russia: severobaikalsk

When I planned this trip I knew I wanted to see as much of Lake Baikal as possible, from different viewpoints. It made sense to visit Severobaikalsk, which is at the northern end of the lake, but is not listed on tourist web pages.

Severobaikalsk has around 25,000 people, it's not big. I didn't see any Lenin statues, which says something as well. (It's entirely possible I missed the man, if he was somewhere in the city park, but he was not marked on a map, not even by Yandex.)

Severobaikalsk is not close to anywhere. If you want to, it's a 76 hour drive, covering 5500 kilometers from Moscow. Or if you start out at Irkutsk, it is still 800 kilometers, with 12 hours of driving time. I assume these times are assuming good driving conditions, so it would probably take longer in reality.

Severobaikalsk was founded in 1974, so it's a really new city, which explains the monotonous look of everything. The location was picked so it could be a support base for the building of the BAM (Baikal-Amur Mainline) train line.

I doubt I'll ever ride the 'traditional' Trans Siberian railway, since I've seen cities all along the route and I'm not keen to ride the train just to say I did. That being said, I'd consider riding the rest of the length of the BAM, because it goes through a different part of the country, with different landscapes to see.

My train from Irkutsk was 38 hours. It arrived at 0950 or so in Severobaikalsk, a couple minutes late. Though it was just a couple minutes, that's not the norm for the Russian train system, no matter how long the train had been going.

The train station is unique, to say the least. Apparently it is supposed to look like a boat, but I don't see that at all. To me it just looks 'modern.' The guidebook only lists three sights in the city, the train station is one of them, and it didn't have a good ceiling!

The walk to my accomodation didn't take long, only 10 minutes or so. During that ten minutes I realized Severobaikalsk is boring. Really really boring. Given what I know of the history and founding of the city, that makes sense. It was purpose built, and still serves the same general capacity.

Checking into my hostel was challenging as the lady behind the desk didn't want to look at her computer to check me in. Maybe the computer wasn't linked to any sort of system, but it was frustrating to try to say yes, I have a reservation, I made it three weeks ago.

Eventually I got into my bed, which was in a female dorm. I ended up having the whole room to myself, which was nice. I discovered the floors were heated, so guess who laid on the floor for a while, just because it felt good.

Eventually I got back out the door to start exploring what little there is to see in Severobaikalsk. 

I wanted to find a memorial to 35 years of the BAM railroad, but I couldn't find it. Oh well. When I tried to find it on the map I ended up finding a Buddhist temple instead.

The outside of the temple wasn't very interesting, but there were prayer flags and wheels all over. The inside was as colourful and faith filled as I've come to expect from a Buddhist temple. There was a small Buddha on the front wall of the temple, as well as benches and cushions to use in prayer.

Almost directly across the street from the Buddhist temple was a small Orthodox church.

Well, I can't say the size for sure, as it was behind locked wooden walls. The domes looked nice though, from what I could see.

My next stop was a church I could actually enter. The church of Kazan, or something along those lines. The outside of the church was white, with gold crosses on top. The inside was white as well, except for the chandeliers and iconostasis.

From there it was a 30 minute walk or so to my last official sight of the day: the BAM history museum. There was also an art gallery to look through. Both of them were only one room, and both had an entrance fee and a photo fee. REALLY? Argh. 

Neither was all that impressive, though I was able to buy postcards, which was awesome.

From there I walked across the pedestrian bridge over the train station and tracks, and followed the path down to the lakeshore. I'm pretty sure there is a beach there in summer, but this was most definitely NOT summer. There were a couple picnic table like things, with 'umbrellas' over them, but they didn't very inviting while covered in snow and icicles.

I walked a bit, then turned around and came back. Like my first day around Olkhon Island, the sky was white, so there wasn't much of a different between the sky and frozen lake. 

I wanted to go further, but knowing my sense of direction, I wouldn't have made it back to town as intended.

I walked back toward my hostel, stopping at a supermarket along the way. Traveling by myself makes dinner a lot cheaper :)

The original plan for the next day was to go to a small town called Nizhneangarsk for a day trip, but I couldn't figure out the transportation for that to happen. Oh well. Instead I took my sweet time getting out of bed, playing around online, organizing photos a little, and eating breakfast before packing up and checking out.

Since there was nothing left in town for me to see, I walked toward the lake front again, following a path through trees up on the hill. It was a quiet walk, a nice one. There were clear paths, so I know I wasn't the only one who had wandered around over the past days. The walk wasn't that long though, partly because it was snowing the entire time.

At that point I went back to the city center, found a cafe, and spent the next few hours there. Then I picked up my pack from the hostel, went to another cafe, and spent a couple more hours there. Finally I spent the last two hours before train departure at the train station.

I doubt I'll be back to Severobaikalsk, though I wouldn't mind seeing some of the hot springs in the area. 

russia: ulan ude, ivolginsk, and babushkin

The last stop of our May holidays was a city called Ulan Ude. It's the capital city of the Republic of Buryatia, on the eastern side of Lake Baikal. (The republic surrounds the lake.)

