By the time I got to Habarana, it was already dark. My hotel (Centurion Resort) had told me to contact them when I arrived, so they could come pick me up at the station. There were a lot of local Tuktuk drivers waiting outside the station and when I went to wait by the road, they told me to come back in the building because it would be safer. My hotel owner finally came and took me back to the hotel. I had booked a room without air conditioning (I don’t know what I was thinking!), but I was relieved to see that there was an air conditioning unit in the room. I had asked if it would be possible to get dinner and the hotel owner told me to give him an hour and he would prepare something for me. The meal was fried rice, and some veggies in a sweet sauce. I had asked if I could go to Sigiriya Rock, and the hotel owner said that he could drive me for 4000 rupees (I think he MAY have overcharged me for this, but oh well). We agreed that I would have breakfast at 6am, and then he would drive me to the rock. I also asked about doing an elephant safari, so he said that I could do it at 2pm. My whole day was planned! The accommodation was a bit awkward, to be honest. It had three male workers, but it seemed like only one of them (not sure if he was the owner or not) did everything. I found that this was often the case though, and many males seemed to not know how to talk to a solo female.
The next morning, I got up at 5:15 to get ready and then have breakfast. It was some daal, some curry, some wraps (which I’m not sure what they were made of), and some toast. I ate everything except the toast, and explained “no bread.” Then, we drove to Sigiriya Rock. There are two rocks in the area – one is Sigiriya (Lion’s Rock), which was an old fortress but it charges tourists $30USD. The other one is Pidurangala Rock, which gives a view of Sigiriya Rock, but I think it’s less than $5. I still wanted to visit Sigiriya since it’s a UNESCO site. It was at least a 30 minute drive, and my hotel owner walked me to the ticket booth, and all the way up to the entrance. He told me to say no to all guides (and I was asked many times, even while he was with me). I’m glad that I started the walk when I did because 1) it got hot really fast and 2) it got SO crowded by the time I started heading back down. The walk up wasn’t TOO bad – just a lot of stairs on some questionable stairways. And the view was completely worth it! Seeing the old fortress was cool too – I often get quite bored of seeing ruins, but this one seemed more interesting, especially seeing the lion paws at the bottom of the stairs. I took my time at the top and then slowly headed back down. Originally, I had thought that I’d do the second rock afterwards, but I decided against it after finishing the first one. On the way back, my hotel owner stopped at a vendor on the side of the road and got me a coconut. It wasn’t as sweet as the ones in the Philippines, but it was still good. They then made a spoon out of the shell, so that I could use it to scoop out the thicker stuff.
I went back to the hotel and had a few hours to kill before my safari. The thing that I didn’t love about my hotel was that it was quite isolated (Habarana was a very small town and was still a bit of a walk away – a lot of people stay in the town of Sigiriya when they come to the area), so I often felt like I had to just hang out in my hotel room (at least there was air conditioning!). I figured maybe I’d try one of the local restaurants for lunch but as I was about to leave, all three of the hotel workers came up to me to ask where I was going. I had asked if they were making lunch as I didn’t want to leave if they were already making me something. “Oh! Yes, in 30 minutes.” I feel like maybe they thought I was requesting lunch, but it was lost in translation. So I guess I’d be staying. Lunch was some rice with hot dogs on top, an egg, and some cucumbers. Not the most appetising meal, but it was fine. After lunch, I hung out in my hotel room until my safari started. I was picked up by a big safari truck, and it was just me! I thought we’d be picking up some other people, but no. It cost me 9000 rupees for the truck (about $45) and 3000 rupees for the entrance fee into the park ($15), so $60 total. Way different to my time in Africa, when the truck was filled with 8-10 people so we were all trying to get the best views, and I’m pretty sure the prices were higher as well. My guide was great, and he must have found over 30 elephants! He spoke to some of the other drivers we passed (with full trucks) and some of them had only seen 4 elephants. I was extremely lucky! It was so awesome being able to watch them – I could have just sat and watched all day!
I wasn’t sure if I should tip (I read online that restaurants in Sri Lanka expect at least a 10% tip, so this was the first country I tipped in since Philippines doesn’t expect tips, and in Japan it’s rude to tip), and I also wasn’t sure what would be a fair tip. My guide did awesome and he was so excited when he found elephants, and also tried to get pictures of me with the elephants so at the end, I handed him 3000 rupees ($15). The next day when I got off the bus, he saw me and told me he’d give me a ride back to my hotel. I went to give him 100 rupees and he said, “No, you already helped me so much yesterday!” Even though it didn’t seem like much to me, it was a lot for him. That evening, I hung out in my hotel room until dinner. That night at dinner, I was served “lake fish,” which was really good! I said how much I liked it, so he said he’d make it again the next day. The hotel owner also told me about his wife and two kids, and showed me pictures. He said that he would love to move his family to another country, but his salary was only 45000 rupees ($204), and it would be impossible for him to move his family on that. Sri Lanka kind of gave me traveller’s guilt because I could easily afford to do what I wanted (at a low cost), while many people were struggling to make ends meet. I know I often ended up overtipping my accommodations (giving them 1000 rupees/$5), but seeing how grateful they were was worth it.
