Tamanawila to Ahangama, Sri Lanka

The next day we bicycled some 50 km to a hotel in the small town Ahangama near Galle along the southern coast of Sri Lanka. We spent two days there, enjoying the pool and ocean at the hotel, and went whale watching early one morning, where we observed blue whales and a school of porpoises. We then headed to Colombo, stopping for a brief break to see the historic downtown fortress in Galle, built by the Dutch and British. We arrived in late afternoon for our final stay at a hotel in Colombo.

Tamanawila and Yala National Park, Sri Lanka

Today we got up early to take a safari trip into the adjoining Yala National Park.
We had a rich morning of sightings, a leopard mother and her cubs (though heavily camouflaged in the brush), plenty of peacocks and crocodiles, wild pigs, deer, and various species of birds. We also visited a site along the ocean that had been devastated by the tsunami of several years ago. Some forty tourists staying at a seaside park lodge there perished in the disaster. Only the foundation of the building remained.

In the afternoon we bicycled to the Kataragama Buddhist sanctuary, a pilgrimage site for worshipers suffering from health problems. We walked around the vast grounds and observed the food sacrifices that the faithful offered the Buddha in hopes of restorative health.

Ella to Tamanawila, Sri Lanka

Today was our most ambitious bicycle day, a 102 km slog towards the southern coast.
Fortunately, the initial part of the trip was a long descent and the remaining part
of the trip was over flat terrain or rolling hills. We again experienced several rain storms in route, but were prepared with rain gear or a willingness to become completely soaked. Fortunately, one becomes quickly dried in the hot tropical climate once the rain subsides. We took the long journey in short 15 or 20 km segments, stopping for tea or lunch several times throughout the day. We took a short detour during the day to see the Budhhavirgala Buddhist images carved on a cliff in the jungle, dating back some 1100 years. We reached our destination, an upscale hotel with a pool, and settled into a 2 days layover.

Nuwara Ellya to Ella, Sri Lanka

We had a hard bicycling day, after visiting a tea plantation outside Nuwara Ellya.
We toured their processing plant, seeing how the leaves were dried, curled, cut,
ground, and filtered into different varieties of tea. We discovered that the women
who do the back breaking work of picking the tea leaves from the plants work 8 hours a day for 6 days a week, making $3.80 USD per day. The daughter of one of the pickers was our guide through the plant and she said she was glad to not have to be doing the work of her mother.

We had a wonderful scenic 35 km ride downhill for the first part of our day's bicycle
ride, then went an additional 35 km along rolling hills to our destination, encountering several violent rainstorms along the way. Ella is a popular tourist destination and some of us resorted to hamburgers for supper, feeling some pangs of
homesickness for familiar food.

Kandy to Nuwara Ellya, Sri Lanka

The next day we took the train from Kandy to the mountaintop town of Nuwara Ellya, famous for its cool weather and tea plantations first developed by the British during colonization days. The train was quite basic but interesting as it climbed up steep hillsides to reach the highest point in Sri Lanka. We stayed at a classic old British hotel, the Hill Club, once frequented by British tea planters, with its dark hallways, high ceilings, lounging room, bar, and dining room. Coat and tie are still required for the main dining room supper, but we opted otherwise and ate in a less former venue in the hotel, enjoying a 5 course British meal.

Kandy, Sri Lanka

We spent a rest day in Kandy, situated on a lake at a higher elevation with a cooler climate than the hot coastal regions. Kandy had been the capital city of the Sri Lanka Sinhalese when the British colonized the area. They promptly moved the capital to the coastal Colombo where there was more economic activity. We stayed in an upscale hotel situated on a hill overlooking the city. I spent the day visiting tourist sites: the large beautiful well maintained botanical gardens located outside the city where I saw many different species of tropical trees and plants, a greenhouse with orchids, many nurseries of large bats hanging from the branches of trees, and a large snake slithering across the path ahead of me; a dancing event with many of the traditional Sri Lankan native dances including fire walking, and the Buddhist Temple that reputes to house one of Buddha’s teeth.

Polonnaruwa to Kandy, Sri Lanka

We bicycled two days to reach Candy from Polonnaruwa, with rides of 80 and 50 km. In the heat of Sri Lanka, with some elevational increases, both days were a challenge. We took a spice tour at our first night’s lodging at Nalanda. We were glad to arrive in Candy for a two day layover, time to visit sights in that city and do our laundry.

Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka

The following day we bicycled some 70 km from Sigiriya to Polonnaruwa, site of the ancient first capital of Sri Lanka dating back to the 1100’s. We spent the late afternoon touring the ruins of this capital by bicycle, visiting various temples and
Buddhist statues. We encountered a heavy rain storm bicycling back to the hotel, becoming completely soaked. Viva the experience!

