千里之行 始于足下

Sri Lanka Adventure [10 - 18 June 2010]
Part I: Pre-Trip [Singapore, 10 Jun 2010]
Part II: The Long Shuttle [Singapore - Kuala Lumpur, 10 Jun 2010]
Part III: AK255 [KUL - CMB, 11 Jun 2010]
Part IV: A Slice of Cultural Triangle [CMB - Dambulla, 11 June 2010]
Part V: Temples [Dambulla - Kandy, 12 Jun 2010]
Part VI: Into the Hills [Kandy - Haputale, 13 Jun 2010]
Part VII: Trekking to World’s End [Horton's Plains National Park, 14 Jun 2010]
Part VIII: Retracing the steps of Sir Thomas Lipton [Lipton's Seat & Tea Factory, 15 Jun 2010]
Part IX: Leopard! Leopard! Leopard! [Haputale - Tissa, 16 Jun 2010]
Part X: Will this journey ever end? [Tissa - Negombo, 17 Jun 2010]
Part XI: Goodbye Serendib [CMB - KUL - Singapore, 18 Jun 2010]
Part XII: Epilogue

We will answer seven questions to share our thoughts on the Sri Lankan trip.

Q1. What is the highlight of the trip for you and why?

Shyh Jie: It’s a tough choice between Horton’s Plains NP, the town of Haputale and Yala NP. I would go for Horton’s Plains for the amazing scenery.

Kendrick: The highlight was Horton Plains and Yala national park. This is the first time that I have been so exposed to nature and is a very different experience.

Chiang: Highlight was actually just living the life of the locals… like taking bus and train… seeing the way they live… and maybe safari.

Kok Wai: Haputale, for its people and their hospitality. And Horton’s Plains for its picturesque landscape.

Lewis: Yala National Park( leopard leopard leopard! ) and the Horton’s Plains(Perfect weather and scenery for trekking)

Feijie: Haputale – I am touched by the people’s friendliness and the views at Lipton’s Seat and Horton’s Plains are superb.

Q2. What is the most surprising aspect of the trip for you and why?

Shyh Jie: The Sri Lankan people definitely. Most people whom we met were friendly and spoke good English. It is definitely nice not having to deal with the same kind of hassles that I experienced in India.

Kendrick: The safety of Sri Lanka. Expected there to be pretty dangerous but felt quite safe for the duration of the trip.

Chiang: The mosquitoes n house flies around… Just too many… and seeing how friendly the people were at Haputale.

Kok Wai: The surprisingly friendly locals we met along the way, which I didn’t come to expect from people that had just went through a civil war.

Lewis: How limited their food variety are despite having so many food sources (seafood etc)

Feijie: The most surprising aspect is the living standard of the people which is much better than I have expected.

Q3. Is there anything about the trip that you are disappointed about? Why?

Shyh Jie: Food is the biggest disappointment. Food aren’t the most inspiring due to the lack of variety and quality (in the case of seafood). Another issue is the high admission cost charged by the attractions. In fact almost 40% of what I spent in Sri Lanka were on admissions.

Kendrick: The food. Not enough variety and local restaurants.

Chiang: Disappointed seeing how cheapskate we were with the tips and stuff.

Kok Wai: Has to be food which is lacking of variety.

Lewis: Food Food Food! Although the highlights (1) made up for the disappointment in my daily meals but the seafood meal on last day was terribly below expectations, especially after traveling more than 12 hrs for them.

Feijie: I am disappointed by the food of course. Because the food choice is very limited and quality is also not good.

Q4. Is there any aspect about the trip that you wish to be done differently? Is there any part that you think can be improved on?

Shyh Jie: Hmm… tough question. I think that it was quite difficult to travel independently in such a big group due to the need for consensus before making decisions (eg accommodation). But the trip might turn out not to be as fun.

Kendrick: The return trip could have been planned better. Should have bought tickets beforehand to avoid the uncertainty experienced.

Chiang: The journey to Sri Lanka and back. Coach then coach then plane.. should have taken a straight flight there even though it will cost more.

Kok Wai: The trip to and fro. Considering the amount of traveling we had to do within Sri Lanka itself, we would be better off spending another hundred or so and booked a direct flight.

Lewis: We should probably include whale watching in the itinerary! and diving! and better seafood! NEXT TIME!

Feijie: Given enough time, I wish that we have visited the Colombo as well.

Q5. Will you recommend Sri Lanka as a travel destination to your friends?

