Anyone reading will probably be reading this blog about the same time as the first Sri Lanka blog because as forecast the internet access in this country is diabolical so haven't even been sending emails to Is and my family. Also my opinion of Sri Lanka has, in the space of a week, divebombed!!! We have entered Rip-off Republic... Had a nice couple of days in Ella, lots or rambling in the hills on our own, lovely scenery etc. The staple food, rice and curry, is so far revolting, have tried a few, can't bring myself to try again! So we've been eating fried rice and noodles instead or else western food, the horror!!! First off I have to say our view of prices has been gleaned from the Rough Guide (which by the way is the worst guide book I have ever encountered and will never buy one again) and all actual prices are double those quoted, which meant we were feeling constantly ripped off everywhere we went. Which despite the guidebook appears to be the case anyway... And to compound things tourist prices for tourist sights (the country so far has had little else to offer) are up to 100 times the prices for Sri Lankans!!! If I paid some of these entry fees back home I'd ask for refunds, many places offer very little for what you pay. Also, most places have doubled their tourist prices from January this year!!! It's difficult not to feel hard done by when they so blatently rip you off... The thing is, there are very few tourists here in the first place so they can hardly afford to drive people away, many hotels are empty or practically empty, yet they won't drop prices when you walk out to try another. The tuk-tuks are hassly (remember I've been to India) and downright rude. The younger people are mostly wannabe western gangsta types, and are complete assholes! When you ask prices, people hesitate, long enough for you to see them calculate how much they can screw you for... We are not enjoying the country and frankly are counting the days until we leave, I'm very sorry to say but it's true.
However, in the meantime we are making the best of it and it still beats working for a living. We have just finished four straight days of hiking. In Ella we did a full day hike up Ella Rock and saw Rambula Waterall, the next day was a half day up Little Adam's Peak. After that was our first early morning hike, 4am out of bed to drive to Hortons Plains and Worlds End (a kilometer straight drop down a cliff to the valley floor). This was our first taste of rip-off, $18 each plus 10% service charge not including the early morning drive (we also had to pay for the driver 30 rupees to our 2000+). And as did I, you may be saying but sure don't they earn very little? But it's not the poor people at the tourist locations, they're busy working, its middle and upper class Sri Lankans with organised busses and drivers! Anyway we did do a really cool hike the day after for which my calves are still aching... Climbed Adams Peak, a 2am start, Sweet Jesus!!! to climb 4800 steps (wasn't as bad as it sounds) to a Buddist temple at the site of Budda's footprint on the mountaintop. Then back down the 4800 steps with jelly legs (again not too bad), and woke up this morning with a pain in my legs that must be what angina feels like, pain on exertion... In Kandy now, your average city, went to see the Temple of the Tooth (Budda's left canine tooth, upper or lower not sure, of course if I saw it I'd know, being a dentist...). Prices doubled as of Jan 2007. Hardly worth the visit, if it didn't have the tooth I mightn't have bothered. We also saw some Kandyan dancing and drumming, performed by some people they found on the street before the show, years of training my ass! Though quite surprisingly prices were as quoted in the guidebook, and still not worth it. You can probably tell I'm not liking S L very much... So will finish my ranting cos tomorrow is the highlight, I'm going to see elephants, yea!!!! :-) Lots and lots of elephants eating and playing in the river. Cool. So chat to you all later.
However, in the meantime we are making the best of it and it still beats working for a living. We have just finished four straight days of hiking. In Ella we did a full day hike up Ella Rock and saw Rambula Waterall, the next day was a half day up Little Adam's Peak. After that was our first early morning hike, 4am out of bed to drive to Hortons Plains and Worlds End (a kilometer straight drop down a cliff to the valley floor). This was our first taste of rip-off, $18 each plus 10% service charge not including the early morning drive (we also had to pay for the driver 30 rupees to our 2000+). And as did I, you may be saying but sure don't they earn very little? But it's not the poor people at the tourist locations, they're busy working, its middle and upper class Sri Lankans with organised busses and drivers! Anyway we did do a really cool hike the day after for which my calves are still aching... Climbed Adams Peak, a 2am start, Sweet Jesus!!! to climb 4800 steps (wasn't as bad as it sounds) to a Buddist temple at the site of Budda's footprint on the mountaintop. Then back down the 4800 steps with jelly legs (again not too bad), and woke up this morning with a pain in my legs that must be what angina feels like, pain on exertion... In Kandy now, your average city, went to see the Temple of the Tooth (Budda's left canine tooth, upper or lower not sure, of course if I saw it I'd know, being a dentist...). Prices doubled as of Jan 2007. Hardly worth the visit, if it didn't have the tooth I mightn't have bothered. We also saw some Kandyan dancing and drumming, performed by some people they found on the street before the show, years of training my ass! Though quite surprisingly prices were as quoted in the guidebook, and still not worth it. You can probably tell I'm not liking S L very much... So will finish my ranting cos tomorrow is the highlight, I'm going to see elephants, yea!!!! :-) Lots and lots of elephants eating and playing in the river. Cool. So chat to you all later.
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