So how was Sri Lanka?

That’s it, we left Sri Lanka. We’ve been travelling for a month already… it started slowly but then went by very fast. It’s time to move to our next destination! So what did we think about Sri Lanka?

Sri Lanka is definitively busy and very much alive. You need a bit of time to find your marks.

We won’t miss the insisting tuk-tuk drivers. You need to be sneaky to avoid repeating over and over again that you don’t need transport to your hotel or to a local attraction… and all of that as you just get off a bus with your big backpack. Oh and we usually always had to follow by, “no we don’t need a hotel or a tour”…

Even though most of the people we met were friendly, it’s sometimes hard to decipher if people are being sincere and just want to talk or will try to sell you something. As a general rule, the more we wander far from touristy attractions the more people are nice and sincere, as they haven’t been “spoiled” by tourism.

On the other side, we met wonderful people, amazingly kind. We visited beautiful places witnessing the strength of this country a few centuries ago. We saw hundreds of Buddha and pagodas along the way.
We had a lot of fun learning the language with the locals and making them smile as we were trying to use it!
Trips in buses are often very adventurous, sometimes very tiring but always surprising. Just need to get used to the crazy driving (if only that’s possible).

We loved the curries, kotthus, coconut rotis, hoppers and string hoppers, fried rice, kind of roti samosas, fish (seer fish), fresh juices… all the food actually! Especially when it’s been prepared by the family of the guesthouse!

We will miss Sri Lankans shaking their head for a yes or for a no. A little shake that can mean so many things: yes, no, maybe, I don’t know, thank you, I didn’t really understand…

Even though we loved our trip there, we were expecting a bit more from Sri Lanka. After seeing so many wonderful documentaries, and Pete Kuruvita’s cooking show we thought Sri Lanka was gonna be more « heavenlly». That doesn’t mean Sri Lanka isn’t beautiful, but I guess it’s all about expectations.

We fly to Myanmar after 3 days in Bangkok. Another country we were looking forward to visiting since we left France. Based on all the travelers we met, it’s an amazing country. We will tell you if that’s the case. As the Internet is less present there and connections not that good, we might not be able to update the blog as often.

A bientôt !

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Here are a few sentences that could be useful if you go to Sri Lanka (the pronunciation can be slightly different depending on where you are)
In cinghalese :
Owu / Néhé > Yes / No
Ayubowan > Hello / long life to you
Suba ratiyak > Good night
Istouti – bohoma istouti > Thank you – Thank you very much
Tikkak miriss dende > Not too spicy please (this one made a lot of people laugh!)
Bohoma hondaï > Very good (for food)
Eka/deka/tunak > One/two/three
Mama janoa > I’m going to
Kiédé > How much?
Milavedi > Too expensive
We didn’t stay long where people speak Tamil, so we only know “Nandré”, which means “Thank you”.[:]