Globetrotting Crates

Leaving the hot sunny shores of the south behind us wasn’t too much of a wrench as we were excited to see what we would discover at Ella, our next destination. The journey from Unawatuna by car is about 4 hours. We drove along the south coast past the Stilt Fishermen  at Weligama. The fishing village  of Weligama is famous for the fishing technique used by the fishermen of the village. They cast their lines out while balancing themselves quite cleverly on a 20-50 meter pole in the shallow waters, which gives its name. Overtaking all the hundreds of smart little red, blue and green Piaggio Tuk Tuks, we drove past rice fields, banana plantations and roadside stalls selling coconuts, pumpkins and bananas. Our driver Lassa a practising Buddhist stopped on route at a temple to place an offering and say a prayer. Gradually we climbed into the hills, Lassa carefully negotiating the hair pin bends through stunning scenery with our ears popping and temperatures falling from...

We said a reluctant goodbye to India and our lovely hosts at the homestay in Kolkata. We flew to Colombo with Sri Lanka Airlines, a very good experience, lovely crew and service, good food, even served with a cold glass of wine! Then a 3 hour car journey to our resort. We are staying in Unawatuna on the south coast of Sri Lanka for a few nights R&R after the hectic but enjoyable last 2 weeks. It is so much quieter and can’t say we are missing the constant beeping of horns and congested streets. We are renting a cabana in a hotel a short walk from the beach. Having tried Indian breakfasts at the Indian homestay, we are now sampling a Sri Lankan breakfast of hoppers, which is a Sri Lankan specialty rice crepe and has a fried egg in the middle. In addition we are enjoying all the fresh tropical fruits, pineapple, papaya, watermelon and mango. The temperature is around 30 C but not too stifling, only downside is the pesky mossies and we both have irritating bites. We are off t...

We ended our spiritual journey in India culmulating in a sunset boat ride on the Ganges in Varanasi to watch the Aarti ceremony from the water where we had the amazing blood moon shining down on us, we floated candles on the water to give us good luck - magical experience. Onwards to Kolkata (formally Calcutta) where we are staying in a centrally located homestay, for 3 nights. We were slightly apprehensive as to what we would find, however, far from being a black hole (read your history books kids!) it is in a modern apartment building and we have a large room and bathroom and share the rest of the lovely space with 4 other guests. Walked our legs off visiting various heritage sites including the Writers’ Building and Victoria Memorial. We were tempted at lunchtime by the delicious aroma coming from street food stalls that line the streets, however, as we haven’t yet opened the Imodium decided to play safe  - Jeff had egg and chips in Oly Pub! Tomorrow we are trotting off t...

We eventually arrived safely in Varanasi and are staying at a delightful Heritage Boutique Hotel. The streets are narrow crowded and filthy with dog and cow muck everywhere so open toed shoes are not recommended. Varanasi is a city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Regarded as the spiritual capital of India, the city draws Hindu pilgrims who bathe in the Ganges River’s sacred waters and perform funeral rites. Along the city's winding streets are some 2,000 temples. We were woken up at 5.30 am by the Aarti chanting which takes place every morning.  An   Aarti is a devotional ritual that uses fire as an offering. It's usually made in the form of a lit lamp, and in the case of the Ganges   River, a small diya with a candle and flowers that's floated down the river. We took a boat along the river past a number of Ghats what sights we saw, lots of people bathing and bodies being burnt.  We then walked along the Ghats, seeing funeral prosse...

4.30am Friday checked in for our flights to Delhi and onward to Varanasi. Oh how smug we were when we were upgraded to Business Class. It certainly backfired as our flight was delayed and delayed and delayed. Amritsar Airport is awful and still being improved there is just one big waiting area that was crowded, the facilities are poor, one cafe, the ladies loos only have 2 cubical one Indian (where you have to crouch) and one Western. We were given a variety of imaginative reasons for the delay, Delhi Airport preparing for armed forces day, the weather, technical fault etc, etc. Finally at 18.30 the flight was cancelled, we found out that it was due to the pilot’s hours running out. There was almost a riot when passengers found out the flight had been cancelled an angry mob surrounded the Air India Manager and staff, armed security guys had to intervene and disperse the crowd that had gathered. We were given a hotel room for the night so all piled back into taxis and driven ba...

What a fantastic couple of days we have had in Amritsar. Very crowded city but non threatening thousands of Sikhs come on pilgrimage to visit the Golden Temple which is a truly beautiful site. We both had to cover our heads remove our shoes and wash hands and feet before entering the complex. It was a very spiritual experience and somehow felt intrusive walking around people praying and meditating. We decided to take advantage and experience the free food doled out at the Langar, hundreds of volunteers keep the kitchens running 24 hours a day and serve up to 50 thousand people a day. The food is vegetarian, dal, veg curry and a roti, served in a large hall everyone sits cross legged to eat - of course we gave a donation for our food. In the afternoon we took a taxi to the Wagah border (that’s the border between India and Pakistan) which is about 24 miles away. There is a daily ceremony watched by thousands, between the two country’s armies who are dressed in ceremonial garb. They...

Spent most of Monday travelling on the Delhi Metro which is surprisingly very clean and easy to navigate. Airport security is in place causing long queues in rush hour, can’t imagine this working on the London Underground! It also very PC with priority seats for “Physically Challenged” and “Differently Abled”. Did a fair amount of walking the crowded streets too, which isn’t for the faint hearted - hawkers hassling constantly - Jeff was even asked if he would like his ears cleaned - YUK!! On Tuesday we hired a car and driver to take us to Agra to seee the Taj Mahal.  We were touched by the beauty of the mausoleum, truly breathtaking. We also visited the Agra Fort and Baby Taj. What a relief to get back to our hotel, driving in India is a hairaising experience especially with a driver who is constantly looking at his phone to check the cricket results (India v Australia ). Well that’s all from Delhi - next stop Amritsar to see the Golden Temple.

Arrived safely in Delhi on 13th January 2pm local time (5 hours ahead of UK). Flew with Oman Air via Muscat. Food was awful didn’t live up to the promise of the menu! See photo. Service was indifferent. Although Muscat Airport looks fantastic it was very disorganised. Had a bit of a blip at Delhi airport, Jeff handed in his Sri Lankan visa along with his Indian which caused a bit of confusion and a couple of officials to sort out, all sorted though and we were on our way. Staying at the Palace Heights Hotel for 3 nights, good location, cheap for Delhi, great service and a super restaurant where we ate last night. The temperature is around 20C going down to 5C at night so quite chilly. We are planning to go to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal tomorrow, this will be the second attempt as several years ago we got as far as the entrance queue and Liz was sick so had to abort.