After four years of study and work, which wasn't bad at all, I'm back to traveling for a bit and I have to say: this is not so bad either.

For those that have asked, here is a relatively brief account of our time in Sri Lanka. For those that just stumbled upon the link: glad you're here to read about it.

Marleen and I have seen, done and eaten tonnes of good stuff. A day-to-day account would maybe be a bit too much (even though I have to say most days have been highly interesting), so I decided to summarize the last 8 weeks in four topics: weather, people, the 'official' highlights and our own unofficial highlights. This is Sri Lanka through the eyes of someone just visiting (and enjoying) it for 2 months:

WEATHER/CLIMATE
The weather is the number one easy conversation topic and it has a strong influence on the daily activities everywhere in the world, Sri Lanka is in this no exception. In general it has been warm, up to the point that we would avoid being on the beach or being active in the middle of the day. The mornings and late afternoons have been terrific for walking or for the beach. For swimming, e.g., dusk was perfect. However this is only a short period of the day: where during the Dutch summer eves the sun likes to hang around, here the sun rushes to brighten another part of the world. Luckily for that part, but too bad for us.

As for rainfall, there are three zones: wet, moderate and dry (this dry zone still receives annually more rain than the Netherlands...) as we were told in an irrigation office where we walked in (one cannot do an entire year without study/work related stuff). It is quite impressive when it really pours down, one night we got even a bit uneasy when the lightning struck very close. Next morning we learnt that the phone of the people we stayed with had broken down during the storm that night. Still, in general we have managed to dodge most of this rainfall: apart from a little drizzle and a few stormy afternoons we had, from a tourist perspective, great weather.

PEOPLE
Due to, among others, good agricultural conditions, Sri Lanka is quite densely populated. The lack of huge cities (maybe apart from Colombo) still gives it a relaxed atmosphere. Most people call themselves Buddhist, but Hinduism, the Islam and Catholicism are also largely represented. As a result the country features many different religious places, customs and holidays. It is wise to be aware of the holidays, as on those days, like in the weekends, most attractions attract relatively large Sri Lankan crowds.

In general people are kind and especially guesthouse owners try their hardest to give you a good time. On the streets you get greeted plenty of times (often accompanied with questions of the like: where you from/where you going), which is more than okay at first but feels a bit odd after a while as it is just the same one question all the time and as it seems not every stranger is greeted, just the tourists. However no doubt they mean it well.

We met many Sri Lankan people that welcomed us warmly and other travellers with whom we shared sweet experiences, but there is always some that you remember best. Without doing anyone short we have say that Faeez and Shamila, Shameena and Nilam and their children gave our stay in Sri Lanka an extra dimension. In the train from Colombo to Kandy we met Faeez and daughter Sabra. We needed to find a guesthouse and they knew one near their home. Almost there Faeez told us that we could also stay with them. Of course we took the offer. At their home we got spoiled with delicious food and learned quickly more about Sri Lanka since all (including the children) spoke English really well. Later we also stayed in Wahakotte, a small village where family of them owned a school. In total we spent over a week divided over several weeks with the family. From here once again a big 'nanri' (thanks).

HIGHLIGHTS
For such a relatively small area Sri Lanka is cramped with highlights, some of which truly can't be missed. Search the internet or open a Lonely Planet and one will read about the birds and elephants of Uda Walawe, the ruins and gigantic stupas of Anuradhapura, the beaches of Uppaveli and Pasikudah, the underwater world near Trincomalee, the trainride from Kandy to Ella through the hills full of tea plantations, the Dutch forts of Jaffna and Galle and the views from the Adam's Peak, Lipton's Seat and (small) Sigiriya Rock. We visited these places and as always, being there beats the pictures (that being said, it is nice to have our own pictures of these places to recall them).

Most of these areas are pretty well established and accommodated for tourists. Not per se what we are looking for, but seeing the sites it makes sense so many people visit these places and it seems plenty of locals are profiting from this. However we are glad it is off-season, not just for the lower prices, but merely as there are not that many tourists. We can imagine some of the sites being too crowded and losing their charm in high season.