Sigiriya, Sri Lanka

I arrived at the Colombo airport in Sri Lanka late at night and met up with Peter, our tour guide, and with my group arriving from London on a separate flight two hours later. The group consisted of 12 of us, Brits and Americans, mo¬¬¬stly middle aged and seniors of very interesting backgrounds and travel experiences, a congenial group and joy to be with. We were picked up by a van and transported over four hours to Sigiriya northeast of Colombo, the first stop on our tour. We stayed two nights here at a very upscale hotel, with a magnificent view of a huge granite magma plug from an extinct volcano that¬ contains ancient ruins of an ancient Buddhist monastery dating back to 300 BC. We slept until noon the next day, recovering from the night of travel and then took a preliminary bicycle ride, some 30 km, in the afternoon circling around the Sigiriya plug. We were getting acquainted with each other and getting in shape for more rigorous bicycling the following days. Enroute, we encountered domesticated elephants on the road and a swarm of termites about two miles wide.

The next day we toured the Sigiriya ruins, climbing some 2000 steps up to the top of the mountain where we viewed frescos of the monastery. We had a magnificent view of the area from the top of the mountain We also bicycled some 50 km to Dambulla and visited five caves filled with Buddhist images, statues and sculptures of religious and historical importance, some dating back to 100 BC.

I was becoming more acquainted with my group, of varied professions, a doctor, financial officer, retired microbiologist, retired economist from the US Congressional Budget Office, a machinist, an accountant. They had many travel experiences to share, quite a few with Exodus tours, bicycle trips in other countries and trekking trips. They also an adventurous and fun-loving bunch which promised to make the trip interesting.

Singapore

I enjoyed my brief visit to Singapore. It has emerged as a first world nation,
perhaps the most orderly and well-functioning nation in the world. Buildings
everywhere appear to be in good repair, laws are rigidly observed, no litter is
to be seen, and everyone appears to be prosperous. Indicative of the Singapore
mind set, during one of my walks about the city, I was sternly warned by a local
police against jay walking (the common practice in Malaysia) and was told by
another official that taxis were only available by queueing at a local taxi
stand. Every taxi I took charged me by the meter, without exception, as is the
law.

I stayed in Little India, in a charming quiet clean little hostel, Checker's Hotel,
in a narrow street amidst the Indian shops and restaurants of that quarter. I ate
well, relocating my favorite Indian restaurant, Mohameds, to enjoy masala dosa,
mutton curry, naan, and other Indian delights.

The city has some first class museums, the Asian Civilizations Museum, the Peranakan Museum, and the Singapore Art Museum. The Peranakan Museum featured the historical artifacts of the Chinese immigrant population in Singapore. The Asian Civilizations Museum had a display from the sunken warriors collection in Xian, China.

Commerce booms everywhere in Singapore. It is an orderly, comfortable, first world experience that should likely prove in contrast to my next destination on the trip: Sri Lanka.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I'm now in Kuala Lumpur (KL). I visited a former Malaysian student, Azmah Zakaria, who spent seven years at Humboldt State University obtaining an undergraduate and masters degree in mathematics in the 1970’s. Azmah had taken some computer science courses from me and her graduate thesis advisor was Professor Charlie Biles who is a good friend of mine.

She came into KL to meet me at my hotel and we went out to the suburb Petaling Jaya (PJ) where she lives. I met her family, two daughters Amirah 20 and Ashikin 16 and a son Azam 10. They live in a coop in an apartment complex and are very happy with their living situation. PJ is a very nice suburb of KL. We went out to a local restaurant for supper. We had a very pleasant evening together, with much conversation and updating news of our lives. Unfortunately, they recently experienced the tragic loss of the children’s father, Azmah’s husband, who died of genetic heart problems. Clearly they are a smart and talented family, facing this tragic loss with strength and determination.

As we compared notes about our lives and families, I was struck by how much we have in common, though our cultures and religions may differ. It is remarkable the parallels between her family and mine and how their values and ways of coping with
the challenges are similar to my family's in so many ways. I left feeling inspired by what Azmah and her family are doing with their lives.

As with Penang, KL has changed so much, with freeways and high rises,
so there really isn't too much to see here of interest to me as a tourist. I've hired a
taxi to take me around the city, to see the sights, and did a lot of walking, constantly getting lost in the maze of freeways intersecting and dividing the neighborhoods of downtown KL. The city is currently not designed for the casual walker.

I begin to look forward to getting to Singapore and on to the bicycling with the Brits in Sri Lanka.



Azmah Zakaria Family

Perhentian Islands, Malaysia

I just had two wonderful days of diving off the Perhentian Islands.
My dive master, Najib, a Malay, gave me a brief refresher course and then
we went out for three dives to local sites just off our beach resort. The
coral was beautiful and we saw many fish, including sting rays and turtles.
The second day we went to sites off of outlying islands where we saw large
schools of fish and a sunken ship site filled with huge schools of fish.
We also saw schools of large squid, about 8" in size. We dove all around
the ship and went inside for awhile to see what was there. We saw lots
of large mussels about 6" in size.

