russia: rostov Veliky

We added Rostov Veliky to our travel calendar because the guidebook said it was cute. Booking train tickets was easy, as was booking a place to stay.

We met up on Saturday morning at 0700 (okay, okay, I was 2 miutes late, which is really good for me,) at one of the metro stations in Moscow, then went to find our train. There are three massive train stations close to each other in Moscow, so we start our weekend trips from these stations most of the time.

Our train left at 0735, and not long after departure a waitress came through and asked what we wanted to eat. When I booked our train tickets I guess I chose a ticket that included food, which I've never done before. As far as I could see our tickets didn't look any different than previous tickets I've booked, but oh well. All three of us chose blinis with ham and cheese inside.

The food was pretty good, and a nice way to start the day. That being said, I didn't have much of an appetite, so I wasn't able to finish the hot food. The meals also included bread rolls, candy bars, and small bottles of water. There were also travel sets with slippers, eye masks, shoe horns, and shoe wipes.

We arrived in Rostov (it's usually shorted to just Rostov,) about three minutes late, obviously not a big deal. As has become my habit, I got a hot chocolate from a machine in the train station. These hot chocolates are always cheap, and the right size for kicking my craving.

From there we walked to the accomodation I'd booked. The walk wasn't long, but we started to realize the weather wasn't going to be great for walking all day as we usually do. Blowing wind and snow, and it was cold :)

Checking in was easy, and we were able to do so straightaway. We had a room with three single beds (mine was actually a foldout chair.) It also had a small kitchenette with a kettle and some cups for coffee/tea.

After relaxing for quite a while we finally walked out the door to start exploring. We'd checked the guidebook and online, and knew there wasn't a huge list of sights to see so we weren't in a huge hurry to get started.

At the beginning of the walk we started questioning if we were going to be able to see anything at all. The wind was blowing, and the snow was falling, basically right into our faces. This meant we were walking with our heads down, not really able to look up and see where we were going. There were drifts everywhere: on roofs, on cars, in front of doors, etc...

Eventually we got to our first sight. At least we thought so, until we realized the way we approached was not to an entrance gate. The kremlin in Rostov is surrounded by long white walls, I imagine it is quite picturesque in non blizzard weather. Going the wrong way to find the entrance didn't seem like a small mistake, which is normally what it would be.

We walked around to the other side, and found a small-ish gate to walk through. This gate took us into what must've been a side courtyard of sorts, which is totally dominated by the Church of the Assumption. The guidebook says this church is quite fantastic, but we weren't super impressed. It currently seems to be under renovation inside, with scaffolding everywhere. 
The iconostasis was empty, and scaffolding blocked what could still be seen of the frescoes. We were able to see some wood carving, which seemed to be columns of wood grapes.

After exiting the church, we walked out another side of the courtyard, which was a tunnel of sorts through one of the Kremlin walls. Just at the point where the tunnel exited into the Kremlin we had to pay a fee to enter the grounds, which was super cheap. The cashier said there was another, main ticket office, but I was totally mixed up when she gave directions.

In the middle of the Kremlin territory is a pond, which was very frozen during our visit. We saw people sliding across the ice in tubes, which looked fun. Also in the middle of the territory was an ice maze, though the walls were really short. 
We also found a throne built of ice, and the year 2019 formed in ice.

We found a souvenir shop in the basement of a church, one of the major reasons for stepping in was to warm up. The wind and cold had started to hurt my fingers, eeep. We all bought magnets, and I bought postcards as well.

We finally found the main ticket office, we stayed inside there for longer than people usually do in a ticket office. There were a couple benches to sit on, and a hot chocolate machine, how could we say no?

After warming up we bought tickets to the one museum we wanted to see, and walked in that direction. The museum of enamel is not huge, but we really liked it. There were about four rooms of different displays of enameled items. 
There was a room that showed a bit more of the history of the art of enameling, the other rooms showed enameled items. We saw religious items, treasure sort of items, and jewelry. It was a neat museum, showing off a form of art I'm sure most people have never seen much. 

Even though we didn't see much that day, all three of us were done for the day. We walked out of the Kremlin, across the street, and into a cafe for dinner. I didn't have an appetite so I stuck with soup, while the girls had 'real food.'

On the way back to our room we stopped at the grocery store to pick up snacks for the next day.