Shyh Jie: YES! Get to Sri Lanka before the horde of tourists. It’s still relatively unspoiled by mass tourism but it may change over the next few years.

Kendrick: Definitely but not for people that wants a comfortable holiday.

Chiang: Definitely. Something different from other normal tours. To see a different way of living and how fortunate we are.

Kok Wai: Definitely. only for the adventurous though.

Lewis: Those who have not been there are definitely missing out ! But not for those who seeks to have a culinary and shopping experience.

Feijie: Yes I will recommend because of the nice sceneries and nice people.

Q6. Out of a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you rate the trip?

Shyh Jie: 7/10. Could be a nine but minus 1 for bad roads and minus 1 for food.

Kendrick: 6.5

Chiang: 6.5… Not here to enjoy but to experience and that’s what we did…

Kok Wai: 7

Lewis: 8.5 (1 from the food, 0.5 from traveller’s home). It’s definitely a fresh experience as compared to other countries that I have been before.

Feijie: 7

Q7. Any other comments/interesting observations about the trip that you wish to share?

Shyh Jie: I am amazed how much one can eat. Some of my travel buddies could easily eat twice my portion and probably more.

Chiang: Spending less than $800 was very worth it… though I don’t mind paying more for the direct flight… well planned and organized… should add a couple of gals or something to spice up future trips.

Kok Wai: Kendrick’s ability to sleep anytime, anywhere. Second to none.

Lewis: The company is superb! Let’s go for another one!

Feijie: I am surprised that one of my friends actually eats to live. And he keeps saying we all eat a lot though the rest of us eat about the same amount.

Sri Lanka Adventure [10 - 18 June 2010]
Part I: Pre-Trip [Singapore, 10 Jun 2010]
Part II: The Long Shuttle [Singapore - Kuala Lumpur, 10 Jun 2010]
Part III: AK255 [KUL - CMB, 11 Jun 2010]
Part IV: A Slice of Cultural Triangle [CMB - Dambulla, 11 June 2010]
Part V: Temples [Dambulla - Kandy, 12 Jun 2010]
Part VI: Into the Hills [Kandy - Haputale, 13 Jun 2010]
Part VII: Trekking to World’s End [Horton's Plains National Park, 14 Jun 2010]
Part VIII: Retracing the steps of Sir Thomas Lipton [Lipton's Seat & Tea Factory, 15 Jun 2010]
Part IX: Leopard! Leopard! Leopard! [Haputale - Tissa, 16 Jun 2010]
Part X: Will this journey ever end? [Tissa - Negombo, 17 Jun 2010]
Part XI: Goodbye Serendib [CMB - KUL - Singapore, 18 Jun 2010]
Part XII: Epilogue

Negombo’s mosquitoes didn’t help to provide me with a good night’s sleep. When I finally fall asleep, Kendrick knocked on our room’s door to return me my book.

And luckily he did. The occupants in my room didn’t realize that it was already 5:25am and we had arranged transport to pick us up at 5:45am. Our military instinct kicked in and the three of us managed to wash up and got ready within the short time. In fact we even had the time to take photographs from the rooftop.

When we were about to leave, I realized that there were blood stains on my pillow.

Some poor mosquitoes must have been squashed by me.

When we returned from dinner the previous night, the guesthouse owner offered to arrange a van to the airport for 1000 LKR. Nevertheless we decided to honor our agreement with the autorickshaw drivers.

Despite being early morning, our autorickshaw driver was chatty and asked us about our trip. He lamented that our trip was too short and told us to visit Sri Lanka soon. Like most Sri Lankans whom we met on the trip, he was friendly and genuine.

The ride from Negombo Beach to CMB took around 25 minutes and the autorickshaws had to pass through cursory security check before being allowed to enter the airport.

Air passengers had to show the security guards their flight itineraries before being allowed to enter the terminal building. The security officer was satisfied with our flight itinerary being displayed on an iPhone but it would be easier if we had a physical copy.

There were several moneychangers which changed LKR into hard currencies such as USD or Euros. None of them stocked SGD so I exchanged my remaining rupees for USD at a pretty poor rate (1140 LKR for 9 USD). Some of us did some last minute shopping at the souvenir shop before checking in. There were no money exchange facilities beyond the check in counters and each individual is only allowed to bring a maximum of 1000 LKR out of Sri Lanka.

There wasn’t much of a queue at the check in and we were almost served immediately. An indication of a light load? Immigration was hassle-free as well.

