PART 1: HOW TO SRI LANKA

10429275_809510315753839_7578336970863972321_n-1.jpg

To start this blog off, I do not really take the art of editing photos back then so excuse the over-exposed, dark, and blurry shots.

(2014)  I already knew the birthday gift I'll be requesting; to travel. I told my Dad that I wanted to visit Asia for my birthday so I scouted for countries that would be walking friendly because my fracture was still healing back then.

Luckily, I have a friend who was willing to go with me. We decided to visit Sri Lanka since she has a friend over there (who I became friends with eventually) who can tour us around the city. So we booked our tickets through Emirates Airlines and purchased our tour at  Groupon.ae. Everything happened in 3 days and we were all set for November 26.

1

[DAY 1] We landed in Sri Lanka around 2 in the afternoon. I met Denver for the first time! Since we were running on a tight schedule, we headed to Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. This was the second time I saw an elephant in my entire life. The first one was when we were in the Philippines for a short vacay. We were in Manila Zoo and as far as I remember, the elephant is the first animal for sight-seeing. I'm not a fan of the zoo, to be honest.

Going back to Pinnawala story, it was stated that we will be bathing the elephants which sounded super cool to me! It's like taking care of them. But since we arrived 3 hours late, all we can actually do was ride on it. It was painful physically because I had to stretch my legs (wearing a dress, okay?) and hold on tight because if I fall, it can step on me. It was a 15-minute ride around the area. If you ask me if I'm doing that again? Never.

216684_809219872449550_2537570002152311444_n

We ate lunch after this and headed straight to our hotel in Kandy. It was actually a long day for us already. The places we were visiting were hours away from each other during the first day so we had to give up some and just chose to rest.

3

[DAY 2] We ate breakfast and went directly to our first location, Gemstone Museum, and Store. Annalaine bought a beautiful ring with her birthstone in it. We learned so much about the history of stones and how they actually mine for one. It's one of Sri Lanka's best-selling resources.

Our second stop was at Rajanima Craft and Batik Shop. This is where they cut woods and transform them into animal carvings, chess boards, sculptures, and basically everything souvenir-ish. We almost met a lady who does batik designs in her tiny shop. Annalaine and Denver gifted me one for my birthday! Yay.

4983828_809219625782908_6167247121372636368_n10502053_809023589135845_519418667128886217_n

After this, we drove to the city to visit temples (which I didn't take pictures because it was raining and I didn't have the energy to take out my camera). We stopped over to buy some souvenirs and ended up seeing a stunning view since we were up-hill. Or should I say our hotel was on top of the mountains?

We also visited Royal Botanical Gardens where we found so many different kinds of flowers and trees I've never heard before. Like seriously? These plants were healthy and are used to cure sickness.

56

That's it for Day 1 and 2. I know there're not many pictures to see but I'll try to upload the vlog up on youtube so you can see the other parts. It was hard to write about this especially when the moment already passed haha. But do read my DAY 3 and 4 blog!

Have you been to Sri Lanka? What places did you like the most? Let me know!

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored by any travel agency. The content is solely my own.