a backpack to the camp so we were quickly ready to be taken to the entrance.

Statue of Buddha leading to the temple outside the campsite

Indika was there waiting for us and as usual, he is always happy to see us and greeted us with his big smile! We now would be setting off to Galle but on the way , we made a detour to Ranna in Tangalle. The reason for this was that my niece, Danica, had told me that after the Tsunami, the Maltese Red Cross, led by 3 Gozitan members, had collected enough money from the Maltese people to help reconstruct a fishing village which totally wiped out by the Tsunami in 2004. The Maltese people had given enough money to build 65 houses as well as a Red Cross clinic. What’s most interesting is that each house has a name of a Maltese village or town.

We finally found this village which was built some 3 km away from the sea shore ( the Sri Lankan government prohibits and houses being built on the coastline) and just imagine how emotional I got when I saw the house called Sliema – I looked in through the gate and called out hello and a young woman came out. Indika acted as a translator and I told her I was born in the town which was the name on her house. She to,d me her daughter was born in this house and she asked me to come indoors so that I could see her daughter who was still napping! We took some pictures together and then visited other houses including one named San Giljan where I had gone to school. Indika asked me when we left if I were happy that we had found this village and of course I answered yes – it had made me very happy to see this village built with Maltese funds! And I am sure my Maltese friends and family will appreciate that we took the time to visit this Little Malta Village In Ranna, Tengale.

Back on the road, we stopped at a sea side restaurant to have a snack and enjoy the view before we continued our drive to Galle. Both Gerry and I realized that we are not mountain people but rather coast people.We both love to watch and listen to the ocean……

Our snack stop or lunch for the men on the way to Galle

And of course it’s smoking time for Gerrym

Our hotel in Galle was inside the old fort and Indika had quite some problems driving to this tiny hotel and dropping us with our baggage. Well finally we arrived and checked in to the hotel. We were spending only one night in Galle so as soon as we had freshened up@ bit we were outdoors again to explore this old Dutch fort – Fort Utrecht!

Indika parked his car and took the bus back to his family; a 2hour journey and we would see him tomorrow morning when he would come to pick us up at 9am to continue our trip to Bentota.

Well we enjoyed our walk around Galle Fort. I think they should make this fort only for pedestrians as the streets are too narrow for cars and tuc tucs. Anyway we climbed up on the bastions and walked around a good part of the bastions. The view from here over the sea was magnificent.

Once we started walking within the fort, we stopped for an ice cream which was just delicious.and for once I also treated myself to an ice cream – pistachio and almond while of course Gerry stick to his vanilla ice cream…….

After a couple of hours we were back at our hotel – the Secret Garden Fort + containing only some 12 rooms….. however we could sit outside on the side walk and as it was near cocktail time we treated ourselves to some cocktails – for me it was originally pina colada and Gerry a gin and tonics. However I was told there was no more pineapple so I changed my order to a Mojito. Well my Mojito came but Gerry’s G&T didn’t – so after some time I asked where his cocktail was and I was told that they had to,go and get the Gin – my quick remark was,then they should also,have gotten the pine apple as well…….oh well I had only a few sips before Gerry’s G&T arrived.
While we enjoying our drinks, we got talking to a Swedish couple who were on a 5 week trip,to Sri Lanka….. so we were all comparing notes which was good fun…..

After our drinks we went up for a shower and got ourselves ready to go out for dinner; we did not go far as we found a restaurant advertising good seafood so we stopped there and treated ourselves to a St.Valentines dinner. Lobster for me and fresh mullet for Gerry …… it was a great evening and by the time we got back to our Secret Garden,it was time for bed. We had to be ready by 9 am tomorrow morning……..

Yala – game spotting and camping

Wednesday 13th February 2019

Today we had to be ready by 9am as we had a long drive to Yala – some 3 hours but on the way we first stopped at the waterfalls of Rahana. These were really impressive – masses of water coming down the mountain and at one point, there was this one local bathing himself in the fresh water then at one point he lathered his head with shampoo – I wasn’t too sure whether he was using eco friendly shampoo…..