The next morning, I had breakfast at the hotel. They explained, “You said no bread, so we made you roti instead.” I knew I’d be having a reaction that day, and I ate it because I didn’t want to hurt their feelings. It came with daal and more sweet veggies. And the fruit plate was just pineapple – the one fruit I didn’t like. Again, I didn’t want to hurt their feelings so I told myself I’d just eat two pieces from the massive plate. But much to my surprise, I actually liked it! For the first time ever, I ACTUALLY liked pineapple (and I’ve retried pineapple over and over, and didn’t like it) – maybe I only like Sri Lankan pineapple. On top of that, my tongue didn’t swell up like it usually does when I have pineapple in a smoothie. Winning! That day, I decided to go to the Cave Temples in Dambulla (Rangiri Dambulla Uyanwaththa Viharaya). In order to get there, I’d have to take my first bus in Sri Lanka. Luckily, my hotel owner showed me where to go – he walked me to the main road, waved down the bus, and told the driver where I’d have to get off. About 45 minutes later, I arrived in Dambulla. I got off the bus and walked to the temple, where I had to go up some stairs, then down some stairs, then up some more stairs, pay to go in, and go up even more stairs. It was so hot and humid, and I was wearing my light sweater since I thought my arms had to be covered (I soon realised that it was only my shoulders that needed to be covered, and I could have just worn my t-shirt). I passed some vendors selling shirts and contemplated buying a light elephant one, but when he said it would be 5000 rupees ($25), I declined. I don’t even buy clothes for that much at home! I then passed some women selling flowers to offer to the Buddha and when I saw the tourists in front of me buying some, I figured I probably should too. I asked how much and they said it’s by donation. So I gave them 100 rupees and then they asked for more. It’s hard in Sri Lanka because sometimes, I felt like I was being scammed. Even though it’s not a lot, I feel like a lot of people are just trying to survive so they overcharge and it’s hard to know what to do in those situations. I found that it was the worst in Kandy, and I’ll explain that in my next blog post. The cave temples were really cool!! There were five temples, but I think I went through them backwards because I started with the nicest ones. They were so breathtaking, and you could feel the history all over. It was extremely difficult because you’re not supposed to turn your back on a Buddha, but when the entire room is filled with Buddhas, you’re not sure which way to turn without possibly causing offense. After I finished at the temple (again, I had to pay to get my shoes back), I walked through the grounds for a bit and then decided to have lunch in town.
I chose to walk, even though it was really hot out and about a 20 minute walk. I went to one of the higher rated places, called Athula Restaurant. The owner was actually asleep at one of the tables when I got there, so the neighbour had to wake her up. It was a buffet restaurant, so they opened all of the dishes up for me and then she told me they’d make noodles – I told her not to bother with the noodles since I couldn’t eat them anyway. I filled up my plate and ate. The food wasn’t THAT impressive, and I was starting to think that was the case in the area since most of my meals had been sub-par. The owner said that she started the restaurant 20 years ago, but it’s been getting more and more difficult with the economy and customers get mad when she raises the price. When I was finished with my plate, she brought out a lake fish, and a huge plate of fruit – my stomach wasn’t prepared for more food, but I ate it anyway! After lunch, I walked to the nearest bus stop but I honestly had no idea what I was doing. I couldn’t understand any of the language written on the buses, and I also had no idea what city I was meant to head for. I wish I could say that I got the hang of the buses as my time in the country went on, but nope – I always needed a local to put me on the right bus (good thing they were so helpful!). Luckily, a local came to the stop so I asked him where I needed to go. He told me the city to look out for and when the next bus came, he waved it over and told the driver where I was going. I was so glad that he was there because I wouldn’t have had any idea that it was the right bus. I got off in Habarana and that was when the elephant safari guide saw me and drove me back to my hotel. I spent the evening hanging out in my hotel and worked on my blog. Dinner that night was rice with lake fish, beets, and cucumbers. Dessert was a plate of pineapple, which I was happy about this time!
The next morning, I had breakfast earlier since I’d have to catch the bus to Kandy the next day. There weren’t any schedules written anywhere online, but my hotel owner said I could leave at 9. I’m not really sure what breakfast was.. it was a dry ball of what seemed like flour but I don’t think it was wheat flour, and it came with a curry. I still struggled to get the dryness out, even after soaking it in curry. However, it was very filling since it was so dense. During breakfast, my hotel owner said that we had a problem. He said that I had booked a room without air-conditioning but I had used air conditioning. I asked how much extra it would be and he said he’d check. He came back and said it would be 1000 rupees ($5) per day, so 3000 total. It wasn’t much and I didn’t mind, but I was still kind of mad that it happened. I feel like they shouldn’t have put me in a room with air conditioning if I had booked a room without it, or they should have been clear from the start and told me I’d have to pay extra or not use it. This is when I started to become a bit sour, and more aware about the possibility of being scammed. The meals were also more money than I would normally pay for, and seemed very minimal for the amount that I was paying. But oh well. The hotel owner drove me to the bus stop and showed me the bus to Kandy, and I got on. Luckily, I was able to get a seat because it filled up quite fast. And then I was on my way to Kandy! Love always
Prairie Girl Abroad 