Auckland – City Of Sails

Auckland

It’s the largest Polynesian city in the world, and it’s often called “City Of Sails”. Auckland is the biggest city of New Zealand, and holds one-third of this nation’s population. It has a very proud maritime history, having hosted 2 America’s Cup events and being the home base of the first America’s Cup team outside the US to win the championship and defend it. Most people who arrive into New Zealand would land in Auckland and explore a little bit of this harbour city before moving on to lush New Zealand countryside and the spectacular views that this great country has to offer.

Many people don’t spend enough time to explore this city to know it well enough. I haven’t lived in Auckland, but I had the good fortune of having visited this city a few times and seeing different parts of it. There’s definitely more to it than the Skytower and the harbour. Here’s my list of places to explore outside the CBD of Auckland:

1.) Devonport

Devonport

This seaside suburb is on the North Shore area, across the harbour from the Auckland CBD. It offers great views of the city over the harbour, and a nice seaside promenade to stroll on. There are also a few unique and quirky shops and cafes around its centre. You can have good coffee or high noon tea at one of its cafes, or just have a relaxing stroll through its main centre. There’s a great view of the harbour if you go up to the top of Victoria Road. The best way to get to Devonport is via ferry from Auckland CBD, near the Viaduct Basin on Quay St.

2.) Parnell

New Zealand’s oldest suburb, Parnell is just a stone’s throw away from Auckland CBD. The quaint Victorian-style houses along Parnell Road have been converted into boutique shops and cafes, and have become the creative quarters of Auckland. One place that I love visiting is The Chocolate Boutique. Being a choco-holic, I can’t resist stopping by this delectible shop. A number of boutique and upmarket shops offer great shopping to those who love to shop. Some of New Zealand’s top designers have a shop in Parnell. You can take a bus from Auckland CBD and in 10 minutes, you will reach this interesting suburb.

3.) Mission Bay

Mission Bay, Auckland

This seaside suburb of Mission Bay is only a 10-minute drive from Auckland CBD. It has great beaches that is close to the city centre and has lots of cafes and restaurants. Across the water, you have a view of Rangitoto Island. I always love coming to this suburb, especially on a nice sunny day. It’s possibly Auckland’s answer to Bondi Beach in Sydney in terms of proximity to the city and the lifestyle (though admittedly, it is not quite as good as Bondi). Regardless, it is one of the best places to explore while in Auckland.

4.) Ponsonby

Another one of the suburbs near Auckland CBD that has great options for restaurants and cafes. Ponsonby is one of the trendy suburbs in Auckland, and the young and hip love to be in Ponsonby. Nightclubs also abound, and the party continues here at night.. The arts scene is alive, and many upper-middle class people reside in this suburb. Ponsonby Road is the heart of all the activity in the suburb. Apart from the trendy and upmarket shops, Ponsonby has some historical heritage, as this has been one of the first areas to be settled in Auckland.

5.) Remuera and Mt. Hobson

Mt Hobson, Auckland

Remuera is another suburb that is close to the city, and can be accessed by bus or train. Over the years, many affluent Aucklanders have resided in this suburb and has become synonymous around the country for its wealthy population. A few well-known New Zealanders like Sir Edmund Hillary live in this area, and you can get the sense of the affluence from the big houses and manicured lawns around. On Remuera Road, you will find an entrance to Mt. Hobson, a park that offers great views of the city and out to the harbour and Rangitoto Island. On the other side of the hill, you will see the view towards One Tree Hill.

6.) One Tree Hill

One Tree Hill

Views from One Tree Hill are like no other in Auckland. It offer great views of Rangitoto Island, Auckland CBD, and all the way to the southern part of the city. This volcanic peak is an important place for Maori, as it used to hold a Maori pa (fort) when the European settlers arrived. There was a tree planted on this site, hence the name One Tree Hill. However, that tree became the subject of attack by Maori activists who protested on the injustices done to the Maori people, and the tree was eventually chainsawed by the activists. Today, an obelisk with a bronze statue of a Maori warrior stands on this site, and offering magnificent views of Auckland city.

