Kandy Land

Last weekend Sofie, Rachel and I took a trip to Kandy for the weekend. With a name like that, how could we not go!? 

We took a 7 hour train which cost a whopping £1.60 and wasn't actually all too bad! We'd often have the sea right next to us on one side and the jungle on the other, so it was nice to enjoy the scenery! (Look at me getting all mumsy). 

Well.. I say it wasn't bad. Until I realised my bag was sat in someone's urine... Delightful. It now all makes sense why the locals sit with their bags on their laps!  I do have some sympathy for the guy (I hope not girl) who just had to go... a 7 hour train journey with no toilets... If you've got to go, you've got to go!... All in the name of travelling hey!!

We stayed in what felt like a luxury hotel... Air con, breakfast, swimming pool, amazing views. Although we had to splash out a little as you'd imagine. £7.50  a night. Scraping the barrel! 

On our first day we travelled a couple of hours in a tuk tuk to the Millenium elephant sanctuary. 

First we washed the elephant with the inside of a coconut. 

...at the (elephant) car wash..! Christina Aguilera eat your heart out! 

Then one by one we climbed on the Elephant's (called Saliya) back and it squirted us with water from it's trunk. It was so much fun and felt so weird to be sat on it! 

I was the last to sit on Saliya, and so suddenly found myself clinging on for dear life as he got to his feet and started to climb up some stairs!! Obviously I was a complete natural. Call me Tarzan! (Fun fact - part of Tarzan was actually filmed there!) 

Small lie - I couldn't have looked more awkward! I never knew sitting on an elephant would be so painful! 

Then all of us hopped on and went for a little journey around the sanctuary. It was so amazing (and scary)! 

Strike a pose! 

On our way home we stopped off at a spice garden. It was really interesting hearing about all of the different health and beauty products that had been made from the natural ingredients growing in the gardens. I even got swept into the moment and ended up buying a slimming  tonic that will apparently speed up my metabolism (yeah right). Well... when I'm living on rice and noodles for 4 months I need to try anything! 

Natural potions - A beauty and health junky's dream!

The next day we met with two other volunteers that we had got to know at the orphanage and headed to Dambulla. It's basically 5 caves which are like temples inside, at the top of a mountain. Of course it involved steps. Sri Lankan's just love steps! 

All of the cave walls were entirely covered in paintings which had been hand painted and there were large statues of Buddhas and other religious figures. 

On the way back down, I was a victim of bullying!... by a monkey. I was happily chomping on my mango when they all swarmed and started to intimidate me. So much so that I felt my only option was to sacrifice my mango and throw it to them! (Better that than rabies). 

The gang 

We then journeyed further on to Sigareya which is one of the '8th' wonders of the world. There is a giant rock that they call the lion rock and at the top are the remains of a King's palace with all of the gardens and pools for his many women at the bottom of the rock. 

Of course, getting to the top of the rock meant climbing up some steps... 1,202 to be precise! But thankfully it wasn't a repeat of Adam's Peak so we actually got to see a nice view at the top! 

We had a crazy guide who actually added to the fun, and insisted that we took a million photos along the way. 

He even managed to pick me up despite him being smaller and skinnier than me.... Not something I'm proud to admit! 

The next day, on our way home we went to Kitulgala to go white water rafting. It wasn't quite as rough and thrilling as I would have liked, more like a leisurely boat trip. But the location was so nice so it didnt matter, it was actually down the longest river in Sri Lanka. 

Having set of at 10am, we finally made it home at 9pm (with an hour and a half out for white water rafting). So we were happy to be back where we call home, at Janaka's! 

Ciao for now x

Privileged

This week I felt privileged for two reasons, I had the responsibility of taking one of the babies from the orphanage to hospital and I attended the nurses graduation. 

I arrived at the orphanage as normal and had just finished changing the babies when the matron (who is a little scary) asked me to go to the hospital with three of the full time workers and four babies. I didn't really know why or what the plan was but I went with it...

