Sure, Why Not? Sri Lanka

 I THINK we landed in Columbo, Sri Lanka on Monday morning.  This was another leg where we could travel to other cities so we first went to the local train station and purchased tickets for a later train south to Galle.  We then set out to see a little bit of Columbo.  We went to a local market and bought some toys and then took them to a boys’ home.  It was holiday for them, so there were only a few boys there as most had gone home to their families.  Soon after we arrived, some other teams arrived and we all played cricket with the boys for some time.  It was great fun.

That early evening we took our train to Galle.  There were only third class tickets available which meant that it was mostly standing room only.  Plus it was the middle of rush hour so the train was packed.  EVERYONE stared at us the entire time.  We could not stop laughing because even if you stared back, they did not stop.  I, of course, started talking to some people and pretty soon the whole train became our friends.  We must have talked to a least 30 different people throughout our 2 ½ hour train ride.  Something very interesting…we went 2 ½ hours to the next major city and the train was packed the entire time.  These people live in other cities and take this 2 ½ hour train ride TO and FROM work every single day.  That’s five hours of travel time in one day.  That’s nuts and makes you appreciate your small 30 minute or 1 hour drive each way to work. 

Our hotel in Galle was located inside an old Dutch fort.  It is actually a vacation home owned by a couple in California.  It was a mansion and very cool..  Two local boys ran the hotel.  Anything you asked them, they responded "sure, why not?"  Can we get some orange juice?  Can we do some laundry here?  Did the Dutch build the fort?  The answer to every question we asked was "sure, why not?"  Too funny.  

The next moning our taxi picked us up bright and early and we headed to the Sinharaja Forest Reserve.  It rained on us the entire time we were in the forest.   We had a local teenage boy that lived in the surrounding village take us through the forest.  The first thing he warned us about were the leeches.  Natasha heard the word leech and the paranoia set in.  Before actually going into the rain forest, our guide rubbed salt all over our shoes and legs…but the salt was not enough.  I couldn’t believe that the guide was wearing flip flops!  He was continuously flicking off leeches from his legs and feets.  The salt was a minor deterance and the leeches were still all over our shoes and the guide helped us get them off evey few minutes or so.  Once we came to a waterfall that required crossing, Natasha refused to go any further.  (I am editing David’s blog and just have to comment that I could just see myself slipping and falling into the water that was infested with who knows what….there was no way I was doing that.) 

So we returned back to our vehicle and then went to Uda Walawa, the largest nature reserve in the country. We paid a guy with a 4x4 to take us through the 76,000 acre park. Within two minutes of entering the park, we had a female elephant come within 20 feet of the vehicle. Pretty cool!!! We also saw some crocodiles resting along the creeks, and other animals such as water buffalos, a rare wild cat, and tons of different exotic birds. 

The next day we headed back to Columbo to meet the group. We learned our next stop is OMAN!!!