Thursday, 1 June 2017

[2016 斯里蘭卡 Sri Lanka] Kandy - 英倫風格住宿 England Style Pearl House

離開樹屋前往下一站Kandy,Srimal送別我們,載我們到巴士站。剛下車,巴士便出現,還來不及說再見,巴士職員便把我們的行李放到車尾,催促我們上車,所以樹屋鎖匙都一拼跟著上車,還在口袋裡。我們在煩惱怎樣歸還鎖匙,要寄回去嗎?沒有詳細地址!現在下車回去?會花很多時間!幸好記起Srimal提過這個周末他會到Ella,我們亦剛好已到達Ella,所以便約好到時歸還。
Said goodbye to Treehouse and Srimal, we headed to the next stop – Kandy. Srimal gave us the last ride to the bus stop. The bus arrived while we just got off his tuk tuk. Then the bus conductor grabbed our bags and stored them at the car trunk quickly and urged us to get on the bus. We were not able to say proper “Goodbye” to Srimal and also took the treehouse key with us. How can we return it? By post? We do not have the address. Get off the bus now and walk back? It will take lots of time. Luckily, we remember Srimal mentioned that he will travel to Ella this weekend as well. To meet up in Ella would be a good solution. We will be in Ella at the same period. 


對於乘撘斯里蘭卡的巴士,我是頗享受的,司機風馳電掣地駕駛、票務員在擠迫的車箱內走來走去、手拿一疊鈔票迅速找錢然後又再收錢、站著的乘客把自己的背包放到其他乘客的大腿上暫時保管、所有車門永遠打開、播著節奏強勁的音樂,一切都成為本土特色!好幾次,路面比較顛簸,我坐在座位上都被拋上半空,感覺得刺激。
I enjoy the bus ride in Sri Lanka. The drivers drove at the highest speed, the conductors squeezed in between passengers along the compartment, they held a pile of banknote and gave you the exact change without hesitation, passengers carrying bags will leave their bags on the lap of the other passengers to keep, the doors are always open, music is always on … these are the specialty of the bus in Sri Lanka. There were a few times, I got threw up in the air because of the bumpy road. It was so excited. 




由於Kandy只是前往Ella的中轉站,只會停留一晚,所以也就隨便選了一間民宿。Kandy的住宿不少,但質素比較參次,花了一點時間選擇才決定入住Pearl House。Tuk tuk司機知道我們要到Pearl House紛紛說在山上路程遠,要繞很多路,收費300LKR,火車站那堆司機更索價400LKR。對於一直只需付150LKR便能由車站到達住宿地方,下意識還價100LKR,司機聽到便冷笑說不可能,強調要上山(手指同時用力向山上指),100LKR到不了。根據民宿的資料和Google 地圖,走路只需6分鐘,所以當司機說要10分鐘,我覺得他在說謊!一輪問價還價戰下,最終遇上一個接受150LKR的司機。
Kandy was just a stopover to Ella for us. We chose an ordinary guesthouse for a night. There are lots of accommodation in Kandy but not all of them are acceptable. It took us some times to decide to stay in Pearl House. When the tuk tuk driver learnt that we wanted to go to Pearl House, their first reaction were the same, saying it is very far on the mountain. The only different was we were offered 300LKR, while those near to the train station offered 400LKR. To us, our price is always 150LKR from station to accommodation, so we offered 100LKR which the drivers just laughed and said impossible. At the same time, they emphasized it is located on the mountain with finger pointing up on the mountain. According to the information from the guesthouse and google map, it takes 6 minutes to walk. So when the drivers said it takes 10 minutes, I first thought they lied. Anyways, we found a driver accepting 150LKR.


Tuk tuk離開車站,往市中心進發,路上走著多個背包客,又看到猴子在電纜上跳來跳去。在大街轉了幾趟都找不到門牌,向其他司機問路,說了幾句,指一指山上,司機便繼續前進,接下幾分鐘tuk tuk一直上山,我心感不妙和帶少許懷疑,真的那麼遠嗎?
Tuk tuk left the bus station and heading to the town. We came across lots of backpackers and monkeys jumped along the cable. Driving along the main street a few times, but still not able to figure out where is the guesthouse. Our tuk tuk driver asked the way and the other driver pointed to the mountain and told him the way. Then we kept going for the next and the next next minutes toward the mountain. I started wondering if we were heading to the correct direction. Is that far? Really?


