This gallery contains 19 photos.
We were lucky enough to (successfully) close the workshop on Friday afternoon. This allowed us (i.e. the three travelers from Europe) to check out some of Tokyo’s main sites. We first made it to Meiji Jingū to have a look … Continue reading
During the week of course work was the priority; we nevertheless had some good opportunities in the evenings to get to see a bit of town and also (thanks to our hosts) had a superb introduction into the variety of Japanese food – from the well known sushi and sashimi to shabu-shabu (Japanese-style hotpot with thinly sliced beef), tempura, unagi to the diversity of Hokkaido cuisine.
Already a couple of times during this year work had brought me (back) to some interesting places – and now it was back to Tokyo.
This time – having learned my lesson from the Singapore trip – I already made it to the destination (i.e. into Tokyo Narita) on Saturday evening, essentially to allow for an additional day to adjust for the timezone difference (which in retrospect this was a good decision, as I barely slept in my first night and was tired all day on Sunday).
Saturday evening I started, where my Tokyo ventures had also started back in 2008 – Asakusa and the Senso-Ji temple.
On Sunday the weather clearly showed that a typhoon was nearing – it was raining all day with rain and wind getting heavier in the course of the day. I had a very early start, making my way by subway to the Zojo-Ji temple; from here I continued to the imperial garden. With the weather conditions deteriorating, I decided to visit the national museum of modern art. For lunch I met back with the rest of the folks at the hotel (two more colleagues from Europe plus our Japanese host). For the afternoon we were basically left with indoor options – while the others went for some relaxation, I ended up in a shopping mall for a look around.
We finished early with the meetings, so I ended up with a free Saturday (originally planned for meetings), which I used for a bit of sightseeing …
I took the metro up to the Botanic Garden, made my way through the gardens (including a stop at the National Orchid Garden). From here I continued towards the shopping district around Orchard Street … took some time here, before making it over to Little India. On my way back I had a long look around Fort Canning Park.
This gallery contains 16 photos.
My business trip around the world continued; the discussions for the Asia Pacific region were still open and now scheduled for this week in Singapore. So another week of intense meetings, but also some diversion in the evenings. We stayed … Continue reading
The trip was now slowly coming to an end. We left Unawatuna in the morning and made our way along the coast towards Colombo. En-route we had a stop at a Buddha Statue near Peraliya, which has been set up here to commemorate the victims of the 2004 tsunami, which heavily affected this area.
We continued heading North for a further stop and an optional boat ride on Maduganga Lake. The boat ride got us out onto the lake, passing through mangroves and with a stop at the Kothduwa Rajamaha Viharaya temple. Overall the boat ride was really nothing special – but certainly made a nice diversion from all that sitting on the bus 😉
Before making it to Colombo, we had a further stop at a sea turtle hatchery. Turtle eggs are gathered here and – after they have hatched, they released to the sea in a protected way, to give them the highest chance of survival at the start of their lives.
We got into Colombo after a quick lunch in a mall food court and a chance for last minute supermarket shopping. In Colombo we essentially stayed on the bus and did a huge circle around town and passing by the main sights; obviously with some stops for photos. Overall I found Colombo pretty underwhelming – not too much to see and do here, it is obviously the administrative and economic capital and caters for that – but there is little of touristic interest … so ultimately, I think, it was a good thing, that we were really just passing through today and not staying here.
From Colombo it was – with a bit of a true traffic deadlock – back to Negombo, from where I was heading to the airport later on for my 2am flight back to Europe.
Putting it all together this trip to Sri Lanka was a packed and compressed one, with very little free time and many early morning – it however was a very multifaceted one as well, covering the main aspects, of what Sri Lanka has to offer – from culture (temples, ruins, dagobas/ stupas, more temples), food (keep that brinjal coming, please) to nature (elephants, peacocks and a leopard) and outdoor fun (rafting, climbing up Adam’s Peak, hiking to World’s end). So to sum up – Sri Lanka for me was just the right mix of everything – – clear recommendation from my end.
This gallery contains 19 photos.
Most of the others had booked the optional whale watching trip (which translated to another 05:00am morning); I decided against that (I guess, I have seen my share of whales, evidence here) and in favor of an easy morning with … Continue reading
We had spent plenty of time now in the center and the highlands of Sri Lanka – it was now finally back to the coast again; destination for the day was the beach town of Unawatuna.
in the early afternoon (before our arrival in Unawatuna) we had a further stop to visit a local family and get another introduction into the local cuisine and the steps in its preparation. Of course we also had a chance to sample the dishes after preparation, which proofed yummy, as always.
Later in the afternoon we made it into Unawatuna and back into tourist country proper – with a nice beach and a pool at the hotel. Dinner was at the beach – as well as some post-dinner drinks. A welcome and relaxing change after all those action-packed days before.
We left the camp in the early morning. First stop of the day was at the Udawalawe Elephant Transit Home. Here injured and orphaned elephants are taken care of, medically treated and fed – and rehabilitated for life in the wild. Once ready, the elephants get released back into the wild – most straight into Udawalawe National Park. We got to the transit home just in time for the morning feeding time; below some photographic evidence …
We left the camp in the afternoon to make it over to Yala National Park, where we – once more – changed into jeeps for a game drive around the park. This time the drive was indeed more nature focused – no mud-fun here 😉
We circled around the park, got close to elephants, peacocks and water buffaloes. We also got to see a leopard (in the far distance though, only recognizable with binoculars – so no photos here) – – so successful gaming here.