At the waterfalls of Rahana, only a few kilometers outside Ella

Within no time we left the luscious rain forests in the mountains and came to the open plains filled with rice paddies which were turning into a golden colour ready for harvesting. We badly needed a sanitary stop plus Gerry needed his smoke and we all wanted a snack or drink. Indika spotted a local hotel which had everything we needed. As I just wrote it was a local hotel so the washroom facilities were a hole in the ground – I am getting quite handy using these toilets…… anyway as a snack we ordered the local buffalo curd with coconut treacle – just what we needed to revitalize us – and then another one and half hours to drive to Yala.

Ceramic pots filled with fresh buffalo curd which we ordered together with coconut treacle – ever so tasty and healthy!

Yala is quite a big town focusing on the National Park tourism, all coming to spot mainly leopards besides crocodiles, elephants and deer. Well being that we were going on a game drive, I had requested that we spend the night at a campsite – Yala Big Game Camp Site – situated just outside the National Park.
Indika brought us first to a restaurant where we had a light lunch before setting out on our safari. Apparently most jeeps picked up their clients from this spot and drove through to the park.

By 13.30 we had climbed into our 4x4wheel drive together with Indika and the ranger. It was good to have the Jeep for ourselves as we could move around to take better pictures. It was still a good half hour drive to the entrance of the park and where we bought our entrance tickets. Our ranger was very good at spotting various wild animals and birds, however while we saw loads of elephants, we had to wait a while before we spotted a leopard. I guess the leopard had had his lunch and decided to have a siesta as he was quite lazy – on the other side we were quite a number of jeeps gathered round so the leopard must have thought “ let the people wait, I am enjoying watching them watching me!”

Anyway finally we spotted him sitting on a branch and then walking slowly and sitting again – I did manage to get some good shots! Then there was some foliage rustling quickly and the big cat jumped up a tree and a iguana came running for his life……..

And finally the leopard gave up on watching us and knelt away and climbed into a tree!

The elephants did their own thing – slowly moving around and as we watched we could see that the leader of the herd made sure he did not loose any of the youngsters on the way……

Bij mama (or papa) helping the little one cross over….

All in all we spent some five hours in the park and by the time we made our way to the campsite, it was pitch dark. We had to be collected by Jeep at the entrance of the campsite and Indika left us after we were picked up and went to his own lodgings close by.
It was such a pity that we arrived when it was already dark as the only lighting we had was kerosene lamps. We were in time to freshen up in our tent (yes, we had our own wash basin, toilet and shower at the back of the tent) and go to the main area where we could have a drink first and then a BBQ dinner. It was simply marvelous to sit a dinner table for two – set with white linen tablecloth and enjoy a three course meal…. Usha was the camp manager and she was very attentive to all her guests.
By the time we returned to our tent, we were dead tired but even then we had a cool shower before getting into bed and slept really well, just hearing the jungle noises. We did not close the tent but rather slept just with the net closed so that no bugs or another jungle animals would share our tent…….. and we slept so well……

Misty Hills and another train journey in daylight

Tuesday, 12th February, 2019

As I had been promised by the Misty Hills Manager, I would be witnessing a superb sunrise from our terrace, I had set my alarm for 6 am! I quietly got out of bed so as not to wake up Gerry and went out on the terrace wit watch a serene dawn breaking open.

The valley and hills were covered in mist, hence our hotel appropriately named Misty Hills, however sunrise was more to the left hand side and behind the mountain range. It still was awesome – and there were no cars and trucks yet winding up the steep hill so all I could hear was the birds chirping away, welcoming a new day!

After showering and getting our gear together so that we would not need to climb the 90 steps this morning, we went down for breakfast. Indika was already up and about and we would be driving away at 8.30 am so that we should be well on time to get our train tickets from Ella.

