Tag: vacation

Beating Heart

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After Ella, I headed over to Nuwara Eliya. I’d originally wanted to take the train. The train ride from Ella to Nuwara Eliya is one of the iconic things to do here. Unfortunately, there was a train strike on my travel day there, so I took the bus.
Upon arrival, I had a look around town and happened to meet up with Zane and Ryan at a local grocery store.

Ryan had to leave the next day, but I would end up traveling with Zane for the next few towns.
The next day, we walked through tea fields. We were a bit ambitious with this trek/stroll, deciding to walk 8 kilometers. About 20 minutes into the walk, I realized the scenery wasn’t going to vary much for the duration of our trek, and so we started to look for shortcuts. At one point we cut across a thin path in a tea field that eventually dissipated into no path. Eventually, we made it back to the outskirts of Nuwara Eliya, where we proceeded to climb Lover’s Leap waterfall.

While at Nuwara Eliya, I stayed at Laughing Leopard Hostel. This was a fun hostel. The reception area turned into a DJ booth at night, just about every night. It was fun, but sometimes the loud music wouldn’t let up till 2am.
Just north of the hostel I had the best dosas I’ve ever had at a hole-in-the-wall place called Gaayathri Mess.

After Nuwara Eliya, we headed over to Kandy. The train strike was over, so we took it there.

I imagined there would be more to do here, but it turned out to be a city you could see in a day. We headed over to lake near the center, then up to the see the giant Buddha statue that overlooks the city. I was surprised to find another grandchild tree of the Bodhi tree behind the giant Buddha. The atmosphere was breezy and calm.

Later that afternoon we took a bus to Sigiriya. We were back in nature. The town is basically one road with loads of hostels and restaurants, the massive rock everyone goes there to see, and some back roads that go through farmer fields and lakes.

After exploring the area by bike, we eventually headed to Pidurangala, a large rock with views of Siguriya and the surrounding ruins.

Siguriya was chill, but my time in Sri Lanka was running out and I wanted to spend some time in Auradhapura.
This town is known for its many old temples and ruins. Among them is Jaya Sri Maha Bodi, a tree grown from a sapling of the original Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya. I was stoked to see it, but upon getting to the temple, I noticed that there were so many walls around the tree. A person is not able to get a good view of the trunk. The perimeter was covered with sand, not the most accommodating floor for meditating. In addition, there were many ficus religiosa trees, the same species as the Bodhi tree, growing near and around the Bodhi sapling tree. It was kind of a confusing, inconvenient, but also somewhat magical place, because everywhere you looked within the temple walls, you could see ficus religiosa tree branches and leaves. This is a beautiful and special tree whose leaves make a distinct sound in the wind. The day Zane left on to his next destination, I went back to this temple alone and spend the majority of the day there. In the depths of the serenity and calmness there emerged an experience I could only describe as deeply profound that left me tearfully grateful for life. The great kindness and effort demonstrated by all the various beings was amongst the foremost realizations that hit me.

My final stop before leaving Sri Lanka was Negombo, a small neighboring beachside town to Colombo. My stay here was short and sweet.

Sri Lanka was really incredible. Not unlike my experience in Nepal, I received more than I expected. The fellow travelers I met on my journey really highlighted this leg of my journey. The best parties I experienced since the start of my trip were here. If you look on a map, Sri Lanka looks like a beating heart. I don’t think its a coincidence.

Sri Lanka

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After Nepal, I headed to Sri Lanka. I flew into Colombo, the capital. Colombo is on the west coast of the island nation.
I discovered hoppers, a rice flour crepe that can be topped in different ways, but usually with an egg. They are simple and good.
On a wander through a local grocery store, I found environmentally friendly utensils and one time use food containers. I found many items derived from coconuts including this syrup called coconut treacle made from the sap of the flower.

The main point of interest in this city is the Gangaramaya temple. A Buddhist temple that has a tree grown from a sapling, that came from a sapling, that came from the Bodhi tree!

The vibe here is reminiscent of the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya, impenetrably tranquil. I had to come back a second time just to spend the day here.
Before I left Colombo to explore the rest of Sri Lanka, I got some locally sourced linen and had a tailor make me a custom made shirt for the sun.
I took a train to my next destination, Weligama. The train ride was fun. The windows were open. Some of the doors were missing, so you could hang out of the train as it moved.

Weligama is known for it’s ideal waves to learn surfing. Weligama was amazing. The day I arrived, I booked a hostel outside of town. I took a bus into town to explore. Entering the bus was like entering this casino, night club, Shiva realm. That was bizarre.

The next day I explored my neighborhood and got caught in a downpour that lasted about an hour. It was monsoon season when I went.

The beaches were nice but I needed to be in a place with more people, so I moved to a hostel closer to the city center, Backpacker’s hub. This place was great. I met so many lovely people! My days here were spent surfing, going to the local club, the Doctor’s House (so fun), and experimenting in the kitchen with various coconut derived products.

I want to mention two things that were percolating in my mind for several weeks at this point.
1) It’s vital to take responsibility for what we consume. Most of you know by now what a big advocate of eco-bricks I am. I’ve been making them as I travel. The bricks have been accumulating in my bag as I plan to put them into the adobe wall I’m building back home. Carrying this extra weight is certainly a burden. I was recently pondering if it was absolutely necessary doing. Eventually I came to the conclusion, after many hours of meditation and consultations with trusted sangha members, that I would pack what I could and toss what would be considered beyond a moderate effort that would cause a significant inconvenience. Overall, the more moderate perspective I adjusted to, allowed me to relax the stringency of having to do everything cleanly and perfectly the first time. I felt I had a little more wiggle room.

2) The abstinence of eating meat to diminish the harm I cause in the world was being perceived as the likely culprit for the lack of vitality I sometimes feel. Again, after meditation on the topic and consultation with invaluable sangha members for which I am so grateful for, I came to the conclusion of taking a more moderate lifestyle in regard to consuming animal protein. Overall, I realized that all of us are always creating some degree of harm in the world. The best way to proceed is to recognize that harm, reduce it to a manageable degree that doesn’t become obsessive, and use what vitality you have to work hard to benefit others. I feel this is like a kind of debt you take on. Work hard to use the resources you get and do something beneficial and useful for humanity. Don’t stop working toward this end.

After Weligama, I headed to Ella with my newly acquired hostel friend/driver, Zane, Australian, in his tuktuk rental. We planned to meet up with friends we had met in Weligama. The drive through the country side was lovely and green. Just before reaching Ella, we stopped at Ravana Falls.

It was a joyous reunion meeting up with our Weligama hostel friends in Ella, although the new hostel we occupied was riddled with nuisances. The local club, Journey, was fun!

I spent my birthday in Ella celebrating with this charming crew. The morning started out with jog over to view the famed 9 arches bridge.

In the afternoon, I headed over to Little Adam’s Peak. The view here was just boundless. I felt so inspired and fortunate to be here, the accumulation of all my life’s choices and where it had brought me.

The hike up was also pretty. I came across a lounge that was built out of bamboo, such an impressive structure.

The evening concluded with a modest meal with friends at a local restaurant.

The next day we headed over to Diyaluma Falls. This place was amazing. It was a natural water park. There were various levels to the waterfall. There was a picturesque place, a place to swim, a place to cliff jump, and even a place that had a rock water slide. We did some slacklining too.

“The real way to build a sense of well-being in the world is to love and be loved by others. If we don’t recognize the fragility and interdependence of our samsaric identities, we will never achieve a genuine sense of confidence, because all of our hopes for happiness will be focused on maintaining an identity that doesn’t actually exist in the first place.”
-Traleg Kyabgon
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