Visiting Auckland? Download Lonely Planet’s New Zealand – Auckland Region (Chapter)

Vivid Sydney is over, and it won’t be on again til the next year. This may be delayed, but as promised, here’s the next instalment of photos for Vivid Sydney 2010. I will be making this post brief, so you can enjoy more of the photos from this colourful festival of lights. Make sure you try and catch next year’s Vivid Sydney event and book your next holiday to Sydney with the world’s largest travel booking website

Sydney Opera House

While the Sydney Opera House is one of Sydney’s most recognizable icons, there is more to Sydney than this distinctive landmark. Explore the beautiful harbour city of Sydney, and it will definitely leave you wanting to stay.

Have a Fabulous Journey ahead!

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Vivid Sydney – The Sydney Opera House Comes To New Light

It’s one of the annual events in Sydney, and it draws attention to its star attraction. The Sydney Opera House comes alive with vibrant colours and funky motifs as the Vivid Sydney festival begins. This year, they have more unique

motifs projected onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House, with great animation and light displays. The Vivid Sydney festival is a celebration of light, music and artwork, but has been more focused on the light projections and displays that it puts out on the numerous historical and iconic buildings around Sydney CBD.

In continuation to my post on Staycation, I decided to write something about my current home city, Sydney, particularly this very colourful and inspiring festival of light displays. I’m a keen photographer as well, and one of the

things I love to do is play around with my SLR camera and have fun creating shots using different techniques. Hence, I’m putting out this post to show you what I’ve taken with my SLR camera for Vivid Sydney 2010:

Up Close – Sydney Opera House

Opera House in Purple

Blur in colour - Vivid Sydney

Flower Power - flowers on the sails

Playing with light - my rendition of Vivid Sydney on image

Funky lights at the Sydney Opera House - Vivid Sydney 2010

Sydney Opera House Lights from a distance

More photos to come on Part 2 of Vivid Sydney 2010. I hope you enjoyed my work through the lens.

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Calm Waters And White Sand Beaches

Australia is blessed with so much great beaches and clean waters that it is often hard to choose which beach to go to. One thing that is common with the beaches here in Australia is the huge waves that a lot of surfers enjoy. Having a calm, quiet swim is something of a novelty with Australian beaches (as are those beaches that don’t have jellyfish – or stingers, as they call it here in Australia – or crocodiles) .

In saying that, I’m sure there are still a number of nice bays and lagoons that have calm waters where people can swim in, and it is something I would endeavour to look for. One such area that offers that is Port Stephens in New South Wales. Port Stephens is only a 3 hour drive north of Sydney along the Pacific Highway, and is close to Newcastle and the Hunter Valley region. One interesting fact that got me confused with Port Stephens was that I thought Port Stephens was a town. I soon discovered that Port Stephens is an area or region with a few towns and villages in it, the biggest one being Nelson Bay!

The myriad of bays and beaches in Port Stephens itself makes for a difficult decision on which one to go for. After surveying the area, a few beaches stood out for me. One particular beach was Shoal Bay. Shoal Bay is a 10-minute drive from Nelson Bay, and is one of those beaches that have calm waters where people can swim in them. What’s great about Shoal Bay is that it has a few restaurants, pub, cafes and shops, yet it is not a crowded and as busy as Nelson Bay. The beach on Shoal Bay is also fantastic, and definitely worth checking out.

Another great beach to check out is Salamander Bay. It has white sand beach and the waters are also calm enough to have a relaxing swim in the sea. Next to Salamander Bay is Soldier’s Point, where you will find a marina full of awesome boats and yachts. On the marina is a restaurant that offers reasonable food and a good view of the sea.

Stockton Sand Dunes

Tin City - stockton sand dunes

One highlight for me when going to Port Stephens is the sand dunes that stretches from Stockton to Anna Bay. The Stockton Sand Dunes stretches to 32 kms along the coast, and goes as far inland as 9km in certain parts. The sand dunes offer a desert-like environment, and is quite unique to this part of Australia. There are sand hills where you can do sandboarding and slide down the slopes of the sand hills. The Stockton Sand Dunes is also one of the film locations for the 1980s movie “Mad Max” starring Mel Gibson. One of the scenes from the movie features the small settlement in the area called Tin City, which was built by a small group of labourers during the Great Depression in the 1930s. The settlement is unique in that no one is allowed to buy any of the properties there or develop anything in the area. All the existing structures have been passed down from generation to generation.

