Days 1-3 in Colombo, Sri Lanka (8/11/23-8/13/23):
-Maldives and Sri Lanka have been my introduction to SAARC countries/South Asia. Truthfully, I’m still undecided how I feel about them as a whole.
-I can’t walk out of my hotel without someone trying to scam me and I hate it. 9/10 the best thing to do is to fervently ignore them. Don’t even make eye contact. If they are extremely friendly or it just seems too good to be true then it more than likely is.
-Something new that I haven’t dealt with before is not wanting to leave the luxury of a five-star hotel. It’s easy to push yourself to leave a mixed dorm in a budget hostel, but when you have a king-sized bed, a bathtub that you can play Warzone from, a full gym, jacuzzi, rooftop bar, etc – you encounter a weird lack of desire to leave the comfort of luxury.
-Colombo is, thus far, a pretty clean and beautiful capital compared to Southeast Asia.
-I went to a park randomly and stumbled upon a concert in the amphitheater literally as it was beginning and the bands were doing their sound check. I stayed just for an hour but it was a cool experience.
-Colombo also has a knockoff of DC’s US Capital but remixed with a golden Buddha.
-The train’s here are something else. It’s crazy riding in Shenzhen where it’s very strict and organized to Sri Lanka where people are hanging out the open door as the train is going like it’s no big deal.

Day 4 in Galle, Sri Lanka (8/14/23):
-What’s a sad truth about traveling for a long time? You get tired. Not just of constantly moving, planning, and being alert, but once you’ve seen hundreds of museums, cathedrals, or forts they start to lose their glimmer and shine.
-As a result, I tend to skip over things that I don’t find unique and spend more time booking tours instead of trying to find things on my own. I’m just getting old.
-I booked a tour to Galle where we saw a fort, spice garden, stilt fishermen, and more, but my favorite was the turtle rescue hands down. I could’ve spent hours there just watching and petting the turtles.
-Sri Lanka may be pushing the top of my list for nature. That’s what I love about island countries. You just get more diversity and they tend to be easier to explore.

Day 5 in Kandy, Sri Lanka (8/15/23):
-Kandy doesn’t require more than 1-2 days to explore. A lot of travel sites said it’s a must-see while a lot of locals and tourists said it’s boring and overrated. I’m somewhere in the middle of the two.
-I’m still not over walking through a woodland filled with hundreds of bats just hanging above me.
-Have never seen a preserved elephant until I went to the Temple of the Tooth.
-I always hear complaints about North Americans expecting tipping. 51 countries traveled and tipping or a mandatory service charge is pretty common throughout most the world, especially for tour guides, servers, masseuses, etc.
-Bought the dumbest shirt because I forget you have to have your shoulders covered in Buddhist temples.

My Lasting Impression: I would go back to Sri Lanka in the heartbeat and explore more of it such as its national parks. That being said, Sri Lanka is one of those countries where you can’t listen to tour guides and Tripadvisor, you have to ask the locals and expats what they so and go from there. Sri Lanka is more than affordable, has a fantastic variety of nature, and just has so much to offer as far as adventure.