Our Pre-Early-Retirement Winter Away

I was getting excited to be able to say Jay and I have been retired for five years! Tomorrow marks Jay's final day of work in 2014. He managed to finish up three days before my very last class. Since then, we've been much freer to explore sunny places during British Columbia's rainy winters.

Yet, when I was looking back on information on our last visit to Sri Lanka, I had somewhat forgotten about our initial practice winter.

At the end of October in 2012, we flew to Sri Lanka for three months. I should have remembered my New Year's-eve pitcher of beer at the Minuwangoda Machan pub and so many other things from the 2012/13 trip!



Click any of these images to load a Flickr album of around 300 images from our time there. I'm sure glad I write and take a lot of pictures to keep my life's history straight.

Read the blog post from the first day of that part of our trip. (You may click through the activities by going forward through 'newer' posts near the footer of each day.)

After our time on the island, we took another month visiting Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. We used Kuala Lumpur as a stopover on the way home. So, we are very experienced at winter escapes, I guess.

Life Happens in the Tropics - Day 46

I don't want to keep harping on it, but the weather was perfect again today.

As is now a routine, we walked to the municipal market to buy fruit and vegetables. Do you remember when your mom told you to eat 'em? She was right, but she probably didn't have passion fruit on her list. I love tropical fruit. I really have missed some of the fruit that is fresh and affordable here. Vancouver does have a very wide selection of good foods due to the demands of its multi-cultural population. Yet, things closer to the equator get that explosion of variety that helps define the lower latitudes. It occurs when there is a high solar input and water.


For some reason, I was thinking about where we should spend next winter. That may be jumping the gun a bit as we are only around a third of our way through this winter in Puerto Vallarta!

Yet, I couldn't shake considering the southern stretches of Sri Lanka. That is only 6 or so degrees above the equator. We have gone to just about every corner of the Indian Ocean island and it amazes me during each and every visit. Today, I was wondering if, during a future winter, we might be able to find an apartment to rent for four or five months near the town of Kirinda. The picture shows a few of the gigantic stones along the coast there. If you click it, you will go to the Flickr album containing over 300 photos from the island during 2012/13. We were there for nearly three months.


Kirinda, Sri Lanka - December 2012

A Year Ago on a Sri Lankan Train ...

Today went well. This morning's class was okay. Yet, I really cannot think of any information from the day which needs inclusion here.

Rather than trying to create something interesting out of nothing, I dipped into a Microsoft Skydrive for a photo. It seems that I posted only a fraction of the many photos taken during last winter's trip to Sri Lanka and through Indochina. I often kick myself months after a trip about how few of the images ever make it on Flickr for searching and posting. In this case, the photo below had been waiting exactly a year.



We were on a Sri Lankan train heading north. This photo comes during the second paragraph from that day's entry in my eJournal and images. (Click the bolded words to open the entry created on November 25, 2012.)

Day 85 - Hurry Up and Wait!

Today is taking on the depressing characteristics of a poorly run old-folks home.  You know, it seems as if we are mostly sitting around awaiting our departure.  Actually, Jay is busying himself by helping his sisters in the kitchen.  I am not so sure what always prompts a big "send-away" meal; I'd rather eat like a pig during the middle of our stay.  I'm watching my tablet's screen as well as the coconut trees sway in a slight breeze.



Alas, we're leaving the island in the wee hours of tomorrow morning and won't even need to head to the airport until after 9:30 tonight.  That is not how it was originally planned.  We were going to depart on Friday morning to Bangkok via AirAsia.  Eventually in March, we have to head to Kuala Lumpur for our return China Eastern flights to Vancouver.  Therefore, we bought all the SE Asian connections on that scrappy, little low-cost carrier.

Yet, somewhere between the time we started this trip and now, AirAsia stopped flying Colombo / Bangkok all together. We learned about it a month before our supposed departure in a curt, unapologetic email.  Despite my attempts to communicate with them, I haven't seen any refund on my credit card!  I'll pass judgement on the company after we try to use them for flights into and, or, out of Burma, Cambodia, Laos, and Malaysia.  (Vietnam will be via land borders both coming and going.)

