Sensational Sri Lanka

Over the last few years, we've met a few people from Sri Lanka and many others who have traveled throughout Sri Lanka, so for spring break we thought we'd check it out!

Our first hotel in the capital city of Colombo was a welcome sight as we were surrounded by nature and serenity.

The decor was both cultural and comfortable, designed by a Hong Kong artist who fell in love with Sri Lanka and opened the hotel a few months ago.

We spent a day visiting the National Museum (no photos allowed inside). 

Outside the museum was a huge banyan tree that was taller than the three story museum building.

After a couple days in Colombo, we set off by train to the city of Kandy.  (Our three-hour train ride turned into five hours after multiple, extended stops for unknown reasons.) 

The scenery was beautiful and we saw miles and miles of the Sri Lankan countryside.

Our hotel in Kandy was very large, but it kind of reminded us of the hotel in the movie, The Shining.

In Kandy, we visited the famous Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.

This is a cloud wall outside the temple, which represents the heavens.

I was surprised how similar I looked to the men on the painted walls of the temple. 

Of course, we had to take off our shoes and cover our knees to show respect to Buddha.

This is inside the temple where there are several statues of Buddha that have been donated by Thailand, Korea, Japan, and Malaysia.  The actual tooth of Buddha is not visible and is only taken out every five years to show people who wait in line for eight to ten hours.

The Sri Lankan cultural show stimulated our senses with colorful costumes and pounding drums!

Our next stop was to the Royal Botanic Gardens.

The palm trees were much bigger than they look in this photo.

Some of the trees looked like they were straight out of a Dr. Seuss story.

And some trees looked like giant candies! 

A must-have in Asia is an umbrella, not only for rain, but for sun, too!

We were excited to visit the Elephant Orphanage in Pinnawala, southwest of Kandy where they care for orphaned, injured, and sick elephants.

It was great to see so many elephants roaming freely in their naturally-formed herds.

The baby elephants were gathered for one of their feedings.  One was a bit impatient and let everyone know it.  I never knew a calf's voice was so strong, like a lion's roar!

After their snack, many of the elephants went for a bath in the refreshing river across from the orphanage.

We joined the elephants in the cool river water.  This mama elephant may look like she needs help, but she's actually cooling off in the water.  Her trunk would pop up for a breath and also to splash herself with water.

What a nice place for elephants to chillax.

Are they doing the Hokey Pokey?  Put your tail in, put your tail out, put your tail in and shake it all about.

"Don't wander too far away, Dumbo."

Did you know that you could make paper out of elephant dung?

Now, that's what I call recycling!

I enjoyed a brief moment of fame when I was interviewed on a live radio show at a mall in Kandy.

These women were drumming just outside of the mall.

Tuk-tuks are the preferred mode of transpiration in Sri Lanka.

They are perfect in the city and in the countryside!

Sri Lanka has introduced me to my new favorite drink, which is EGB: Elephant Ginger Beer (non-alcoholic) made with real ginger. 

The last city we visited was Sigirya and I saved the best hotel for last.  It opened in January of 2014 using many local materials, and it was designed to be environmentally conscious.

This was the cascading waterfall along the staircase at the entrance of the hotel.

As we entered the open-air lobby, we were greeted with this spectacular view of the infinity pool and Lion's Rock (on the right), a rock citadel dating back to the 5th century.

It was nice to see the rock out there calling to us whenever we took a dip in the pool.

The hotel is called Aliya, which means elephant in Sinhalese, and there were plenty of them everywhere.  This colorful painting graced the wall of the lobby.

This is the opposite wall of the hotel lobby.
(The children are not always standing there.)

Elephant motifs were everywhere!

This three-headed guy adorned the corner of the front desk.

Our room was large, beautiful, and modern.

I thought this picture in our room was also an abstract elephant, just focus on the white parts.

This was one of the most unique pieces of art in our room.  It was made of nine Sri Lankan women forming the shape of, you guessed it, an elephant!

This beautiful, batik elephant decorated our bedspread.

A row of these lamps in the hotel restaurant glowed a golden color at night.

There was no rain and only a bit of distant thunder, but there were  lots of lightning bolts.

Almost every night, like clockwork, we were treated to a spectacular lightning show.  

These are the hotel grounds at night, romantic and cozy.

All male employees wore these elephant sarongs with matching shirts.  They looked so comfortable.  I wish I could wear them to school every day.

One of the reasons we went to Sigirya was to climb 1,200 steps to the top of the famous Lion's Rock.

Lion's Rock is even on some of the Sri Lankan money.

In Sigirya this long-tailed macaque was methodically removing leaves to snack on.

It doesn't look too hard to climb from here…but we haven't even taken step number one, yet.

Some steps were pretty easy to climb.

Other steps were a bit scarier.

Some steps were totally unexpected.

On the way up, I was able to demonstrate my Herculean strength.

Painted on the high cliff walls are maidens who float among the clouds.

There are also poems written about these maidens.

More steps.  Don't look down!

Seriously?

One thousand one, one thousand two...

These were the last few steps to the very top.

When we finally got to the top, it was SO worth the climb!

These were the ancient ruins of a monastery, which was later the home of King Kashyapa (477 to 495 CE).