Normally I wouldn't mention curtains, but the curtains in our room were good curtains that actually blocked the light. We all slept off and on until 0915 Sunday morning, which is way later than normal. We did the same thing we normally do on Sunday mornings of our weekend trips: play around online.

We finally checked out around noon, all bundled up for the day. It was still snowing and blowing, but it was a few degrees warmer ('only' -10C,) which made a huge difference.

On the way to our first sight, I spotted a church that had a big snow drift near an entrance. We were all curious how deep the drifts were, so I decided to explore. I took a few steps, the snow was up to my thighs. As I started to walk up the steps (I think?) I fell backwards, ending up on my back like a turtle. I laughed at myself, as it was rather funny. Angela took photos while laughing, Claire laughed too. I didn't expect any different, I know I looked funny.

We found an open entrance of the church on another side (after brushing off the snow all over me,) and walked in. The advantage to wearing a hat in winter is that it also serves as a head covering in a church, you don't have to pull out a headscarf to enter a church.

The inside of this church was rather dark, and the frescoes weren't very bright. It seemed like incense had been burned for years and years and years, and the smoke had darkened the paint. :(

We continued walking, at one point going up a rather steep hill, which ended up being the wrong way. Getting up the hill was a struggle, and since it ended up being the wrong way to go, we sort of skied back down on our feet.

We entered another church, another old church. There was a lit chandelier, which made this church a lot brighter than the first one we'd seen. A woman working in the church (a nun? A volunteer?) gave us a mini tour, which was awesome. She really wanted us to know about the church, despite the fact that she didn't speak any English, and we only understood a little of what she was saying.

She also handed out brochures for the church. It's a very small church, we were surprised by the brochures.

We finally arrived at the first sight we'd planned to see, Lake Nero. Rostov lines the lake, and I think the views would normally be beautiful. Since we were visiting town in a mini blizzard, we could hardly see. We knew there was a lake out there, but we couldn't really see it. There were blocks of ice stuck up in one area, but that was it. While we were watching the lake we saw a guy on a snow machine speeding across the lake, it looked like fun. (And really cold.)

We took a team photo by a big cross, which would normally have given us a pretty view of the water. Angela noticed what looked like runes on the cross, it was pretty.

From there we walked to our next sight, a museum. The museum of the frog princess is based on a legend, a rather long one.

To visit this museum, you're supposed to take a tour, in Russian. This is because there are a few interative parts of the museum, to go with parts of the story. We participated in these games, even though we didn't completely understand what we were doing until we looked up the story online.

The rest of the museum (which was only one room,) was filled with frogs. Stuffed frogs, glass frogs, etc... Big, small, medium, etc... SO MANY FROGS.

At the end of the visit they handed us a coupon for tea at the restaurant across the street. We'd already been planning to go there, so this worked out really well. We had our tea, and each of us added food.

After being in the cafe for a while we walked down the street a little more, to a monastery. The monastery of St Jacob the Saviour. There was no entry fee and walking in was easy. We entered the main church of the monastery, and loved it. Even though it was started to get dark outside, there was still a decent amount of light inside. Great church, if that makes sense.

When we walked back outside the sun had set, so we started walking. It took longer than we'd expected, and our legs were super tired by the time we got to the grocery store. Walking through the snow and wind, and over all the snow was exhausting.

After the grocery store we walked to another cafe, about three minutes away. Despite having the name of cafe, this place was clearly not expecting walk in customers off the street. I was pretty sure it was clear that we wanted three pots of tea, as there were three of us. Instead, they served us two pots, one of green tea and one of black tea. This place didn't really want us around, as they brought us the check before we asked for it, but that didn't make us pay any sooner or get out any faster.

We got from there to the train station, arriving about an hour before the train departed. The train on the way back was as nice as the day before. The food choices were the same, and we each got another set of slippers and such.

Another successful weekend :)

russia: moscow: weekly walkabout

Another walkabout Wednesday, another group of very random 'sights.' All three places I saw were places I saw on social media.

I plotted what I wanted to see on a map, then started walking from school. The walk was about 45 minutes, and since the weather was good I enjoyed every minute.

My first was a building with interesting exterior decor. Light blue paint with sculptures sortof stuck to the exterior wall. This particular building is close to a set of ponds that are one of the places 'to be seen' in the city, (though I've never figured out why,) so there were plenty of people around.

Personally I thought the building was more interesting than the ponds, but no one else seemed to think so.

