Pair a dice

Just another day in paradise.

Finished five days in Krabi, Thailand, possibly one of my favorite places on earth. I had a number of spectacular days, but there was one in particular that might qualify as "the perfect" one.

Rose at a reasonable time, not always easy with early bird Tammy rustling around. Dined on tropical fruit, a fluffy pancake and dark coffee. Hired a rock climbing guide and spent the morning climbing the cliffs of Krabi with spectacular views to be had as reward at the summit. Lunch on some of the best som tom pet gap kao nieow (spicy papaya salad with sticky rice) with a pineapple shake. I had to specify the spicy part with all the tourists around watering down the Thai cuisine with their meek palates. It lived up to its name. I barely survived. The afternoon was spent lounging on white sand beaches with cooling dips in the tropical waters of the Andaman Sea. Back to the room for a cold shower then off for the pulling, pushing and prodding of a full body Thai massage. The girl was so cute, she gave me a hug at the end. Evening was capped off with a dinner of green curry with chicken and rice and an evening walk on the beach. Only monsoon rains could persuade to go inside.

If you're ridiculously jealous (and I would be if I were you), you can have this too. Summer is low season in Thailand and crazy low prices were absurdly low.

Room: $12.50 a night
Massage: $8.50
Meal: $3.50

I don't even want to tell you about the three and a half hour spa treatment at the fancy resort.

The Wild Life

I think I may need to center more of my holidays around spotting elusive and endangered animals.

We visited Yala National Park in the southeast corner of Sri Lanka to spot us some wildlife and that we did. This event was the most anticipated of the trip and did not disappoint. Rising at 4:30 for breakfast, we were on the road by 5:00 for a dawn arrival. At the park entrance we were due to pick up a tracker but the government failed to provide despite having already paid. Fortunately, we had Tammy and she took over the tracker seat (mostly due to car sickness). On a bladder emptying mission shortly prrior to take off, I crossed paths with a wild boar. We were to see many more.

Animals are most active at dawn and dusk because it's too damn hot to do anything in the middle of day. Slated for a full day of animal spotting we spent the morning racing around the park in a Range Rover (thank you British engineering) along with a bunch of other people doing the same. Before lunch I had stared down a leopard and a wild elephant. At least I think I won because no one tried to eat me. Fortunately, my camera battery died which freed me to actually look at the animals rather than getting that perfect shot. But no worries, we had Tammy, the ever trusty James and three Aussies snapping shots with promises to e-mail the results.

We spotted a leopard (get it?) early in the day maybe 4 meters off the road. There are only 35 in the park so not a common sighting. With elephants numbering around 250 we first came across a young male. He walked up to the truck and was close enough for me to touch. I just looked him in the eye and showed no fear (and made sure none of my body parts were hanging out), we exchanged an understanding and he meandered along. Afterward, the slightly agitated driver betrayed the danger of interacting with wild elephants. Apparently they trample when feeling threatening. Sri Lankan brush with death #46.

Numerous other elephants sightings privyed us to such ritual as the tear/stomp/tear method of eating, the twirl/rip water lily method of eating, and a close up of the throw dirt on back cooling ritual. There are some good pics of this one. Not to be forgotten, those prehistoric creatures, the crocodile was to be found around many a watering hole. I counted over 20 at one particular oasis. The masters of the staring contest wild boar traveled in packs, groupings of spotted deer I once mistook for a leopard, the lone mongoose, brilliant peacocks in this dusty environ (who knew they could fly), loads of beautiful birds with terrible names, the skittery hare, and snake suspected to be a cobra but unconfirmed. We only missed the sloth bear. Too slow I guess. It was A-mazing. I'm ready for Africa.

My final wildlife experience came the day we left. Bussing up the coast to Colombo to catch our flight out I really wanted to stop at the turtle hatchery. I geeked out and asked tons of sciency questions. There are greenback, olive ridley, hawksbill and leatherback turtles that nest off the coast of Sril Lanka. Apparently turtle omelets are a tasty treat among the locals having the expected detrimental effects on the turtle population. Some hatcheries have popped up and pay above market value for the eggs then grow them in their turtle garden to be released under the cover of night, lest one be picked off by a ravenous crow or eagle. We held two day old turtles, met Stevie the blind tsunami survivor and scratched the back end of an albino turtle. With our hosts, two English volunteers, we dug down to check the progress of turtles planted on May 23rd. Turns out they were breaking free of their shells and clamoring to the surface. Instinctively, they knew the direction of the ocean and started making their way. Almost as quickly, the predators began to circle. We plopped them into a bucket and waited 4 hours until sundown then released them on the beach. Forty odd baby turtles smaller than the palm of my hand scurrying into the turbulent surf was very cute and very funny as they were tossed about but undeterred.

