May all beings be happy - if necessary, also leeches

Almost seven weeks in Sri Lanka lie behind me. Seven weeks in the greenest country I have ever been to. A Vipassana course, two weeks of work at an eco lodge in the middle of the jungle, and a short visit from Germany have provided impressions and experiences that will surely have an impact for a while. And since I landed back in the noisy and bustling city of Kolkata a few days ago, I haven't had much time to let it all sink in.

After my Vipassana course, I did a few days of intensive tourist program, but I realized that this is not the kind of traveling that fulfills me right now. So I spontaneously decided to find a place where I can stay longer and also help out. When I received the confirmation from the 'Natural Mystic Sanctuary' at short notice, I was very happy, as this eco lodge is located near the Sinharaja Rainforest, which I wanted to visit anyway. After extending my visa for Sri Lanka quite easily in Colombo, the capital city, I took a bus to Deniyaya the next day. Although it's only 6 pm when I arrive there, it's already really dark. To reach the eco lodge, I still have to take a 20-minute tuk-tuk ride. The driver knows the place. Sam and Karina are well known here, as they are apparently the only foreigners who run a hotel. As the conversation with the initially friendly driver starts to make me uncomfortable with questions about my age, my relationship status, and whether I'm traveling alone, he fortunately stops and says that I have to continue on foot. Karina had already told me on the phone that her place is quite remote and it's easier to arrive in daylight. So I was prepared for a little adventure. The first thing I have to do is cross a small river, which actually has quite a bit of water in the evening. With two backpacks and in the dark, this is a little challenge. Since I also want to get rid of the annoying tuk-tuk driver as quickly as possible, I forget to take off my flip-flops and lose one of them in the water after two steps. Fortunately, I can pick it up before the current carries it away. I'm glad that I didn't pack my little headlamp too far away. I would be helpless without it. The photos were taken two weeks later on the way back, which is far less adventurous in daylight.

After what feels like an eternity, I reach the other side. From here, it should be about a 15-minute walk, which feels more like 30 to me.

Since I saw the Steven King movie "Stand by Me" many years ago, bloodsuckers are creatures that I never want to encounter. However, by reading some travel reports about this area, I know that there are supposed to be quite a lot of these worm-like creatures here. After walking for a few hundred meters, I suddenly feel something moving on my feet and shine my flashlight in that direction. And indeed, I discover at least four of those little creatures crawling over my feet with very peculiar movements, looking for a good place to latch on. Slightly panicked, I try to shake them off, but it's impossible. And the longer I stand still trying to get rid of them, the more of them come running from all directions. So I have no choice but to surrender and continue my way, now at an increased speed. After what feels like an eternity, I finally reach the Natural Mystic Sanctuary and I am greeted by two barking dogs, two cats, and Karina and Sam. The little bloodsuckers are quickly removed, but one of them managed to latch on tightly. The spot bleeds for a good hour and leaves some stains on the floor. I wonder if I can get used to this uncomfortable feeling in the next 14 days. But I'm too tired to think about it. After a delicious Sri Lankan curry, I fall into bed at half past eight and look forward to seeing the place in daylight.

The clay house is my accommodation, which I initially share with the employee Rassika and later for a short time with three other volunteers. In the small tent, the courageous Kaleigh sleeps, who has traveled all the way from the USA to learn more about sustainability and self-sufficiency before starting her studies in this field.

There is no bathroom in the house. However, a few meters away, there is the probably best shower in the world, hidden under a leafy canopy.

During a tea break the next morning, it becomes clear pretty quickly that there is a lot to do here. Karina from Germany and Sam from England bought this 2.5 hectare, paradisiacal property about five years ago. It used to be a tea plantation. Now everything is forested and you really feel like you're in the middle of the jungle. It takes about five minutes to walk from the reception and guest accommodations to my hut through the forest - and through leech territory.

These creatures even manage to find their way to my feet through the sole of my flip-flops. And it's really not easy to get rid of them.

One of them had attached itself between my toes and once again I leave a blood trail. After a while, I come to terms with the fact that I have at least one of these encounters every day, but we won't become friends in this lifetime.

The list of things to do before the high season starts and more tourists arrive is long. I spend the first five days mainly painting walls in a new house.