In the most unlikeliest of places, we ran into Ian Wright, the host of Globetrekker series who was leaving CMB around the same time as us. He agreed readily to a photograph with us and told us to look out for his latest travel program which features Singapore.

Our plane was waiting for us at Gate 7 and I could see its registration clearly (9M-AHY). It is Air Asia’s newest aircraft and was only delivered on 20th April 2010. I got a middle seat of 21E but it wasn’t much of a problem. The load was light and there were plenty of empty rows for passengers to spread out.

Route: CMB – KUL
Flight no.: Air Asia AK 256
Dep: KUL 8:15am
Arr: CMB 2:20pm
Time taken: 3h35m
Distance traveled: 2470km (1535miles)
Cost: 322 MYR (incl in-flight meal & 15kg checked luggage)

Goodbye Serendib!

The meal service commenced pretty soon after the plane reached cruising altitude. To my horror, I realized that I ordered Asian fried rice for my pre-booked meal. Bad mistake since I had fried rice for almost every meal in Sri Lanka. Luckily it turned out to be quite good.

Chiang was smarter with his choice of chicken rice. The rice was particularly flavorful.

Despite its short time in service, wear and tear were apparent on the plane. One of the washrooms was out of order and Chiang’s left armrest had a piece missing.

The flight was uneventful and we reached KUL on time.

Malaysian immigration cards weren’t stocked on the plane and the Singaporeans could only fill up the cards at the terminal. Despite being held up, we still had to wait a while before our checked bags appeared on the baggage carousel.

Some of us were contemplating flying home instead of taking a coach. The multiple transfers on the previous day had taken its toll and we weren’t particularly looking forward to more transfers. However, the poor schedule and rather expensive prices scuppered the plan.

Kok Wai managed to get his cousin to give us a lift from KUL to the temporary bus station at Bukit Jalil. Cheers to him. If it wasn’t for his kind lift, we would not be able to catch the coach leaving for Singapore at 5:00pm.

The temporary bus station looked as if it was constructed overnight at one of the Bukit Jalil Stadium’s car-parks. It was filled with both travelers and touts looking for seat-fillers. A pretty chaotic scene and I was glad to get out of there in less than 20 minutes.

Route: Kuala Lumpur to Singapore
Mode: Coach (Forgot the name of the operator)
Dep: Bukit Jalil, KL 5:00pm
Arr: Beach Road, Singapore 10:30pm
Time taken: 5h30m
Distance traveled: Approx. 355km
Cost: 39 MYR

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We were the last ones to get on the bus and it left shortly after. Despite the lower price of 39 MYR, this bus had more comfortable seats than First Coach. No on board entertainment was available though so I watched Monga on my iPod instead.

After the Sri Lankan roads, Malaysian expressways seemed a blessing. The good roads enabled us to cover 350km in half the time that we took to cover 300km in Sri Lanka the previous day. It will be part of history soon though. The Southern Expressway linking Colombo and Matara will cut traveling time significantly when it is completed.

At Yong Peng where the coach stopped for dinner, Singapore-bound passengers had to transfer to another bus. There wasn’t much of a traffic heading into Singapore on a Friday evening. Our Sri Lankan adventure came to an end with our 10:30pm arrival at Beach Road.

Seven days wasn’t a long time but we managed to cover quite a bit of Sri Lanka. The epilogue post will sum up our thoughts on the trip.

Sri Lanka Adventure [10 - 18 June 2010]
Part I: Pre-Trip [Singapore, 10 Jun 2010]
Part II: The Long Shuttle [Singapore - Kuala Lumpur, 10 Jun 2010]
Part III: AK255 [KUL - CMB, 11 Jun 2010]
Part IV: A Slice of Cultural Triangle [CMB - Dambulla, 11 June 2010]
Part V: Temples [Dambulla - Kandy, 12 Jun 2010]
Part VI: Into the Hills [Kandy - Haputale, 13 Jun 2010]
Part VII: Trekking to World’s End [Horton's Plains National Park, 14 Jun 2010]
Part VIII: Retracing the steps of Sir Thomas Lipton [Lipton's Seat & Tea Factory, 15 Jun 2010]
Part IX: Leopard! Leopard! Leopard! [Haputale - Tissa, 16 Jun 2010]
Part X: Will this journey ever end? [Tissa - Negombo, 17 Jun 2010]
Part XI: Goodbye Serendib [CMB - KUL - Singapore, 18 Jun 2010]
Part XII: Epilogue

We had to set off early because of the long day of travel ahead of us.

