Sensational Sri Lanka - Part III: The Hill Country

We left at 7am and made a quick stop at the local temple for our guide, Batu and our driver Sampath, then headed to the Ayurvedic herbal garden and training center. A doctor in trainimg showed us all the medicinal plants, including a cream to remove hair naturally, which he demonstrated on a small patch of Roger's arm hair. We had a lovely cup of herbal tea and then a short head and body massage from two trainees. We then headed along the southern coast and saw the stilt fisherman. Unfortunately, they only fish for tourists these days, so we decided to skip paying for a photo of them and instead just snapped a distant shot as we drove by.

We passed Marissa, the launching point for whale watching expeditions, but we won't likely see any when we sail out, and since we sailied in at night, we'll likely miss the blue whales and sperm whales in this part of the world. We turned north and headed up into the hill country. We drove up to Uda Welawa national park and the Elephant Transit Home, and orphanage for baby elephants. We arrived there at feeding time and it was sweet watching the baby elephants fed milk. There are loads of wild elephants in the park, best seen at dawn and dusk. 

We didn't have enough time to spend a day at the park, but one elie was standing along the road and we were happy to feed her mangos purchased from a vendor conveniently standing right there by the elephant... they must be in cahoots! We drove on and our driver was excellent at finding and pointing out birds and other interesting sights along the way. 

Ella was our final destination for the first night. We had an herbal Ayurvedic massage and then drove to our hotel in the mountain out of town for a surprisingly good meal, gorgeous view, and good nights rest.

The next morning we set out with brekky-to-go for the amazingly beautiful train ride to Nurawele Eliya along the mountain ridges. There was damage due to heavy rains this season and we were lucky as the train only started running again this day, though only the 6:39AM and no observation car. Still, we barely sat, choosing to stand by the open doors and take photos most of the way!

 

The next day we were planning to climb Adam's Peak, leaving at 2AM to arrive at the summit before sunrise. Needless to say we made an early evening of it.

With Equanimity and Joy

Sensational Sri Lanka - Part II: Colombo

We passed through Colombo three separate times, but only really visited once where we stayed in the revitalized Fort area. We took the early train up from Galle, a lovely coastal ride, and enjoyed the trip. We walked around the area and were headed for the lighthouse when we were addressed by a gentleman walking in the same direction.

leaf inspired shape for temple stupas

Despite our past experiences we were once again caught up in a minor tourist scam. Whisked off to an "annual festival at an important temple" in a passing Tuk-Tuk, I should have known it was a scam when our guide asked the driver to stay and wait 10 minutes. Roger said he knew but I was so enthusiastic he didn't want to dampen my spirits. After a nice tour of the temple and, to my delight, a few minutes and photos with their resident temple elephant, we were whisked off to the gem and jewellery shop. We didn't even look or listen to the sales pitch, but headed right back out. When the driver took us back to the lighthouse (original destination) he tried charging us about four times what the trip should have cost and we gave him more than we wanted but much less than he asked. It wasn't an expensive scam and I did enjoy the temple, but I'm going to have to be more careful in the future not to get caught up in these things. The day we visited was the presidential elections and so things were quiet, stores were closed and restaurants were not allowed to serve alcohol. Even the normally bustling market I wanted to visit the following morning was empty when we got there! They was lots of expectations for some possible hostilities, should the current president have won the election, but he didn't and there were no outbreaks or drama of any kind.

Right next to our hotel was a nice little complex with a tea shop, several restaurants and a retail store or two. I believe it was located within the Old Fort Dutch Hospital complex. We met my friend and former colleague and his sister for lunch at the expensive but superb Ministry of Crab restaurant. It was truly a splurge and I enjoyed every morsel of the tasty crabs, shrimp and homemade bread, infused with garlic and pepper.

Sensational Sri Lanka - Part I: Galle Harbor (not so sensational)

EQ stern-tied to floating dock in the back of the harbour 

Sri Lanka was never on our list of top places to travel, but we are so glad to have visited this lovely country. Unfortunately, (and the only part we really didn't like about being there) Galle harbour is really challenging for visiting sailing yachts. That said, it will improve somewhat when they finish construction on the new "marina" next year sometime. It will be much better than being stern-tied to a lego-like plastic dock, but it won't help with the constant coating of grime, diesel and cement dust from this working port.

We spent only two weeks there and would love to have visited more of the island... so much to see and experience.

Close to the harbour, we walked around Fort Galle one steamy afternoon. The lighthouse and colonial buildings were very lovely, but due to the heat we didn't linger there all too long.