Australian Shark and Ray Centre

On our trip to Port Stephens, we were unfortunate enough to have caught the wet weather. Instead of spending a lot of time by the beach as we initially intended, we merely skimmed and had a look at the beaches and then had to find alternative activities in the area to amuse ourselves. One great place to go, especially if you have kids is the Australian Shark and Ray Centre. At the Australian Shark and Ray Centre, you can hand-feed the sharks and ray inside the huge tanks where they keep them. The sharks and rays have been tamed in that the barbs of the sting rays have been cut off, and the sharks don’t have the huge sharp teeth to bite anyone. If you’re one of those people who are afraid of sharks, this will definitely challenge your fears. It certainly challenged me, and I didn’t think I was up for it, but I did feed those so-called monsters of the sea!

The Pelicans

pelicans

You will notice while going around the beaches that there are a number of pelicans around. They are such cool birds! I love their huge beaks and calm disposition. I thought it is worth noting this, although you will notice along the East Coast of Australia, there are pelicans around in some of the beaches as well.

If the weather were nice to us, we could have enjoyed more of the beach and the calm waters in the area. I would definitely recommend checking out the area especially during the summer when it’s nice and warm.

Here’s to more Fabulous Journeys ahead!

Stockton Dunes Sand Boarding

World’s Whitest Beach?

World's Whitest Beach

If you thought you saw the whitest sand in the world somewhere in the Caribbean, Asia or the Pacific, perhaps you ought to read this. It’s not quite in any of the tropical paradise that most people would associate a nice white sand beach to. I never thought that a world record existed for the World’s Whitest Beach or World’s Whitest Sand, but it apparently is in the Guinness Book of World Records. I really wonder I recently came back from a short trip over Easter, and this is how I found out about the record. As you can tell, I love spending time on the beach. My dream is to own a house by the beach, where I can just walk out of my backyard and step into some fine white sand beach. Thus, I was extremely curious when someone told me about the world’s whitest beach!

The Road To Whitest Beach In The World

View from Stanwell Tops, Grand Pacific Drive

I visited the Jervis Bay area to check out what most people who visited the area have been raving about. Jervis Bay is in the South Coast of New South Wales, roughly a 3-hour drive from Sydney. The drive from Sydney to Jervis Bay along the Grand Pacific Drive is very scenic and definitely worth doing. This stretch of coastal road starts from Stanwell Tops in the Royal National Park and goes through the city of Wollongong, Kiama and Shoalhaven. The views from Stanwell Tops are magnificent, and you can see the Seacliff Bridge clinging on to the craggy coast from a distance. A stop at Wollongong is also worth taking, with its nice beach, old lighthouse and a very relaxed town.

Driving further south from the Grand Pacific Drive is still quite scenic. A hour away from Wollongong is a nice quaint town called Berry. The town has a very colonial feel to it, with old buildings converted into shops, boutiques and cafes. It’s worth stopping for a coffee and just walk around the small town.

Where In The World Is The World’s Whitest Beach?

Now, back to the topic (well, I was leading up to it anyway). According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world’s whitest beach (or the world’s whitest sand) can be found on Hyams Beach in Jervis Bay, New South Wales, Australia. Hyams Beach is one of the many beautiful white sand beaches in Jervis Bay. My friends and I didn’t get to stay at Hyams Beach, but we managed to get a place at Callala Beach. It’s about a 30 minute drive from Hyams Beach, and has white sand that is similar enough to Hyams Beach. The only problem with Callala Beach is that from time to time, they get a lot of seaweed that gets washed up on its shores, and the seaweed then starts to rot and turn the beach into black! My friends and I were unfortunate enough to have witnessed this, and thus made us feel disappointed with this beach. However, by the looks of the postcard photos and online photos of Callala Beach, it does look like a nice white sand beach. It’s just a shame that our timing was bad and we didn’t see it on its best day.

World's Whitest Beach - Hyams Beach

Because of our disappointment on Callala Beach, my friends and I decided to check out Hyams Beach, as one of our other friends have told us that it is an awesome beach. We arrived there on a gloomy day. The sky was overcast, but it wasn’t raining. Despite the dark clouds that covered the sky, the beach was so white that it was kind of glowing with its whiteness! The sand was very compact, and has this cornstarch or cornflour texture to it. It’s not the finest sand that I’ve felt, but it definitely looks like it is the whitest I’ve seen so far.

