Ayobowan!
We’re here, writing to you from Sri Lanka!
Our voyage started with an exciting 24-hour venture covering a mega distance of 9,000km!
Arrival in Bandaranaike Airport was followed with a frantic baggage hunt and a somewhat thrilling dash to Sri Lanka’s capital on roads that can only be described as organised chaos! Welcomed by a vast untamed natural landscape our expedition commenced (even saw a friendly pelican on the way!).
Once we settled in our lodgings, jet lag finally caught up with us and one by one we dropped.
After having spent the morning extending our visas, we set off for Colombo’s city centre. But first, we had to find a way to get there; and after an undemocratic vote, tuk tuks were our choice of transport.
At 15:00 hours the tuk tuk grand prix began! Although, to be honest, it probably wasn’t worth watching as we forgot that it was rush hour. Oops. Still, Andrew and Emilie emerged victorious and after a celebration with their personal Michael Schumacher we picked up essential supplies in liberty plaza.
With little sunlight remaining our team headed to explore Viharamahadevi park where the local urban wildlife started to emerge. We found ourselves surrounded by flying foxes, shy touch me nots, and flowering cannonball trees (a respected Buddhist symbol).
Reluctantly we made our way back to the Bunkyard hostel, where an authentic Sri Lankan dish awaited us, with not one noodle remaining by the end!
Bright and early the next morning we decided to immerse ourselves in local history and learn about the Singhalese culture; so we strolled over to the National Museum and checked out the wonderful and unique Sri Lankan artefacts. Fun fact: elephant pearls form from a piece of dentine that breaks off of the inner tusk and is polished into a round sphere from the movements of the elephant’s head (Sri Lanka’s national animal). Definitely a success!
And to make ties even stronger for our research, we then met two lovely students from Ocean University for a quick bite to eat. Our Researchers had a chance to share some of the work we plan to undertake with the exchange of some very useful advice. We hope to be able to meet again in Trincomalee later this month.
Soaked head to toe by seasonal monsoon rains, how to finish off our first few days in Colombo? Well, we couldn’t miss out on visiting one of the most predominant aspects of Sri Lankan identity, a Buddhist temple. A peaceful place to reflect on our upcoming journey…
Stay tuned to hear about our next adventure to Nilaveli!