From there I went back to the metro and walked a bit more to find another small sight. The Berlin Wall fell back in 1989, and pieces of it, or sections of it can now be found all over the world. When looking at an online map one day I found a section of the Berlin Wall listed, so I wanted to see what it actually was.

Like so many other sections around the world, this one was decorated. There was a hole in the middle, there was paint, and there was another decoration attached to all the cement.

I'm not sure how the location for this piece of wall was chosen, as it seems to be in the middle of nowhere in terms other things to see in the city.

I walked back to the metro, heading north this time. After exiting the metro I walked north for another twenty minutes at least. The walk was along a busy street, with both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Not pretty and not fun.

There is an old aquaduct in the Rostokino part of Moscow, which is nifty and all, but what I wanted to see was a huge set of bears. Each photo I'd seen had the bears in holiday lights, with some trees in lights as well.

The bears were exactly what I expected and hoped to see. Fun. It was dark by the time I got there, which made the setup much more aesthetically appealing.

Definitely a good day of photo taking :)

ukraine: kyiv again

I lived in Kyiv for six years. When I first moved there I never would've dreamed I would end up staying for six years. During those six years I had all kinds of experiences and adventures, including a national political revolution. One of those experiences is called Khreshchennya, or Baptism.

Khreshchennya takes place on Epiphany, the 12^th day of Christmas. In the western world, this is the 6^th of January. For those who follow the Orthodox calendar, this is 19 January. When I've been in countries or cities in the western world where this is a celebrated holiday, I've seen festivals and markets and such. In the Orthodox Christian world, there is an aspect that is a party, but it is a much more religious celebration.

Orthodox Christians imitate baptism by going into bodies of water (pond, river, lake, etc...) and go under the water. Typically they go under the water three times, crossing themselves each time.

I did this three or four of the six years I was in Kyiv, and always loved the experience. My first year in Moscow, I found a place to do it, but didn't like it nearly as much. The experience in Moscow didn't feel as real, as raw. I don't know quite how to explain it. I was super excited when I looked at a calendar and realized 19 January would be on a Saturday, which meant I could take the train to Kyiv and participate there.

The girls thought I was crazy, but chose to come with me, and I convinced them to participate too. 

The train ride from Moscow to Kyiv isn't super long, but it feels that way because you're woken up twice, in the middle of the night, for border control with each country.

On the way to Kyiv, I got pulled for a random interview with a border control officer, which was a bit scary. He asked where I'm from, why I was going to Ukraine, why I live in Russia, etc... I was able to answer the questions, but I don't think he liked all my answers. (For instance, when I said that I liked Khreshchennya better in Ukraine than in Russia.) Since the questions were mostly in Russian, and my Russian isn't very good, plus this was a legal situation, I was more than a little nervous. 

Thankfully I passed the interview and was stamped out of the country. It was a lot easier to enter Ukraine than to leave Russia, wierdly enough. That being said, the border officers of both countries were surprised to have three foreigners riding this particular train, in platzcar, or 3^rd class. Usually foreigners spend a bit more money and go for 2^nd class at the very least.

Arriving in Kyiv felt like coming home for me. I was excited to show the girls the train station, because it is what I expect for all train stations in Ukraine and Russia, but haven't had nearly as often in Russia. The main hall is giant, with a beautifully decorated ceiling.

We ate breakfast at a fast food joint across the street, then started walking. Almost immediately I remembered how hilly Kyiv is, especially in comparison to Moscow. Kyiv is built on seven hills, and walking around the city often feels like you're going up or down.

We walked near Shevchenko Park, and I figured the girls ought to at least see the front of the main university building across the street from the park. Taras Shevchenko is a Ukrainian hero, a writer and political figure. He is given general credit for inventing the Ukrainian language.

Kyiv National University is named for him, the main building is painted cherry red. 

I think it's ugly, but the exterior facade isn't what matters when it comes to a university. We were able to take our first team photo in front of that building.

More walking brought us to Khreshchatyk Street, the main street in the city center. It was built after WW2, and was built in a way to accomodate large parades of soldiers and tanks. It's wide, and mostly straight. This street has changed a lot since I moved to Kyiv in 2011. The stores in the buildings on either side change regularly, as do the coffee stalls and such on the pavements.