Apparently outings are when the secret stash of nice clothing comes out, so I dressed my little girl in a really cute dress and pink shoes. 

I think it must have been the first time she'd worn shoes as she had a funny little stomping step when she tried walking in them which was just adorable! 

I'd guess she was maybe just under 18 months and then a tiny new born, a 10 month old and a 20 month came too. I had no idea what the hospital visit was for apart from that it had something to do with their ears. 

So I went ahead and clambered in a tuk tuk with the 3 workers and 4 babies (bit of a squeeze as they only seat 3!) and listened to them natter in Sinhalese. It all felt very surreal. 

The hospital was packed! There were people literally everywhere and stretchers would be rushed past with severely injured and ill people every moment or so. I have to say, it made my last hospital visit in the UK seem luxury! 

Usually being the only white people around, I'm used to getting stares and the Sri Lankan's are really not sly about it. But wow. The hospital trip took it to another level. Seeing a white girl in the hospital AND carrying a Sri Lankan baby appeared to be like looking at one of the wonders of the world for them!! A word of warning, Sri Lanka is not a place for the self conscious. 

It turns out the visit was for the babies to have their ears cleaned by a massive sucking pipe, much to their dislike... 

Undercover filming

...and boy did they need it... one of the babies had eight flies sucked out of her ears!!  

The little girl that I took was so well behaved and sweet and fell asleep in my arms on the way home. I found myself getting a little tearful as I'd really felt like her mum for a couple of hours, I'd taken care of her and comforted her when she got scared and now here I was taking her back to the orphanage. It's so hard knowing that they don't have that sort of love and care all of the time. 

As I said, I also attended the graduation for the nurses in the year above the class I help with English. To our surprise, we were treated as special guests! I was even asked to come to the front and light a candle to which their was a long awkward pause as I struggled with the simple task. 

it was so interesting seeing the ceremony, especially as I have my own coming up in November! 

Here's a few snips of what it entailed... 

National Anthem (and what a jolly anthem it was) and flags raised.

Religious service taken by two Monks. Now no disrespect intended... But I began to think that someone was playing a bit of a prank. We all stood throughout to show our respect and I was boiling from the start, literally, I was melting...sweat dripping all over the place (I hope I've given you good visuals)... And  the service just went on and on and on and on and on and on. Seriously, I had back ache by the end. The nurses then went up to the Monks and washed their faces with (probably holy) water and got white string tied around their wrists then prayed and touched their feet. 

Receive their nurses caps 

All given a candle ( I think it was symbolic of something) and they recited something in synchronisation. 

They all stood opposite their parents and handed them a flower. I thought this was a nice touch.

Dances, some of which were the nurses that I teach. 

Speech after speech after speech. You think speeches in the UK drag, well try listening to them in a different language! 

Both of these events this week again showed how good it is to not just travel, but to volunteer. It's so unlikely I would have got to do such things otherwise and it's these sort of moments that will stick with me and make me feel that I've really got to know and experience the Sri Lankan Culture...and from an inside view rather than as a tourist. 

 Like I said...privileged X

Did I Actually Just Do That?

Last weekend definitely had me questioning... Did I just do that?!?? 

Before I go off on one about Adam's Peak, I'd best explain what it is. Simply put, it's a place where four different religions go to worship, which makes it quite unique. At the top of a massive mountain, is a temple and pilgrims climb to the top to worship (and tourists climb to the top to see a breath-taking view and sunrise). 

It's 6km to the top which doesn't sound too intense, I could probably run it in half an hour (maybe)...but add a steep incline and 6,200 steps and it takes on another level! 

We'd heard from other volunteers that it was a must do as the view was just incredible, but they emphasised that it was a must do once and once only, as it was so hard and they ached for days. So of course, I needed to do it! 

So a group of 8 of us set off at 8pm on Saturday night (after having been out until 5am that morning...wise) as the journey would take 6 hours and it was best to start the climb at 2am so as to see the sunrise. When we arrived our worse fears had come true... It was pouring with rain, and I mean pouring. Try standing in a power shower and you'd get the same effect... What makes it worse is it was freezing as we were so high! 

