Just when all the students were busy with the opening ceremony, I went to Sri Lanka and felt a different kind of exotic customs. To tell the truth, I originally wanted to take advantage of the off-season of tourism after the summer vacation, go to Taiwan to drive around the island, and rest comfortably for a week, but I did not expect various typhoons to hit, and I could only implement plan b - Sri Lanka. What I didn't expect was that this place in Sri Lanka was indeed worth the trip.
The reason for choosing Sri Lanka is also relatively simple, because of the country's "Belt and Road" policy, travel to Sri Lanka is cheaper, visas are more convenient, the local people's attitude towards Chinese is also warm, almost everyone knows English, and half-baked Chinese, so the language barrier is not large, and the natural scenery is also good. The whole trip lasted eight days, which was actually quite stressful, but because of the local translator and chartered bus, it was relatively worry-free. If you are the first time it is best to choose to follow the group, because the local traffic is not developed, the road infrastructure is not very good, and the local driving is the opposite of China, it is "left and right-hand", if you rent a car and drive, there is indeed a certain degree of difficulty and danger. If you're coming to Sri Lanka for the second time, it doesn't matter. In fact, at the end of the trip, I felt that Sri Lanka could really come for a second time.
There are many flights from Beijing to Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, but most of them require a transfer (most of them are transit flights in Hong Kong), while only SriLankan Airlines has one direct flight, which departs at 0:50 am at Beijing T2 Terminal in the early morning and arrives at Bandaranaike Airport at 5:50 local Colombo time. Since there is a two-and-a-half-hour time difference between Beijing and Colombo, it takes more than 7 hours to fly on the plane. Although the appearance and costume of the Sri Lankan Airlines "flight attendant" are very ethnic, I still fell asleep flying together, too sleepy~!
To be honest, international flights are much more punctual than domestic flights, saying what time to fly is what time to fly, and what time to arrive. Around 6 a.m., we arrived at Bandaranaike Airport, the airport is simple, but not too small, but compared to the capital airport, it is indeed much smaller.
First of all, Sri Lanka is not a city, a region, it is a country, just below India, similar to a palm-shaped island country, because the shape of this island is also like a drop of water, so it is also called "tears in the Indian Ocean". Sri Lanka is also a religious country, and it is also a socialist country! Awesome!
Sri Lanka originally implemented visa-free or visa-on-arrival for Chinese tourists, but from this year onwards, it has been changed to eta electronic visa, which requires you to fill in the entry application form on the official website of Sri Lanka's tourism entry in advance, and finally receive an electronic visa on it.
After entering the country, you can see Sri Lanka's inbound duty-free shops, everything, but the duty-free goods here are actually not tax-free, they are all heavy taxes, do not buy things in Sri Lanka airport duty-free shops, otherwise they will be "pitted to death".
When I picked up my luggage, I saw the crew of our flight again, in general, just like this, a more distinct Indian race. In addition, this place in Sri Lanka has a very uncomfortable place Chinese adaptability, that is, there are always people who ask you for a tip, although it is equivalent to 5 yuan, but it is not very accustomed. Although I know this rule, you can't ask me for money when I boo! So, I can only say unhappily, "no cash, no cion, leave me".
Out of the airport, you can see the counters for exchanging currency, only a few counters support the exchange of renminbi for the local currency "rupee", and most only support the exchange of US dollars. So friends who want to go to Sri Lanka, it is best to exchange good dollars in advance In the past, the exchange rate of us dollars was relatively stable, and it was much more affordable than the exchange of renminbi. Also, there is only one atm at the airport that supports UnionPay card cash withdrawal, but I didn't find it. The exchange rate of the renminbi to the rupee, which is basically 20 to 1, is not very cost-effective.
Before looking at the raiders, it was said that the airport has a dialog phone operator, the status is just like China Mobile, the signal is good, the network speed is fast! In fact, no matter how much money it is, it is best not to buy. Because the traffic here is divided into daytime and nighttime use, 7 days of 2gb of daytime traffic, simply not enough, especially for Chinese who have become accustomed to high network speeds and large traffic, it is not applicable at all, and finally have to recharge money. So there are two ways to solve the traffic, the first is that China Mobile has a Belt and Road package, less than 100 yuan "seven days unlimited"; the second, is to rent global wifi in advance, 20 yuan a day, unlimited. As for the local Internet speed, just "huh" it!
Out of the airport, Sri Lanka gave me the first feeling, is two words - "familiar".