Ulan Ude has just over 400,000 people, according to Wikipedia and the 2010 census in Russia.

Ulan Ude was settled the same way much of Siberian and Eastern Russia were settled: as a fort, by the Cossacks. They did this in 1666, and called the fort Udinskoye. The arrival of the Trans Siberian Railway is what caused/helped most of the growth of the city.

Our train arrived on time (of course,) the next morning in Ulan Ude. The sun had already come up, so we didn't need to hang out in the station. We wanted to take photos with the train station sign, but the back side of the station was under renovation so that didn't happen. Argh.

We knew we wanted to do a day trip that day, and we couldn't check in early, so we put our bags in storage for the day and started walking. About 10 minutes after we walked out of the station it started snowing, hard.

Yes, I know we were in Siberia, which is pretty much legendary for winter, and winter weather, but we were soooo not ready to deal with a blizzard in nearly mid May. 

There was no shelter nearby, so we just kept walking.

Our first team photo was in the snow, at the world's largest Lenin head. I have no idea why anyone would think to make his head this big, but they did. It's 7.7 meters tall, or 25 feet!

More walking brought us under a Victory Arch. This one crossed the street, painted beige. Not as photogenic as other arches we've seen around the country. Since it crossed a busy street there was no way to take a centered photo, which is usually what I prefer.

As it was May, the fountains of the city had been turned on. Since it was also blowing snow, this made for an amusing contrast, at least for us. I tried to take a photo, but the snow didn't show up well, oh well.

This particular fountain was right in front of the theater, which was gorgeous as usual. One of these days I'm going to plan a trip well enough that I book myself tickets to a performance in one of the theatres I see. (Probably in the warmer months, so I can wear appropriate shoes with nice clothing.)

We found a small cafe for breakfast. It wasn't amazing, but it was warm, which was much appreciated at that point. 

Trying to order was confusing, though I don't know why. Language issues, I think. We thought we were ordering off the menu, but it seemed as if the lady put in a basic order then added various items as 'extra.' In the end they forgot to bring Claire's drink, she was disappointed. Sigh.

From there we walked to a mini bus station to catch a marshrutka to a big Buddhist temple complex. We had to wait a bit for the marshrutka to fill up, then we had an hour long ride. The landscape was beautiful, but marred by the rubbish caught in the bushes all over. Plastic bags, ribbons, etc... 

So sad that people can't seem to put rubbish where they should. Or better yet, use less so there is less rubbish to begin with.

The temple complex in Ivolginsk is beautiful. Colourful, and quiet. There are rows of prayer wheels all over, as well as several different temples. As far as we could tell, not all the temples were open, but that was okay. There were small cabins on one side of the property, I think you can rent them for a day or two, as if you're a pilgrim. It would certainly be a calm place to stay, though I'm pretty sure that even I would be bored. 

I kinda led us clockwise around the property, as much as I could. We went inside two of the temples, which were awesome. We spun most of the prayer wheels we saw as well, always following those clockwise. There was one spot with several large stupas, though I didn't see anyone praying near those. I'm not sure of the difference between what is inside a temple and a stupa. There was another large temple under construction on the property, I wonder how long that will take to finish. And what it will look like, and how it will be different from the other temples that already exist, and who is paying for it.

We left because the wind and snow were picking up, and we were cold. Angela went off to the toilet and just a minute later the bus to go back pulled up. We yelled her name, hoping she would hurry, because we didn't know how long it would be until the next bus came. Thankfully she came quickly enough, and I think the driver understood we needed our friend, so all three of us were able to take the bus.

We got off the marshrutka as it went back through the city, not too far from the Lenin head, instead of waiting to get all the way to the mini bus station. 

It was a lot easier to walk back to the train station from that point to grab our bags, then check into our flat for the next couple nights.

As our flat was located right near a whole bunch of restaurants, we didn't have to go far to get food for dinner, yay.

The next morning we got up early so we could do another day trip, this one to a small lakeside town called Babushkin. We'd all loved our visit to Lake Baikal in March, and were hoping to see it again, but from the other side of the lake. During part of the train ride we got glimpses of the lake and realized that some of it was still frozen!

The train station in Babushkin was really modern and new. The rest of the town, not so much. Half the roads we followed to get to the lakeshores were dirt, or at least unsealed. The walk to the lake shore went through town, and wasn't the least bit interesting.

Then we got to the lake, and it was all worth it, all over again. Despite the cold, it was beautiful weather, and we were on a 'beach.' Our initial views had all of us just standing there taking it all in. So pretty. I need to come back to this lake in summer and fall, because I bet it is just as gorgeous.

Babushkin is not where people come to see Lake Baikal. There is no tourist infrastructure, at all. We walked along the beach, not seeing a single other soul, except for the guys out fishing. They were out in the water, all wearing waders.

One of the guys was sitting in a rubber raft, the others were standing in the water. I imagine they were all cold.