But having travelled 6 hours, it was a must do! So we met up with our guide and began the climb. The rain was so intense that almost immediately my trousers were soaked through and the leggings underneath, I even had to wear my backpack underneath my rain coat, mainly to save the life of my poor iPhone inside.

As we got higher, the steps got steeper and less and less like steps, a better description would be a waterfall. Yes. We were climbing up a waterfall. 

Finally after 3 and half hours of pretty much constant climbing, very sore legs, entirely soaking wet bodies and strangely positive attitudes, we made it to the top!! 

And what a sunrise it was.....

 

Uhoh, this was the beautiful view, the beautiful sunrise which is the whole reason we put ourselves through the trauma. Grey, grey, grey and a closed temple! By this time we had become a little delirious so found the whole situation oddly amusing! 

We even found refuge in what looks like a crack den... 

Finally, after 6 and half hours in total, we made it back to our mini bus and I endured a 6 hour drive home in soaking wet clothes with air con blasting out. 

I would have to say it's the hardest thing I have ever done and I'm still aching almost a week later, with not even a nice picture to warrant the hell i put myself through. But hey ho weirdly I don't even regret it. On my way to carefree hippy. 

Ciao x

 

I did get one cool picture which I felt was worthy of bringing my iPhone into the rain for...amazing waterfall!! 

The Week in a Nutshell

Time has flown by and another week has gone! I can't quite believe I'm more than half way through my time here. But the thought that I still have 4 months of travelling makes it seem not so bad! 

Here's an overview of my second week in paradise...

On Sunday (26th) we were up bright and early for a trip to Sinaraja Rainforest. The journey took 3 hours but felt like luxury in comparison to the rickety, jolty buses we've been getting. Air con, flat screen TV, seat belts. What more could you want! 

At the rainforest there were some workers ploughing in the rice fields covered in mud from head to toe, I don't know how they do it in the bright sunshine and their feet must be destroyed! But nonetheless, they still managed to smile and give a wave to the cameras! 

Once we started getting into the rainforest, our tour guide put salt on our shoes to avoid getting leeches. Several volunteers still got them but thankfully although Mosquitos love me, leeches aren't so fond, so I came away unscathed! 

We saw all sorts of fruits and spices growing in their natural habitat; mangos, coconuts, pineapples, black pepper, cinnamon, to name a few. We also saw a load of different insects and creatures, like giant squirrels, viper snakes, spiders (eughhh... A couple of nights later I went on to dream that a spider was above me when I was sleeping and went as far as to duck to avoid it!) and most memorable to me... the bottom half of a monkey with its guts hanging out, to which the wild dogs that followed us the entire time decided to enjoy as a meal. 

Despite the amount of pineapple I eat, I never even knew it grew like this. Pretty cool!

Here I am bouncy on a springy tree which felt like elastic. 

There was also a waterfall which we had to carry our bags over our heads to get to which was lush to swim in. A couple of volunteers jumped off of the top, but when the guide didn't follow, I decided to give it a miss... (Unlike me). 

Straight after the rainforest, a few of us got dropped at the beach for dinner. We met the South African guys from the previous night and Lucy, Lisa and I decided to stay for a few quiet drinks, although we were pretty worn out from the day. Well whoever said you can just have quiet drinks.. time got away from us and before we knew it, it was 5:30 and we'd been up for 24hours. We went to a really cool bar on the beach called Chillies (they can't just put chilli in every single meal, they have to name a bar after it too). It was filled with Sri Lankans with long dyed blonde hair who were the epitome of surfer guys ( it looked very strange). 

Us and some of the South Africans. 

Little did we know, whilst we were out enjoying ourselves we'd created absolute panic back at the volunteer house, as having expected us back at 10pm, they were fearing the worse come 5:30am. Although I'd sent a text to let them know, I hadn't been receiving their calls so they thought that someone had kidnapped us and were texting off our phones!! (Oops) how the mind wanders... 