How they have measured the “whiteness” of the beach is something that still baffles me. There is no degree of measure for the whiteness of a beach, but having the title “World’s Whitest Beach” gives Hyams Beach its claim to fame. It’s not a widely known beach around the world, and being inside two National Parks, the Jervis Bay National Park and Booderee National Park, the beach has been spared from commercialisation. Hyams Beach is a long stretch of beach, and a small portion of it has some residential units and holiday homes. This is the great appeal of the beach, as there are not that many people around every time (unless if it is school holidays or during the summer). It’s very clean, and the waters are just crystal clear.

So if you are in search for the whitest beach in the world, perhaps check out Hyams Beach in Jervis Bay, just 3 hours south of Sydney.

To more Fabulous Journeys!

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The Philippines – an archipelago of 7,107 beautiful islands in the warm tropics. It’s one of Asia’s best kept secrets, and one that has not been overrun by tourists who come to Asia from Europe and the Americas. The Philippines has been considered off the beaten track by most travellers to Asia, due to its geographical location being across the South China Sea from mainland Asia. Another factor that has caused the Philippines to be off the mainstream Southeast Asia circuit is the bad publicity that the country has gotten over the years. The negative publicity has been bad for tourism in the Philippines, however, it can be seen as good for those who want to experience a not-so-usual holiday in Asia.

Having 7,107 islands, there is no shortage of wonderful places and things to see in this tropical archipelago. I grew up in this country, and I have yet to finish exploring all the 7,107 islands. However, while I was living there, I had the opportunity to experience first hand some of the best that the country has to offer. Being a local, I had some advantages in getting around and experiencing some places that not many foreign tourists have managed to wander to. Here are some of the top ten things to see and do in the Philippines:

1.) The Islands and The Many White Sand Beaches

It is obvious that the number one attraction in the Philippines are its thousands of islands sprawled between the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. There are so many white sand beaches around the country that it is easy to lose count. The most famous of all the white sand beaches in the Philippines is on the island of Boracay. Boracay has been known for its 3km powder-fine white sand beach and a great place to either relax or party on til the wee hours of the morning. Other great islands to experience for beaches are Bantayan Island (near Cebu), White Beach in Puerto Galera, Camiguin Island, El Nido in Palawan, and Bohol.

2.) Fiestas

The Spaniards colonised the Philippines for nearly 400 years and brought their festive traditions from Spain to these beautiful islands. Fiestas are abound in the Philippines, and each island or town/city would have its own unique celebrations, mainly in honour of a patron saint. It’s one of the biggest celebrations in each town’s events calendar and one not to be missed. The biggest and most popular fiesta in the Philippines would be the Sinulog in Cebu. This generally occurs on the 3rd week of January, and is celebrated to honour the patron saint Señor Santo Niño (the image of the Infant Jesus wearing a crown and holding a golden globe on one hand). People in Cebu would take to the streets to participate in the parade, and celebrations happen all over the island. Most locals would have parties and open their doors to any guests to have a feast. Another great fiesta is the Ati-Atihan in Kalibo on the province of Aklan. The locals paint themselves black to emulate their patron saint, the Señor Santo Niño. This generally happens around the same time as the Sinulog in Cebu, but it is worth checking out the colourful celebrations.

3.) Churches and Cathedrals

The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country, thanks to the Spanish who had subjected the natives to be baptized and take the Catholic faith onboard. As a result, the Spanish built several cathedrals and churches across the islands. The Baroque architecture is very evident in many of these cathedrals and churches. One of the best churches to visit would be the San Agustin Cathedral in Intramuros in Manila. Another great place in the Philippines to check out nice cathedrals in the Philippines would be in Vigan, Ilocos Sur in the northern part of Luzon in the Philippines. Cebu is another place that has an abundance of these awesome Spanish churches, as Cebu is the first place that the Spaniards landed in the Philippines.

4.) Shopping Malls in Manila

It may come as a surprise to most people, but Filipinos are shopaholics, and they love to cool themselves in the shopping malls and escape the tropical heat that can be sometimes overwhelming. Some of the world’s biggest shopping malls are located in the Philippines. The SM Mall of Asia, built on the Manila Bay area, is the world’s third largest shopping mall, and is two times bigger than Edmonton Mall in Canada (which held the previous world record). Apart from the massive size of the shopping malls, there are a lot of great bargains to be had in the shops and markets around the country. When going to markets, it is advisable to negotiate the price with the vendors, as they are generally priced higher than what the item is worth.