So, the result is we're leaving at one o'clock in the morning to BKK on a Thai Airways flight.  Actually, it turns out okay as it will give us two nights in Bangkok rather than one.   (The link is the long version and requires nearly two nights to play as well.  I'm fond of the Murray Head classic about a chess tournament in Bangkok because we first visited that city in the same era as the music and quite a few times since.)

I expect to be able to upload our progress online during the short time in Thailand.  After that I'm not so sure though.  We will be going into Burma for at least half of February.  I have seen travellers'  tales about the inaccessibility of the Internet in that country.  I am sure I will not have cell phone access at all.  Even if my blog looks stagnant, I will still be ejournaling daily.  I'll upload the whole kit and caboodle once pathways to the Inter-web widen!

Day 84 - Panduwasnuwara

In our continuing multi-trip quest to hit every archaeological and religious site in the country of Sri Lanka, we took the day to see a fairly close one. Both of Jay's sister, father, and auntie went with us for the day trip. We loaded up the van with family members and were driven to Panduwasnuwara, an ancient city site and a former capital of Sri Lanka. Well, it was temporary capital about nine hundred years ago!

We took the same van and driver which we always do. He favours back roads and short cuts when going anywhere, so the roads and scenery are always very interesting. I've seen places surely most tourists never have. There was no need to get up early as we didn't leave until 8:30 in the morning.


Clicking this image will take you to a larger version on Flickr.

We first stopped at the religious site with a functioning Buddhist temple. There were many religious ruins as well. Near here, we found the large circular moat with a place where a small palace once sat in the middle. This is where in legends a lovely princess was imprisoned so as to keep suitors away. For a soothsayer foretold that if she were to bear a child, he would kill the king and seven brothers. (I'll post that on Flickr someday.)

Where we had parked the van, few sellers were out. Yet, we did manage to buy a whole load of clay cooking pots as this is the area they are made.


Click to enlarge this photo in a new window.

We continued nearby to monastery from the same period. I uploaded an Instagram image to my Facebook wall saying, "Old Skool, literially. 12th Century)

We stated back and had lunch around 1 o'clock at a nice hotel in Kuliyapitiya. We were home by 3:30. It was a very pleasant way to spend our last full day in Sri Lanka.

Day 83 - Personal Quote #48

"My newest desire is to live in a place where taking a siesta is the expected operating procedure."

Dennis Sylvester Hurd (1959- )

Cut from the backyard in Sri Lanka during the 3-month, 2012/13 trip.

Day 82 - Final Sunday-Market Day

As we are rapidly careening towards our departure on Wednesday evening, my entries here in my eJournal and images may appear to become a bit of a countdown. So, it is today.

This was the last Sunday we will go to the Minuwangoda Market. I have mentioned it several times during this stay. In fact of the twelve weeks on the island, we have probably been downtown on at least half of them. During the other weekends we were away on trips, or didn't need to shop.

It is a great day to pick up everything needed for the week in one fell swoop. For example, we went to the pharmacy, liquor store, supermarket, umbrella repairman, my telephone top-up card shop, and cake shop. More time was spent walking around buying vegetables in the specially-built area for vendors though. It's fun and practical at the same time.

Day 81 - Jackfruit and Jambu

Jay is knocking down a high-growing jackfruit from the tree.

So much of what we eat here comes from around the house.  The items are not enough to survive; they just supplement the diet.  Some are just leaves or spices.   Fruit comes sporadically.  For example I almost had my fill of papaya when we got here.  Only a few bunches of bananas were ready during our stay.  Lately though Jay has gone slightly crazy over a surplus of:

jackfruit and jambu. (Click either name for Wikipedia entry.)

On Facebook I uploaded a number of Instagram pictures of jackfruit as some friends asked about them.  These football or basketball sized fruit are not my most favourite.  Jay could eat one all by himself, I swear.  He's also a little bonkers about jambu.  I think this is primarily because he hasn't had any in years.  They come due about this time of year only.