Karina and Sam run this place almost alone. There are two employees who help with all the work that needs to be done, and Mala, the cook, who mainly comes when there are guests. I quickly realize how much work is involved here, and I want to support the two of them as best as I can. Nevertheless, I take breaks from time to time to admire the incredibly beautiful nature here and to be happy that I am spending two weeks at one of the most beautiful workplaces on earth. There is so much to discover here, from beautiful plants and trees to fascinating insects, colorful birds, dragon-like lizards, and loudly screeching monkeys chasing each other through the trees.

The most beautiful spider I have ever seen

In addition to the leeches, there are one or two other roommates here that I find rather eerie. Fortunately, this little scorpion is no longer alive. Sam found it next to his bed one morning.

On the other hand, this one is quite alive and rather big:

Oh, and then there's this squirrel-like creature that is just gigantic:

This giant squirrel managed to devour a huge jackfruit all by itself over the course of two days.

One morning, Karina and Sam set off for Colombo to run some errands. They plan to be back in the late afternoon. As it gets dark and they are still not back, I jokingly say to Kaleigh, "Who knows if they will come back. Maybe they spontaneously decided to take a break and go to the beach." Shortly after that, my phone rings. Sam is on the other end, telling me that their car broke down in the middle of the highway. Since they haven't even arrived in Colombo yet, he doesn't know if they will be back the next day. They will spend the night at the beach. Smiling, I tell Kaleigh about the phone call, and she is convinced that I am some kind of witch and really wants me to conjure up a few things she wishes for... When Karina calls the next morning and says they will be gone for at least one more day, Kaleigh and I decide to take a day off and leave all the work behind. Instead, we enjoy the sun, take a swim in the pool under the small waterfall that belongs to the property, and I use the time to write my last travel report.

There's no one here to cook for us, so I can finally cook for myself again. Apparently, I haven't forgotten how to do it after over five months. Kaleigh likes it, too.

Later, it starts to rain, as it does almost every afternoon - after all, we are in the rainforest. 

But the clouds disappear quickly, and we can admire the beautiful sky at sunset.

After a total of three days, Karina and Sam return, and even though it wasn't planned, they seem relaxed after their little break at the beach.

My next project, before I leave again soon, is to renovate the staircase. Sanding down the wood and railing and painting everything anew.

Since there is only solar power here and the sun hasn't been strong enough in the past few days, the work isn't so easy. The power keeps going off, and I can only make slow progress. The washing machine, refrigerator, and sander definitely cannot be used at the same time. It's interesting to see the difficulties one is confronted with when trying to run a somewhat eco-friendly hotel in the middle of the forest. I can imagine that even Karina and Sam were not aware of all the hurdles when they decided to take this step. The difficult accessibility due to the remote location and the river that separates the place from the road make everything even more cumbersome. It always involves a relatively large effort to bring building materials and all other purchases here. After just a few days here, I'm glad that I'm only here to help out for a while. Knowing that I'm not responsible for keeping this project running allows me to enjoy it in a relaxed way. I have great respect for Sam and Karina, who put all their time and energy into this and surely imagined that some things would be easier. Going on vacation in a paradisiacal environment is different from living and working there.

Anyway, I manage to finish my staircase project on time. Because on December 5th, I'm expecting a visitor. Eric is taking a short vacation in Sri Lanka, and since I extended my visa, I'm staying longer than originally planned, so we take the opportunity to meet and travel together for a few days. Eric picks me up at my workplace and realizes upon arrival that we are currently living in two completely different worlds. Well, in Hamburg, people are generally less concerned with leeches, giant spiders, and scorpions in their everyday life.

The next day, we do a guided hike through the "real" rainforest, the Sinharaja Forest, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tour was nice, but compared to the past two weeks I spent in the middle of the jungle, it was a bit disappointing for me. However, I still saw a few different animals here, although we didn't have the chance to go deep into the forest, but only walked along a path that we had to share with motorcycles.

Many animals here are extremely well camouflaged, and it sometimes takes several minutes until we can see what our tour guide is pointing at with his finger. Like this egg-laying lizard:

In the end, we take a refreshing dip under the waterfall.

And then we take a tuk-tuk to the coast to Mirissa. We have planned beach vacation for the last four days in Sri Lanka.

However, we are not just lying lazily on the beach. Because on the south coast of Sri Lanka, with a bit of luck, you can see whales on a boat tour. This was the event I was most looking forward to before my trip to Sri Lanka. I have never seen a whale in my life, and until recently, I didn't know that the chances are so good in Sri Lanka. On the way to Mirissa, I check which providers are recommended, after all, I don't want to go on a whale hunt, but observe the animals from a respectful distance so as not to scare them away. With 'Raja and the Whales,' I find a whale-watching tour provider that sounds trustworthy and is slightly more expensive than the 100 other companies competing for tourists in the small town of Mirissa. The next morning, we are picked up from our accommodation just before six in the morning, and then we board the boat, leaving the coast at a beautiful sunrise.

