Oh beautiful Sri Lanka

Wow, I'm in beautiful Sri Lanka♡ The nature here is breathtaking! So tropical! In the south, there are the postcard beaches with the slanting palm trees (Sri Lanka's beaches have such a distinctive look), you can go on safari in the many national parks, and here you'll find the most beautiful tea plantations! Oh wow, the views from up there are amazing, and all the tea pickers with their typical tea sacks. The drive through the tea plantations up to Lipton's Seat is the most beautiful I've ever seen! I drink so much tea here:p Lipton tea comes from Sri Lanka. Sir Thomas Lipton bought the first tea plantations in Ceylon in 1890. Ceylon is the old name of Sri Lanka. Until 1972, Sri Lanka was called Ceylon. That's why the tea got its name.

I landed in Colombo, the capital, and most people continue their journey right away. Colombo is not so beautiful, but there are definitely a few nice corners and cafés if you walk around a bit. I love the T-Lounge by Dilmahs.. they have the best teas and really good snacks! I'm going to take a lot of tea with me from here before I fly back.
It's so cozy and beautiful there that I suddenly sat there for 2 hours. In Germany, I never have the peace of mind to sit in a café for 2 hours😃 But then you read or write a blog post or plan the next trip. You live completely in the present moment and do whatever you feel like doing, and you have no sense of time at all😊 I constantly wonder what day it is.
However, the markets in Colombo are not good. They are full of junk. If you're at the Pettah market, for example, as a white woman, you definitely attract a lot of attention and people are always staring at you. And there are zebra crossings here.. as natural as in almost all countries, but unlike Southeast Asia, the cars actually stop here. As soon as you stand at the zebra crossing, the cars come rushing and actually hit the brakes and let you cross. I'm thrilled. You don't have to be afraid when crossing here. But there is still crazy traffic here. The local buses are also funny. If you want to get on, you have to run half after them and jump in because they don't stop properly:)

I am here for a few more days at the end of my trip. I don't want to have a travel day on my birthday, but instead treat myself to a spa day in a nice hotel:) I got some good tips for Colombo.

The people in Colombo often seem very serious. It's just not the typical land of smiles here.. but everyone is very nice and helpful. Only the tuktuk drivers and taxi drivers are cheeky here. They try to rip you off. It happens in every country, but here it's just brazen, and they actually earn the most here. Even if you tell them to turn on the meter, they simply don't do it. You end up in endless discussions. So you eventually negotiate a price, and at the end when you get out, there's another discussion because they want even more money. It's outrageous! You reached an agreement.. that's so annoying, and I haven't experienced it like this in other countries. But it's mainly only in Colombo.

And then you drive out of Colombo and everyone is so happy and smiling, people wave at you and greet you. The children are so cute! They all have such bright eyes. They always wave at you and then shyly turn around and get excited. So adorable! Especially in the trains, they are all so lovely.
From Colombo, I first took the train for 7 hours to Nuwara Eliya for only 6€. The Little England of Sri Lanka in the middle of the tea plantations. The train ride went by quickly, sellers kept coming in, wanting to sell pastries, nuts, ice cream, or water.
In Nuwara Eliya, it was raining all the time, and I didn't find it so great, so I moved on pretty quickly. Again by train. This time to Ella. It is supposed to be the most beautiful train ride. Through beautiful tea plantations. I got a first-class ticket again because then you have a reserved seat. With all my luggage, I found it useful. Once I got on the train, I met three other backpackers. Jay from California, Louella from India, and David from Belgium. We all got along great and had the most amazing journey together:) We listened to music, drank wine, and let our feet dangle out of the train while enjoying the incredible view. It was so great. After 4 or 5 hours, we arrived at a train station and our train somehow derailed a bit:) We sat there for 2 hours. Time flew by quickly, and we had a great time there with the locals. Everyone was open-minded and sociable. We took photos with them, some played music and sang. A few girls came and shyly gave me a flower. So sweet. Eventually, another train arrived. We were supposed to take that one. So quickly, we went from first class to third class:)) But it was also cool. We squeezed ourselves into a corner, and it was only a half-hour ride.
The good thing was, Jay had a driver in Ella, Dinesh. He was also super funny, and he took us further. We first went to have a bite to eat from the train station and then went straight to the Nine Arch Bridge. Around 5 p.m., the blue slow train crossed the bridge. It's a very famous image of Sri Lanka, and the bridge looks really cool. We naturally took some photos there. From there, we went to our hotels to check-in. In the evening, we all met for dinner and went to a bar. Ella is such a cute town. And just the train ride there is absolutely worth it ♡

