Kandy

I made it to Ella, Sri Lanka. Yesterday was pretty much a travel day as I spent about 7 hours on a train. But fortunately it went by relatively quick since the ride was so beautiful as the train slowly went through the hill country. I feel like I saw where the entire world's tea supply comes from. When I arrived at the train station, the owner of the hotel I was staying at met me and had my name on a piece of paper and all. Which was a nice surprise as I messaged her earlier to avoid any google maps issues. It was really great of her and appreciate it, especially as I'm sure I would have missed the stairs that may or may not be considered a road. It was a little bit of a hike up with my backpacks. It's a nice place to stay so far. 

Train travel.

Which takes me back to Kandy. I had opted to sleep in a capsule in the hotel I was staying in. It came up as an option and the reviews were pretty decent. And I figured 'why not'. That's my saying for this trip whenever people ask me to do things. I mean, within reason of course. I didn't have much space to put my bag, but I made do. And I was the only one up there on the roof, so I took over to some degree with hanging up all my wet things.

On Monday, I flew from Amman, Jordan to Colombo, Sri Lanka, with a layover in Muscat, Oman. I'm obviously not including countries where I only see the airport on my list, but I am keeping track of those airports for fun. It was overnight travel, but nice since I caught a couple of movies, Insurgent and Pitch Perfect 2. I'm not watching TV on this trip so much, which is what I want. But every once in a while, it's nice to catch some American cinema.

I took the bus from the Colombo airport to downtown Colombo. I only got a glimpse of the city as I made my way to the train station. I'm flying out of Colombo when I head to India, so I'll be back to check it out. The train ride to Kandy was pleasant. Also very nice views. And I chatted with a Sri Lankan girl for a bit. Her nephews were very cute and smiley. But it started raining halfway through the ride. This I was not happy about. I had hoped it would stop before we arrived in Kandy, but no such luck. And unfortunately it rained every day I was there. Well maybe not yesterday as it looked like it was going to be a great day when I left. I know it's not rainy season (I looked it up), and I hope it lets up soon. It was a bit drizzly and foggy in Ella when I arrived. Although today may be better. 

Because of the rain, my time in Kandy probably wasn't as best utilized as it could have been. However, it did force me to do a few things like get sorted out for upcoming portions of my trip. The first day was probably the most productive in the sightseeing department. I explore the Sri Dalada Maligawa, or Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. I walked around the grounds for a bit and took it all in. 

Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic.

After I had my fill of the temple, I went for a walk around Kandy Lake. And that was slightly eventful as there were so many animals. Kandy is the 2nd largest city Sri Lanka (which is still quite small), but it was still strange to see all these animals. There were birds, bats, lizards, fish, monkeys and who knows what else. As I was looking at the lizards, I made conversation with a French couple. They were very nice and we actually got lunch together. We shared a few dishes so we were able to try multiple traditional dishes. I ordered the Chicken Kottu, which was so good that I got it again a couple of nights later.

City animals.

On a full stomach, I hiked up to the Big Buddha, who you can see everywhere in town it seems like. I got a pretty great view of the town and lake below. I was ready to relax after that. I made a pit stop at the grocery store to grab a few items, including peanut butter. However I couldn't find any. Maybe they don't have peanut butter in Sri Lanka? I thought as much since the multiple people I asked had no idea what I was talking about. However, I went to another grocery store the following day and found it. So now I have Nutella and peanut butter to consume for my long runs.

The Big Buddha.

I was too wiped out from traveling to run on Tuesday, and then Wednesday, I just couldn't get up. The time difference from Jordan was 2.5 hours, which isn't major, but still enough for me to want to keep sleeping. On Thursday I got my butt up and ran 6+ miles around the lake and out of the city a bit. It was a very pleasant experience as I did get a lot of smiles, especially from the women. There were a few disbelieving looks a well, but overall a good vibe from most people. I also went running the morning I left Kandy and saw a guy who looked pretty legit, like he should have been in NYC running the marathon. And I saw another woman doing laps around the lake. We smiled at each other in solidarity.

I didn't really do too much else because of the rain. I went into Udawatta Kele Sanctuary for a little bit to hike around, but it started pouring not too far into it. After getting another view of the city, I had to abandon the hike and run out of the forest. I was probably a sight for those 2 guys that decided it was a good idea to hike in the rain and hang out with the leeches. I for one was out of there. Which was a shame since I paid the entrance fee, and didn't get to see everything. Maybe it was for the best.

Escaping the leeches.

I will remember Kandy for the rain, the tuks tuks fighting for traffic, and the nice people. Oh and the delicious food. But there's more of that to come.