One store that hasn't changed is Roshen, a chocolate store. Roshen is a candy company owned by Poroshenko, the Ukrainian president. I don't know why I remember this, but the first time I ever had Roshen candy, I was in the middle of nowhere, in Mongolia. Weird. We stopped in the store, buying more than we needed, but it was worth it.

We wound through a couple more streets, before finding the office for the accomodation we'd booked, a flat in the city center. It was a challenge to find cash for the deposit, as we hadn't known we'd need that. 

(The guy said this was normal, but I've stayed all over Ukraine and this was the first time I'd ever needed such a thing.) Anywho, the flat was good and the location was good, so we were happy.

After a little while relaxing, we walked out of the flat and continued exploring the city. There are a couple UNESCO sights in the city, and I wanted the girls to see them both.

We visited St Sophia's Cathedral first, because it was super close. The foundations of the cathedral were laid in the 11^th century, but it took another 20 years to finish. (I always wonder what local citizens thought of the neverending project while it was going on. And on and on and on.) 

The layout of the building looks really similar to the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

The interior of the cathedral is impressive. One of the parts I like best is the chance to climb stairs and see everything from the second level. It's a view you don't often get in Orthodox churches. It is easy to see where renovations have been done, and where things remain as they were a long long time ago.

As of right now, no particular religious branch has the right to have services in the church. It was an active church until the 1930s, when Soviet authorities wanted to get rid of religion.

They took religious art and treasure out of the church, but didn't destroy the church. It was then made into a history museum.

Near the end of the 1980s authorities told locals they would be giving the church back to religious authorities, but it was never decided exactly who would be in charge. Wikipedia tells me various religious groups have laid claim to it, so there are no active services.

We also climbed the bell tower, because there are great views of the city from up there. It's also super windy, but oh well.

After leaving the grounds of the cathedral, we made our way to Khreshchatyk metro station. We love metro system in Moscow, and I wanted the girls to experience the system in Kyiv. It isn't as extensive, or as nice, but it is still a great system, and relatively cheaper.

Our arrival station was Hidropark, so we could all take park in Khreshchennya. Ever since my first experience with this holiday, I've figured this must be the busiest day in Hidropark all year long. Getting through the turnstiles isn't easy, as there are so many people, going both ways. The ticket office normally has a queue, but this time it was just a mass of people. 

I led the girls over the bridge in the middle of the park, and we stopped to watch everything for a while. I'd tried to explain the whole thing to them ahead of time, but there is nothing like seeing it in real life. There are heaps of people all over the beaches, with a couple rowboats in the water. Random people dash into the water, go under three times, then dash back out. When they get back out they are usually greeted by family or friends, and wrapped in a towel or clothes or a robe.

We crossed the bridge, and I led the girls to a section of beach that is less busy. I wanted each of us to be able to have a photo or video with just us, not a huge mass of people.

Then we did it! I went first, then the girls. I loved it, and while I'm not sure they loved it, they were glad they did it. We finished just at sunset, and the moment the sun went below the horizon we could feel the colder temperatures.

From there we went straight to dinner. One of the gazillion sushi places has a happy hour between 1500 and 1800, buy one get one free. Obviously, we ate too much :)

The next morning Angela and I got up a little earlier, as I wanted to visit a bakery that had cinnamon rolls I loved. Sadly, when we got there, we discovered no cinnamon rolls, and very little else. I'm not sure if it was because we were there just after it opened, or if the cafe has changed quite a bit, but I was totally disappointed.

While on this walk I pointed out a couple huge building murals to Angela, I loved the murals. There is even an app that is supposed to map all the murals in the city. I don't know how accurate it is, but it's still pretty neat.

We packed up and checked out, and were able to leave our packs in the front office.

From there we walked up the hill to St Michael's, another Orthodox church that isn't far from St Sophia. This one is more photogenic, but is also a lot newer. The original St Michael's was quite old, then the Soviets blew it up in the 1930s, in their effort to get rid of religion. It was rebuilt in the early 2000s, if I remember correctly. 

When we went inside the church there was a service taking place, so we didn't wander around as much as I would've liked.

More walking brought us to the top of Andreivsky Descent, a well known street in the city. At the top of the whole thing is St Andrew's, but it was under renovation, and not open. You are allowed to go to the pavement around the church, but doing so now costs 20 griven (about 85 US cents,) even though it was free when I lived there. Argh. We didn't go up the stairs.