Penang, Malaysia

­­I have mixed feelings about my visit to Penang. I had such good memories of Penang from previous visits, starting in 1974 when I lived in Malaysia teaching at University Kebangsaan on a Fulbright Fellowship. It was a quiet small city then with an historic old town, Georgetown, with narrow streets, Buddhist temples filled with incense smoke, rickshaw drivers, and hawker stands everywhere selling wonderful exotic food such as satay, char koey teow, and roti chanai. I stayed in an old Chinese hotel then, with fans and walls that didn’t extend all the way down to the floor. I expected to see Charlie Chan emerge from one of the doorways any minute. With later visits, there was some change to this old town atmosphere, but nothing extreme.

This visit was different. Malaysia has experienced an economic miracle during the last four decades, rising from a third world country to almost a first world nation. From just 2 Malay universities in the early 1970’s, Malaysia now has more than 20 such universities. The average per capita income has quadrupled. Signs of increased prosperity are everywhere, with vast networks of modern highways and high rise buildings abundant throughout the cities. Although downtown Georgetown has been declared an international heritage site, the city has allowed many of its old buildings to decay as its inhabitants fled to the suburbs. Hence downtown Georgetown has in parts gone to seed with decayed and empty buildings everywhere. It saddens me to see such change. But although Malaysia is now a lot less interesting to the foreign tourist, it is doing quite well for the average Malaysian. With the advancement of many developing nations, the world is becoming much more homogenized and a lot less interesting culturally.

Nonetheless, I did enjoy what Penang has to offer, still an old town with much to see, the Indian and Chinese quarters, and the colonial buildings. I visited the butterfly park outside on town and went up the modernized Penang hill tram. I also frequented the newly developed New World Park with its variety of hawker food offerings. I stayed at a Malay hotel, the 1926 Heritage Hotel, and mingled with middle class Malaysian travellers.

Next, I travel by bus across the peninsula to the east coast and take a boat to the Perhentian Islands for two days of diving.

Visit to the Mongkolbory School in Cambodia

I arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia, location of the Angkor Wat ruins, to meet up
with Hans Eide and his party, John Barratt and his Thai wife, and his brother Michael Barratt. We traveled to the location of Hans’ rotary project, the Mongkolbory School, constructed and maintained for over 300 primary and secondary students from financially disadvantaged families near Battanbam some 100 km northwest of Siem Reap.

Hans had established this school about a decade ago for families in this region, families who had no financial means of sending their children to school. He had located a school for privileged Chinese Cambodian children which had empty classrooms available for use. Hans made it his mission to raise funds to provide education for less privileged families, paying for the tuition, educational materials, uniforms, breakfasts and lunches, and bicycle transportation for some 250 primary school children. He raised funds, some $75,000 per year through rotary club and private donations, a laudable achievement. My rotary club, the Arcata Sunrise Rotary Project, has been supporting this project during these years with modest annual contributions, $1000-$2000 per year.

Then, several years ago, the school that had been providing the classrooms announced that they would no longer be able to continue with that arrangement. When I heard of that announcement, I thought that Hans would certainly conclude that it had been a good run but that the project must end. But Hans is made of finer grit. He rolled up his sleeves and managed to raise over $120,000 needed to construct a new school for the children.

It was this new school, still undergoing construction, that we visited. Ten classrooms had been completed and a separate building with four more was under construction. The site, a former rice field, also included a dining and kitchen facility and bathrooms, along with a pond, providing drinking water and fish for lunch food, and a garden area/rice field. The school year was just beginning as we arrived. The day started out with a ceremony presenting the top students with award presents. We then attended a meeting with the parents of the students, and student classrooms where we viewed the teachers conducting their classes. In each class, of different levels, the teaching of English was being emphasized. This skill will provide these students the opportunity of working in the developing tourist industry in nearby Angkor Wat and Cambodia. It was clear that the students were very serious about the importance of this learning opportunity. Several students approached me about the possibility of coming to the US for some of their educational experience, and I was moved by how fortunate we are in our country for all of the benefits and opportunities we so take for granted. None of these opportunities are currently available for most Cambodians, one of the poorest countries in Asia. I will return to the US with a renewed commitment to supporting this project, with club and individual donations.

My second day in Siem Reap I made arrangements to visit some of the
Angkor Wat ruins in the outlying districts. I have been to Siem Reap several times previously and seen the main complex ruins repeatedly. I hired a guide and tut tut driver and visited the ruins at Ta Prohm and Beng Mealea some 70 km outside Siem Reap.


Arrival at the Mongkolbory School


Mongkolbory School Grounds


Mongkolbory School Grounds


Meeting with the Parents of the Students


Visit to a Class