"Familiar" does not mean the environment and the city, but the Sri Lankan people are very familiar with our attitude and eyes. Because I clearly remember that in Beijing in the 80s and 90s, when you saw a car of foreigners passing in front of you on the road, you would blurt out a sentence of "Oh! Foreigner hey! Today, sitting in the car, I have also become the "foreigners" in my mouth, and their eyes are like looking at the monkeys from the far east, looking at us with novelty.
Because the local economy is not developed and the infrastructure is not complete, the local taxis are all such "tuk-tuks", which are basically the same as in India. But the price of the tuk-tuk, must bargain! Otherwise it is also a pit you are not negotiable!
As the plane landed too early and didn't eat early, we found a local restaurant on the way to replenish our energy. The translator is a 60-year-old man who says he comes to eat a lot and it's delicious! To be honest, it looks really good.
But! Whether it is a small snack or a small cake, it is so sweet, it is almost a fight to the death! Moreover, the filling inside is curry, and it is a curry of various flavors, and there is no psychological preparation at all.
Although I know that Sri Lanka and India still eat curry, the curry here is several times hotter than the domestic curry! And later I learned that Sri Lankan meals go to two extremes, either particularly sweet or particularly spicy (curry). I really hate that I didn't bring more than two packs of instant noodles...
Due to professional habits, Sri Lankan cars are indeed not less expensive, basically Japanese cars, and mainly old cars. For example, you can see all kinds of "classic cars" in Sri Lanka! In fact, these cars are used cars that have been eliminated from Japan and other regions and are sold exclusively to Sri Lanka, so the prices are also very cheap.
Such a new chr is rare. The most interesting thing is that don't look at Sri Lanka's economic underdevelopment, but there are many hybrid models!
The first stop from Colombo is the Elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka. Many Chinese are familiar with this place, thanks to the programs of Wu Xin and Pan Shuai. But when you come here, you find that this is the gate of the elephant orphanage? Isn't it a little too low-key!
When we arrived at the elephant orphanage, we were just in time for the elephants to go to bathe, but since the river where the elephants bathed was opposite the zoo, the elephants had to cross the street! So it's also a spectacle of an elephant orphanage.
The police station directs the elephants in the middle of the road, and all the vehicles and tourists stand on both sides of the road and watch a group of elephants pass by, which is really interesting.
We certainly didn't want to miss the opportunity to watch the elephants bathe, so we followed the elephants directly. I thought that the places where the elephants passed were all pristine wild roads, but I didn't expect that the elephants were passing through a lively street!
The roadside is full of small shops selling souvenirs, especially selling local clothing sarees and refrigerator stickers, such as this refrigerator sticker made of elephants' "poop", which is really original! To tell the truth, it does not stink, and there is a faint smell of grass, equivalent to 10 yuan a piece. However, I did not buy it.
There are many animals in Sri Lanka, especially dogs, and there are many stray dogs, but the people here have religious beliefs and do not kill, so the animals here live in harmony with people. These animals see people, just like you see a stranger, take a look, and then walk away. Therefore, in Sri Lanka, people can never brush the sense of existence in the eyes of animals.
Not far down the streets and alleys, you will reach the river, but you must be careful along the road, otherwise you will step on the "thunder" if you are not careful! If you accidentally sink your foot into it, you can only follow the elephant and go down to the river to wash your feet!
A little knowledge can be popularized here, the Sri Lankan elephant, called the Ceylon elephant, although it is also a type of Asian elephant, but not an Indian elephant. Although indian elephants have much more populations than Ceylon elephants, ceylon elephants are still the most "standard" Asian elephants in terms of taxonomy.
The most obvious feature of ceylon elephants is that the skin at the upper end of the trunk is earthy yellow, and the yellow part becomes more and more intense as we age. In addition, ceylon elephants only 5% to 7% of adult male elephants can grow tusks, which is extremely rare, so during the British and Dutch colonization, Ceylon elephants were illegally hunted in large numbers, just for two tusks. So if you can still see elephants with ivory in Sri Lanka today, you're in luck!
In about 40 minutes, the elephants are basically washed, enough fun, and it's time to go back to "home". However, on the way back to the zoo, there were indeed disobedient elephants who ran directly to two. Fortunately, it was chased back by the staff and did not cause any serious losses.
The elephants in the elephant orphanage are actually not very interesting, and they can only be viewed from a distance. However, the scene of elephants playing with each other is still more loving.