Sri Lankan jambu are pinker when ripe.

In Canada, we hardly eat anything grown really near except a few vegetables from pots on the balcony in New Westminster.

Day 80 - Not Around It Yet?

We came almost exactly half way 'round the world and seemed to stall out here.  Actually, this HAS ALWAYS BEEN the plan.  The only thing that I'm finding shocking is how obviously short these 85 days in Sri Lanka will have seemed.  I cannot quite get excited about the upcoming six weeks in SE Asia yet.  It will happen prior to leaving in the middle of next week, I'm sure!

I am so used to waking up in the morning here, it will seem strange not to.  All the now familiar sights and sounds will become part of my personal history.  Instantly.  I am having a hard time believing this present existence will end as soon as the wheels of the Thai Air jet leave the runway.  Will I pine for quiet days in Minuwangoda such as today?   Will I miss a day such as this when the temperature has been perfect and the sky deep blue,  a day on which I had no responsibilities or obligations, a day I felt only the natural rhythm of life?

I am feeling the impending loss.  I shall run right this minute to take an evening photo from the front driveway. I am wondering if this will be able to hold a little of this day captive for use at some time in the future.

Day 79 - Reflection and Redirection

Today, we travelled all the way home from the other side of the country.  The bus windows provided an ever-changing show of the land and its people.  I'm starting to think of this break in Sri Lanka in the past tense.  In a week we'll be in Bangkok starting the SE Asian portion of our winter.  In so many ways, the last twelve weeks have passed much too quickly.

Yet, it has accomplished what every vacation should do; namely, make the travellers reevaluate most everything about their lives.  Unless one is very careful, life has a way of going on autopilot. That's a bad thing. Without shaking things up, people sometimes do not question key aspects of their own existence.  Being away from the ordinary shouldn't just be for recreation.  A good trip shows a variety of alternatives.  A rut may not seem depressing at the time but it would be really sad to live with regrets of what one might have done differently.  It might be even worse not to realize there were options!


The house cat will never go much beyond the yard.

For Jay and I witnessing the wider world gives perspectives.  A great deal of the world's problems are caused because the general populous is ignorant of differing cultures and ways of living.  We've always been fortunate to have had many choices.  Our lives have been purposefully structured to promote reflection and redirection.  Our time here in 2012 and 2013 has provided excellent data for contemplation.  We will not fly away from this island the same way we arrived.  We will be much better prepared to make upcoming decisions about our future direction.

This is why I'd rather travel than buy some object which would be in the dump or junk yard within a decade or two.

Day 78 - China Bay

We are hanging around today as there's no reason not to.  Rather than just sitting on the beach, we went by bus to China Bay early on.  It gave a good perspective of the harbor area that is world class.  The natural harbour is one of the world's best at over 3000 ft deep in places.  It is completely protected and hidden from the sea yet expansive.   The Sri Lankan Air force and Navy have bases with a history going back to the British.  Now it makes a little more sense that we passed a British Military Cemetery on the coast road as it must contain the remains of dead WW2 personnel.

There was not a whole lot to see except a much closer view of the enormous the Prima flour facility and a cement plant.  Yet seeing just how large the harbor is, was interesting.



Back to Minuwangoda tomorrow?

Day 77 - Uppuveli

We did pack up and move a spot down the road today, just a bit though.  We are a bit closer to the sea and can see the lights of Trincomalee.  We can see a lot of stars as well, for some reason the night sky seems a darker black.

We didn't come directly here today.  Yesterday, I had put the cell number of a tuk-tuk driver into my phone.  He'd said to call if were were keen in going to the Kanniya Hot Springs.  It seemed a pleasant enough thing to do as we didn't need to check out of our hotel until noon.  So call him, we did.  From that area the trip involved a 4 kilometer, un-tarred connector shortcut.  The recent rains had left it worse for the wear but we had a careful driver.  Within the last ten years, this blog contains two previous visits to the hot springs.  Each of the seven well is supposedly a differing temperature but I'll be damned if I could tell any differences.  We got back to the hotel by 10:30 even though the trip alone each way took more than a half hour.