然後看到一間華麗酒店的門牌,司機繼續向酒店前進,然後在大閘停下,正想攪清楚我們的目的地,司機已叫看門人開閘,看門人問是否到Pearl House,司機說:「是!」。一分鐘後,Pearl House - 英倫風格的大宅便在眼前。
We then saw a luxury hotel sign and the driver stopped at the gate. I was going to ask if everything good, he already asked the doorkeeper to open the gate. Then the doorkeeper asked if we go to Pearl House. The driver said “YES”. One minute later, we arrived at the Pearl House, a decent house with England style, in front of us.




大宅住了一對老夫妻,很和善熱情,經常邀請我們一起喝茶,要分享背包客們的故事。希望待我年老後,也能開設民宿,接待世界各地的背包客,從他們口中知道三十年前到過的斯里蘭卡已經變成很繁榮的城市,開始使用手機付款,有地鐵運行,當地人仍然很純真快樂。
An old couple take care of the house and they are so nice. They always invited us for tea and shared the story of the backpackers. I hope when I’m old, I would be able to run a guesthouse and meet the backpackers around the world, learn from them that Sri Lanka, the country I visited 30 years ago, became a very developed city, people used smartphone for payment and of course subway established everywhere. Most important is the local are still very cheerful. 

一進房間,一個字:非 常 廣 闊!近窗位置放了一張四柱大床,充滿英倫感覺,浴室設有熱水,如果企缸換成浴缸,絕對是5星級的家!
When I entered the room, it was WOW – so spacious! A four-poster-king-size bed is in the room near to the windows. It feels so England. Hot water equipped in the bath. If the shower could be a bath tub would be a luxury home!




Kandy人多車多,很多塵空氣很差,一如斯里蘭卡大部份城市。在馬路邊走了10分鐘,感覺吸了10噸廢氣!
Kandy is crowd with people and car, the air is severely polluted and the road is so dusty, same as most of the cities in Sri Lanka. After walking along the road for 10 minutes, we felt like breathing in tons of gas. 





隨便在市中心逛逛,有許多西式咖啡店和麵包店,遊客亦以歐美為主,也首次找到賣紀念品的商店,買了幾張名信片。(寄出3張名信片到德國,但只有1張成功收到,其餘2張可能失蹤了…)
Wandering around the town, we came across a lots of western café and bakery. Tourists are mainly from the west. First time we found a souvenir store and bought a few postcards. (We have sent 3 postcards to Germany, but only 1 so far was received. It takes..... a while more …. for the other 2….)


來到湖邊,景色不錯,由連綿不斷的白色波浪圍繞。只是在拍照期間,不停被人兜售Kandy Dance的門票或司機向你招生意,很令人煩擾。
The view along the Kandy Lake is fascinating. It was surrounded by the white-wave decoration. The only thing annoyed me was loads of people bugging you to buy the Kandy Dance ticket and join the tour. 




湖的旁邊就是著名的佛牙寺,有很多人在排隊入內參觀,而我們在外圍欣賞發光的外觀已經足夠,沒有擠進去的意欲。
Tooth Relic Temple is next to the Lake and people queue to go inside for visit. We were fine to just take a look of the building outlook which is in gold at night. 


一小時Kandy Dance表演,其實沒有看也沒太大損失,只是傳統舞蹈和文化表演,說真的:無特別!晚飲後選擇早點休息,明天6時起床看日出和到火車站排隊買車票!
We decided to watch the Kandy Dance performance. I would say you don’t miss anything to skip the show. It was just traditional dancing and culture performance. We headed back to Pearl House after the light dinner because we have to wake up early at 6am tomorrow to see the sunrise and get the train ticket. 





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