I convinced the girls to follow me part way down the street, to another big building mural. When we got there, I was disappointed. 

I remembered it as being brightly coloured, but it didn't feel this way anymore. Argh. Maybe I"m used to see photos on social media, where the colours have increased saturation.

We went the rest of the way down the hill, to an area called kontraktova ploshcha. (Kontrakt square, would be the English translation I think?) There is now a ferris wheel there, which strikes me as somewhat out of place, but seems to be permanent. There are regularly seasonal markets in the area, so there were still Christmas stalls set up.

We found the nearest metro station, and rode to Arsenalna. (Side note, Arsenalna is one of the deepest (if not the deepest) metro stations in the world. Getting up and back out takes a while on the fast escalators.

Our walk first brought us to the biggest WW2 memorial. Near this memorial is a viewpoint showing two memorable structures: the Holodomor memorial and the Lavra. There is also an amazing view over the river, and left bank of the city.

The Holodomor is a man made famine that took place in the winter of 1932-1933. Exact numbers have never been stated, but millions of people died. The Soviet government said it was due to the weather of the year, but there were other factors, including forced communilization. The borders were closed, so people weren't able to leave to get help, or to tell the outside world what was happening.

The memorial is a small museum, the girls and I went in to look around. There are books listing many of those who died, as well as photos and items from that time.

Next up was the other UNESCO sight in the city: the Pechersk Lavra. When we entered the grounds of the Lavra we were joined by Josh, who is someone I worked with in Kyiv. It was fun to take a team photo, since we teach at four different branches of our school.

We wandered through two of the main churches in the Lavra. One of them didn't used to be open except for service times, I guess this has changed. (Probably due to tourist interest?) The other church has one of my favourite ceilings. One side of the property has a beautiful view over the rest of the property and the river.

At that point the girls were tired and cold. Josh left us, so the three of us went back to the city center by metro. We went back to Roshen to buy more chocolate, then back to the same restaurant for more sushi. This time we took the second portions to go, but we ate the second desssert portions.

The train going back to Moscow was a lot easier, though we still had the two middle of the night wake ups for border controls. It seems easier to get into Russia than to leave!

russia: moscow: gulag museum

The first Wednesday after my holidays I decided to go see another museum in Moscow. The Gulag Museum is quite new, it re-opened in 2018. The museum first opened in 2001, but was closed for renovation for a while. (I don't know those dates.)

To make a long story short, the gulag is the Soviet system of prison camps all over what is now Russia. The prisoners actually built many of the camps themselves, because when they were sent into these remote regions most of them arrived to nothing in particular.

The camps produced a lot of slave labour projects, including some of the train tracks that ended up crossing the entire country. Some of the prisoners were there for political reasons, others for criminal convictions. Some were there for short stays, but many essentially lived the rest of their lives in the barren landscapes of Siberia.

Before going to the museum I googled the word gulag. The first entry was a wikipedia post, and there was a map. Just starting to read the wikipedia post indicated how big the entire system was, you could go searching for information and never stop for the rest of your life. The map showed how spread out the camps were; from the far north of russia, to the far east, all over Siberia, etc... 

I suspect that most citizens were never very far from a gulag camp, whether they realized it or not.

The system was horrific, and though the government kept detailed records on all the work being done and who went where and for how long, much of the information has never been fully admitted publicly. 

In a way, this museum is an effort to admit that there was a system, but it doesn't show quite how big it was, nor quite how many people were involved.

Wandering through the museum was intense. There are individual stories of some of those sent to the camps, including before photos. There are no photos of the camps, nor of the people while they lived there.

There is a small display of barbed wire, which must've been a huge part of the prisoners' lives. There is a display of used shell casings. There is a display of doors, I'm not sure where they all came from.

I don't think I'll go back to the museum, but it was nice to see at least a little acknowledgement from the government about what happened.

united arab emirates: dubai

When I booked my tickets to and from Sri Lanka I realized I would have long layovers in Dubai each way. I knew I had a friend in Dubai (or near it anywho,) so I sent her a message, asking about meeting up on either end of my trip.

Charlotte was out of country on my way to Sri Lanka, but she was there on the way back, so we figured out a meeting point and time, and I was good to go.