5.) Tropical Rainforests

The tropical rainforests in the Philippines are fast diminishing. The poor farmers who are struggling in life and don’t own any land need for land to cultivate on, and the rainforests have been chopped down. On top of that, there are a lot of illegal loggers who chop down the trees for the lucrative logging industry. Conservation efforts have been in place, but because of the widespread poverty in certain areas, some people still cut the trees and burn the forests. There are many species of wildlife that are in danger of becoming extinct due to their habitats being destroyed. While there are still some rainforests left, it would be worth checking them out and exploring the lush jungles in the Philippines. The Philippine Eagle, the national bird, is one of the many endangered species living in these forests and they can be found predominantly in Mindanao, somewhere between Bukidnon and Davao.

6.) Exploring tribal culture

There are many different ethnic tribes in the Philippines. Many of them have settled in the islands long before the Spanish came to colonise these islands. The different ethnic tribes have very distinctive cultures and customs that have survived through the centuries. Most of the ethnic tribes in the Philippines live in the islands of Luzon, Palawan and Mindanao. The rest of the islands somehow have lost the indigenous population. Among the popular tribes are the Ifugao (in the Mountain Province in Luzon), the Badjao (in Sulu), the Tausug (in Mindanao), the Maranao (also in Mindanao) and the Aeta (in Luzon). There are many more to mention, but the first four tribes are well-known for their colourful costumes, dances, folklore and customs. The Aeta is unique in that they are widely regarded as the descendants of the very first inhabitants of the Philippines.

7.) Christmas celebrations

The Philippines is known to have one of the longest and most festive Christmas celebration in the world. You start noticing in October that Christmas carols are already being played occassionally in department stores and shops around the country. By the 1st of December, most Christmas decorations would be all out, and shops and houses would be decked out with very colourful Christmas regalia. The Belen (a diorama of the scene of the Nativity) is a very common sight during the holidays. The Catholic church starts its early morning vigil from the 16th of December all the way til Christmas, and the start of the early morning vigils is the actual start of the many feasts and parties that people go to in the leadup to Christmas Day.

8.) Holy Week/Easter Celebrations

Being a predominantly Catholic country, most of the festivities center around the church calendar. Lent (and/or Easter) is another celebration that Filipinos religiously celebrate (excuse the pun). The main highlight that would interest most tourists is the Good Friday penitence rites that some devotees perform in different parts of the country. In some cases, people devote themselves to be nailed on the cross (literally). Though this isn’t a sight for the faint-hearted, it is somehow an amazing fact that there are people who have vowed to do this ritual to cleanse their sins. Another ritual that has become a spectacle during Lent is the flaggelation. Devotees whip themselves on the back with bamboo-tipped burillos to reenact Christ’s suffering before he was crucified.

9.) Sampling Local Cuisine

Filipino food may not make it to mainstream cuisine like Thai, Indian, Chinese or Malaysian has, but it is an interesting mix of the various influences it has over the centuries. The best way to describe its nature is that it is a fusion of Spanish, Malay, Chinese and American cuisine. You get a range from grilled seafood and stews to paella, to pancit canton (stir-fried noodle, Canton style) and the Filipino spaghetti ( a variation of the American-style spaghetti). Each region in the Philippines would have its own local specialty, and it can vary vastly from town to town. Most of the dishes are not spicy, except for the Bicol Express, which is known to be the spiciest Filipino dish.

10.)  Listening to a live band

The Filipinos are very musically oriented people. They have been known to be great entertainers around the world, gracing the stage in many nightclubs and lounge bars across different parts of the world. If you travel around Asia and sit in a bar with some live music, there is a high chance that the band is from the Philippines. Thus, listening to some live music in the many bars and restaurants across the country offers you a glimpse of the musical talents that Filipinos generally have, and their passion for music. You will also find that singing Karaoke is a national pastime, and it doesn’t matter if you have what it takes to belt out those notes. Everyone is very encouraging and supportive, and it’s all for the fun of it.

I hope I have enlightened you of the wonderful things that you must experience while in the Philippines. It may not be the most common tourist things to experience, but hey, that’s what traveling is all about..