So, as we were pretty well packed, we just paid the bill and walked back out to catch a bus towards Trinco.  We wanted to see our old haunt of 2004, just a few months before the big tsunami.  The French Garden is still there perhaps not exactly the same, but there nevertheless.  We ended up walking down another side road and staying at Shiva's  Guest Resort.  It is exactly beside the previously mentioned place but a better deal.  Thank you, Trip Advisor.  We thought that lunch at our previous place would suffice.

We walked to end end of the bay which is quite a hike down the beach.  I'm made of hearty stuff.  Clear hot days and an unplanned week remaining ...

Day 76 - Trinco

We still had fish buns from yesterday, so those were our breakfast.  We trooped out to the main road and decided to go the 16 km back to town.  A bus came along after about a twenty-minute wait by the highway.  Most shops were open but it was a little slow for a Monday because it was a three-day weekend.  We walked around a lot but decided to pass on the famous Hindu Kovil.  We ended up having a very early 11:30 lunch.

When travelling both ways we tried to locate the road leading to the beach road of our 2004 stay.  We didn't see it but did check online and the hotel still exists and is open for business..  We might head back closer to Trincomalee by staying near there tomorrow night.  There isn't much in Nilavali, except the beach.  It could be a sure fire place to get off the radar if one wanted to get lost for a while.

After a little nap we walked out to the road again to see what it'd cost if a tuk-tuk took us to the famous hot springs.  As they close at 5 or 6 it was a little too late.  Instead, we walked further north on the highway for a couple of kilometers.  Pretty scenery was about all there was.  We backtracked and went back to the public access  road to the beach.  We picked up hoppers to go for dinner from a lady who had a hut beside the vendors.

It gets dark at 6 o'clock.  I'm now is a chaise lounge in front of our room listening to the surf and the Germans a few doors down.

Day 75 - From One Side to the Other

Today, if we were on The Amazing Race, we just might've been the winners.

Rather than going all the way to Colombo to catch the bus to Trincomalee, we just went to Minuwangoda and waited for a Kuneragala bus.  We probably left at around 8:00 am but didn't make it in time for the 10:00 direct departure from Kuneragala.  So we walked to the police station area and waited for one from Colombo to come by.  By 11:00 we were onboard one which would have left Colombo well before we would have gotten to the big city.  Therefore, we were winners.



After getting into the eastern port, we boarded another local bus to Nilavali. Jay had looked online to see about possible hotels.  The bus stop was directly in front of the road to Shahira Hotel.  It was at least a 1.5 km walk to the water from the highway, but we are here!

A lot of local tourists were visiting the beach because it is Sunday of a long weekend.  We are not directly on the beach, but the hotel has a very nice garden and I can see the sea from the covered porch-like area in front of the rooms.

Day 74 - Go East Young Men!

I started the day in battle with a little tropical flu. Sleep was my chosen weapon in fighting it off. I had quite a bit of nap time today, and can claim supremacy already!

So tomorrow we're ready for a final excursion. It looks like clear skies for the week, the last full one of our current stay! Jay is interested in a getting in one, final trip to Trincomalee. We have visited both pre- and post-tsunami. First in 2004, we stayed for a few days about three months before the devastation hit the east side of the country. We visited again with family in 2009 but that was a short day-visit while travelling by van.


Trincomalee, Sri Lanka beach - 2004.

Tomorrow, we will cross the country by public bus. Unfortunately, we will need to get into the main station in Colombo in order to travel in the most expedient manner. As tomorrow is a quiet Sunday, it will be the quickest day to go to the capital. From there travelling almost directly northeast across the whole country is supposed to take about 7 hours. Of course, this is an estimate and our actual experiences may vary!

We'll have time to see if the our initial beach-side bungalows at The French Garden are still there. My favourite beach puppies lived there and used to snuggle in the sand by my feet. If they weren't washed away, this time I might have a chance to see their great, great grand-puppies.


