Loving the Lankan Life

On Monday morning we flew to Sri Lanka. As we stepped off the plane into the airport, the first thing I noticed was the cleanliness and closer similarity to Western airports. As we drove to our hotel, the beauty and comparative cleanliness to India was apparent. It was quieter and there were much fewer people.

After a short nap, we ventured onto the beach behind our hotel for a leisurely walk. The beach wasn’t extremely clean, but it was beautiful. You couldn’t swim in it as there was a reef right off the beach and the waves would come crashing and billowing into the air. I loved the sight, smell and sound of the waves.

After a short romantic stroll J, I convinced Tyler that we could walk out to the street running parallel to the beach and catch a ride on the bus into Colombo (about 20-25 kilometers away).

We got our first glimpse of the extreme friendliness of the Sri Lankan people. We met a man on the road that greeted us and told us about how they had come together as a community after the tsunami there, and how people support each other and treat each other all like family. He helped us to figure out the correct bus to take.

I absolutely love and admire the friendliness of these people. They were always willing to help us find our way, going out of their way to direct us. They were always smiling and greeting us and many offered to have us to tea.

Our second day we went to Negombo to the beach. Again we met tons of friendly people and had a great time. On the way home waiting for the bus, I sat on the railing of a bridge over a river. After I hopped down, some ladies came to tell me not to sit on the railing as they were concerned because the river below contained lots of crocodiles and they didn’t want me to fall. We spent the remaining time waiting for the bus, trying to catch a glimpse of one.

We went to Kandy on the third day. On the way we went to an elephant orphanage. There they house and care for elephants that have been injured or orphaned. They also breed elephants there as well.

We also went to a spice garden where we got a massage and learned about all types of spices for things from losing weight, to sleeping well, to an herb that can remove hair in five minutes and last for about 2-3 years after using it consistently for four to six weeks. It was pretty fascinating.

We ate lunch at a scenic restaurant overlooking the jungle.

 We saw the Tooth Temple where I joked the tooth fairy lives but is a place where they claim to house one of Buddha’s teeth.

Sri Lanka was beautiful and we absolutely adored the people. As we flew back to India, though, we felt a sense of coming home. Seeing sites is fun – but the people are the greatest part of travelling.

I love this quote by Sister Hinckley –

"Travel is wonderful, but if you do very much of it, the places all become a blur. But the people - when you get wherever you're going and begin to meet the people, you come alive again. People are wonderful. Each one has a story, each something to give, each knows something interesting, something that can make your life richer"