i'm taking the cure so i can be quiet whenever i want
I'm ridiculously tired, and so I intend to go to bed as soon as I post this, even though it's not quite ten p.m. As I intimated earlier, I had an amazing time in Sri Lanka. Six of us left Hyderabad early Friday morning, and we stopped at a temple on the way to the airport. The temple was beautiful--white marble, with beautiful carvings. It was pretty early, so it wasn't crowded even though it was Krishna's birthday and so would probably become more crowded later. I'm glad that we went...and also glad that that was the only 'cultural' thing we did on the entire trip. We left the temple, went to the airport, boarded the short flight to Sri Lanka, and arrived with no difficulties sometime around noon on Friday. The drive from the airport (north of the capital) to the resort town of Bentota (south of the capital) was almost three hours, most of which I slept through due to a dose of Dramamine. But, my impression was that Sri Lanka's roads are better than India's and people are more likely to follow traffic signals, which was very welcome.
Anyway, there isn't much to report about the trip. I spent two nights at the Taj Exotica resort in Bentota; I had a room overlooking the Indian Ocean, with a balcony on which we could drink and watch the sunset over the water. I spent all day Saturday hanging out by the pool and drinking at the swim-up bar, and then had a great dinner with Regina and Rohit at their hotel (which was five minutes away from the Taj). After dinner, Matt, Salim and I cleared out half of the minibar in one of the rooms, which was quite entertaining. I also hung out at the pool Sunday morning before having lunch and catching a car back to the airport. I spent Sunday night in Chennai/Madras, and then caught a v. early flight to Hyderabad this morning.
Highlights of the trip:
1) The taxi driver in Chennai. He had a car that may well have been built in the 1950s, and a small Hindu idol lit up with Christmas lights on the dashboard. He prayed to the idol before driving out of the parking lot, and I soon understood why--the car died every time he pulled to a stop. This is not a comfortable thing in chaotic Indian traffic, but luckily we made it to the hotel alive.
2) The Indian Ocean. It was gorgeous, and yet slightly sinister, since there was still damage from the tsunami all around us. It was less than 200 yards from the hotel, and as I was sitting in the balcony it was hard not to imagine what it must have been like to see all the water coming up to kill you.
3) The pool bar at the Taj Exotica. I actually only had a couple of drinks from it, but it's simultaneously the best and the worst idea ever. I don't think you're supposed to mix alcohol and swimming, and the combination of alcohol and sun definitely helped to ensure that I was dehydrated the next day, but it was very fun to sip a pina colada while hanging out in the pool.
4) Dinner with Regina and Rohit. It felt extremely grown-up, since we met at their hotel and had a candlelit dinner on the lawn of their fancy mansion-turned-B&B. We drank wine, ate great food, and I felt older than my 23 years. But I'm turning 24 in two weeks, so maybe this very pleasurable dinner will make me feel better about my impending old age.
5) Richard. Richard is this dude who arranges cars, tours, etc. He has a protege, also named Richard, who is smaller in height, girth, and responsibility. Salim and I met with him to organize some cars and things, and Salim promptly coined them 'Big Richard' and 'Little Richard'. Little Richard just nods in agreement, while Big Richard talks very slowly about whatever he wants to talk about. He did a great job organizing cars, and he also organized an elephant ride for Salim, but then he launched into a tangent about the ring that he was wearing, and how it had nine stones (a different gemstone for each planet), and how when the sun hits the ring, it send power to the heart or something. I decided that this was too reminsicent of Captain Planet for my liking, but the Richards were very helpful despite this fact.
6) Relaxing in general. I've now recovered from my European adventures, even though I'm tired from the flight this morning. I need to plan the rest of my time here rather desperately, since it's quickly running out.
And now, you can vote in the semifinals of my European vacation! I'll post Sri Lanka pictures later. Goodnight, everyone!
Anyway, there isn't much to report about the trip. I spent two nights at the Taj Exotica resort in Bentota; I had a room overlooking the Indian Ocean, with a balcony on which we could drink and watch the sunset over the water. I spent all day Saturday hanging out by the pool and drinking at the swim-up bar, and then had a great dinner with Regina and Rohit at their hotel (which was five minutes away from the Taj). After dinner, Matt, Salim and I cleared out half of the minibar in one of the rooms, which was quite entertaining. I also hung out at the pool Sunday morning before having lunch and catching a car back to the airport. I spent Sunday night in Chennai/Madras, and then caught a v. early flight to Hyderabad this morning.
Highlights of the trip:
1) The taxi driver in Chennai. He had a car that may well have been built in the 1950s, and a small Hindu idol lit up with Christmas lights on the dashboard. He prayed to the idol before driving out of the parking lot, and I soon understood why--the car died every time he pulled to a stop. This is not a comfortable thing in chaotic Indian traffic, but luckily we made it to the hotel alive.
2) The Indian Ocean. It was gorgeous, and yet slightly sinister, since there was still damage from the tsunami all around us. It was less than 200 yards from the hotel, and as I was sitting in the balcony it was hard not to imagine what it must have been like to see all the water coming up to kill you.
3) The pool bar at the Taj Exotica. I actually only had a couple of drinks from it, but it's simultaneously the best and the worst idea ever. I don't think you're supposed to mix alcohol and swimming, and the combination of alcohol and sun definitely helped to ensure that I was dehydrated the next day, but it was very fun to sip a pina colada while hanging out in the pool.
4) Dinner with Regina and Rohit. It felt extremely grown-up, since we met at their hotel and had a candlelit dinner on the lawn of their fancy mansion-turned-B&B. We drank wine, ate great food, and I felt older than my 23 years. But I'm turning 24 in two weeks, so maybe this very pleasurable dinner will make me feel better about my impending old age.
5) Richard. Richard is this dude who arranges cars, tours, etc. He has a protege, also named Richard, who is smaller in height, girth, and responsibility. Salim and I met with him to organize some cars and things, and Salim promptly coined them 'Big Richard' and 'Little Richard'. Little Richard just nods in agreement, while Big Richard talks very slowly about whatever he wants to talk about. He did a great job organizing cars, and he also organized an elephant ride for Salim, but then he launched into a tangent about the ring that he was wearing, and how it had nine stones (a different gemstone for each planet), and how when the sun hits the ring, it send power to the heart or something. I decided that this was too reminsicent of Captain Planet for my liking, but the Richards were very helpful despite this fact.
6) Relaxing in general. I've now recovered from my European adventures, even though I'm tired from the flight this morning. I need to plan the rest of my time here rather desperately, since it's quickly running out.
And now, you can vote in the semifinals of my European vacation! I'll post Sri Lanka pictures later. Goodnight, everyone!
posted by Sara @ 9:16 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home