It was not super easy to sort out public transport from the airport into a huge mall in Dubai. I wanted to take a bus, and only discovered when it arrived that you can't buy tickets on the bus itself. You have to buy a transport card, and the bus driver had no idea where I could do that. Argh. The first person I talked to at the information desk only had a guess, fortunately he was right. Then there was a minimum amount required for me to buy the card, sigh. The guy selling it in the store said it would last a long time, but I said I was only in town for a day, so it was useless. 

Why don't they have single rides available? I can't be the only tourist who is only there because of a long layover.

Once I got that sorted out, it was easy to get into the city. The metro and bus systems are pretty good, though they don't go everywhere. (They don't go to Terminal 2 of the airport, only to terminals 1 and 3.) I was thrilled that there was a women's only half of one car. A man accidentally went in the women's area, another guy told him to get out. So nice!

Getting from the metro stop into the mall wasn't bad, I walked through air conditioned tunnels. Though this was January, it was hot outside; I can't imagine the misery that Dubai must be in what I would call summer.

Charlotte and I met up at Tim Hortons. Charlotte is Canadian, so this seemed like the perfect place to meet up. I'll admit, I was happy to have a couple Tiny Tims while waiting.

We went to dinner at a Lebanese (I think?) restaurant, then she drove me to her flat. It turns out she lives in another emirate, about an hour away, but it's a lot easier to say she lives in Dubai. We hung out a bit more until she needed to go to bed. I slept for a little while as well, then got myself out the door to a taxi we'd arranged to pick me up and get me to the airport. So good to reconnect with a friend from rugby days!

There is plenty to see and do in the United Arab Emirates, but I don't know when I'll get there. The restrictions and expectations of women make solo traveling a lot more difficult.

sri lanka: colombo

When you look up places to visit and things to do in Sri Lanka, the capital city of Colombo is almost never on any list. I had two reasons for putting it on my itinerary: one, it is the capital city, and two, I saw a couple photos on social media of sights that were different from what else I'd seen in the country.

Colombo isn't a city you think of when you think of Sri Lanka, or its culture. Over the days I was there I saw Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim worship places. I saw high end markets and malls, as well as street vendors. It's a city with anything you want, in terms of shopping.

Wikipedia tells me the Colombo metropolitan area has a population of 5.6 million people, while the city proper is just over 750,000.

The history of Colombo didn't seem very specific to me. That is, Wikipedia tells me traders from a variety of countries were aware of the area as far back as 2000 years ago, because it has a natural harbour. The first Portuguese arrived in 1505, which is the start of the colonial history. The Dutch came next, then the British.

Ceylon gained official independence in 1948, at which time pretty much everything about the city changed, proper names in particular. There were changes in laws and customs and clothing styles.

In 1972 the name of the country was changed from Ceylon to Sri Lanka.

As usual, it took me longer to get moving from my place in Galle than I'd imagined in my head. I ended up on an air-conditioned bus to Colombo. Normally I hate paying extra for that luxury, but since the bus was stuck in traffic for much of the ride, I was glad I did this time. It took nearly four hours to get to the main bus station in Colombo.

As I left the bus station a million tuk tuk drivers approached me, I chose one. He initially asked for 2000 rupees to get me to my accomodation, sighting all kinds of reasons: traffic, he is poor, it was a long way, etc... 

I agreed on 500 rupees, which he eventually agreed to as well. I knew this was a reasonable rate, I refuse to pay a tourist price if I know better. That didn't stop him from hassling me throughout the entire ride, even at the end. I pointed out to him there was none of the traffic he spoke about, it wasn't that far, and he agreed to the price. Sigh. I am not a human ATM and hate being looked at that way.

Checking into my guesthouse was easy. Like many business oriented Sri Lankans, the owner spoke really good English, which was convenient for me. I rested for a while, and charged the battery of my phone.

When I'd looked at the map before coming to Colombo I was excited to see one of my favourite brands had at least two branches in Colombo, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. I first had this brand when I lived in Seoul, and I've loved it ever since. They have fantastic chai lattes, made with actual tea. (Starbucks simply froths the milk and adds flavoured syrup, there is no tea involved.) Imagine my disappointment when I got there and they told me they were out of chai lattes. I could see the ingredients behind the counter, so I was a bit confused, but whateva. The chocolate mousse cake was everything I remembered it being.

I kept going, coming to a small lake, there was a small temple in the middle. The temple was quite nice, very simple. You have to take off your shoes to visit, which wasn't a problem, especially since I could see I wasn't going to be walking on hot sand this time.

