| < | sijeèanj, 2017 | |||||
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Hm, where to start? I’m at the Dubai airport, waiting for the plane, and if my old net book’s weak battery lasts enough, I might even be able to write something. I have a new mini laptop at home, but I didn’t dare to bring it with me, afraid of theft. I was going somewhere far away for the first time and I really didn’t know what to expect. As it turned out, I felt totally safe in Sri Lanka. Not just safe, I felt like nothing really bad can possibly happen. Small bad things, yes, but nothing major. I don’t know where that feeling came from and if there’s any truth to it, but it worked for me. Did I like my trip? Yes and no. I don’t regret traveling, but I do regret I did it with agency instead of alone. I only chose this agency because they promised something different and unusual, but they delivered the most usual touristic arrangement, with nothing outside of it at all. I don’t like to be a tourist. I don’t need air conditioned room, overpriced attractions, access to alcohol and things adapted to my culture. I want to experience something new, different, what I can’t find at home. So, when they put me in the hotel right on the beach, in the insanely busy main street of touristic city Hikkaduwa, I don’t find myself grateful at all. It could be cheaper, it could be more peaceful, it could be more local… Everything is expensive on the beach, and while it may not be too expensive for my standard, I still don’t like being ripped off just because I’m white. Surprise, surprise, not all white people come from rich countries that want and try to control the whole world. Some of us come from stupid primitive tribes that just want to kill their neighbors and sell their souls to the mentioned rich parts of the race. Ok, back to the main street. When I say it’s busy, it’s actually an understatement. And they drive on the left side, which took me a while to notice (this is why I would be a dangerous driver, I’m not very perceptive, so I gave up on driving pretty much right after I learned it). It confuses me a lot when I’m crossing the street, which is always adventurous since there’s no way in hell anybody will stop to let you cross. Luckily, they don’t drive fast. They honk a lot, maybe as a safety measure or maybe because peace is overrated? When it comes to traffic, the worst thing of all are tuk tuks, the three wheels vehicles that serve as taxies. They are small so can easily maneuver and they seem practical, but I absolutely hate them because their drivers will not pass a chance to ask you if you need a ride. I prefer walking, not just to save money, but mainly because I love to walk and it’s the main thing I want to do when I get to a new place. Also, I’m an introvert, which makes it very exhausting for me to keep saying no to all those offers. Tuk tuk’s are everywhere in unlimited amount. I wanted to carry a sign saying that I don’t want to use one, but it probably wouldn’t help. Nothing helps. I am white and they want my money, no matter what it takes. That, or sex. I had offers from strangers to come to my room, or their room, or any room as long as it’s a room. It’s seems to be a normal thing there, and apparently lot of older women come there and marry young men. So, money and sex, everything is about money and sex, just like everywhere else, which makes this world a depressing place to live in. Oh, right, and alcohol. Our guide said that local people have very low tolerance for alcohol so the government is trying to lower the consumption of it, which is way it can’t be find just anywhere. Whatever. I don’t like getting drunk and I hate hanging out with drunken people, so I gladly missed this crucial experience. Ok, let’s talk about food. I never want to miss on food, as long as it’s vegetarian and not full of additives and shit. Well, the former is true for Sri Lanka, the latter sadly not. I don’t know if these people eat anything other than rice and curry, vegetables and fish, which all works for me, but after a while I wished for a bit of diversity. I loved trying fresh juices and exotic fruits that I never saw before. Bananas were disappointing, I have to say. They are supposed to taste better in their natural environment, but other than my first one, they all tasted worse. I met a man who lived in Italy for 25 years and he said the food is not what it used to be, that they are putting chemicals in it and everybody getting sick, all for money, of course. I got sick, too, was it because of chemicals or something else, I don’t know. Another awesome thing is they don’t drink coffee, but tea, which is awesome because I hate coffee and love tea. My bag is full black and green tea with lots of different flavors. And spices, lots of fresh, aromatic spices. I can’t wait to get home and start cooking! Now for the sad part. When you go to the super market (which is rare, but there was one close to my hotel) and want to buy cookies or ice cream or something sweet, there is none! I mean, there is, but all full of preservatives, artificial flavors and tons of E numbers. I want to know what I eat so I always read labels with ingredients and in Sri Lanka it made me especially sad. Why can’t you find any product with natural vanilla in a country that grows vanilla? Why does a country that grows vanilla use only artificial vanilla flavor? On the bright side, the lack of quality sweets kept me away from eating sweet and that’s an awesome thing. Sugar addiction is a huge problem for me, but not so huge that I would accept products of such a low quality. So, the busy main street is full of little shops, restaurants, hotels and massage centers. But they are pretty much all the same. Parallel to the street is a railway and if you cross it you can walk through awesome jungle, it’s suddenly peaceful and you hear only various exotic birds, sometimes meet some exotic animal. Ok, no elephant appeared on my way, but apparently they do that sometimes on the roads, they block the cars and the only way to distract them is to offer them food. It’s not possible to avoid tuk tuks even in the jungle, but they are rarer. And I met a few locals who didn’t want to sell me anything, but just wanted to meet me, invite me to their home, offer tea and rice with curry… That was nice, I felt really welcomed and I enjoyed seeing how they live. What else? The beach? I didn’t care much about that, I have that at home, which I prefer since you can actually swim in the sea, unlike the ocean. I did enjoy waves, the sand has a beautiful color, but it goes everywhere and it’s not possible to get rid of it later. My swimming suit has two layers and now I have a ton of sand between them, I have no idea how to get it out! On my last day in Sri Lanka (was it today? Yesterday? Time zone changes confuse me and I don’t feel like counting, not that it matters) I tried to spend all the Sri Lankan money I had left. I bought some more tea (figures!), massage oil and whatever that thing is that they eat with tea. It left me with 79 rupees (which converted to Euros is about 50 cents), so what do you buy for such a small amount? Well, I bought basil seed. Its price was 75 so I chose it, not knowing what to do with it. Is it a spice? Tea? I guess I’ll google it, and maybe try to grow it. |