After 2 hours of sleep, I was up again for the nursery project. Thankfully the kids behaved so I didn't have to give any of them a gentle back hand. Even at the community project later in the day, the boy that I ranted about last week was almost good as gold! 

One of the girls who came along to our community centre.

My work of art. They learn from the best...

In the evening a load of us went to the beach for dinner again for a leaving meal with the South Africans. It's such paradise sitting on the beach having dinner. I could never get bored of it! 

I went to the nursing project again this week and they don't have a teacher at all on a Wednesday afternoon so Lucy, Daisy, Sofie and I were in control f the whole class. With no experience of teaching and them all being our age, this was a little daunting... But we took it in our stride! Firstly I introduced myself as Ihadn't  properly yet, and they asked me all of the essential questions... How old am I, do I have a boyfriend, am I married, what are my hobbies. I find it really funny because although we're similar ages, they find boyfriends and fancying a boy hilarious and giggle like they're thirteen, it's their most popular topic to talk about! 

When asked about my hobbies, I said dancing. Well they jumped on that! One of the girls had me come to the front of the class with her in front of about 40 class mates to do a dance off. It was hilarious and my skin went a beautiful colour of red thanks to the heat and embarrassment. She then had the others come to the front too as the class laughed along at us copying her dancing (she's got moves!! None of the classic English side to side stepping and fist pumping).

In the end half the class was up and we were dancing energetically to what apparently was Sri Lankan chart music. Whilst we were dripping with sweat (lovely) after an hour of... lets call it music class... the nurses all managed to stay pristine and hardly sweated a drop.

 

Afterwards we decided to cool things down by playing some hangman and guess the celebrity. It was such a fun afternoon and all of the nurses are so lovely and welcoming, I can't wait to go back! 

On Thursday morning, I went to the special needs project. It's at a school called Sacred Heart in Galle and we volunteers help in a class which consists of special needs students. Any student with any kind of disability seems to get put into the class. Several students only disability was that they were deaf, whilst others had down syndrome or appeared to be severally mentally disabled. As well,  the students ranged from about 4 to 17, so were no way all of a similar ability.

The three oldest girls who were deaf were literally left to themselves to get on with some work in their books, whilst everyone else was sticking green paper to drawings of trees and colouring in the trunks. For about an hour this is all they did, despite several finishing within about half an hour. I really didn't like it as I couldn't see the students benefiting much from the class and I felt a little helpless as I didn't even know specifically what was wrong with each child. 

It's amazing to see how different it is to England, especially as I've heard that this is fairly good treatment for children with special needs in comparison to other schools. Just goes to show how far behind us the country is. 

I was however, really impressed to see how the kids helped each other out. Immediately after eating one of the down syndrome girls who looked about 8 picked up the broom and started sweeping away frantically, ordering me to move all of the chairs as she swept. She then went on to feed one of the other girls who hadn't been eating her food. It was so sweet to watch. 

Afterwards, four of us volunteers and 6 of the girls went to a local community swimming pool which had been set up after the Tsunami in order for women and children to learn to swim, because so many had died in the Tsunami. There was no teacher so it was left to us to teach them! This was very difficult as we didn't speak their language and due to their differing disabilities, but we got stuck in and started to gain some control! 

It was amazing seeing their improvement in just one lesson, especially as some of them had never been swimming in their lives! It's things like this that make me wish that I was staying longer, to really work with them on their swimming each week rather than new volunteers coming in and having to learn their ability all over again. 

I'm still really enjoying helping at the orphanage and spent some time with the toddlers this week. They have so many toys but the best way to describe them is they're all the toys that you or me would throw out. They're broken and dirty and go straight into the mouths of each child. I'll tell you what, they're immune system will be incredible by the time they leave! 

It was so sweet seeing they're excitement when a man arrived and gave them all sweets and when another volunteer was blowing bubbles. I love seeing they're eyes light up and them squealing  with delight at the things that many children in England would just take for granted. 