Further along the beach we founded a couple abandoned train cars that are probably used as shelters or homes at various times. We also found a lighthouse, totally covered in graffiti. I wonder if it is still used at all, or when it was last used.

Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous every time we looked at the water. The beach was not sand, it was small rocks, most of which were pretty smooth. Even though we thought everything was beautiful, I don't think locals hang out on this beach in the summer.

Eventually we went back into town, and go figure, another snowstorm rolled in, fast. It only last about 15 minutes, but whoa, it was fast.

The map showed a museum in town, but it was closed. It wasn't a Monday, so we figured it was for the holiday weekend. Or maybe locals just open it wheneva they want? It's not as if keeping it closed was going to miss a lot of foot traffic.

We found a 'cafe' with basic Russian food. I was okay with that, because I can always have solyanka, which is basically a kitchen sink meat soup. Then we went next door for boozy, because we were all still hungry.

Obviously we had nothing left to do at that point but kill time until the train back to Ulan Ude. We looked into at least three different stores, but there was nothing of interest. Really cheap Russian ice cream bars are not tasty.

We found one memorial on the way back to the train station, I think it was a general war memorial.

By the time we got back to the train station we only had another hour to wait. All three of us had our phones, so it was no problem to pass the time.

We got back to Ulan Ude too late to get dinner, so we had to make do with the snacks we hadn't yet eaten. Oops.

The next morning we got up and walked back to the train station to cross the tracks and find a bus stop. We didn't have to wait long for the bus we wanted, which took us up a hill to a Buddhist temple sitting on top. The views over the city and surrounding area were great from up there. There were a couple big gold stupas right at the entrance; one of them was a museum and the other was filled with small Buddhas inside.

There is a 'tunnel' of prayer flags around the entire back side of the temple, while walking through it we saw people adding more flags. So many prayers, I hope most of them came true.

Claire and I went into the temple, though Angela wasn't interested. There was a small sign that said photos were allowed with a small donation, so I put money in the box. 

I took photos, trying not to get in anyone's way, and following the respect rules I know. I hope I remembered them all. It was a nice temple, with a giant Buddha in front, and small cushions the monks sit on while praying.

We took the bus back down the hill, mostly because it was a steep hill, which would've wrecked our legs, not because it was all that far. Near the train station we tried to find the railroad history museum, but that didn't seem to exist anymore. There was a spot with a locomotive on display, looking the same as other Soviet trains.

While trying to find this museum we stumbled upon another Lenin statue. This one was full body, but not nearly as big as the head in the city center.

After resting up in the flat for a while we went back to the city center to find more to see. We found the city history museum, which wasn't big. Just three small rooms, all on the same floor. Even so, we liked the photos, items, and descriptions exhibited. It's always neat to see what people used in daily life 100 years ago.

We walked all the way to the end of the main street, as we could see a church down there. 

Only the bottom half of the church was open, I wonder what the 'main' sanctuary looks like, or if it is used at all now.

A couple blocks away from the church we found the memorial to the victims of repression. It's a dramatic memorial, including barbed wire, and a wall with names. To get there we passed the original 'mansions' of many of the city's merchants. They had historical/informational signs in front, but weren't open for visitors.

More walking brought us to the central market. Set up like the central markets of a lot of towns, there was a meat section, dairy section, produce section, pickled food section, etc... 

I got some dried fruit, and wanted kimchi but couldn't figure out whether I'd be able to take it with me on the plane or not.

Park Pobedy was the main park of the city, and there were heaps of people out having fun with friends and family. There was a giant fountain in the middle, also running. Of the fountain we'd seen in the snow and this one, one of them is called the musical fountain, but we didn't hear music around either of them.

At the back side of the park there was a giant set of stairs, at the top of which was a WW2 memorial, complete with tanks, wreaths, and plaques with 3D profiles of soldiers. There was also an eternal flame, one level above the whole thing.

We had dinner at a random restaurant in town. We got to look at menus in both English and Russian, it was interesting to compare the two. Not all items were listed on both items, and the English translations were entertaining at times.

On the way back to our flat we picked up Subway sandwiches for breakfast the next day, since our flight left in early morning. 

I used this walk to find a moment of no traffic near the Victory Arch, and stand in the middle of the street to take the photo I wanted.

We'd twice checked with our landlady about leaving early in the morning, as we knew she had to travel an hour to get there. We wrote the time in 24 hour time, so there was no question about when we were leaving. Despite this, she didn't show up when she said she would. We called over and over again, waking her up, argh. We used texting to figure out where we could leave the key; she returned our deposit by bank card, so it wasn't a huge issue but it was still annoying.

Fortunately it only took about 20 minutes to get to the airport, the rest of our journey was easy enough. We were on a budget airline, and boarding started an hour early because they checked the carryon bags of everyone. If your bag didn't fit, you had to check it, and they were on it. Since we'd paid for checking a bag, we were happy to see this happening.

I can't wait to get back to the eastern half of Russia.

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.