Friday, 6 October 2017

[2016 斯里蘭卡 Sri Lanka] 黑暗科倫坡// Darkness in Colombo

踏上旅程的最後一站哥倫坡(Colombo) , 計劃夜宿機場附近旅館,明早步行到機場。由南部前往哥倫坡,推薦使用火車,因為火車綫沿海岸線行走,八成風景都是藍天碧海,若遇上日落,看到火紅的太陽在水平線上慢慢消失,真的感到十分治癒。
Colombo is our last stop in the Sri Lanka trip. We planned to stay in the guesthouse nearby the Airport and walk to the airport in the morning. Train would be a nice transport between the southern Sri Lanka to Colombo because it goes alone the coastal line and you will be accompanied by the blue sky and wide ocean. During sunset, you will see the sun starts disappear from the coaster line. 



我們購買了普通二等車箱車票,沒有留座更沒有空餘坐位,車箱都已擠滿大包小包的旅客,以本地人居多。由於車箱中間位置已擠不進去,我們便選擇站在車箱左方門口位置,除了上落客要讓路和沒有車門有機會被拋出車外,問題不大,更可獨佔海岸美景,理應是不錯的選擇。
We had the 2nd class ticket without reserving seat. There were no free seat on the train as it was packed with passengers and their luggage. As we can see, they are mainly local. We cannot squeeze inside the train, so we chose to stay next to the door on the left side. To give some way to passengers getting on/ off when the train stopped at the station would bring us some disruption. But, we can enjoy the beautiful seaview which is a good deal.

Wednesday, 23 August 2017

[2016 斯里蘭卡 Sri Lanka] 告別Hikkaduwa // See you later, Hikkaduwa

懶洋洋起床,再懶洋洋到Cafe吃早餐,剛好遇上正要出門的蘇格蘭情侶,他們已準備出外觀光。
Woke up without rush, slowly walked to the Cafe for breakfast. On the other hand, the Scottish couple finished breakfast and ready to go out. 

早餐是媽媽精心準備的Hoppers,把粉漿倒在特製做Hopper的圓形鋾鍋內燒煮,質地又軟又韌,但沒甚麼味道,所以進階版會加太陽蛋,如果在香港應該會出現抹茶和紫薯口味。
The Mom prepared us Hoppers for breakfast. It is a typical dish to cook the flour mixture in a semi-circle pot. The texture is soft and chewy with bland taste. That's why the advance version is to add a sunny side egg. I believe if Hoppers is popular in Hong Kong, Matcha and purple potato flavours will be invented. 

不久下起大雨,剛離開的蘇格蘭情侶被迫返回Cafe,但已經全身濕透。他們說都已經習慣下雨天,在蘇格蘭幾乎每一天都會下雨,但很少會像現在濕透和滴水。雨沒有停下亦沒有減弱,連Cafe的屋頂都開始滴水。Supan和Mel連忙放水筒盛水,又移開木餐桌座椅以防沾濕,忙得七手八腳。屋頂是用椰樹的葉編成,如果鋪頂時或編織手工不好便有機會出現雨天滲漏的情況。Mel說之前下雨已經發生漏水的情況,但一直未有時間處理,待雨季結束一定會再請人維修。
Unfortunately, it started raining heavily after a short while. The Scottish couple had to return back in the Cafe and they were all wet and soaked with water. They said they are used to rainy day as Scotland rains everyday, but not pouring rain in Scotland is not common. There is no signal that the rain will stop or became weaker. Water leaked through the roof. Supan and Mel acted quickly to bring the bucket to carry the water, moved the tables and chairs to avoid getting wet. There was a chaos. The roof is covered with coconut-leaf blinded top. If the workers did not place the top carefully or the weaving skill is not good enough, it causes leaking problem in rainy season. Mel said the leaking issue happened before but they did not have time to fix it. They will have to do it when rainy season ended. 

Wednesday, 16 August 2017

[2016 斯里蘭卡 Sri Lanka] Galle 燈塔 日落 海龜生蛋 Galle Lighthouse, Sunset, Sea Turtle lay egg

在Cabana 期間,早餐是我最期待的時間,因為Mel、Supan和Supan媽媽都會為我們煮地道早餐,簡單的材料,煮出人情味,呷一口紅茶,欣賞四周的花草,置身於森林中,每天都是好開始。
The breakfast time is my favour moment during stay in Cabana, because the owner's family - Mel, Supan and Supan's Mom will prepare us the local breakfast. I am so amazed with simple ingredients to make tasty dishes, together with a sip of black tea, cherish the natural environment around. We always have our meal inside a forest. Everyday has a good start from here.

Tuesday, 1 August 2017

[2016 斯里蘭卡 Sri Lanka] Hikkaduwa 浮潛 按摩 Snorkeling Massage

雖然cabana有大床,但整晚沒有睡好,因為實在太熱,加上整晚都有蚊在耳邊嗡嗡叫,大腿還被叮得紅腫,十分煩擾,所以我徹底檢查蚊帳,把破洞補好,把躲藏的蚊趕走,好讓我未來幾天可以好好休息。
Although the extra king size bed in the cabana is so big, I didn't sleep very well because of it was too hot to fall a sleep and also the mosquitoes was bugging me hard. They flew around next to my ear and kept biting me. It was so annoying. That's why I had a thorough check of the mosquito net to ensure all the holes are fixed. I have to ensure myself a nice stay for the rest of the days. 