This temple had a single stupa, and the main building was surrounded by rows of Buddhas. The small temple juxtaposed with the modern skyscrapers behind was impressive.

Futher along the banks of this lake was a park in the middle of the lake. It was quite lame, though I liked the way the bridge to get there looked. 

As it was hot and humid out, there weren't many people hanging out, even though part of the park was covered.

I stopped at a random place for food, and ended up paying what I thought was a ridiculous price, 280 rupees. I don't know if I overpaid, or they charged me for two separate things even though it was served as a single meal. By comparison some of my earlier meals had cost me 120 rupees for the same food, or even more.

It took quite a bit of walking to get to my next destination. The walk took me through the city itself, not the touristy areas. That didn't stop someone from trying to chat me up and direct me to a specific shop. 

When I said I had no interest in shopping he was quite offended. He said he worked for the government tourist office, then told me the place I was intending to go was behind security walls, and not safe. I've heard that before, almost always false. I hate this kind of tout more than others. Don't present yourself as something you're not. I have no idea if Sri Lanka even has a government tourist office.

I passed a black and white painted lighthouse, which was quite small, and looked like it wasn't still in use. There was a memorial on one side, the whole thing was very photogenic.

The place I'd wanted to see was finally in view at that point: a Buddhist temple that looked more like a rocket ship than anything else. The top was a curved dome, and it was on stilts, so a visitor has to climb a number of stairs to get to the entry door. It was open, and no one was around, so I don't know how often the temple is used. Unique architecture, to say the least. The views from the top of the stairs were great.

I got back to the main roads of the city, and stopped briefly into one of Colombo's million and a half tea shops. Though the tea is grown in the mountains, the main sales points are in the big cities. I realized there were plenty of flavours available, and made a point to come back when I was more in the mood to shop. 

Plus it was getting late and I wanted to keep going.

More walking took me through a market area I hadn't been aware of ahead of time. People on the streets moving merchandise around. Stalls selling everything on the streets. Stores lining the streets. Gajillions of people walking everywhere. It was super crowded, but I didn't feel hassled for being a foreigner, which was nice.

I finally got to the second place I'd really wanted to see, the Red Mosque. Also called the Friday Mosque, as it is one of the main mosques in the city. Unfortunately, I'd taken too long to do various things during the day, meaning I arrived at the mosque a few minutes after visiting hours for tourists were over. 

The guy working the reception desk assured me I could come back the next day, no problem.

I walked home, getting to see a beautiful sunset along the way. The full rainbow of colours, including purple. That's something rarely mentioned when Colombo is presented. On the way back I stopped in another coffee/tea shop and took my chances with a chai latte, which turned out to be amazing. Their cake was pretty darn good too ;)

When I got back to my accomodation I discovered the power had gone out. It ended up being out most of the night, which made it a very long night. 

No power means no fan, which is tough in a hot, humid country. I can deal with heat, but without the fan it was really hard. The mozzies had a field day with me. Sigh.

The next day I went to the other branch of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, they said the same thing about not having chai lattes. I was frustrated, since again I could see the ingredients on the shelves with the barista.

Oh well, I went back to the same place I'd had success the night before. Yay!

From there I walked back to the Red Mosque, only to be informed that I couldn't visit until 1500, because it was Friday. I'm fully aware that Friday is the most important day of the week for Muslims, but being told yet again to come back later had me irritated. Just in case, I wrote down 1500 and asked ok? The guy said yes.

From there I walked toward a series of three Hindu temples. All three were very colourful, with both paint and offerings creating all that colour. There were stalls outside the temples selling offerings, in case I wanted to add my own. I didn't, but still took a minute to enjoy the atmosphere inside and outside each temple.

The streets of Colombo are busy. All the time. Busy busy busy. Sometimes it is more vehicular traffic, sometimes it is more pedestrian. But either way, heaps of people all the time.

I walked to a touristy area, meaning the business comes from foreigners, not locals. I saw a whole lot of white folks, not many locals looking around.

The old Dutch hospital has been redeveloped into a market and restaurant area for foreigners. I was rather disappointed, there was nothing particularly unique to see. Just shops and cafes.

Since I was relatively close at that point, and didn't want to walk too far away, I went back to the tea shop I'd stepped in quickly the day before. I bought two tins of tea, hoping the flavour taste turned out as good as it smelled. (Side note, I had it when I got back to Moscow, and it was.)