To the guesthouse’s credit, the rooms were really clean and properly maintained. However the owner was in denial again when we pointed out to him that there was a hole in one of the mosquito nets.

Then we were given the bill for our stay and dinner. We were quoted 2300 LKR nett for the triples but the bill that he gave us included an additional 10% service charge. I liked to think that it was a honest mistake but the owner was too shrewd for this error. He did waive the service charge away but I couldn’t help but wonder whether he was trying to be opportunistic there.

We decided to walk to the bus station in order to get seats for our bus. The first leg of our trip would be to Matara, approximately 106km away to the west.

The conductor told us that the bus would leave at 8:00am so half of us went to get breakfast after leaving our bags on the bus. The bus wanted to leave ahead of schedule again and those at the bakery were almost left behind at Tissa. As our backpacks were too big, we paid for additional two seats for them.

Route: Tissamaharama to Matara
Distance: 106km
Time taken: Approx. 3h30m
Mode: Public bus
Cost: 100 LKR per person

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The bus was really crowded by the time it left Tissa town.

The crush only eased at Hambantota.

Hambantota is the electoral district of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. There have been criticism of the President favoring his home district in terms of development. The accusations aren’t groundless; Sri Lanka’s second international airport and an international port are being built within the district and the area appears to receive more aid compared to other districts affected by the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami.

Ambalangoda was the next big town that we passed by. The bus would travel mostly along the coast from here onwards.

We got to chat with a local guy who boarded from Dikwella, near the famous Ho-o-maniya blowhole. We asked him about the possible places where we can get good seafood.

When he knew that we were from Singapore, he asked about Lee Kuan Yew. Like the lawyer whom we met in Haputale, he told us about the electoral promise which LKY made to Singaporeans more than 40 years ago. “If I’m elected, I will emulate Sri Lankan economic model.” The Sri Lankan politicians are now promising their voters that they can look forward to Singapore’s style of development. The irony wasn’t lost on us here.

The bus reached Matara about three and a half hours after it left Tissa. We wasted no time in finding our next bus to Galle.

Route: Matara to Galle
Distance: 45km
Time taken: Approx. 1h15m
Mode: Public bus
Cost: 43 LKR per person

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This bus was less crowded than the previous one and I sat on the left side for a good view of the sea. The waves were rough as it was the monsoon season along the south coast. Along the way there were abandoned structures along the coast. I believed that they were debris from the 2004 Tsunami.

It was half time for us when we arrived at Galle’s rather chaotic bus depot. It was scorching hot and we decided to have lunch near the bus station before deciding our next course of action. Our lunch was the usual fried rice, fried noodles and briyani; the seafood fried rice turned out to be quite tasty.

Despite the hot weather, we decided to take a look at Galle Fort since we were already there.

We had to walk pass some fishmongers on our way to the fort.

The hot weather forced us to take an extra break at a cafe near the main gate.

An elderly man on bicycle started chatting to us and asked about our accommodation. We were just passing by and immediately he offered to organize onward transportation. We assured him that we knew where to take the public buses. He wasn’t ready to give up and told us to visit some place inside the Fort. It was so hard to shake him off.

Inside the fort:

The caretaker of the church was rather cranky as we disturbed him during his lunch. He said that no photography was allowed inside and told us the minimum amount to donate was 100 LKR. Oh well. I intended to put 20 LKR into the donation box but it wasn’t appreciated at all.

Running short of time we decided not to walk to the coast and headed back to the bus station instead. A volleyball tournament was taking place near the Old Gate.

There were air-conditioned bus services from Galle to Colombo, 119km away. We chose them over the non air-conditioned ones to avoid the fumes and pollution but the seat pitch in these smaller vehicles was really miserable.

Route: Galle to Colombo
Distance: 119km
Time taken: Approx. 3h
Mode: Air-con bus
Cost: 215 LKR per person

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Like public buses, the air-con ones would pick up passengers along the route. The driver seemed mild at first but got progressively crazier as we neared Colombo. He kept weaving in and out of the traffic and even went on to the opposite lane. It was truly heart stopping stuff.

It was already dark when we reached Colombo. Along the way we passed by well known surfing beaches such as Hikkaduwa and Bentota. Colombo’s bus station was messy and chaotic. Not somewhere to hang around for any amount of time.

