Curry withdrawal syndrome

Thank you very much for following along.
We hope our misadventures gave you a little smile with every Instagram and blog post.

If you have any interesting tavel destination ideas for next year, or any random comments or musing... please connect.

Heather 949 887 5693 and heatherzhere@hotmail.com
Riad 714 931 3985 and riad_bacchus@hotmail.com
Also, please check our instagrams...

@riadbacchus and @heatherbacchus

To our local crew... see ya next week.
To old friends and family in far flung locales... hope to see ya soon
To new friends... our little slice of SoCal heaven is always open to you

Love, Peace and God Bless

Heather & Riad

Serendipity & Stickers

There is an old Persian fairy tale about three princes from the Kingdom of Seredip, who "make pleasant discoveries, without actually looking for them".

Serendip is Sri Lanka and true to its serendipitous namesake, Princess Heather and her prince Riad made countless pleasant discoveries over the course of a magical two weeks.

Two especially delightful discoveries, immediately spring to mind...
1. the People, the People, the People
Every less fortunate country which Western travelers visit, will have obnoxious touts... and we have had some past seriously obnoxious tout experiences.
Your every day Sri Lankans could not be lovelier and more helpful.
In a fruit market, Heather got a little aggressive on a Star Fruit and choked, I panicked, but in swooped a half a dozen dudes, ready with Heimlich and water.

A glimpse of the friendly faces whom we meet...

2. the food
I am West Indian and Heather is Korean... there is no such thing as too spicy.
In two weeks of travel, not a single bad meal... not one.. seriously how does that happen?
From street vendors, to bus station food court, to high end nouveau Sri Lankan fusion (yep, that is a thing), excellent, yummy, spicy and freakin delicious.
We had every permutation of rice & curry and still did not scratch the surface...

A glimpse of the amazing food we had...

A few other quirky observations on Sri Lanka...
Apparently copy write laws don't apply here...

Grown men with a serious sticker fetish for sassing up their taxis...

It is Asia, so sort of expected that the driving is nuts. but gotta remember they are a "drive on the wrong side of the road" country...
Mom did always say look BOTH ways before crossing the street...

my, what BIG fort walls you have

A short train ride up the coast dropped us off at the port city of Galle.
As with all things Sri Lanka, the city is old... some archaeologists believe that it may be the famed city of Tarshish, where King Solomon sourced his vast treasure of precious gem stones.
"Modern" Galle, came into its own in the 15th century when a Portuguese fleet, en route to the Far East, was blown off course and found shelter in the bay.
Legend has it, they heard a cock crowing in the distance and named the place Galle after the Portuguese word Gallo meaning cock or rooster.
Typical freakin' white Westerners... apply their own random name vs. actually ASKING the multitude of brown people in skirts who ACTUALLY live there... "Hey brother, this place, right here, where you and your peeps have lived for the past 1000 years or so...what it's name?"
Nope, too easy, just go ahead and call it a cock...
Through a series of European back door shenanigans, the city moved to Dutch control and then finally to the British.

We ran into this local, picnicking near the fort wall... she really gave us something to chew on.

The Dutch ran the show for a few hundred years, building the most impressive fort city in all of Asia.
The weathered Dutch coat of arms embedded over the main gate entrance.

The old Dutch Reformed church, which has held mass since 1640 and continues to today (well Sunday, but you get my meaning).

The Star Bastion is a key point of defense for an ocean side attack, and a fabulous place to watch the sun set over the calm warm beauty of the Indian Ocean.
I can only imagine a team of Dutch engineers poring over plans thinking... "We need to defend AND be fabulous".

Last year, we explored an old Spanish fort in Cartagena, Columbia, and this fort is the spitting image... well you know what they say about forts... "four walls, some ramparts and a couple of turrets does a fort make"

Turning the things of war, into amusement is Heather's specialty as she daintily skipped across the ramparts... feel like there is another Haiku in there that I need to explore further...

A lighthouse built a 100 years ago, still protecting ships from being smashed to pieces in the tricky approach to the bay.

