Week three was challenging. Internally mostly, though I do believe many might agree that external circumstances presented challenges as well. Week three forced me to become more mindful about how my expectations and subsequent judgments affect my ability to enjoy the gifts right in front of me. I mean I am traveling through some of the most serene and beautiful landscapes with my beloved, lucky enough to have secured an extended holiday, annointed with all the accoutrements that western privilege offers; and yet I find myself giving a significant amount of psychic energy to noticing what feels uncomfortable/non-sensical/outright ridiculous/etc. Iggy has been a patient and wonderful confidant in reflecting on this with me. Adding insult to my own self-criticism, I have been really down on myself for not being “tougher”. During previous travels, I have prided myself on being fairly adventurous, always making a point to embrace local customs and meet my new surroundings with openness and curiosity. I believe I am doing this on this journey, though I am kicking and screaming a little bit along the way. (Perhaps it’s cuz I’m 35?)
To be clear, Sri Lanka is a BEAUTIFUL country. I am so grateful to see so much of it and definitely recommend it to anyone curious enough to wander this way. Iggy has written much more describing our time along the coast in Colombo and southward. I plan on writing more about the Hill Country in the Week Four digest (coming soon!)
OK, so with that preamble, here are some realities of traveling in Sri Lanka. I am compelled to write these things as I need to exorcise these inner-wimp demons that have plagued me.
1) It is really, really, really eff-ing hot here. And humid. Average daily: 90 F and 98% humidity. Did I mention I wilt in the heat? I mean, like really dramatic, defeated, instant-gripey kind of wilting. This might sound surprising as I spent the first 23 years of my life in Texas. But at least in Texas, most places are air-conditioned 9 months out of the year. Air-con is an uber luxury here. Available only mid-range and luxury establishments (and sometimes (though rarely) in places like banks or cell phone offices), air-con has become a bit of an obsession with me.
2) Sri Lanka has A LOT of mosquitos. And, leeches. So much so that I have become a little OCD with being a mosquito-killer and a leech avoider. Okay, I know leeches are found everywhere…. but in the shower with me?! outside our hotel room door and of the size of a jumbo hot dog?! (seriously, that one was almost comical in its girth if it wasn’t so heeby-jeeby-inducing) On the mosquito front, at least malaria is not a big health issue here, though dengue fever is increasingly becoming one. So much for taking a break from the DEET…
3) Sri Lankans do not share the western sense of “personal space”. This is true of many densely populated, Asian countries, and I have experienced a fair-share of my space invaded while traveling in India. But nothing compares to using public transportation in Sri Lanka. Picture yourself on the most crowded bus or subway train you can remember. Now double (maybe triple) the number of people crammed in. Now imagine that journey lasting 5 hours. (And remember, it’s 90 F. ) I’m not one to mind crowds much, but to have people literally sitting on you, resting their bags on you, leaning much of their weight against you, and the worst – pervy men pressing their, uh… members into whatever area of exposed body part is available for pressing, becomes a wee bit taxing. For one such journey, Iggy and I got separated (he in the front of the bus and me in the rear) and had to share our horror stories during the quick bathroom break at a roadside shack. (Even he was getting frotteured!) If there were air-con luxury bus options (like what are plentiful in Thailand and India), we would be all over it, but so far we haven’t seen evidence that they exist. Yet anyway… give this place another 5 years.
4) As much as we (as westerners) are a browsing society, Sri Lankans are a “if you are walking down this street you must come into my shop and buy something NOW” society. While this is not unique to Sri Lanka, I have hit my saturation point with it while being here. To be fair, this aggressive advertising (?) is all over India, but India has enough western tourists that no one person bears the brunt of it too much. But there aren’t that many western tourists in Sri Lanka. And according to many of the proprietors at the guest houses we’ve been staying in, this year has seen a particularly low numbers of visitors. So, needless to say, we have had to ignore many animated attempts to lure us into shops and hotels (aka restaurants).
With all that being said, I think I can confidently say I have mostly pushed past these challenges. For today, anyway. :)
More soon…
Love-
Allison
I’m with you on the heat – you definitely have to take life at a totally different pace with no air-con. And even then it’s still not comfortable. And um, I don’t think hordes of mosquitoes and leeches getting to you makes you a wimp
. Sounds like you’re doing great. Miss you both.
Thanks for the new vocabulary word…..
You are brave to weather these storms. I don’t think it’s any sign of weakness to put yourself in entirely different social and environmental conditions and actually be aware of the discomfort it causes you. All of what you wrote here is pretty much the main reason why going somewhere like Sri Lanka stays at the bottom of my list for now. I mean I get panicky just getting on a bus in Chinatown….
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