Chiang wasn’t pleased when I told him that there was one more bus ride before reaching Negombo, our final destination of the day. A helpful fellow passenger from our Galle bus made sure that we got to the correct bus for Negombo. The air-con bus was too full so we just got on the next non air-conditioned one.

Route: Colombo to Negombo
Distance: 36.5km
Time taken: Approx. 1h30m
Mode: Public bus
Cost: 40 LKR per person

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It was more than 12 hours since we left Tissa when we arrived at Negombo at 8:30pm. Only a short autorickshaw ride (200 LKR per autorickshaw) separated us from Jeero’s Guest House, our lodging for the night. The drivers offered to drive us to the airport the following morning for 800 LKR which we bargained down to 700 LKR.

Only two doubles were available at Jeero’s and the owner offered to put two of us at the hotel next door for the same price. Apparently both of them were under the same management. We decided to stick together and accepted the owner’s offer of placing extra bed in the room. Each triple cost 1500 LKR. The rooms were big and clean and the beach could be seen from the balcony. Too bad it was too dark by the time we reached Negombo.

Negombo Beach was easily the most touristy place that we visited in Sri Lanka. There are shops selling souvenirs and the restaurants cater mainly to tourists. June was clearly the low season for tourism as there were hardly any foreign visitors on the streets. We decided to splurge on our last meal in Sri Lanka and hoped to have some famed Sri Lankan crabs at their place of origin.

We chose the most likely restaurant which might serve decent seafood and ordered a crab each and some other dishes. To their credit our steamed crabs were really fresh but the other dishes were disappointing. The prawns used for the dish of garlic prawns were so small that they should only be described as shrimps. Like tea, the best selection of seafood are exported to overseas market and the local market is left with what’s unsold. An unfortunate disappointing end to a great trip.

Sri Lanka Adventure [10 - 18 June 2010]
Part I: Pre-Trip [Singapore, 10 Jun 2010]
Part II: The Long Shuttle [Singapore - Kuala Lumpur, 10 Jun 2010]
Part III: AK255 [KUL - CMB, 11 Jun 2010]
Part IV: A Slice of Cultural Triangle [CMB - Dambulla, 11 June 2010]
Part V: Temples [Dambulla - Kandy, 12 Jun 2010]
Part VI: Into the Hills [Kandy - Haputale, 13 Jun 2010]
Part VII: Trekking to World’s End [Horton's Plains National Park, 14 Jun 2010]
Part VIII: Retracing the steps of Sir Thomas Lipton [Lipton's Seat & Tea Factory, 15 Jun 2010]
Part IX: Leopard! Leopard! Leopard! [Haputale - Tissa, 16 Jun 2010]
Part X: Will this journey ever end? [Tissa - Negombo, 17 Jun 2010]
Part XI: Goodbye Serendib [CMB - KUL - Singapore, 18 Jun 2010]
Part XII: Epilogue

After three nights at Haputale, it was time for us to move on.

We settled our bill for our stay with the manager (1950 LKR per person for three nights; 1300 LKR for a double room) and headed to the bus station. While we had an enjoyable stay at Srilakview, I couldn’t help but feel that the management could spruce up the rooms and maintain them even better.

We made good our promise to the fruit seller and got his address (to send him photographs) before leaving. The 8:30am bus to Wellawaya left ahead of schedule and it meant that we had a little more time in Haputale.

While out walking in town the previous evening, the two photographers made an acquaintance with the owner of the provision shop at the bus station. He told them that he could tell they are from Singapore from their faces.

It turned out that he had worked at a factory in Singapore for seven years and is now back in his hometown running the provision shop. We stocked up some snacks from his shop and he told us that the next bus would leave at around 10:00am.

After consulting more people, we realized that we might not be able to stick to our original plan of making the afternoon safari at Yala National Park. We would need to make two transfers (at Wellawaya and Wirawila) to reach Tissamaharama, the gateway to Yala NP. Some guy came and offered us a ride with the van driver whom we had to Horton’s Plains NP.

After some friendly banter and hard bargaining, we settled on a really good price of 4800 LKR (for us of course) and set off in the van for Tissamaharama or Tissa for short.

Route: Haputale to Tissamaharama (Tissa)
Distance: 96km
Time taken: Approx. 3h
Mode: Van
Cost: 4800 LKR

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As the road winded down the hills, the lack of air-condition in the van became more apparent. We cooled off for a while at Diyaluma Falls, the second highest waterfall in Sri Lanka at 220m.