I like animals.

the hills

Much to report since my last check in. We're still in Sri Lanka and I've all but given up the fight to not get bit by my arch nemesis, the tiny mosquito. I sit here scratching away and tempting fate as they circle my ankles in their invisible way.

Tammy and I have made it to the south of Sri Lanka and tomorrow we are due to go on safari. This is the part I've been waiting for! Our group has grown and morphed from 2 to 3 to 7 to 5 and now 6. People have come and gone but James has remained a constant. James is our Irish boxer/teacher from Doha, Qatar and trusty side kick. There really aren't many western tourists, at least not many traveling the way we are, and we have a tendency to clump together. Until this trip I thought being a teacher at an all-girls was as close to celebrity as I would come. Turns out being a whitey in Sri Lanka is even closer. I have a number of potential husbands lined up and the children have no compunction about staring and staring.

Our route since the north has been through Kandy in the mountains (I was slightly disappointed to find the streets were not paved with gumdrops and lined with lollipop trees), then to Nilambe for a silent meditation retreat, back through Kandy and down to Nuwara Eliya for tea plantation hoping, then Ella, followed by Arugam Bay for surf watching and wave riding, now we're at Yala National Park for animal sightings.

I've been listening to James tell and retell our Nilambe mediation experience where he's paranoid about cannibals and took a picture of a ghost in his room. My experience was a little different. Nilambe is set in the hills of Sri Lanka. I mean THE HILLS. Entering the grounds launched the next 48 hours of silence, save for the half hour between 4:00 and 4:30 when we could practice mindful speech. I mistakenly thought I would be bored here and get a lot of reading done. Turns out the 5 hours of daily meditation and no electricity really limits your free time.

The day started with the 4:45 a.m. gong for morning meditation at 5:00. This means strapping on the head lamp, crawling out from under the mosquito net, rolling off the cement slab bed, scanning the room for other large insects then traipsing outside to use the squat toilet. Seated meditation took place throughout the day for one to 1.5 hour intervals, followed by tea or a snack. There was also a working meditation, nature meditation, walking, standing and seated mediation, evening chanting with a monk (my favorite time) and yoga. We were served two vegetarian meals a day and stale bread (no joke) in the evening. This came to 500 Sri Lankan rupees per day, about $4.50. My time in Nilambe did not reveal much to me about myself, although I enjoyed the sustained quiet. However, I did learn that leaches don't like Tiger Balm and rats will eat soap. Upon departure, we were thrust back into the real world after the first bus back to town rejected us but the second let us on. Then it let on more and more people until you were ass to ass with the person standing behind you and had no need to hang on for there was no where to fall down.

The hill country is full of tea plantations and the ride from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya offers the most amazing views One would be wise to pop a Dramamine We had the brilliant idea to rent bikes and coast a cool 11km downhill along the highway to visit a tea plantation. Problem was coming home meant going uphill to 2000 meters. My initial calculations misinterpreted the height to be about 2000 ft shy of its 6128 ft.. I usually try not to exert myself in this way.

Sri Lanka used to be called Ceylon hence the preponderance of tea plantations which were found to be successful after the coffee crops crashed. This is where Lipton got its start. Then in 1948, Sri Lanka gained independence from its Dutch and English invaders. The tea plantations were taken over by the government and Sri Lanka is now the number two exporter of tea in the world, following India.

Sri Lankan food consists mainly of curries served with a pile of rice or string hoppers (noodles formed into patties) meant to be eaten with the hands. The curries can be of fish, beef, chicken or veggies like potatoes, okra, eggplant.... This can be part of breakfast, lunch or dinner. We've been eating curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I'm pretty sure I smell like curry. There's also coconut sambol, a shredded coconut and chili dish, served with breakfast. My favorite snack is vegetarian roti, a flat bread stuffed with spicy potatoes and veg and folded into a triangle. I was expecting the food to be spicier than it is and unfortunately there aren't many restaurants so we often eat in the guest house where the food has been tamed for the western palate. However, the fruit selection is amazing with mango, pineapple, rambutan and lots of coconut.