When I went again to the orphanage later in the week, many of the babies were poorly. In particular my favourite little boy was wheezing like mad and his chest and stomach was pumping up and down in overdrive. I didn't want to put him down and leave him when he was in that state. I found it really quite upsetting seeing them distressed and helpless and missing out on the care that a parent would provide. 

I went to street kids project again this week and some of the slightly older children taught us some games which involved 5 stones. They were actually so much fun and Daisy and I got so into it that we ended up carrying on playing and ignoring the children (probably not what we're meant to do...). It again made me think about England and how everyone is glued to a screen these days, when these kids can create so much fun from stones they found outside the door. 

I also had the fright of my life whilst there... at one point, one of the little girls who was about 3 clambered onto my shoulders so I played around with her for a bit and could hear her giggly away. I then swung her down and there she was still giggling then as I sat her on the floor she went completely floppy like a rag doll, as much as I tried to move her and talk to her, she was still acting lifeless. 

Oh wow, did my heart beat, I thought I was going to have to actually make use of my personal liability cover for my insurance!!! Thankfully she eventually started giggling when I tickled her then instantly fell asleep on the cold concrete floor. Turns out she was just tired having been up since 3am that morning!! (Sigh of relief). 

The little girl before she traumatised me!

On Thursday afternoon a few of us went to Marissa beach which was secluded and beautiful. There are so many nice, quiet beaches in Sri Lanka, they're literally like the amazing beaches you see in movies. In the evening, as Daisy and Lucy were leaving this weekend, we went for a leaving dinner (with Sofie too) to Crepeology in Galle Fort. As the name says, they're speciality is crepes, savoury and sweet.. and man were they nice! We ended the night with a blueberry shisha and very full stomach's!! I'm sad to see them go but I guess I'll have to get used to getting close to people then watching them leave as that will be my life for the next 4 months! 

At Crepeology. 

This blog has already been longer than I wanted, too much to say!! So I'll talk about my weekend events (and god was there an event) in another blog. 

Adios x

Buddhas Birthday Extravaganza

On Friday it was full moon which as I've mentioned is always a bank holiday in Sri Lanka. But this months was extra special as Buddha was born, enlightened and died this day. It's the biggest day of the year for Buddhists, so the towns are covered with lights and lanterns. 

All of the volunteers were up at 5:30am to go to our local temple and hand out food. Our host Janaka does so much for the local area, he pretty much built the library and surrounding buildings at the temple and was the person to provide the food for the local people. 

Whilst the service was going on, we all went to another room for a private service taken by another monk. I have no idea what was said, but afterwards I found myself strangely relaxed! 

Before serving the food, we had to place both hands over the dish to bless it. Then when serving we could only serve with the right hand, as Buddhists think of this as the clean hand, however the yoghurt was to be given one at a time with both hands. No idea of the logic here... 

We were then given some (strange) rice by a monk which symbolised Buddhas first meal. We had to eat it out of both hands (a bit like a dog). Again, no idea why. But that's rituals for you! After trying a little and wanting to vom, I swiftly handed it over to another volunteer to finish. Sorry Buddha. 

When we left, we had to get down on the floor and pray and touch the Buddhas feet. As I knelt I accidentally crushed Daisy's feet so was trying to contain my laughter throughout. I'm hoping the Monk just thought that I was extra happy to see him!

After the temple, we still had morning project, so I went to the orphanage. I now have an ultimate favourite baby who is the cutest and most well-behaved baby ever. 

If your heart doesn't melt then you don't have one. 

He's coming home with me (yes it is a boy, I'd like to apologise for dressing him in pink and confusing his innocent little mind). 

In the evening we went into Galle to see all of the lights and lanterns for Vesak. The town was buzzing with people and I don't think we came across a single other tourist. It's really interesting to be in a place that hasn't been ruined by tourism! 

Giant moving lantern

On the Saturday we went to a different beach called jungle beach which was so beautiful. There was also a temple by the beach which was so white that I felt like my eyes were burning! It had a great view at the top (look at me being all adult and appreciating views). 