Beach puppies at the French Garden in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka - 2004.

Day 73 - Strong and Stout (The Beer)

I sometime have difficulty remembering whom I've told what. More precisely, on occasion, I do not know whether I posted something on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, or here in my eJournal and images. This gives me the perfect excuse for when I repeat myself online.

I am sure I have mentioned wine in my blog as I used to go the U-brew route that is possible in British Columbia. I must have mentioned beer once in a while as well. Let me see, my first entry mentioning beer was in October 2003 and has a photo of friend, Bret. Other entries became apparent too, so pardon me if I repeat myself.

I have always thought of beer as earthy and natural. Those may not have been the reasons I drank all those Millers in clear bottles during college days, yet I am thankful that when I grew up the drinking age was 18. Very few countries in the world try to enforce an age of 21 as the US does now. I think it is 19 in my province in Canada now but then it's been a dog's age since I've been carded.



As I said, I am much more "mature" and this means my tastes have changed. On this trip to Sri Lanka I've been quite taken with Lion Stout. It is a delicious, thick brew that has a long-lasting head. One is probably 500 calories for the 625 ml bottle, but I shall not think about that! I had a little time to research beer and if one does, one comes across the writings of Michael Jackson, now deceased. (No, not THAT Michael Jackson!) Here's what he had to say about my new, favourite beer.

I'm on vacation so I frequently have one with lunch. It has prompted me to do a little research on porters. I cannot wait to get back home where there is a big 'craft-brew' scene. Give me something I have to pry out of the bottle, please!

Day 72 - Alas, Time Grows Short!

The online weather site showed just a 60% chance of rain today.  Well, it has been sixty percenting all day!  I stayed around the house while Jay went downtown to pick up our visas from the Myanmar (Burmese) Embassy in Colombo.  He said he only had to open his umbrella once downtown.  The weather on this island can be very localized.  It is only 30 km to the capital, and probably considerably less as the crow flies.  It seems that when it comes to rain, it all depends on which cloud one happens to be under.

Having the visas in our passports drives home the point that our remaining time in Sri Lanka is growing slim.  We leave on the evening of the 23rd.  In fact, we were just checking on where we'll stay in Bangkok for a two-night stopover on the way to Yangon (Rangoon).  We've got a lot of travelling remaining before we return to Vancouver.  As well as the countries mentioned, we will travel to or stay in Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Malaysia.  My excitement for the future sections of our journey is tempered by the fact it I am going to feel a little sad leaving Sri Lanka.

Day 71 - Cash on the Barrel Head

Today, I learnt a lot about Bitcoin. (Having an unlocked phone and 3G access with a local SIM has advantages!) It's really a fascinating subject to me.  I had heard about it in passing and thought of it as some sort of prepaid means for making small payments for which people now use coins and dirty paper bills.  Oh, no.  It's the world's most popular alternative currency.


For years, 100 Sri Lankan rupees were worth about $1, now these two are worth $1.58.

Bitcoin has advantages over real currencies because it is decentralized. Central banks can just print money or as it's called now 'quantitatively ease' which basically devalues all a nation's liquid assets. For example, it once cost me nearly $1.40 in Canadian currency to by a US dollar. With the Federal Reserve's policies, my Canadian ones are now worth a few cents more than a greenback.

Bitcoin will have a maximum circulation, sort of like a built in gold standard.  At this point in time only about half the currency has been 'mined' by computer computations.  Just to ensure low inflation, new coins are released by algorithm and only to those who throw a lot of computational processing power at the quest.  Eventually though, when the limit is reached, that will be it! Even gold can be continually discovered and brought into the market.

Another main advantage is the low fees for transfer and transactions.  Presently banking institutions employ staff, and own a great deal of real estate .  Bitcoins, however, can pass from person to person basically friction free privately.  They are secure and untraceable very much unlike using a debit or credit card today.