Just outside the fort walls, there is an active and lively fish market, where we saw the beginnings of a yummy fish head soup.

I don't think that word means what you think it means

Immediately opposite to our little slice of heaven beach, sits a mangrove lagoon, and an early morning kayak seemed like a capital idea.
The instructions seemed a bit odd... "paddle, look at bird, don't bother Yoda Cats, come back later"...
The general premise seemed sound... perhaps a few misrepresented English words... no worries.

The lagoon was beautiful and peaceful... plenty of birds, including the Cormorant, which some of you may recall, we saw in the Galapagos islands.

Oh and look a harmless innocent floating log...
except, why is that log moving with purpose?
and why is that log turning towards us?
and why does that log have a tail?
and why does that log have a head?

HOLY CRAP!!!
Those aren't logs!!!
Meet the Asian water monitor... a giant lizard that can grow as large as 8 to 10 feet.
And we are paddling through his turf...
In appears that in Sinhalese "yōdha kaṭussā" pronounced Yoda Cats to my silly Western ears... means GIANT freakin LIZARD!!!

After the close encounter with the creature from the Mangrove Lagoon, it was time to head out and further up the coast.
Tangalle was fantastic as beaches go, but one small detail it lacked was the ability to actually get into the water. There was a nasty undertow that rendered almost the entire bay un-swimmable, plus the beach dropped off immediately, causing the waves to break hard and fast right on the shore, so even wading in to the knees was an exercise in futility.

South west Sri Lanka is quite famous for surfing, especially for beginners, with several great long easy beach breaks sprinkled up the coast.
Earlier in the trip, we spoke to a few Aussies, and they recommended the small town of Weligama.
I wouldn't necessarily trust an Aussie to differentiate an equation, but surfing... well Aussies know surfing.

We arrived on the afternoon bus, wasted no time renting a couple of boards and getting wet.
I was able to stand up and ride in pretty consistently... but I did NOT look good doing it.

Heather on the other hand, was aquatic poetry personified... captured these in the warm kiss of a rising morning sun...

As with most surfers, the best shots are those standing on the beach NEXT to the board (vs. in the water ON the board).

Farm to Table can SUCK IT

We bid farewell to our new friend, ze German, and set off to sites further south, to the sea side town of Tangalle, specifically a remote stretch of beach called Marakolliya at Cinnabar, a tiny 6 cabana guest house.

On the agenda...

• wake up whenever
• long, lazy walks on the beach punctuated by splashing around in the Indian Ocean, where the water temperature is like a warm soothing bath.
• nap under a coconut tree

Rinse and Repeat

On the menu for dinner, ridiculously fresh fish... and I mean ridiculously fresh.
This is Namesh, he works at the guest house as a waiter, chef, bell man, and cleaner.
In the late afternoon, he is also responsible for strapping on a mask, wading out into the surf AND CATCHING DINNER!!!

Seriously? makes farm to table seem processed...

And shortly into our BELLIES...

Do we miss the countless temples of the North and the butt blasting climbs of the Hill country? Sure...
Do we regret a little beach time? Hellz to the NO!!!

Cloudy with a chance of Mangoes

One of the crown jewels of the Sri Lankan backpacker scene is the sleepy hill town of Ella, nestled amongst several working tea plantations.

The problem with hidden jewels is that they do not stay hidden for long... the curse of the Lonely Planet and travel blogs.
The main village is wide awake... with guest houses built upon guest houses, touts pushing cheesy restaurants offering pizza? and burgers?
Seriously, who the hell skips what is likely the best curry and rice dishes on the planet, for a freakin burger???
And a chicken or tofu burger at that, cuz Hindus and Buddist homies don't dig on cow.

Heather peeled back the noise, and found a small, quaint, relatively new home stay, a short walk outside of town.
The view from bed was sweet...

OK, so we had to stumble 4 steps to the balcony, and then... the 6:15am Kandy to Ella train, passing through Ella gap, over the Nine Arches bridge (original stone bridge, designed & built by the British at the turn of the century).

