Aaahh, Summer!

Okay, it's not cold out now. Sri Lanka is full of beautiful, lush jungle. After a late arrival and an early start, my driver is taking me inland through gorgeous countryside to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. We travelled by rice paddies, rubber plantations, and picture postcard vistas.

On the way we stopped at a place offering elephant rides, very different from my previous experience with a seat on the elephant's back. This was bareback with just a cloth pad between me and those moving shoulders. It was a very awkward position to sit in, leaning so far forward. Thigh muscles get a harder workout than with horseback riding due to the size of the animal.

The orphanage was great! I had read mixed reviews about it regarding animal rights

and their treatment, but what I saw was positive. Few animals had any chains and when I asked about them I was told that due to their previous treatment, some animals were not yet reliable around others during some tasks. The chain was loosely around 1 foreleg with its length resting back & forth over the back of the neck until needed. Of the 45 elephants I watched bathing in the river, only 3 were prevented from moving at will but they still had a good 30+ foot range. I was allowed to walk into the herd while they were eating and then watched the bottle feeding of the babies (tourists can pay to participate).

We also stopped at a tea factory where I learned why not all orange pekoe tea is the same, and exactly what is the difference between black, green and white teas.

After lunch in Kandy, Sri Lanka's 2nd largest city, we went to the Temple of the Tooth before the 3 hour drive back to Negombo.

The next day I relaxed at the guest house, venturing out for a fabulous lunch, before heading to the airport in the afternoon for my flight to Chennai

Forbidden Places, Great Accomplishments and Good Fortune

Well, after almost 24 hours of travel, I managed the airport express into the city and then found a cab outside the subway station without too much difficulty. But I had a nervous moment when the driver stopped in a busy street, pointed down a dark alley and said "you walk". My hostel, the Classic Courtyard, is in a traditional hutong, or neighourhood and the bright sign with absolutely no English on it is my destination for 2 nights in Beijing. It's a cute place, with a small bar / cafe and friendly staff.

The next morning, I was met by Helen, my guide for the day, and we walked out of the hutong (only about 100 ft, although it felt farther last night), as she called for the car to meet us on the main street. First stop, the main gate on the south side of the forbidden City, which faces Tienneman Square. When I see all the folded up barricades that are needed for the summer crowds, I am very glad to be visiting in the winter time. I can imagine the beauty of this place with trees and flowers in full foliage but am grateful to be able to enjoy the peace of exploring without the masses.

The Forbidden City is the walled complex where the Emperors lived & ruled. It is almost a kilometer long and had a moat around it. Emperors were (rightly so, probably) a paranoid bunch. The bricks of the main courtyard are 15 layers deep so that no one could tunnel in to attack the Emporer and his bedroom has 27 beds (or bedrooms?) which he took by turn for sleeping so that an invader would not know in which to find him. There is a beautiful garden in the centre with really old trees (some over 500 yrs) that must be magnificent when in bloom!

After a lunch stop at a jade factory, with a chance for shopping of course, we headed north to the Mutianyu section of China's Great Wall. I wanted to go to this section for 2 reasons, I had read that it is much less crowded and it has a very unique way down from the wall. The original wall was over 5000 km long and had no towers, it was rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty and now is well over 6000 km long and they added watch towers. I didn't know before that there is a 2nd wall. It is 500 km further north and only l m high to protect from the Mongolian soldiers on horseback. It is difficult to see when charging south causing pileups as the horses run into it. I could have stayed up on the wall for hours, looking up and down its length , in awe of man's ability to conceive and implement something this huge and difficult, and out at the amazing views of the mountains.

Then came the fun part. Instead of taking the chair lift back down, I took the toboggan run! Woo Hoo! It was a blast! You sit on a sled with a stick to control your speed and wind your way back down the mountain in a bobsleigh type track. What fun! I want to ride again!

The next morning I found and rode the subway by myself to the station with the airport express in order to depart my short stay. I was very fortunate to have had a beautiful day for sightseeing. Apparently the previous day had been colder and windy, and today is more smoggy. The good fortune continued at the airport. At check in, I was asked if I prefer aisle or window seating. I said that I thought I already had an assigned seat and the agent replied that economy is fully booked So she is bumping me up to premium economy! Sometimes it pays to travel alone. Well, now I'm off to Sri Lanka via Bangkok.

Excited. Nervous. Relieved. OMG, what am I doing?! Okay, excited again.

In order of the title:

Less than 2 weeks (11 days 9 hours) till my first flight on my biggest adventure yet.


There's so much still to do. I don't want to forget anything. How does one plan for something this big?


Got my passport back from the Indian Consulate in Vancouver with the Indian Visa in it. Yay, at least I can now go to the one country on my schedule where I do know someone and have been to before. I also have the 2 e-visas that I needed for Turkey & Sri Lanka and the others are available on entry at the airport for China, UAE, Oman & Qatar.


Am I really going all this way on my own? To 8 countries I have never been to before and where I know no one and don't even speak the languages? I must be nuts. How do I stay in touch, will anyone even know if I am in trouble or ill or injured?


Okay,
- BREATHE
- leave itinerary with at least 3 people with dates, flights, contact numbers and my own roaming phone numbers
- BREATHE
- make a plan for daily contact (thanks Shannon), maybe on FB,
- BREATHE
- I can do this.  I have planned for contingencies. I will have a blast.

. . . . . BREATHE . . . . . I'm okay now.