Holidays at the end of the year? Yes, definitely from the last trip. For me, the whole year 2019 was a period of many experiences, both positive and negative. I was tired, but I delayed my vacation for the right time. I decided then that I would be able to enjoy the charms of the Polish summer in the country, while vacationing would be better organized in the winter time flying to the sunny countries. Also in winter we need a dose of natural vitamin D.

I am still single and this aspect of life is sometimes unfavorable, especially with vacation plans. A long journey (because I choose such fora longer rest) alone is an expensive investment. In addition, although I am brave (lonely trip to the USA), in the case of selected and completely unknown directions I consider an important safety issue. This time I was going to organize an affordable trip to Asia. Unfortunately, it was hard to find a friend who would be tempted to such an adventure in December. In this title I found co-travelers. Two gentlemen flew to Sri Lanka. Travel on your own with the premise of learning about local life, the beauty of Buddhist culture, island architecture, and above all the uniqueness of nature. After several conversations with one of these gentlemen,
I decided to go to Sri Lanka with them. Intuition made a good choice.

We landed in Colombo, from where we transported to a hotel in Negombo. What surprised in the first moments? Well, information at the airport – “contact with drugs is punishable by death.” This confirms that people from Sri Lanka care about natural health. I support that! However, light rain and views of dirty streets, where everything is not surprised, as well as the conditions of the rented hotel. Asians in minority areas do not attach to order, purity as significant attention as Europeans. I would like to point out, however, that in accordance with the assumption of a low-cost trip, we chose hotels for reception with breakfast, a clean bathroom with hot water and in a good location. We wanted prices not to exceed 20 USD / night for a triple room.  So these were not luxuries, although the standard of the rooms increased with the change of location.

The first day was a walk around the village, observation of local life, which revolved mainly around tourism and fishing. People fish, sell various souvenirs by the ocean to live. A city of old buildings. A large number of Churches, as well as Buddha figures. A very religious country. For the first time we could feel the breeze of the wind over the Indian Ocean, and also feel its waves – an amazing feeling! “Everything has its origin in water” Lame Deer.

On the second day by public transport we went to the second city of Dambulla. I was surprised by the way of driving on the island, in which the key is to sound overtaking. Amazingly, the ride was fast but also very safe. We could meet the people of Sri Lanka. The smile did not leave our face, especially at the sight of lovely tiny Indian children.

On this day I also experienced the first breathtaking adventure. In one of the bus I left the backpack with things worth about 1.200 USD very important things to me. We spent the night with residents renting one of the rooms of their home. A family with two children. We presented the problem of loss and the son of the host called his friend, made a phone call to another friend and so the string reached the contact with the bus driver. He had already got off the bus, but he was sure the bag was there. The driver commend to be at the indicated bus stop the next day. I retrieved my backpack with all its contents. Is it possible that a full backpack can be recovered in Europe? Certainly, the local culture had a significant impact on this. Sri Lanka is full of faith, and believers do not look for free booty. They do not look for material gains, and the priority is help and respect for other people.

As for the climate in Dambulla, it is a large city, more modern. It is distinguished by the Golden Temple, the nearby Sigiriya Rock, as well as the jungle, where we could enjoy the beautiful landscapes and wildlife. We admired the Indian elephants, buffaloes, monkeys, squirrels, crawling reptiles that we saw earlier in the pictures. Animals and wildlife captivated me the most during this trip.  Amazing feelings and now memories.

Then we got to the town of Kandy, which is distinguished by more developed construction. Here, finally, we could find a large shopping center, and before the sought ATM. This area is mountainous, because of this even more beautiful landscapes. Our accommodation was on
a high mountain, just climbing up the mountain with a tuk tuk with our luggage was a challenge, but the view of the city from our room rewarded this climb. Amazing views. In the evening we went down the city once again to the Holy Lights, where at 6 p.m. a ritual of light took place. It was not possible to enter the temple area “in European”. Everyone walked wrapped in headscarves. Silence, buddha sculptures, chambers with paintings, meditation zones. Great courtesy. I would like to go back again sometime ….

