Sri Lanka- A Hidden Gem

It always amazes me how quickly I can go in and out of work mode. It is almost like there is a ‘work Michaela’ and a ‘vacation Michaela,’ the later apparently being more prone to one-liners and non-stop laughter. Boy, I love vacation mode! But, it is also great to get back to work and really cherish the last few months I have with my students.

I have decided to include highlights of my recent Spring/Easter vacation in Sri Lanka. I will say that Sri Lanka is a hidden Gem!! It is similar to India, but more developed, very clean, friendly people and tons to offer. I had a fabulous time there and I wish I had at least another week. I recommend it to anyone who is thinking of traveling in Asia!

• Watching 50 elephants of all sizes bathe in a river
• Learning about elephant poo paper and buying some
• Visiting Polonnaruwa, an ancient city and exploring the temples, baths, and other ruins there
• Climbing Lion Rock, a rock outcropping with ruins of an ancient palace and gardens, and fresco paintings. Amazing views and crazy climb up!
• Awesome food: curries, dhals, fish, eggplant…couldn’t get enough!
• Random animals: elephants, monitor lizards, turtles,
• Kandy: markets, cultural dancing and fire walking. Beautiful atmosphere in the mountains
• Steep mountain roads lined with tons of tea plantations
• Adams peak: 2am start for a sun-rise summit. The path was lit-up and there were tea shops every 50metres or so along the entire pathway. Seeing the mountains pyramid shaped shadow and ringing the bell as a part of successfully summiting was great. The descent was interesting because we were seeing everything for the first time in day-light.
• Tea factory visit and tea-tasting. Bought lots of fair-priced quality tea!
• Beautiful mountain town (forget name) with a lovely lake, horses all over and cute houses.
• Ella Gap: a beautiful valley leading us back toward the sea
• Yala National park. Didn’t see leopards, but thoroughly enjoyed our cozy hotel on a pristine lake.
• Mirissa: gorgeous, low-key beaches with turquoise water, palm trees and soft sand. Watched baby sea turtles being set free. Fire dancing and a full moon. Stilt fisher-men and us pretending to be the fisher men at sunset.
• Galle: Dutch fort, lovely colonial architecture and artwork!
• Colombo: Beautiful, clean and well-organized city. Bought last minute souvenirs and a huge painting. Set out to find Naan bread and confused the shop owner when we wanted it plain.
• Tea, biscuit and game time with the gang most nights.
• Perera, our driver from Lanka tours, was excellent and eventually figured out that we are just a bunch of crazy teachers!
• Many laughs with friends, 2 books finished, lots of time to sleep, a tan and I am re-charged to teach until the end!!