HARD TO FORGET
Besides the well-known highlights one shall always find, when staying a bit longer, seemingly ordinary places and activities or lesser established attractions that one can't forget. Among others, these were for me the town (and guesthouse there) of Badulla, a Sri Lankan dance festival, the lighthouse of Dondra Head, Delft Island and the scooter/motorcycle rides through the countryside. A little more on the latter two:

Delft Island is located in the north. As mentioned before, in weekends Sri Lankans go out to visit (touristic) places. So on Sunday the jetty from where the ferry would leave was packed. Luckily most people were going to another island. Still, we just fitted on the (relatively small) ferry: the deck had little empty space. The sea was rough and, sitting outside, we got soaked. Yet I would prefer that everyday over a higher chance of getting seasick inside the boat. After safely arriving on the island and changing into dry clothes we took a tuktuk to drive us in two sessions over the island to see the highlights of Delft: a fat baobab tree, wild horses, ruins of stables, officer quarters and a fort, a beach and other nice places along the shoreline. In between the two sessions we stayed on the beach, where we met a group of four that invited us for lunch and later for dinner. They were born on Delft, but one lived now in Jaffna and two in France (one of which would constantly interrupt conversations by starting to pose questions in French-English). Lunch and dinner were very tasty. On arrival, a fence made out of coral drew our attention. During the tour we learnt that coral was scattered all over the island, that almost all fences were constructed out of coral and that even the old stables, quarters and fort(!) were from coral. A most fascinating trip.

Motorcycles and scooters are not uncommon on the Sri Lankan roads and we decided to rent them in several places. The roads are luckily in most areas not so busy with traffic. Only buses can be dangerous as they drive at ridiculous speeds (60-70kmph on most (high)ways. 40-50 kmphis the average velocity of most vehicles) and overtake almost without caring what is approaching on the other lane. In Trincomalee I rented a scooter twice. The first time (without Marleen as she was doing a diving course) I drove along a large Bay, went to what I thought would be a view point but turned out to be on military terrain and finally reached a beautiful place where a lagoon met the sea, with a Buddhist temple on a small hill and at the lagoon a Hindu temple still under construction. The second time was probably even better: we 'found' a temple on the top of a hill with a splendid view and on our way back we saw an elephant standing on the other side of a marsh we were just cruising by. Wow!
These two times tasted like more and in Wahakotte we could use Faeez his motorbike for a small ride. Later we rented a motorcycle in Pasikudah, where we rode over dirt roads full of podholes through the remote countryside consisting of dry canals and paddy fields harvested about a month ago and not yet sown in. At one point we were riding on a dyke, almost a Dutch experience. Not far from being back on the main road a nasty surprise was waiting: a stream of nearly 15m wide had flooded the road. To cross or to return... We followed the example of a local man on a scooter and managed with a little extra adrenaline to cross the stream!
Since the above described experiences were so good, we decided to rent a scooter for five consecutive days and make a roadtrip in the south. We drove over small, yet well-constructed hill roads and back along the coast. Along the coast the roads were relatively busy. Strangely, when it started to get less busy we found ourselves on a newly built 4-lane road (everywhere else the roads having 2 lanes). Apparently constructed by the Chinese near to a port that China received from Sri Lanka. Fascinating.
It was not just by motorcycle, but even by bus and especially by train it is a big treat to drive through this very green and diverse country.

TIME TO GO
That was it for now. Of course there is a lot more to tell: details on the highlights, about the flora and fauna, about the food (which I completely forgot: it was good, cheap and often spicy with many different curries and the nice dish of Kothu. Sri Lankans eat rather fast and with their right hand. Quite nice to have nobody telling you off when eating with your hands ). If interested, just ask us to tell more or go and see yourselves! Soon (7th of November) we are flying to New Zealand. Sri Lanka was great, but we are most excited to move on and find out was is in stock for us down of what is called Down Under. Hope to find you back for the next story (of which the when is rather uncertain).

Cheers