The next day is the crossing from Kandy to Ella, a city also located in the mountains, more to the south of the island. It is a city of waterfalls and monkeys.The distance between cities is 150 km. The journey by train took about 7 hours, yes, yes J However, she was amazing. People were extremely nice, smiling, playing, singing and dancing. We also met Poles on a certain episode – and here how often
a Pole rarely admits to a Pole, speaks. Marriage with 2 small children, travelers by passion, but they did not speak first, there was openness, but rather snobbery. Well it happens. What was the most wonderful of the journeys – the views, wonderful, huge tea trees, beautiful greenery, nature. It’s supposed to be the most beautiful train journey – I confirm.

In Ella we again got an amazing room, which it was overlooking the waterfall. The house is also located on a hill, covered in trees with huge squirrels. In the evening we went down to the center for dinner. Again we tasted the wonderful  (my favorite) Thai cuisine, enjoyed the music and smiles exchanged with strangers. Ella is Polish Zakopane. I would stay there longer, but the travel plan assumed further sightseeing, and I was approaching the end of the trip …

From Ella we traveled further to Mellisa We decided to rent a taxi because the transport was USD 65. However, unfortunately, when we arrived, it turned out that the driver demanded 110 USD. He just wanted to fool us 😉 . But when driving the car we experienced awesome views. In life sometimes it is worth experiencing greater comfort, you should not always put the cheapness ahead of comfort. Thanks to trip taxi we saw more.

Mellisa, in turn, was the paradise ending of this beautiful holiday. Wonderful beaches, the sound of the ocean, including the SECRET beach, wonderful landscapes, wonderful rest in the silence of the ocean and beautiful nature. Here we also parted with the boys. I was returning to Colombo, they enjoyed Sri Lanka longer. 

It was a great trip, second only to the trip to the USA, which I spent alone. The decision I made was right. It resulted in a lot of new knowledge and motivation to work actively and earn more trips to places unknown to me.

I returned to Poland early in the morning with a smile. In the capital at the entrance I was met by goodness. I was broke so I gave up on a taxi, I chose the bus. In Warsaw there is a lot of public transport to the Center. However, I didn’t have a zloty, it wasn’t possible to buy a ticket from the machine and pay by card. But well, I got on the bus straight away. In it I asked two people – a man and a woman, if they had a ticket to sell for a dollar. The girl immediately gave the ticket and did not want money for it. However, I was grateful I gave her a dollar. Conclusion. It’s not always worth waiting for the next bus, until you reach the date and place of departure with someone you know.

As always, I finish my vacation with creating slogans for tips that will help me through my life:

• Those who don’t take risks will be sitting all their lives.
• Anyone who accepts poverty remains in it and changes nothing.
• The rain is never terrible, it’s important to find a smile in any weather, anywhere. It does not rain 24h / day. Everything passes.
• Life is a fight, a game of appearances, the stronger and more cunning wins.
• If you like the life in a herd, you don’t like to make decisions yourself, follow everyone. If you prefer to decide about yourself, go alone. Have courage!
• Life is diverse and you have the right to be different.
• People are good, seek and you will find goodness.
• We should spread the goodness.
• It is better to wait, control your desires. Then you will find another, better opportunity.
• Whether you stand out is your individual matter and you have the right to it.
• You have to figure out how to live interestingly.

LIFE IS UNIQUE!

Unfortunately, a few days before the publication of these memories, something unforeseen happened. Something that destroyed some of our vacation, business, travel plans …. I am writing about COVID-19. Memories are always beautiful, especially in moments like this. However, the second equally important word is the Imagination. She helps even in bad times like the present. But more on that soon in the next article.

I WISH A PEACE OF MIND AND A LOT OF HEALTH FOR EACH OF YOU!