I have never been seasick, but the boat is rocking quite a bit. Fortunately, we were given motion sickness tablets at the beginning of the tour, which work very quickly. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have been able to enjoy this trip properly. After just about half an hour of sailing, we already see a lot of dolphins. In Cambodia and Laos, I saw a few river dolphins on a kayak tour on the Mekong. But I have never seen dolphins in the sea before, and just for that, the tour is already absolutely worth it.

After observing two groups of 30 to 50 dolphins for a while, we continue on, because the actual goal is to see a whale. And indeed, just a short time later, a dorsal fin appears about 100 meters away, which our guide quickly identifies as a Bryde's whale, shortly after, a second one joins. We observe the animals for a while as they dive up and down. It fascinates me how the boatmen can identify the animals so quickly, who only surface for a very short time and only show a small part of their bodies. Suddenly, the guide says that he saw something further away that could possibly be a blue whale! So we change direction and drive for a while. The guide keeps saying, "there is the spout." Some other tourists nod in agreement. I see nothing. After a few minutes, the guide is 100% sure that it is a blue whale. A few minutes later, I see a kind of huge mirror on the water surface quite far away. Here, the whale submerged a while ago. The chances that it will resurface near here are not bad. And indeed, after a few minutes, I see the spout of a blue whale in the distance for the first time. I already get goosebumps just writing about it. After all, blue whales are the largest and heaviest animals that have ever lived on Earth.

The whale surfaces briefly and dives down again. But the mere sight of this tail fin from a great distance deeply impresses me. 

The whale now dives down in search of food. It can take up to 20 minutes for it to resurface. And it resurfaces. We observe this incredibly large animal for at least an hour and a half. All the other boats that were initially there have already moved on. But apparently, our guide can't get enough either. And the patience pays off, because suddenly, the whale comes quite close to the surface of the water near our boat.

After this sighting, you can feel on the boat how impressed we all are. The whale leaves another large mirror on the water surface, and we happily and tiredly drive back towards the mainland. Even our guide can't get enough apparently. We enjoy the peaceful and relaxed atmosphere on the return journey. Only for this experience alone, my trip to Sri Lanka was absolutely worth it.

In the evening, we enjoy an incredibly delicious Sri Lankan curry in Mirissa to end the day. It typically consists of rice and six different vegetable preparations. 

The next day, we drive a few kilometers further from Mirissa to Unawatuna, another coastal town. The tuk-tuk ride is quite funny, as we drive past the most beautiful beaches in bright sunshine while Christmas songs continue to play from the vehicle's speakers. It's funny and disturbing at the same time.

Our accommodation is located two kilometers before the actual seaside resort, and we enjoy a deserted beach, apart from a few fishermen.

... and a dreamlike sunset.

...and we are visited by a small hermit crab.

After two more days on the beach, which we now really only use for lazing around, suddenly the time in Sri Lanka and also the time spent with Eric is over. Our flights leave almost at the same time. While Eric flies back to Hamburg, I look forward to landing in Kolkata again the next morning. Just quickly taking a farewell selfie in front of the Christmas tree at the airport, checking in luggage, and a coffee to finish off, and then our paths separate. I send warm greetings to all loved ones in Germany and say another heartfelt thank you for the kind greetings in the form of Christmas items and especially homemade cookies to my dear parents! That was a great surprise. I have eaten most of the cookies with Eric, but I saved a few to take with me to Kolkata, and they were very well received by my friends here.

Now, after five days in Kolkata, I'm looking forward to going back to the Sundarbans tomorrow. I've heard that I'm already being expected there. This will be my fourth stay there this year, and I'm curious to see what awaits me. The high season has begun. The tourist groups visiting the eco-village are getting bigger and bigger. The atmosphere there will certainly be different from my previous stays. And it's quite cold here. People are walking around with warm jackets, scarves, and hats. And I constantly have cold feet, at least. When I sit in the office at the backpackers' place with the socks my sister knitted for me a few days ago, I'm told that I definitely can't be from Germany and that I'm at least half Indian by now. Who knows.

Dear all, I wish you all a wonderful Advent season and a calm Christmas. Sending warm hugs to all. I will report back here as soon as there's something to report and the internet connection allows it...