guts and god (Sri Lanka)

Ayubowan!

I have just returned from a country I never really thought of before, and was quite surprised to see that Sri Lankans live, talk, drive and look like Indians. I like them, they are friendly and majorly Buddhists.
The flight was GREAT (no one asked for water water constantly), hehe and also the plane was full of honeymooners and holidaymakers (as we made a stop at Maldives first to pick up more people. Can you imagine the feeling, being on the airport of such a beautiful place and not being able to get off. Moohooo!!

Once in Colombo, I packed my little backpack with water and some toiletries and off I went on yet another adventure. We had two days in Sri Lanka, and I left the stability of my hotel to go to a beach town 3hours away called, Hikkaduwa. I was so nervous at first, not knowing what to expect. But the unknown is my favourite territory:) Some of the crew always ask me how I can do these things, and my latest reply is: "I have guts and I have God" ;-) My divine travel partner. When I go on these trips, I enter exciting spiritual journeys and experiences of synchronicity, meeting angels on my path. I learn more and more about the true me.

Sri Lanka is so cheap, it should be illegal, haha. My crazy 3 hour busride cost about R12 and R6 back, accommodation R58 and considering that I had R500 spending money, I was quite rich:) This is ofcourse if you live like a backpacker and are willing to negotiate. They also have the minibus 'taxi' system and shout the destination audibly unclear. I was the ONLY tourist aka whitie in these parts and got used to being stared at, people grabbing each others attention to show this person approaching. I found the most gorgeous guesthouse, with a little garden inside my room, natural sunlight coming in from the roof and that night hearing the monsoon loud and near. The people of the guesthouse treated me like their daughter, it was so amazing and heartwarming. I spent some time at the beach and exploring around. It is as if I have developed a backpacker's instinct, my own travel character. How and what I think and do as a traveler. And I get a lot of time to think. Why do people want to travel? Perhaps in your reply, answer this... Why would you want to see the world?

If I carry on describing details, this news would be too long. It was a wonderful experience, I had people from nowhere looking after me, making sure I get back safe, making sure I take the right directions. And it humbles me..

Ps. the coconuts are not THAT nice in Sri Lanka:)

Stuti (thank you) for being a part of all this that is..
And go ahead and ask anything..

Hugs,
Alta

howzit my china (Shanghai, China)

Wuan,
ni hao

Yet, another crazy adventure I have just returned from.
I was supposed to go to Birmingham, then Beijing, but instead they sent me to Shanghai. The crew onboard was fantastic, and the best teamplayers I have met so far. Most of us went for dinner together at a local restaurant (including the captain and first officer) and feasted on unidentifiable food items and local Chinese beer and it all came down to R40 each (we were about 9 people) China is dirtcheap (no pun). The next day we took a shuttle to town and went to Yai Tai market, close to the big Science Technology Museum, where I almost shopped till I dropped (almost, because they don't accept credit cards in Shanghai). Had some local food in a cafeteria where people stared at me, because I was the only whitie there. Then I missioned all on my own again. Alta drives me a little looney sometimes:) To the Yu Yuan gardens, which is quite far out and with the majority not speaking English, it was quite a toughie. But I made it there (with mostly the help of Chinese speaking foreigners - I was speechless to see a Lebanese man give directions to my taxi driver in Chinese) The gardens are 400 years old (I have no photos, my camera shut down) and the surrounding markets were really gorgeous, although packed with tourists.

Now, returning was a total new escapade on it's own. With a time limit to get back to where the hotel's shuttle will pick me up, I didn't have time to waste. And I was out of town, so the taxi and English speaking situation raised my stress bar and caused me a bit of nervousness. I got dropped in an area, instead of at the subway, so on the way learned to ask directions to the subway in Chinese (haha). I took my sandals off, and was running by this stage. Foreigners again helped me to buy a ticket (as the machine and everything else is in Chinese - and as you might have noticed, does not look like English at all). Got inside the train, and counted off the amount of time we stopped, to know when to get off. And from disembarkation, continued to run with 2 minutes left, and successfully got on the bus back to the hotel. Happy ending:) It was like something out of a movie. Overall, had a good time as usual.

Later in the month, I will be going to Hong Kong.. But that's for another time.

Hope you are all well;-)


Zai hui
Alta

i heart new york (Manhattan)

How yuu doin?

I finally got a flight to New York city, Manhattan. The flight was absolutely horrendous:( 13 hours of flying with Indians that thought we were their personal slaves. Was lucky enough to stay in a hotel that is pretty centered and close to everything. Met up with an old friend, Tony, that I used to work with in Baia restaurant. He and his girlfriend came through from Connecticut and took me for a tour around the city. We went for a walk over Brooklyn Bridge (the one you always see in the movies), walk through Time Square (the busy, busy streets where those big screens are displaying ads and where all the theaters are), Grand Central (it's the most amazing trainstation) and chilled in Central Park (a big park where the ice rink is in the open during cold season - as you see in the movies) It was a beautiful and sunny day. We had lunch at a bar that has been there since the 1800's, a rare thing in New York. I HAD to have McDonald's. It's like having vodka in Russia for me:) The movies on the hotel's tv, were all shot in NYC. I have gained a new awareness now in watching movies, and in a lot of other things. When I watch movies, I see if there is anything I recognize or not, heehee. Overall, I had a great time.

Before the flight I went to the South African Freedom Day Function. Wow, I was impressed. Dubai has been organizing this event for the passed 6 years now. It was huge and pretty well organized (except for only catering for 2000 ppl). Boereworsrolls were free, and also the huge buffet they had later. I mean HUGE. All the South African salads that you're ever heard of, bobotie, Durban curries, etc,etc not even to mention all the deserts. And it was all free. They even had Savannas there, whoohoo! People were langarming on Steve Hofmeyer, had potjiekos competitions etc. For a moment there, I thought I was in SA!


Life is good;-)

Looking forward to hearing from you

Cheers
A