We made two trips to Colombo, visited the Hill Country and went to Kandy. We might very well plan another trip back sometime to see the ancient cities, more of the national parks and even head to the north. It would be great to sit a course at the Vipassana centre near Kandy too.

with Equanimity and Joy

The Phuket "Vortex"... leaving Thailand

We decided back in March that we would remain in Thailand for the SW monsoon season to rest, work on boat projects, and travel, which we did. Still it was a longer stay than we would have liked and we couldn't have done it without the A/C. But we needed to time our next passage with the NE Monsoon so we stayed put on the north side of Phuket Island for 10 months. Roger spent much of this time working on a plan that would get us up to the Med with a convoy and security on board at a reasonable cost. Shipping the boat by sea was way too expensive, shipping by land was wrought with problems with Saudi Arabian customs, and neither of us really wanted to sail around South Africa... notoriously and accurately called the "Cape of Storms". Our "Plan B" if we couldn't sail up through the Red Sea, was to head back around Singapore and up through the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan and then Japan. We'd spend a season there and then sail to Alaska, down the west coast of the US, Mexico and then cross the South Pacific bound for New Zealand. Plan B eliminated the possibility of our completing a circumnavigation, which we'd both like to do. It also eliminated our dreams of sailing the Turkish coast for Roger, and in Greece, Malta and Italy for Sher. When it looked as if our "Head to the Med through the Red 2015" convoy wasn't coming together cost-effectively, we were faced with making a choice... South Africa, Japan, or possibly head to Singapore to find work for a year or two and fill up the cruising kitty.

We discussed the pros and cons of each option... weighing costs, timelines, highlights and lowlights of each. We just could not come to a decision. I was leaning towards heading west to complete our circumnavigation and was trying to work up a hearty enthusiasm for the lemurs of Madagascar and the elies and wildlife parks of South Africa, but Roger wasn't leaning at all... or would lean one way and then another. We missed two deadlines we set for our decision making and just when it really, REALLY came down to the wire, we had a breakthrough...

Roger found a website for an association of maritime security companies. They listed contact info and summaries for all their members (about 150 in all) and he painstakingly went through almost all (at least up to the P's or S's) and sent dozens of emails off in hopes of finding a workable solution. It paid off! We had 6 or 7 companies that were very interested in working with us, at more reasonable prices below our pain threshold. One of these turned out to be just the right solution. The company owners made a trip to Phuket to visit with us for a few days and to discuss the plans. The energy was great, the price was reasonable and the contract and details just needed to be sorted out. All of that still took another two months, but the Universe was telling us to hang in there and not give up. :) We'll be documenting our trip and post details for others who might be interested once we complete the journey and are up in the Med.

The NE monsoon this year was very late in coming. Roger was diligently watching the weather forecasts for a good window to leave Phuket and start our passage over to Sri Lanka. We had hoped to leave the Yacht Haven Marina by mid-December, but cyclones pounded through the Philippines one after another and kept the weather unsettled. WOW, are we glad we decided not to head up that way to Japan. We would have been smack in the middle of those cyclones and would have gotten hammered!

Phuket was bound and determined to hold us in its vortex, but we finally pulled ourselves out of the marina and sailed around to Ao Chalong to check out and then Nai Harn for a few last-minute tasks and provisions (Nai Harn grilled chicken... yeah baby!) We sold our A/C to a yacht spending another year in SE Asia and delivered it to them in the bay by dinghy. Then off we went, finally, destined for points west.... new cultures, new cuisine, new landscape,  and who knows what else!

With Equanimity and Joy

Joy!

What the well dressed dinghy will wear...
"Joy", our trusty and mature dinghy, has been getting spruced up recently with a bit of fiberglass reinforcement on her hull, rub rail re-glued (twice - don't ask), and she's even had a wardrobe update today. Joy is now sporting her new protective chaps, custom designed, fitted and sewn by Roger. We can now go for a "Joy ride" in even more comfort and style!

With only a few more weeks here in Thailand before we sail off into the sunset, we're busy with boat projects, preparing for the passage and are ready for great new adventures!