During 2012 the value which people willingly paid to convert fiat currencies into bitcoins grew several times over. Money is basically all about trust. I have more trust and faith in a system which is decentralized and less prone to political manipulation. I think I will eventually convert some hard currency into this emerging cryptocurrency.

Day 70 - I Got Stoned Today

This space is the ultimate vanity press.

Not only does every word I write end up being published, but the whole mess is an enormous autobiographical monument to my broad and expanding narcissism.  To know me is to love me.  So I've always done my damndest to make sure the world has that opportunity.

Today was a perfect day in Minuwangoda.  It marks the tenth week we have been on the island formerly called, Ceylon.  First, the sky was deep blue with an occasional puffy cloud floating past.  An entire washer load of clothes dried on the line in just a few hours.  Let's see also, Jay and his sister baked a fruit cake.  Six new plastic chairs arrived to replace the former ones which were rather worn out looking.  Finally, the cat is now almost full grown and managed to kill another squirrel today.  I hope this new-found feline blood lust doesn't eradicate the local population.  I know the squirrels are just rodents but anything that cute deserves to live!

Now all about me: Jay removed the free metal ear stud I got when I pierced my ear three years ago.  It had never been out.  I replaced it with my new, ruby one this morning.  I am making such a fuss over this particular purchase of a gem.  I'm not sure why, other than I've never been one for bling, Jewellery has never seemed very practical.  As it is a little bit shy of a one carat stone, it didn't even cost as much as an off-the-rack suit.  I guess I just like the idea of constantly having a little bit of Sri Lanka attached to me wherever I am.

Day 69 - Visa, Vista, and Vermilion Value

My titles amaze and amuse (me, anyways).  Those three things sum up our trip to Colombo today.

I must admit I am now unabashedly a city guy.  I asked a question on thumb.it if people preferred going to a natural or urban setting for a vacation.  Sixty people responded and of those 60% chose the former. So, I feel in the minority when saying we like scenery but it's cities we find captivating.   In Sri Lanka, the capital city can be chaotic and challenging but it's always an experience!


Myanmar (Burma) Embassy in Colombo

First, we went to Rosemead Avenue.  Last week, we discovered the location of the Burmese (Myanmar) Embassy.  We wanted to know what we had to submit in order to get tourist visas.  We travel there via Bangkok at the end of the month.  Today, we handed in the applications, copies of our air tickets, and four passport photos w/ white backgrounds.  Oh, and we needed to give $US 20 in cash for each visa.  They will be ready for pick up on Thursday afternoon.


Buffet in Akasa Kade. Should've focused on the dessert table!


View looking south east from the Ceylinco House

Secondly, we went out to eat in the Akasa Kade restaurant on top of Ceylinco House.  That restaurant was open in 1963 in tallest Colombo building at the time.  Jay has the memory of an elephant and says we ate there in 1988 on a vacation when I was working in Bahrain.  So, absolutely, that happened too.  After almost exactly 25 years we went back to check.  Taller buildings now exist. The huge, daily Sri Lankan-style buffet was still on offer though and great.  I felt all extravagant and like a high-roller forking out nearly 2,400 rupees for a meal.  That's because our lunch bills are seldom over 500.  Still, when it goes through MasterCard, it will come back at under $CA 10 per person!


The World Trade Center in Sri Lanka

Before coming home, we also went in the World Trade Center.  We took the escalators up to the Sri Lanka Gem and Jewelry Exchange.  My ear stud was ready.  Now, I have an authentic 0.90 carat, Sri Lankan ruby ready for my left ear.  I picked out the stone and the jeweller had the stud and its setting made. The red gem is my birthstone and I expect to keep it in my ear until I die.  Hopefully that is, at minimum, another thirty years.

We rushed home by bus and arrived at 4:15 pm before the rain started.  Honestly, maybe I'll have to start believing in this talk about climate change.  Traditionally, the winter months are perfect on Sri Lanka's south and west coasts.  Yet, this is turning out to be the wettest winter in over 50 years.  I keep telling myself this little mantra:  At least the rain here is hot, for in Vancouver it's surely not!