We were following Indika’s plan he presented to us last night. As we are spending two days in Ella we had enough time to retrace our train journey for part of the way so we would be going back to ……….. where he had arranged with a colleague driver we would return by car to Ella.
When we arrived at the station, there were loads of people waiting to buy a ticket but the counter wasn’t yet opened. Indika suspected that there would be a rush to get onto the train as this is public transport and used by the tourists for the scenic route.

His quick thinking got us out of the queue and he took us to a Tuc-tuc – the whole conversation was of course in Sinhalese but the jest of it was, the tuc tuc driver was to take us to Demodara, one station before Ella so we would get on to the train before the big crowd in Ella.
Even though we could not get first class tickets, we did get onto the train and had seats in the second class and that’s thanks to Indika who jumped into the train first and located free seats for us.

Actually we shared a compartment with Buddhist monks and young boys aspiring to be monks. This whole group was travelling to Colombo and they were singing all the way.
We were lucky to be travelling from Demodara as we would be riding over the 9 Arch bridge (which we didn’t do yesterday!). So when we were coming close to the bridge I went towards the entrance so that I could get some good pictures. Indika is like my puppy – he followed me and made sure that I did not fall off the train………

🍾Indeed it was a spectacular ride through tea plantation hills, deep valleys and high mountains. On the way, we had picked up quite a few passengers – also a group of young men going to Colombo to join the army…… everyone was jostling to get a seat which was a scarce ddzxpki

By the time we reached Ohiya we had seen quite some beautiful scenes and chatted with various locals including the Buddhist monks. Apparently, the boys were either without parents or they were so poor that they are given up to the monks who would then educate them and would later also become monks!

It was a long trip back to Ella and I slept most of the way – but also Indika, slept a while too. However we were awake when we stopped for a smoke break. Gerry’s art of rolling his cigarettes attracts a lot of attention and this driver wanted to taste one of Gerry’s cigarettes . The two men just enjoyed their smoke while I enjoyed the sun……

Indika, our driver, enjoying a nap while being driven back to Ella by a colleague friend of his!

At Ohiya, we were met by Indika’s colleague who had deposited his Chinese clients on the train to Ella. He would then drive to Ella and meet them there and continue the trip, hence an empty car which we could use to take us back to Ella. However we first stopped at the “station restaurant “ across the tracks and some coffee and biscuits.

Back at Ella, we were on time for lunch and this time we drove to the Mountain Heaven, a hotel with a good restaurant facing the high mountains. We had a table facing the mountain and with a cool breeze blowing. Most of the guests were Chinese or Indian with a small number of Europeans.
After lunch we left for the 9 Arch bridge; this time we would be able to see how trains go across the bridge – this is a local attraction and there were loads of sightseers waiting for the train – we had seen that this morning when we were travelling over the bridge. Now we were going to be part of the crowd waiting for the train…….
Indika explained that he could not drive his car all the way as the road was bad but we could get a tuc tuc to take us close to the bridge. So off we went in the tuc tuc and at one point we had to go up a very steep and winding hill and we understood that one of us had to get out. Apparently we are too heavy for the tuc tuc??? I remained in the tuc tuc and we climbed the hill – of course the driver dropped me at the top of the hill and told me to wait as he turned round and went down the hill to pick Gerry up! We then continued our drive and ended up close to the bridge.

Too heavy for the tuc tuc to climb up the hill with both of us – first me then, Gerry!

When we arrived at the bridge, there were many people waiting for the train – but we didn’t have to wait too long! The train came down the track and we could make some splendid pictures……..

What a fantastic sight – waiting for the train to go over the 9 Arch bridge…..

Back with the tuc tuc to meet up with Indika and our next stop was to go and hike up little Adam’s Peak. However by the time we got there we were badly in need of using the bathroom and wanted something to drink so we stopped at Cafe 98 which is part of a resort situated opposite Little Adams Peak. While we sat there enjoying the view and my ginger beer, I was contemplating whether I really wanted to do the climb…….