With Equanimity and well-dressed Joy

Best Thailand Souvenir - Latex Mattresses from Pattani

Our latex foam mattresses on board were ready for replacement and we thought that Thailand, one of the biggest producers of latex rubber, would be the perfect place to get them. As we explored options in Phuket, it became apparent that prices were set for the tourist trade and not cost-effective at all for the custom shapes/sizes we needed. After a bit of research online, we found a factory in Pattani, on the east coast of Southern Thailand. We had a good feeling when emailing with them and decided to make a road trip out of it so we could select and cut our mattresses on site. 7 hours of driving and a slow, stressful, complex detour through the center of Trang (we missed the bypass road exit) we arrived and despite having a map, we couldn't find the PATEX factory. No one spoke English and Boonthan didn't mention in time that in their region phones and internet need to be registered locally or they won't work. This is due to the unrest in the area of Southern Thailand and Northern Malaysia. A faction of the population are wanting independence and have set off car bombs and even bombed schools. In fact, people in Pattani will not answer their mobile phones unless it is someone they know for fear of it setting off a bomb somewhere. The factory had been a target in the past. So we finally found someone at the post office who spoke English and called him for us. He retrieved us and brought us back to a place we passed but which had no signs whatsoever. A tiring start, but once we arrived, it was great! This is a factory and not a retail shop, so the fact that they allowed us to come visit and worked with us directly was really kind and we all enjoyed it. :)

We tested out various combinations of foam density and the PATEX team carried large sheets of foam into the meeting room and stacked them on the floor for us... that and a variety of pillows as well. Three of the pillows came back to the hotel that evening with us for test-driving, something that amused the hotel staff as they saw me entering with arms full of pillows.

Boonthan and his wife Pornpoon, owners of the factory (originally opened in 1955 by his father) are such lovely people... their hospitality was so gracious and we enjoyed being with them.

We replaced all of our mattresses and made two trips to Pattani. We worked with the PATEX team to measure and cut all the complex angles and sizes one needs on a yacht, and they custom-sewed covers to our sizes. We would highly recommend PATEX foam to anyone, and especially to cruisers heading into Malaysia or Thailand. Thanks Boonthan!  http://www.PATEXfoam.com 

with Equanimity and Joy!

P.S. Okay, so really the very best souvenir would be an elephant, but since Equanimity is not of Ark proportions, we had to leave all the lovely Elies at the Elephant Nature Park, north of Chiang Mai

A Taste of Thailand - Bangkok

We took the sleeper train from Chiang Mai arriving in Bangkok in the morning, and had to weave through the offers for taxis, which were actually tuk-tuks at inflated prices. There were a few people meeting the train that told us what the actual taxi fare should be, so we forged ahead to the taxi line and insisted on one with a functioning meter. The guesthouse was the least expensive we had on this trip and the least inspiring as well. We walked around the Khao San Rd area, which was just a touristy street and meandered around the neighborhood after lunch.

Lucky Bhudda

The following day we set out to visit the Royal Palace. We walked along and a man standing by a scooter started talking to us. We read about it and knew about it... AND we still got caught up in one of the top Bangkok scams. He said it was much better to go to the Palace and the amulet market in the afternoon and that we should go see the Standing Buddha and the Lucky Buddha with a tuk-tuk (a lady driver just happened to walk over as he was showing us on a map). Supposedly, the government was supplementing tuk-tuks with petrol since it was a holiday weekend. Duh! But I suppose it is all part of the Bangkok experience, and I love riding in the tuk-tuks, so I enjoyed the experience more than I might have otherwise. Hours and hours later, after the two Wats and several gemstone and silk retailers, we finally were dropped off at our restaurant for a late lunch. We were on our way again at 4PM, which was pretty late to see more sights. 

We did manage to squeak in a visit to the incredible Wat Pho, directly across from the Palace. It was opened until 6:30PM. It was simply magnificent! This was the most impressive Wat in all of its intricate splendor that we had seen so far. There was amazing mosaic work of tile and mirrors of all color along with the gold, all of which glittered and danced in the late afternoon sun. 

The reclining Buddha was huge and quite impressive with mother-of-pearl inlays in the feet.

The following day we set out to visit the Royal Palace again, but this time we were determined not to be deterred! As we neared the Palace, a man called out and came over to tell us that the palace was closed in the morning to foreign tourists and that we should go see the Standing Buddha and the Lucky Buddha then come back in the afternoon. After indicating that we had done this route/scam the previous day, he ushered us to continue to the main entrance of the palace... :)

The Royal Palace is splendid, but the crowds, the cost and heat were as well. Also, many of the buildings were closed as it was a holiday weekend (Queen Sirikit's 82nd birthday) so we felt a little let down by the experience. The "Emerald Buddha", which is actually made of jade, was smaller-than-life and you couldn't get a good view of it perched high on its gilded platform.

The administrative buildings were also opulent and with topiary trees out front had somewhat of a Disney look.

One of the most impressive parts of the wat at the palace was the intricate and plentiful murals which decorated the walls... they were simply beautiful, portraying images of the gods as well as stories of war, love and life.

We left the palace, grabbed a bite of lunch then concluded our Bangkok stay with a little water-taxi ride... a mere $2 total round trip. 

We had a wonderful trip and experience, but were now ready to head back home to our own boat and bed!