It was a slippery climb from the road to the base of the waterfall; I didn’t feel that the effort was worth it since we had seen Baker’s Falls. The terrain flattened out near Wellawaya and we declined the driver’s offer to visit Buduruvagala temple in order to reach Tissa earlier.

The van driver drove us to Travellers’ Home and the owner showed us the triples available. The owner was keen to have us and offered to negotiate the rates. Srilakview’s manager had recommended Regina Inn in Tissa and we decided to take a look there as well. After viewing both places we decided to pump for Travellers’ Home whose rooms were brighter and seemed cleaner.

Some British backpackers were leaving the guesthouse as we were checking in. They were on the morning safari and told us excitedly that they managed to spot a mother leopards with her two cubs. As time was running short, we got the guesthouse owner to organize the jeep for us. He quoted 4200 LKR for each person, an offer which we accepted.

The driver was a smiley young chap and readily accepted our request for a stop to stock up on some food and water along the way. We passed by a big lake on our way to the national park.

Before reaching the park entrance, our driver drove us off the road to point out a baby crocodile nesting near the lake. It was really hard to spot. Buffaloes were all over the grassland surrounding the water body.

We reached the visitors’ center and our guide went to settle the fees while we took a look at the small museum. There were interesting exhibits and short information about the species present in the park but we were more interested to see the wildlife in flesh instead of specimens.

We stopped shortly after leaving the visitors’ center. Our driver had spotted yet another crocodile.

Our driver was really sharp in spotting animals.

It’s digging for something…

Then we came into contact with some giants.

The pair of elephants were actually of a bigger herd who wanted to cross the track to the water body. However, the horde of jeeps scared them and they didn’t dare to cross.

It put on a show for us.

We moved on and as usual our driver was on alert for moving objects.

We were driven to the river bank and told by our driver that we could walk around the area for pictures.

They are left behind by predators.

Until now, we had pretty much seen what we expected to see except for the biggest prize: leopards.

Our driver received a phone call from a fellow guide who had news of leopard sighting and we were off in the jeep again. Our jeep was stationary at a spot in anticipation of any sighting of the big cat but no luck there.

We drove away from the jeeps into one of the deserted tracks and suddenly a leopard appeared right in front of us sitting on the side of the track. The driver was shocked as well but quickly reacted by reversing and then cutting the engine. The leopard strolled leisurely back into the vegetation again.

What a lucky sighting! The driver drove us to a nearby water body as he estimated that the leopard was heading to one. Alas it didn’t mean to and we left disappointed after waiting for another 10 minutes there.

Just as we thought that the highlight of the trip was behind us and were discussing the animals at the back of the jeep, Feijie suddenly let out a cry.

“Leopard! Leopard! Leopard!”

His sharp eyes had spotted a huge cat to our right as the jeep drove pass. Our driver was looking the other way and were equally surprised as the rest of us. He pulled over and reversed; our view of this big cat was finally unobstructed.

What a beauty.

It moved inside the vegetation after a while but our driver correctly predicted that it would cross the track behind us.

You could tell that it didn’t give a damn about the approaching vehicle at all.

Our luck didn’t run out there as we spotted an elephant with tusks walking towards us on the track minutes later.

The driver remarked that we were really lucky; there were only a total of 35 leopards on record in the national park and the last elephant that we saw was one of the only nine with tusks. Safari was definitely money well spent.

It was getting dark as we made our way out of the park. We could tell that the place was about to come alive with all the sounds from nature.

We asked our driver if there were any good eating places in town but he was under instruction from his boss to bring us back to the guesthouse. Tissa town was quiet with most of the shops closed when we drove past.

The food at the guesthouse were more than expensive than what we were used to in Haputale. We ordered our dinner and told to return in an hour’s time. In the meantime we went back to our rooms where things were to get slightly more interesting.

The guys in the other room found two bed bugs on their beds and complained to the owner. The owner insisted that there were no bed bugs and told them, “This is Asia.” We were already irritated with his hard-sell tactics with the dinner and his response riled us even more. In the end we couldn’t do much except to stay on since it was already quite late and it was for only one night.

The dinner was forgettable and overpriced for what was served. The owner’s wife redeemed themselves a little by allowing us to watch the World Cup game between Spain and Switzerland in her living room. I observed that their own living quarter was more spartan than the rest of the guesthouse. Switzerland produced the first real upset of the tournament by winning against Spain.

And we watched it from a random living room in Tissa, Sri Lanka. How interesting.