We started walking, however the peak itself can only be reached with steps and when I saw that , I wasn’t prepared to hike up those steps…… I think Indika was disappointed in me…. but I just listened to my body – if it were an uphill climb and no stairs, I would have done it!

By the time we got back to our Misty Hills, we were both dead tired and decided to have a snack In our room – no way we would be freshening up and go downstairs to the restaurant…….anyway I needed to catch up with my blog before we went to bed…..

Tomorrow we will be leaving Ella and driving down to Yala – another highlight of this trip – to visit the national park and sleep over on a campsite ……..

Another travel day: Nuwara Elija to Ella

Monday, 11th February 2019

Today we will be having a travelling day and this time it’s going to be by train to Ella – a beautiful small backpacker hub on the southern edge of Sri Lanka’s Hill Country; a must-do place in any Sri Lankan itenarary!

We had a leisure morning at our bungalow and I could update my blog and finish off stuff. Our breakfast was prepared by Ganesh, our house boy who has taken a liking to Gerry. Mind you all the staff we’ve met have been very hospitable. Indika arranged for us to have our check out time extended so that we could drive straight to the station in Ohiya after lunch at the lakeside.
It was a strange way how Indika acquired our train tickets – apparently first class tickets can only be bought at the train station 5 days prior to travel date and even then, they are always sold out, however there is a black market circuit and Indika acquired first class tickets for Rp 5.000 Nearly 3 times the original price!

At first I understood that the train was departing at 15.30 but when we had the tickets it was stated 15.55 – as it’s a 3 hour journey, I was worried that we would be arriving in the dark and would miss part of the scenic views we were supposed to see.

This morning Gerry was going to have a pedicure – at least Indika was to schedule an appointment at a salon. So off they went, however they returned in no time. Apparently at the salon, they were told that they only did pedicures for women – so they bought a nail cutter and some cream and when they got back Indika performed the toenail cutting………Incredible what your private chauffeur is prepared to do for you!!!

Nuwara Elija, as I mentioned in an earlier blog was a British hill-station back in the colonial days and supposedly the terraced houses, post office and few other buildings were designed the English way, however very little is left over to warrant the name of “Little England”……. anyway, on our way to have lunch at our usual lakeside spot, Calamander, we stopped by the post office which is still functioning in its old glory and took some pictures of it as well as some of the terraced houses still standing.

Our arrival at Ohiya – well on time to catch our train to Ella

Indika, together with Gerry after having
gotten us on time at the train station

After lunch we drove to Ohiya where we were well on time for our train. Indika explained where we would have to board for our first class seats and then he left to drive (with our luggage) to Ella. Well our train did not arrive and no signs or information was made available to the passengers so we all had to do our own investigation – it appeared that the train we were waiting for had some defects and was being repaired and hence a delay of one and a half hours……. Luckily Gerry saw the station master adjusting the “electronic” timetable on the hallway wall!!

By the time the train pulled in at the station it was nearly 6pm. Although we had very good seats in the observation carriage right at the back of the train, within half an hour it was quite dark to observe any of the scenery and by the time we arrived in Ella it was pitch dark!

Again Indika was happy to see us, he had been waiting for us for such a long time – well we were dead tired of hanging around all day! It was gone 9 pm when we arrived to our hotel, Misty Hills, and then we needed to climb some 90 steps to our bedroom. The manager told us we had the best room with a fantastic view of Ella Gap and that we could watch the sunrise the following morning.
Well after freshening up, we went down for dinner. Indika was there to greet us and in the meantime he had come up with a solution to our grumbling that we had seen nothing on our train journey. As we are staying two nights in Ella, we could take the train journey tomorrow again but we would not go all the way and step out at Demodora, where a fellow driver had an empty car and had to drive to Ella to pick up his guests from the train as they were doing the same trip as we did (but shorter). I think it was a very good idea and even Gerry agreed with it.
What seemed to have been a wasted day, Indika managed to find a good solution! The only thing now for us to do is climb the 90 steps to our bedroom……….