The next morning, we all hiked up to little Adam's Peak. A beautiful viewpoint. Dinesh was walking on the edge there. I couldn't bear to watch. Crazy. Then we drove to the Rawana Waterfall. Wow, it was incredible. Suddenly, Jay jumped in with all his clothes on. David also got in, and eventually, we all ended up in the water:) It was so refreshing! Jay and Dinesh had to leave already. They didn't have much more time in Sri Lanka. David, Lou, and I then went to a fancy spa. First, the journey there by tuktuk through the winding roads, surrounded by tea plantations high up.. amazing.. and then the spa♡ So beautiful. I took a bath there with the most amazing view. I've never had a more beautiful bath!
It's so crazy. When I think about it, my grandmas didn't have the opportunity to save so much money and just travel around the world for six months, discovering new countries and cultures, meeting so many amazing new people, trying new interesting foods with all the different spices, feeling the warm wind in their hair, and enjoying a bath with such an incredibly beautiful view.. I am so happy and grateful that I am able to do that and that so many doors are open for me. When traveling, you see everything from a different perspective, and you see how many doors are really open for you.
And also having a German passport! So easy to travel with it. The best passport in the world! Fun fact: The German passport is the most powerful passport in the world. It allows visa-free travel to 177 countries - more than any other passport.

In any case, Ella is very worthwhile. There are tea factories, you can do a bit of shopping (especially tea) on the main street, you can do an Ayurvedic spa treatment (with a massage, a traditional steam bath, and warm oil constantly poured over your forehead, followed by a head massage), there are good restaurants with delicious food, and you can do a lot of hiking. My plan was to go from there to the east coast, but we got along so well. So I went down to the south to Tissa. We hired a driver. We could share the cost. There are hardly any other options to get from Ella to the south.
Driving a car here is definitely an adventure! I thought I was already tough from the other countries.. Wow, it's crazy. first of all, the curves on the road and then the oncoming buses drive like crazy. They don't care about anything. Anything in their way is taken along:) Luckily, I was too relaxed and tired to be really scared. Only sometimes when I briefly opened my eyes, I just thought 'no no no no no' and do you know when you imaginarily hit the brakes?! I simply closed my eyes again quickly. Do you remember the game 'Frogger'? Driving a car here is like playing that game,
except that you drive straight ahead and not cross the street diagonally.
On the side of the road, you constantly see cows and goats. People with colorful umbrellas. In Germany, you only see umbrellas when it's raining, in Sri Lanka, they use them to protect themselves from the hot sun.
Then I went on a safari in Yala National Park with Lou and David. Tissa is the city where you stay. It is not nice in itself. We were lucky that it was Poya Day. Every month, on full moon day, it's a holiday in Sri Lanka. The night before, there are big celebrations with parades, etc. That made it very busy. I don't notice anything about Ramadan or Ramazan, as it's called here. But the majority here is also Buddhist.

The safari was cool, but we didn't see many extraordinary animals.. it wasn't worth it that day. Jay and Dinesh were here before us, and they saw bears and elephants and everything. There are leopards there too. Oh well, it was still a fun ride, and the jeep was awesome:) As we were driving out, we also saw an elephant. 2 crocodiles, pelicans, water buffaloes.. I think that's it🙈 Fortunately, Lou and I had been to an elephant feeding place in the morning. Baby elephants are fed there at 9, 12, 3, and 6. They already know that and come from the national park to the feeding spot, eat, and go back. The moms wait outside. You can only see them in the background. The little elephants were so cute. You only see them from a distance, but it was still cool.

From Tissa, we continued with a new driver to Galle. It wasn't on my plan at all. I looked at the pictures and read about it, and it didn't appeal to me at all. But I was so glad that I ended up going there!
First of all, the way there is already amazing. The southern beaches of Sri Lanka are the most beautiful! We stopped in Tangalle for a tea break and lunch in Mirissa. Mirissa probably has the most beautiful beach. Sri Lanka's beaches have such a distinctive look. The slanting palm trees.. so tropical here. Incredibly beautiful. We made a short stop at a sea turtle hatchery. They make sure that the babies reach the sea as soon as they hatch, and they care for injured sea turtles to nurse them back to health.
And now Galle! So great. The lighthouse is cool, and there are the trendiest cafés and really good food, and the architecture is beautiful with the Dutch colonial houses. Huge and so stylishly furnished. I was so happy that I was still there! A totally cute port city with a fortress.

The next day, I headed back to Colombo. David flies back, and Lou a few days later. I am now on my way to the east coast. 7 hours by local bus:) Let's see how that goes. I didn't want to take the night train because even the locals advise against it. So I'm taking the bus to Trincomalee at 8 a.m.. until then