Originally, I thought that we made "elephant dung paper" in the elephant orphanage, just like in the TV show, but I thought too much. The tour guide said that it was a lot of money to be allowed to go in and shoot and do shows.
There are a lot of classic cars in Sri Lanka! It's hard to see a new car, and Mercedes-Benz BMW is even rarer.
Leave the elephant orphanage and head straight to Sri Lanka's World Heritage Site, Dambulla Golden Buddha Temple (also known as Dambulla). What you want to see here is not actually the temple, but the grottoes on the hill behind the temple, which are somewhat similar to the Yungang Grottoes in Shanxi and the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, which were built in the first century AD. Although it was not explicitly stated that photographs were not allowed, our group did not bring a camera or take pictures inside for the sake of protecting cultural relics.
The big golden Buddha outside the Golden Buddha Mountain is a modern product. In 2000, it was funded by the Japanese government.
If you look closely, you will find that the golden Buddha has a large tumor on his chin! Actually, it was a honeycomb, but because the locals didn't kill The Buddhist belief, they didn't destroy the honeycomb.
There are plastic bags hanging from the trees outside the temple, which are actually used for blessings.
This road is the road to the grotto, there are many monkeys on the mountain, these monkeys are not afraid of people, do not recruit people, more obedient, more obedient than the monkeys of Mount Emei.
Dogs can be found all over Sri Lanka.
There are also all kinds of small animals, such as small lizards or something.
Although we came to see the Golden Buddha Temple, in fact, the food stall next to the Golden Buddha Temple can arouse our interest even more.
This thing that looks like a hemp ball, not a hemp ball, but I don't know what it is made of, it is particularly sweet, especially delicious.
The drinks are also freshly squeezed juice, equivalent to 2 yuan a cup, ordered a cup of watermelon juice and a cup of butter juice, very delicious!
Don't miss the opportunity to sell fruit on the side of the road! Although the boss saw that we were all "foreigners" desperately raising prices, it still did not stop our enthusiasm for buying. To tell the truth, foreigners who can come to Sri Lanka for tourism will not be the jingle of poverty in their pockets, so the behavior of "pit foreigners" will be in every country, and people are not stupid.
The mangosteen here is very delicious, sweet and large; the pineapple is not astringent at all, it is particularly sweet; and the red banana is also very delicious.
The coconuts here are very cheap and equivalent to 5 yuan a piece, but most of them are golden coconuts here, and the brown coconuts we are used to drinking are rare.
There was an inconspicuous hut next to the fruit stall, which at first thought was a children's toilet, but it was a kindergarten , "pre school" ( " .
The hotel we stayed at on our first night was near the Lion Rock scenic spot called Pinthaliya resort & Spa. Although it is a 3-star standard, the hotel decoration and facilities are not bad, and it is very characteristic, a bit of an original theme style hotel.
The so-called pristine ecology is actually the hotel's front desk set in a dense grove of trees, while the hotel rooms need to pass through the bushes and bushes to see.
Each detached house, with two rooms on the left and right, and a small lanai, looks very cozy.
The room was not particularly big but clean and tidy. Behind the wall at the head of the bed, there is the bathroom and toilet. Most hotels in Sri Lanka have few electric water heaters, most of them are solar water heaters, take a bath early, be sure to save water, otherwise you may have to take a cold bath.
The hotel also has a swimming pool, although it looks very clean, but it hides mysteries! The pool was full of fallen leaves and bugs. At night, it is more obvious, if you use the light to illuminate, you can see a variety of aquatic mosquitoes in the water, twisting and squirming.
Dinner at the hotel is a buffet, in addition to some fruits and greens, the rest are curries, red curry, yellow curry, green curry, black curry... Simply! In addition, we also encountered some strange things in the hotel.
Many people say that mainlanders are not qualified abroad, do not queue, grab seats, grab food... In fact, the mainlanders we see in Sri Lanka are very civilized and polite, and they are all big country styles. But we met a group of Taiwanese, not only dominating seats, grabbing food, not queuing, but also making loud noises. Looking at the dismissive eyes of a few foreigners next to us, a few of us quickly finished eating and left, and we really couldn't afford to lose this person.
Although it is said that the meal is a little unpleasant, but go back to the room to move a chair to look up at the starry sky that has not been seen for a long time, it is a calm mood and refreshment. Get ready for the next day and climb Lion Rock!