Day 31: Eliya, Sri Lanka (February 7, 2011)

My day's not over but I'll write while I can.  Tonight I'm staying in a little town in southern Sri Lanka.  I'm beginning to hate the rain.  This is a great town to explore on foot -- not too big, not too busy, but with shops and markets and parks.  But it's raining and chilly, which won't stop me from exploring but will put a damper on things.  :(  It's kind of a funny town.  It's modern enough to have an internet cafe (from whence I write).  But my hotel is so old, I have a fireplace in my room.  And apparently that's how my room will be heated tonight, which sounds cool but really means I'm in for a night of shivering.  The place I ate lunch is called Milano's and it is decorated with photos of Italy.  But its entire menu was chinese food, although they served me a Sri Lankan meal when I asked.

Some shots along the road between Kandy and Eliya, which are pretty typical of what one sees around here (besides ancient ruins):

Also on our way here we stopped at a tea plantation and factory.  I love tea, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to check it out and drink a pot.  I'm sloshing a little bit now, though.

The trip here made me think about just how much time I'm spending getting from place to place.  Even within a small country like Sri Lanka, where I'm only seeing one part of the country, it takes a long time to get around.  And that's not counting our detours caused by mudslides and floods.  Fortunately, I enjoy sitting back in the car and watching the country roll by, so it's not bad, but it's noteworthy.  I keep meaning to keep tabs on how much of this trip I spend traveling (plane, bus, car, metro) but I might not have the discipline to do that.