Til the next Fabulous Journeys!

Welcome to my new location for Fabulous Journeys! It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve posted a travel story, so I thought I best write something as my first post for the new home of my Fabulous Journeys blog! For those of you who have followed my original Fabulous Journeys blog (http://kelvin.uwcblog.com), thank you for your support and comments, and I hope you will continue to follow on this new address.

Inspiration Behind This Post

On the plane from the Gold Coast today, I caught a glimpse at one of the papers, and it had an article about a bomb that blew off at a Muslim celebration in Sri Lanka. The picture was bone-chilling, as it was taken just as the bomb blew off, and you see the explosion seconds after getting triggered, just starting to come out behind a group of guys on a procession. I could just imagine that those people would be either seriously injured or dead by now. Then, I recalled that I saw this same terrifying photo of the bomb blowing off on the social bookmarking site  DIGG last night.

This inspired me to write a post about the war-torn island in the Indian Ocean. It is not the best source of inspiration, but I love to help the people of Sri Lanka. I had the privilege of visiting Sri Lanka in the late 90s to early 2000s through my work as an IT Consultant for a government-owned bank. Along the way, I have met a few local friends in Sri Lanka and heard their stories about this civil war and the division in their country. I have seen what horrors this civil war between the Tamil Tiger rebels and the Sinhalese-dominated government has caused, and how much this has affected the everyday Sri Lankans. This war has been waging since the 1980s, and yet, the world has stopped paying attention to this and put this to an end. Nearly as much lives have been lost in this war as those in the Middle East, yet people have forgotten to help this beautiful nation to live in peace and harmony. My hope is that this will raise awareness to people around the world and something will be done to end this war.

How I Ended Up Visiting Sri Lanka

Let me share my story of how I perceived Sri Lanka to be at the start, but please read on, as this post is meant to introduce you to the wonderful island of serendipity. Years ago, I started out my career working for a multinational IT Consulting firm back in the Philippines where we were servicing the Asia-Pacific region. One of their clients happen to be a government-owned bank in Sri Lanka, and this happens to be the very first assignment I had for my very first job. I was fresh out of university, and wasn’t so exposed to the rest of the world. I didn’t know what to expect from a country like Sri Lanka.

I’ve heard stories from my other colleagues who have been there, and all they can tell me was that a civil war is being fought, and a few of our colleagues experienced first hand a bomb attack by the Tamil Tigers, which they were extremely lucky to have survived! They survived a bomb attack from the Central Bank building which was the neighbouring building of the hotel. The explosion was so great that it shattered all the glass windows of the hotel and our client’s building. Luckily for my colleagues, they were in their rooms that time, and they had the drapes closed. The drapes saved them from the sharp shreds of glass which could have caused injuries or worse, stab them to death!

This naturally frightened me, having just finished university and starting out my career. I thought to myself, I didn’t want to die this soon, and I really don’t know if my life is worth the risk of building a career in IT with this firm! Anyway, I eventually mustered the guts and took on the trip as an adventure.

My First Impressions

I landed in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, in the evening and I can still remember the airport. There were so many military personnel around, and before we were allowed to exit the building, our bags had to be re-xrayed even if it has already been xrayed at Customs. They had lots of sniffer dogs looking for traces of explosives. Along the way to the hotel, we passed by 3 military checkpoints with guards carrying big machine guns on sandbag barracks. It really looked like a scene from those Vietnam war movies! It was so surreal, and what we noticed was, if a car was full of dark-skinned Sri Lankans which may look like Tamils, they were all asked to step out of the car and the car was heavily inspected by the military! Since I look too foreign for them, they didn’t bother checking our car out thoroughly apart from the boot.

The next day, it was my first day to the client site. I was accompanied by my colleagues who have been to the client before. On our way to the office, I had to go through a military checkpoint. The road in front of the client’s office has been blocked off by a military checkpoint for fears that the bank will become the next target of the rebels. When we got to the client’s office, I was frisked by the guards and my bags were inspected for any suspicious items. I then went to the floor where our team was supposed to be based, I was shocked by what I saw. The building looked like it has just been bombed yesterday! The ceiling was not fixed, and the lighting fixtures and wires were dangling from the ceiling! It didn’t give me a good impression at all.

