#naula

Overview; he loves you so damn much. He would die if something happened to you, he’d works so hard to prove you didnt have to rely on anyone else but him, he’s capable of protecting you and himself, wants to give you all his love and make sure you know you’re royalty compared to everyone else.

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Sri Lanka Chapter 2 - Into the Jungle After the busy, hot, and sometimes dusty days in Colombo we were ready to hop on to the famous Sri Lanka railway, get out of the city and embrace the jungle! The main line from Colombo to Kandy is the most popular train route in Sri Lanka and we had to opt for the more expensive and air-conditioned 1st class Chinese train in order to get a seat at all. While the first class is certainly very pleasant, it's also a bit boring and less than ideal if you want to take pictures, as you can't open the windows. The Bollywood film couldn't make up for that! Take away for us: it's definitely a good idea to pre-book tickets if you can. Regardless, the scenery en route is indeed stunning and gets better and better the closer you get to Kandy. We arrived in Kandy around lunchtime on a Friday afternoon and were overwhelmed by how busy and congested the city can get. All we wanted was a relief from the traffic in Colombo and explore the nature. So we trudged on, trying to weave through car, tuk-tuk, and pedestrian traffic, as we kept our eyes peeled for a bus going North. Long story short: we found an 'express bus' with a/c that wasn't so express after all thanks to the catastrophic traffic, but it did in fact take us the right way. Furthermore, it even kept us entertained with a movie that combined subwoofer-shaking action sequences that would dwarf Bruce Willis' endeavors with a Bollywood-kitsch love drama. Fascinating! We got off in Naula, a small village 20 km south of Dambulla where we changed rides once again and jumped into a three-wheeler for the final leg of our journey. Our destination was a lovely homestay in the middle of nowhere, proudly called "Honeyland" by the family who runs it. Sanjee and her husband Lalith have created a beautiful place in the middle of the forest, where you can relax, watch the monkeys in the trees, and hope for an elephant to stop by (spoiler alert: It didn't for us). Over the past ten years they have build four individual cabanas in the jungle in addition to the main house and a nice dining terrasse. Lalith was taking a group of tourists from Israel around the island when we arrived, but we were very warmly welcomed by Sanjee, their son Mishen (11yr) and little Nataschi (6yr)... as well as a very cute family of dogs. The puppy would become our reliable companion and watch-puppy for the duration of our stay. It so happened that our arrival at Honeyland coincided with the arrival of some serious thunderstorms and rain. And so we ended up having plenty of time to sit on the (fortunately covered) dining terrace, watch the heavy rain drops crash on lush green leaves, enjoy some good Ceylon tea, and exchange stories with our hosts. One evening Sanjee shared her wedding photo album with us and explained some of the local customs and traditions. Kneeling at your inlaws feet for their blessing seemed a bit foreign but they sure know how to celebrate over here. Apparently it's not a wedding if there are fewer then 250 people in attendance. As it is, Julian and I are already married and won't be tempted to adopt any of those rituals for ourselves. However, we do like that a Sri Lanken wedding lasts for two days with the first day being hosted by the bride's family and the second day by the groom's family. Whoever is the host gets to invite more guests and is generally in charge of that day. Seems like a good idea to avoid conflicts of any kind! To continue our education in local customs Sanjee showed me how to wear a Sari. The purple and gold looked quite lovely but there's no way I'm going to be able to repeat what Sanjee did to get it onto me and make it stay in place. In the meantime, Julian tried his luck with Mishen's math homework. Even though he didn't quite get it right the first night math homework became Julian's evening occupation. I believe Mishen was quite sad to see his new found tutor leave again so quickly, especially because the cricket lesson he promised to give us in return fell through due to bad weather. Nataschi was a bit shy at first and as she is just starting school she doesn't know much English yet - but she proved to be a very accomplished thumb wrestler and her toothless smile was irresistible. Under other circumstances, we would have been perfectly content to just relax and watch the days go by in our cabana but we couldn't let the wonders of that region at the heart of Sri Lanka pass us by. So when the rain cleared we got back on the bus and drove to Dambulla to visit the golden temple with the seven caves. Being a place of worship that grew over time each cave has distinct characteristics and styles. Among the countless Buddha statues you can find beautiful wall paintings and statues representing the Singhalese Kings of that time. Walking inside a natural cave that has been transformed in such a way felt very special. It is another one of those places where history and spirituality meet and make it a precious experience one can enjoy in different ways. Outside the cave temples the quiet atmosphere was interrupted by families of monkeys going about their business - which is mostly the business of getting food in which ever way possible. Speaking of food, a very special experience was also our visit to the village market in Naula. We were lucky to be passing through on market day and decided to mingle with the locals for a bit. Being the only foreigners around, the blending-in part might not have worked out so well but once again everyone seemed happy to have us. If only we could name half the fruits and vegetables we saw that day ... there is still time to learn! We left filled with many sensory impressions and the realization that it'll be hard to go back to prepackaged fruits at our supermarket at home! The four days in the jungle went by very peacefully and recharged our batteries for new adventures to come. The weather forced us to skip the world-famous rock temple of Sigiriya, but that's ok. Instead, we will miss reading books on our terrace overlooking the tree canopy with the puppy snoozing by our feet, and we are excited about our next destination: the ancient city of Polonnaruwa!

"I will always watch over you."

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