The beach was a little busy as so many Sri Lankans had travelled to Galle for Vesak....and with them all fully clothed, I felt a little self-conscious striping down to a bikini! But when the beach is quiet as it usually is, I can't imagine it just being paradise! 

In the afternoon, the water started coming up so high that it covered the entire beach, so we moved on to our regular spot at Unawatuna. The waves are always massive in the sea so we decided to do a spot of body boarding. I'll tell you what, it was a lot harder than I thought! (And my bikini was definitely not the right attire, if you know what I mean...). It was really good fun anyway and we took loads of snaps with my underwater camera which will be flooding Facebook when I got the chance! 

Whilst we were cutting some shapes in the water with our body boards, our sik skills attracted some South African guys. We got chatted to them and it was really refreshing to speak to the first group of guys who weren't irritating weirdos. 

Having decided that they were normal, we had a few drinks with them and found out that most of them came across from Dubai where they work in the 7* hotel (perhaps that can be my next holiday... I can dream). 

Drinks by the sea

When we left to go home, unusually, it was almost impossible to find an available tuk tuk. After some confusion, three of us ended up on a bus whilst the other three got a tuk tuk. What a mistake that was. As we neared Galle, there was so much traffic due to Vesak, that we decided to abandon the bus and walk. I've never seen anything like it, the streets were flooded. Single lane roads were filled with six lanes of cars as everyone attempted to push further forward. 

We'd pass car after car and each was crammed with people. Motorbikes were carrying full families. It was crazy! 

Finally, after an hour of walking and finally finding a tuk tuk. We made it home 2 hours after leaving the beach (the journey is usually 15 mins). 

As tired as we were, it was actually so interesting to see! I've definitely learnt to be laid back and soak up every experience whilst being here. 

Ciao x

Catch up

I'm playing a bit of catchup as I haven't blogged in a few days, so this could be a long one! 

Last Thursday I went to the street kids project. It's located down an alley in Galle amongst a kind of shanty village that I never would have come across. That's one of the things I love about doing volunteering here, I get to see the real Sri Lanka and experience things that I never would have got the opportunity to had I simply travelled. 

The kids that come a long don't have a home and it's more than likely that their parents are drug addicts and their mums are prostitutes, sleeping with men for 100 rupees (50p). It's horrible but the harsh truth. So this project was set up to get the kids off the streets and to educate them and keep them clean and freshly dressed. 

From looking at the kids, you wouldn't have guessed that they didn't have a real home to go back to. They looked clean and tidy and most importantly happy. The regulars and the teachers have become almost like their own family which is really sweet to see. 

All the children were amazed by the front camera on my iPhone as you can see... One little boy had me sweating and praying for the life of my phone as he swung it round and frantically opened up application after application! 

 

Thankfully he was finally distracted before drama went down, by a name the fruit game...

After the street kids project, we popped in to see the nurses, as they had let us know that they would be hanging up their finished lanterns. All of the lanterns were really beautiful and so detailed! 

My favourite! 

Afterwards, Sophie and I headed to the beach as we didn't have an afternoon project. The bus we went on had a flat screen TV which played Sri Lankan music videos. I find it very odd that the country is choosing to spend their money on things like that! An essential? Not so sure. 

We later went to Galle Fort to meet up with the other volunteers for a leaving meal as a few of them were going home at the weekend after 3 months of being here. Whilst we waited for the others to arrive, we sat by the water watching the sunset. With it being so peaceful and beautiful, it's hard to imagine that years earlier, the Tsunami would have wiped me right from where I'm standing...  

Check out the matching outfits. They then went on to pass a biscuit to each other via their mouths. Too much? 

All of the volunteers at Pedlers Restaurant

It's a really lovely group of people and I really enjoyed my first week with them all. Several left at the weekend and more are leaving this coming weekend which is shame, but I'm sure there will be newbies to get to know! 

Another blog is coming right up 😊 

X