Cabana在cafe提供早餐,咖啡、茶和男友媽媽親自做的斯國早餐,在樹屋吃過的Sambal。
Breakfast is provided from the Cabana. The mom of the owner prepares local breakfast to the guests every morning in the cafe. We had the Sambal. Last time we tried this was in the Treehouse. 


Sunday, 23 July 2017

[2016 斯里蘭卡 Sri Lanka] Dreamtime Cabana 世外桃園 Oasis Paradise

早在香港,Moritz已經提及過在Air B&B找到一間cabana,環境富大自然景色,是渡假輕鬆之選。旅程來到尾聲,我也告訴自己不用太緊張,適當的時候必需懂得享受,對自己好一點,所以決定餘下幾天都會入住大自然cabana!
Moritz had mentioned a cabana he came across on Air B&B while he was still in Hong Kong. The environment of the cabana is nice and natural. It is absolutely good for holiday. I told myself to chill as we had made it to the end of the trip and I should enjoy the rest of the time. I should not be stressed out. As a result, we stayed in this cabana for the rest of our holiday. 

Cabana的名字是Dreamtime Cabana, 連名字都這麼治癒。Cabana正確位置不在Hikkaduwa, 是離Hikkaduwa兩公里的Thiranagama,交通方便,所以不是大問題。Cabana 是由一位澳洲女生和她斯國男友及母親一同開設的,我們入住的是Cabana的第一代,也是男友袓屋旁的小屋,有獨立洗手間和淋浴設備,睡床是一直以來睡過最寬敞的,比Kandy Pearl House還要大。
The cabana is Dreamtime Cabana (even the name is so healing and carefree), located 2km from Hikkaduwa, in Thiranagama. Public transport is good and not a big problem to be a bit off from the main town. Cabana is run by an Australian girl and her Sri Lankan boyfriend plus his mom. We stayed in the Cabana phrase 1 which is the family house of the boyfriend, which has our own bathroom and a extra king size bed (even larger than the one in Kandy Pearl House).

Saturday, 22 July 2017

[2016 斯里蘭卡 Sri Lanka] 我不懂手語 + Mirissa 觀鯨 I don't do sign language + Whale Watching in Mirissa

標形大漢的出現,令我猜想他們見奸計未能得呈,決定強搶打劫,我腎上腺素立即急升…心跳如坐過山車般加快…
The muscular guys in front of me scared me. I was imagining what they want to do with us. Do they decide to use force as we refused to stay at their guesthouse? I felt so anxious and my heartbeat was super fast.

身處黑暗的內街,四周烏燈黑火,我們坐在Tuk Tuk車內,無門無窗完全無安全感,一手可以被人捉下車,真的叫天不應叫地不聞。標形大漢查問發生甚麼事,司機和他們用斯語對答,我們當然聽不懂,這時我提議他們打電話給民宿老闆查問地址,好讓我們趕快離開。Moritz拿著自己的電話撥打著號碼,我心裡大叫著NO!!!!不要拿出我們的電話‼ 因為我怕是陷阱,他們會搶走我們的電話,心裡開始煩躁。電話接通,民宿老闆說我們離不遠,著我們把電話給司機,好讓他教他怎走。掛斷電話,司機表示沒問題,開車轉個彎不用一分鐘我們便到了民宿門口,老闆在等著我們。這是在斯國以來我遇到最氣憤的事,果然如Khan所料遇上壞人!
Inside the alleys and surrounded by darkness, I sit in the Tuk Tuk without any sense of comfort. I could be dragged out of the car easily by someone on the street. Then my life would totally changed. The muscular guy asked what was happening in Sri Lankan and the drivers told them the whole story. At that point, I hope I could understand something. I suggested them to call the owner of our guesthouse for direction and we could get out of here asap. Moritz held his phone and called immediately and I don't know if he could hear me yelling very loud in my hard saying NO! DON'T USE OUR PHONE! I was afraid that it is part of their trap and they will steal our phone from us. I was so annoyed. The call connected and the owner said we were not far away. He asked us to pass the phone to the driver so that he could explain and guide him the way. The driver hung up and said no problem. He started his engine and we arrived at the correct entrance with only one minute ride. The owner was waiting for us. This is the first time in Sri Lanke that I had such a bad experience and I was so mad. Khan - this time I felt that you are not the worst!

Tuesday, 18 July 2017

[2016 斯里蘭卡 Sri Lanka] Haputale Lipton's Seat X 長途車往Matara 危險打劫

選擇這間民宿的原因正因為一張日出相,在民宿露臺拍攝。但現實與理想總有段距離,我們看到的只有濃霧和密雲,難以看到太陽。
The reason choosing Bawa Guesthouse is because of a sunrise photo taken from the balcony. However, there is always a difference between the expectation and reality. The good weather did not stay with us during our stay. We can hardly see the sun.

Source: Booking.com Bawa Guesthouse
REALITY 現實
早餐時間遇上住在其他房屋的背包客,談起昨夜停電事件,他們均表示他們的單位沒有停電。原來我們和他們的房屋所在位置不同,供電系統不一樣,他們未有受影響,多麼幸運!
Breakfast is the time to social with other backpackers, as always. We shared the power cut incident last night. It was a surprised that they did not have the same issue because their building located in another side which the power supply is different. That's why they were not affected. Lucky them.