I went back to the Red Mosque at 1500, they told me to wait another hour. I admit it, I got mad at that point. I told my story of being told to come back several times, and each time being told to come back later. 

I don't mind having specific hours to visit, but why didn't the people telling me this have their stories straight? It can't be that hard to sort out a clock.

I was allowed in, after donning a full body robe. The ironic part is that I was only allowed into a small area of the mosque. A very very small area. I could see nothing new from where I was allowed to go than I'd been able to see from the reception desk. So annoyed. I didn't see a prayer area, so letting me in earlier wouldn't have interrupted anyone. Sigh.

While walking out of the area I stopped for snacks. Snacks are always good, though not always necessary.

I had two pieces of burfi, an Indian sweet. I also had a fruit salad with ice cream, and a fish roll. Good food, but probably not the best idea to eat a fish roll right after dessert.

I went to another major city sight: another Buddhist temple. Gangaramaya temple is on all the tourist lists, but I wasn't as impressed as I wanted to be. To me it just seemed like a big collection of Buddhas. The actual prayer area was quite small, the rest was just rooms with religious painting and Buddhas everywhere. I was probably just in a bad mood by then, but it didn't stick well in my mind. It didn't help that security on the way in took everything out of my purse, then got upset when it took me a minute to put it all back in the way it had been.

On the way home I stopped by a war memorial, which was an obelisk in a small park. Not a whole lot of people seemed interested in this one, but that's probably because the park was in the middle of traffic.

Thank goodness my guesthouse had power that night. A properly turning fan felt soooo good.

The next morning I went back to the same place as the day before for breakfast: Tea Avenue. Who says there is anything wrong with double chocolate cheesecake and an (unsweetened!!) chai latte for breakfast?

After eating and drinking I walked to the national museum. It's an impressive building, definitely built by colonialists.

I didn't go in, as I've seen history museums of places with colonial history. None of them are that different from each other.

From there it wasn't far to Independence Square. It's an impressive open air pavilion built to commemorate national independence in 1948. It is built at the official spot where the formal ceremony marking self rule took place. Go figure, this ceremony involved a British official opening a new Sri Lankan Parliament session. 

As the day was hot and humid (as is every day in Sri Lanka,) there were lots of people taking advantage of the shade, relaxing and hanging out with each other. 

The entire base of the pavilion was surrounded with stone carvings of elephants, which reminded me of the big temple in Anuradhapura. There was a museum in the basement area of this pavilion, but I skipped that too.

I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I point this out because my next interaction was with a lady telling me to wear more clothes. We were not in a religious setting, I was just on the street. I was annoyed because it felt like she was telling me this for safety reasons, not religious reasons. I don't know how to describe it, but it felt like she was victim blaming me for being a foreigner, and not covering myself enough, even though I was not a victim. Sigh. 

When women themselves blame women for what they're wearing, rape culture will never end. Sigh.

After another long walk, I got to a shop run by the Sri Lankan Tea Board. I ended up buying just two tins of tea, but I wanted a lot more. I saw many of the brands I'd already seen, as well as heaps more. So many choices. The only thing stopping me from buying more was the awareness that it takes a while to get through 100grams of loose tea leaves, especially when you drink just one cup a day. I love seeing tea from single estates, and smaller companies.

At that point I was basically done with everything I'd wanted to see/do in Colombo. The rest of the day I just wandered. My dinner came from several different places, and I took photos of street life. Eventually I got to the coast, which is where the train tracks run. I've heard that the train from Colombo to Galle is very scenic, maybe I'll get to ride it one day. I've also heard that I need to book it well ahead of time in order to have a seat that allows me to see the beautiful scenery. All those social media influencers and people who properly plan their holidays take the good spots well in advance.

On my way back to my accomodation I stopped in Tea Avenue for another visit, to pick up goodies for the road. I got slices of cheesecake, not really thinking about how much they'd melt when not kept in a fridge. (I discovered that mess when I got up in the middle of the night to catch a taxi to the airport.)

Getting to the airport was easy, as was check-in. The lady said my carryon weighed too much, so I took stuff out of it to show her, then put it all right back in. The people before and behind me in line did the same thing.

The flight took off late, but what did I care?

I would love to come back to Sri Lanka, but I don't know when it will happen.