Danger lurks around every corner, including from above... falling mangoes is a serious threat... to my BELLY!!!

Ella represents the last stop on the adventure section of the trip, as we ease our way south, to sandier and sunnier locales.
The city rests in the Ella gap, sandwiched between two hills (Little Adam's peak and Ella Rock).

Getting to the top of Ella Rock is meant to be a laborious march straight up (apparently the concept of a switch back has not made its way to Sri Lanka yet)... my ass hates me, but the masochist in me loved it.

The views inspired me so much, I wrote a Haiku...
Ella view stunning
Heather breathtaking beauty
Riad lucky guy

Nothing says you have crushed another climb than a celebratory coconut.

We found our way back to town by following the tracks, and ran into Tanjeev, the tank engine.(Thomas's Sri Lankan cousin)

While Nurawa Eylia may have birthed Ceylon tea, Ella is the current working heart.
The Newburgh tea factory is a real life functioning factory... tea leaves are picked from the fields and carried in one door, and presto... bags and bags of glorious tea is shipped out the other.
The process is a study in simplicity...
Leaves are picked, dried, rolled, sorted by leaf size, bagged and shipped.
No chemicals, preservatives, just Mother Nature in a cup.
This particular factory specializes in green tea.

The acre after acre of tea bushes, dot the rolling hills, where the local woman pick the leaves.

Not only does the bath cap and booties keep it clean, but really punches up the outfit...

Bins and bins of soothing green tea...

The final product, a tasting of a delicious cup of the good stuff... OPA2 / Gun Powder extra special.

Every trip we do, we always meet the most interesting people, and Sri Lanka did not disappoint.
We met Chris Schnell in Kandy over rice and curry, and ended up travelling a few days together.
A design professor, teaching in Perth Australia, he was the most easy going, relaxed German I had ever met.

1800 meter DROP OF Doooooooooooooooom!!!

Over the past few trips, it has become standard operating procedure to plan a ridiculously early New Years Day adventure,... usually something requiring an obnoxious amount physical exertion.
Why break the chain?
4:30am start to visit Horton Plains National Park, where the after a 6 mile hike, one is rewarded with a stunning 1800 meter DROP OF Doooooooooooooooom!!!

Early morning in the park, where a lone eucalyptus tree struggles to stand out against the shroud of pea soup fog.

Almost cartoon like spiders web... we did not wait for Charlotte to come back home.

Some helpful signage in case you miss the 1800 meter DROP OF Doooooooooooooooom!!!

Heather and I have carefully refined our roles on these trips...
I research airfare, she handles itinerary.
I need WiFi, she needs a hot shower.
I take photos, she is the subject.
Usually the roles work well, except when on occasion, in my blind focus for a money shot, I disregard life and limb.
Like for example when I gently encouraged her to hang off aforementioned 1800 meter DROP OF Doooooooooooooooom!!!
The very definition of a forced smile...

We continued up the trail to an even more ominous and dangerous look out point,
where we bore witness to the sun seemingly melting the fog, turning it into a cascading torrent,
thundering down to the valley floor below.

After the magic and majesty of the DROP OF Doooooooooooooooom!!!, the long walk back is broken up by a small detour to small but picturesque Baker Falls.

This little guy almost found the bottom of my boot, save the sun playing off the brilliant colors of his shell... again, almost cartoon like in appearance...

As mentioned previously, the Sri Lankan train system is a legacy from the British colonial days,
and has received very little in the way of an upgrade since implemented in the late 1800s.
There is a particular stretch of track, from just outside the Horton Plains park to a sleepy hill town
called Ella, where the track weaves through waves of rolling hills, blanketed in the lush green of
tea bushes.
The train is rarely full in this section, as it is near the end of the line, and you can literally hang off the train to catch some pretty awesome views.

Although still risking life & limb, Heather was much happier hanging from a moving train than
the 1800 meter DROP OF Doooooooooooooooom!!!

A short glimpse of the music of a steam engine powered train...