The True Gem of the Indian Ocean

As my stay went on, I began to appreciate the warmth of the Sri Lankans, their peaceful nature (ironically, despite the war), and the beauty of this teardrop-shaped island in the Indian Ocean. On my free days, I started to slowly explore the city of Colombo and the nearby towns and cities. In Colombo, I used to walk along Galle Road, which is the strip of road along the Indian Ocean coast. I used to enjoy watching the boys play cricket on a grassy patch just beside the road. You can watch fabulous sunsets along this strip of road, and it’s perhaps one of the best spots for watching  sunset in the world! It is also where you’ll find the Galle Face Hotel, an old 19th century hotel known to be a favourite hangout of Sir Arthur Clarke, a British sci-fi author who has made Sri Lanka his home.

One of the things I learned is that Sri Lanka mines a lot of gemstones. Precious stones like Sapphire, Ruby, Turquoise, Aquamarine, are mostly mined in this island. Great bargains can be found in the various gem shops around Colombo, and one of our project managers became a regular customer to a few of these gem shops/jeweller. My colleagues and I used to get treated like royalty when we go along with that project manager!

Tea, anyone?

Sri Lanka is known around the world for its tea. Sri Lanka used to be called Ceylon, back in the British colonial times, and Ceylon Tea is very well-known worldwide. In Australia, the most common one is the Dilmah Ceylon tea, but in Sri Lanka, there are a lot more varieties and brands of tea to choose from! One specific brand that I really like is the Mlesna Tea. They offer a great range of exquisite tea with various different flavours and varieties, plus the packaging of their tea is also superb! They have a number of Mlesna stores around Colombo and around Sri Lanka, and the ones I used to go to were below the Hilton Hotel and the Crescat Boulevard shopping mall.

While in Sri Lanka, a tour of a tea plantation is one that should be on the must-do list, especially for the avid tea drinkers. There are a number of tea plantations in the highlands of Sri Lanka, but the area with the most concentration is in Nuwara Eliya (pronounced as Nu-wa-rel-ya)region. I visited the Labookelie Tea factory, where a local woman did a tour of the plantation and the factory. She explained to us the different types of tea leaves. At the end of the tour, the group was given some tea to sample.

A trip to the Sri Lankan Highlands

Before I visited Nuwara Eliya, I started the journey with a stop at an elephant orphanage in Pinnewala. I got to see how orphaned elephants are kept and fed and bathed by the river. The baby elephants are fed using a bottle, much like human babies are, and the adult ones are given bananas and leaves to chew. The river bathing part was very interesting because the caretakers take the elephant to the nearby river and individually sends a command to dunk themselves into the water like this photo on the left. Some of the elephants are quite cheeky and playful and could splash the people watching them with some water using its snout.

The next stop was the city of Kandy. It’s the second biggest city in Sri Lanka, and it holds one of the most sacred relics in Buddhist religion, the tooth of Buddha. This is being held in the Temple of the Holy Tooth. The tooth is kept in an enclosed area not open for public viewing, but once a year (usually in August), the locals have a celebration called Esala Perahera, where the monks take out the holy tooth from the concealed location and parade it on the streets for people to see and revere. This is one of the tourist spots of Sri Lanka, and the temple itself is in a gorgeous location beside a lake.

On the way back to Colombo, I spent the day exploring and walking around the Horton Plains National Park. Part of the National Park is this area called World’s End, where there is a 5,000 ft sheer cliff face that makes for a spectacular highland scenery. This national park has a number of walking tracks, and a few magnificent waterfalls to explore and look at. This is very much worth visiting.

Sri Lanka has a couple more national parks, but unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to explore them. I’ll save it for the next visit! There are still other very fascinating religious and historical sites like the Sigiriya Rock fortress and frescoes, the Anuradhapura temple and the city of Polonnaruwa that I would love to visit, but I’m sure I’ll be back to see it.

At the end of the day, Sri Lanka is a beautiful country, rich in history and culture, and of course, natural beauty. Though the war was waging, it wasn’t enough to drive tourists and visitors away, and the fact of the matter is, the civil war has not involved intense fighting in all areas of the country. There are a number of safe regions for tourist to visit, but before you do, check out your government’s travel warning and heed their advice on the situation. For Australians, check out smartraveller.gov.au for more information before visiting or planning a trip.

Til the next Fabulous Journey!

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