We're on the edge of the world!  (Hey, where's the rest of the safety railing?)

It is very peaceful and beautiful up here.

Going down was a little bit easier than climbing up.

Later that night, we enjoyed an authentic Sri Lankan meal at our hotel.

We had to make reservations early so that they could prepare all of the necessary ingredients.

This was our skilled chef in her traditional Sri Lankan kitchen.

April 14 was New Year in Sri Lanka.  Our hotel had a big celebration with lots of games, food, and traditions for the guests and staff members.

There is coconut milk in this clay pot.  The wood is set on fire and then you wait for it to boil.  If the milk boils over, then that means there will be good luck in the new year.

The Sri Lankans (kids and adults) LOVE to play games.  This one was Draw-the-Eye-on-the-Elephant, similar to Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey.

I gave it a try!

Mine is the blue mark.

I also tried the Lime-and-Spoon-Race, which is exactly the same as the Egg-and-Spoon-Race.

After they shook hands, these two men proceeded to smack each other with large pillows to see who would be the first to fall over.  (No, I did not try this game.)

I got a chance to try my hand at frying some crispy snacks.

Yummy treats, made fresh.  (I know because I helped make them!)

Who will be the first to eat the bread off the string?

As you can see by the amount of leftover bread, it's a pretty difficult game.

Not much progress made on this one.

Anyone want to try to feed someone yogurt while blindfolded?  The winning team had a pretty good technique of putting the yogurt cup right up to his partner's mouth and scooping it in.

Later that day, we went to Polonnaruva to see more ancient ruins, temples, and Buddha statues.

You are allowed to take pictures but not posing with your back to the statues of Buddha because it is disrespectful.

This was one of the biggest stupas that we had ever seen, but our tour guide said that there are bigger ones in Sri Lanka.

Just strolling through the ruins...

Every dog has his day (to take a nap).

Our last stop was to the three rock-carved Buddhas.

It was the perfect place to do some sketching.

After five nights in Sigirya, we headed towards Negombo to catch our flight back to Thailand.  Along the way we saw some fishing boats with hand-sewn sails.

We had a nice dinner with an ocean view and saw the golden sun set on the horizon.

We even dipped our toes in the Indian Ocean, which was our first time in that body of water.

Luckily, I was able to squeeze in a much-needed haircut before we left Sri Lanka.

The barber had an old-school tool belt that looked like it had been used for generations.  As soon as I saw it, I knew I was in good hands.

We enjoyed our stay in Sri Lanka and look forward to coming back again one day.

Elusive Monkey and Banksy-esque Panda Skull

This morning I finally did it!  I captured a photo of the elusive "monkey holding white lotus flower" a.k.a "Graffiti Monkey" on a shop's roll-down gate on Sukhumvit Road near our condo.  I have been trying to snap a photo of him from taxis and buses every time I pass by, but all of the photos have been blurry, unusable, or just partial images of him.

This morning I woke up early and thought, "Enough is enough."  Not many people are awake before 8:00 a.m. in Bangkok, so my 6:30 a.m. adventure was a bit eerie.  As the light broke through the pre-dawn sky, I snapped a few photos and . . . viola!

If I ever get a chance to interview the artist, I'd like to know about some of the symbolism he used.

I like the monkey's teeth and the fact that the edges look so crisp, even though it is painted on a corrugated door.  Whew!



For a while, a paper pasted panda skull was also just as elusive as the monkey.  If you look closely, it is on the left side corner of the building in the center of the photo.

Then, one day after eating at a noodle shop, there it was.  I've seen small stickers on the back side of street signs that have the same image.  I wonder what it means.

Who Let the Dogs Out?

We have mentioned on this blog that "soi" means street in Thai and that there are lots of neighborhood dogs that just hang out in the street.  The local Thai people take care of them, but these canines spend most of their time frolicking or napping on the sidewalks and in the alleys of Bangkok.

As we discover backstreets and new areas of this bustling city, we have been noticing more dogs, some in packs and some just hanging out by themselves enjoying a nap.

Many dogs block your path and won't budge, so it's up to the humans to walk around them!  There are even some dogs that lay in the street, and the cars and motorbikes just go around them!

Some dogs prefer to hang out by themselves on a cozy spot of sidewalk.

Some soi dogs like to pose for the camera.

I see this guy every day.  I have nicknamed him "Soi Sausage" because he's so big and round.  He reminds me of those mysterious "Sliding Stones" that move in the desert of Death Valley.  I never see him walk, but he is in a different spot each time I see him.

The patch of grass on the left is a favorite spot for some playful, wrestling doggies.

Lost in Translation?

One of the best parts of living overseas is learning the host country's language.  Although we accept the fact that we will not be fluent in a year or two, it is always helpful to learn some phrases that will make it easier to get around, eat, and shop.

On the other hand, many countries have made a huge effort to incorporate the English language into many of their signs, menus, and brochures.  Sometimes the English is spot on, but other times not so much.

"Explorium" and "Edutainment" are intentional, but someone forgot the "r" in California.  (Not sure about the missing "e" in experience.)

I think this one could actually work as a new word in English:
Graduation + Congratulations = Gratulation!

I considered this as a name for a band.

Usually I am pretty daring when it comes to trying new dishes, but this one just didn't sound very appetizing.