Kandy, Sri Lanka

We left our itinerary planning to my favorite Sri Lankan, Rohan. He just warned me that our schedule was going to be packed. I thought I normally drive myself hard, but I was mighty surprised that Rohan did pack our day and night. It was a pleasant surprise though since I got the chance to visit Kandy.

Kandy is about 4 hours away from Colombo, Sri Lanka's main city. The weather is pretty cool (just like Tagaytay) because it's high up on the mountain. We traveled in the evening so I wasn't able to appreciate the scenery (and I was praying so hard because the driver was driving like a madman). The next day though was an awesome experience. The hotel was pretty full because it was wedding season and so all the hotel cars were taken. Running late we had to take a tuktuk to our event venue.

Our tuktuk driver was an old man who had a polo shirt and a sarong. I noticed along the way to our event venue that a lot of men wore the traditional sarong. He was indeed a jolly man and knew a lot of short cuts. Our tuktuk broke down twice (see the video), so we thought that Rohan and Ola got to the venue first. We took a lot of short-cuts so I was really surprised that we were ahead of our colleagues. Got lost a bit, but finally got to the venue of our event.

After a long day at the event we headed to Amaya Hills. It was far up in the mountain. I was glad Rohan managed to hire a van because the roads going up was pretty steep and scary. It was worth the trip though. The scenery was very beautiful and the weather was even cooler. We ordered some snacks and I had some yummy strawberry milkshake. I also had the chance to have a photo with a flower girl. I had wanted to take photos of the bride and groom in their traditional wedding attire, but I got shy.

The next day was an amazing race back to Colombo. We had to attend a couple of meetings on the way back to Colombo. We had to rush though since we were launching the GBG Colombo that evening and we didn't want to be late. Along the way I saw a lot of couples having their nuptial photos taken. They were garbed in traditional Kandy wedding attire. Rohan said that this was common only in Kandy and not in Colombo. The guests were also garbed in saree and sarongs.

At a stopover we witnessed the arrival of a newlywed. They also had a ritual to welcome the newlywed who just arrived from their honeymoon. Traditional dancers and musicians welcomed them and they were presented in a procession followed by their family and friends.

Sri Lanka's culture is very much alive and strong. The road back to Colombo certainly showed it. I hope I'd be able to come back and appreciate all of these things better.

And here's my favorite Sri Lankan, Rohan!

Thank you so much Rohan for the awesome time I had there!

Colombo, Sri Lanka

This year has been full of surprises, most of them involving traveling to places I've never been to. I spent about 5 days in Sri Lanka last May. Each day was packed with work-related activities, but I still manage to take a few snaps (mostly while in transit). I was traveling so much during that month, I didn't have the time to read up about Sri Lanka, so I had no clue what to expect. I only knew that I had a packed schedule and I didn't have to worry about anything because everything was planned.

We arrived in the middle of the night and the airport was about 45 minutes away from the hotel. When we got to the hotel we were immediately whisked to our rooms by our personal butler (wow!) and we just checked-in from the room. I didn't have time to appreciate my hotel room because I crashed right after I took a shower. Woke up bright and early the next day because we had to head to our event. On the way to the venue of the event I noticed that there was a lot of military vehicles and personnel around the city. My favorite Sri Lankan, Rohan, said that there was celebration that was going to happen during the weekend and they were practicing for it. He also explained that the government wanted to "show force" since the war just ended recently. I didn't feel anxious at all because it was the same way in Manila after the EDSA Revolution and even years after that.

Looking around the city I felt like I stepped back in time and I realized that Colombo was a city that was built on its own. I did not see any foreign-owned gasoline station or shops. I did not see any large malls that is common in Manila, Bangkok, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur. And guess what, I immediately fell in love with Sri Lanka after realizing that there are still places that are untainted with so much commercialism. It was a country that was built by its own people and everyone seemed so simple and focused on their own lives, their families. I'm probably being very naive about it, but that's the impression I got.

I love how the whole city seemed to be dotted with trees all over. And mind you the trees have obviously been around for a long time already. I spent some good time just looking at Colombo from the top floor of my hotel and wondered how they managed to preserve all the trees around the city. And since there were lots of trees, I observed that there were a lot of birds too -- different species!

When I arrived I noticed that there were a lot of ads at the airport about Dilmah tea. My favorite Sri Lankan, Rohan, explained to me that they are famous for Ceylon tea and that it's one of their largest export products. Sweetie loves drinking tea and always tells me to buy exotic tea for him whenever I travel. I made sure to find time to buy him some flavored tea and he said that he loves the stuff I bought for him. I also don't think I'd tire of drinking Ceylon tea with milk. It's just really perfect.

What I love about Sri Lanka is the people. They were so warm and friendly and I just felt right at home. I hope I'd be able to visit Sri Lanka again soon =)