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Sri Lanka Backpack Trip 2014

Aku tertarik nak backpack ke Sri Lanka lepas terbaca artikel bagaimana Selatan Sri Lanka terjejas teruk oleh ombak tsunami pada tahun 2004. Dan bagaimana landasan keretapi di sana rosak teruk akibat pukulan ombak itu.

So we started our trip dari Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital, turun south ke Galle, 3 jam naik train and went up to Nuwara Eliya, highland town of central Sri Lanka for 12 hours car ride.

The people are extra friendly and Colombo city is suprisingly clean. Tapi agak hectic with tuk-tuk, traffic and honks!

Di Galle kami bermalam selama 3 malam di sebuah homestay milik tukang emas.

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In wonderful 500 years old fort of Galle. Very charming fort town by the sea and effected really bad by the tsunami.

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Galle Fort school kids on field trip at the fort

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Coastal train dari Colombo ke Galle, 3 hours stuffy, crowded and sweaty trip but worth every penny.

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This is one awesome 8 hours train ride dari Nuwara Eliya ke Colombo. Landasan celah-celah gunung with alot of bridges and tunnels. Tak payah pegi Swiss nak rasa naik train celah-celah gunung. Sri Lanka lagi cantik dan old school and the most important thing, MURAH!

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Senang nak cari makanan halal.

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Sri Lanka one underrated country. We were amazed on how beautiful the country is especially pantai-pantai di selatan pulau yang crystal clear dan tanah tingginya yang terletak di bahagian tengah Sri Lanka.

Generally Colombo agak sesak dengan manusia dan trafik agak kecoh terutama kalau tinggal di downtown hostel. Kami tinggal 2 malam di Galle Road hotel bajet yang terletak di sebelah main road Colombo. Jalan raya sentiasa sesak dengan lori, bas, tuk-tuk, teksi dan what I can say the way they drive? Its suicidal. Rimas dengan bunyi enjin kenderaan dan hon kami tak sabar untuk keluar dari bandar ASAP.

Selepas randomly bukak map, we decided to head South, that is Bandar Galle di hujung selatan Pulau Ceylon. It took hours of stuffy train all the way Sri Lanka Coastal area. The seaside? Cantik and the most important think, still bersih dan belum dinodai oleh kemajuan dan industri pelancongan that proven ruined most of the beautiful places in this world.

Kami tinggal di dalam Fort Galle, sebuah kubu lama yang terletak di dalamnya pusat pemerintahan penjajahan Belanda back in 1500++ masihi. Cantik bhai bandar ni. Old school and look very colonialist.

Di sekitar Galle, terapat banyak pekan-pekan kecik tepi pantai yang cantik dan belum tercemar seperti Weligama, Tanggalle etc. We explored those towns with rental scooter.

Sri Lanka is well worth country to visit. With low cost of living, clean, easy halal food access, kind people, untouched nature and variety of attractions.

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Salah satu pantai berhampiran Galle. Pantai Unawatuna

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Galle Fort semasa fajar. Very tranquil. Terserempak pakcik jual kuih dengan basikal semasa strolling around selepas subuh. And we bought all type of kuihs!

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Tuk Tuk Colombo. They are the king of Colombo Road. Licik, pantas, berani mati dan jangan mudah terpedaya dengan kadar tambang. Tanya dulu tambang sebelum naik kalau tak nak kena pow.

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Red roofs of Galle Fort. I took this picture from the roof of our homestay early in the morning. Galle’s building built back in 16th Century. Sebelum Portugis serang Melaka lagi. Can you imagine how old the buildings are?

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Pemancing Galah (Tilt) di Teluk Weligama. 40 mins perjalanan dari Galle. This is traditional way of Sri Lanka where they will sit on that tilt dari pagi hingga tengahari to catch small fishes. I asked one of the fisherman, apasal tak guna jaring je instead of bruising your butt sitting for hours on that kayu. The question I wasnt expecting any specific answer anyway.

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Also one of the beach nearby Galle. Sorry tak ingat nama tapi tak ramai pelancong. That was the best part.

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The day we arrived Galle from Colombo. Cool train station though.

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Believe it or not the ticket fare 3 hours ++ ride dari Colombo ke Galle untuk 2nd class cost us only RM3.40 per trip

Selepas 3 hari di Galle Fort, we decided heading up to the highlands ke Nuwara Eliya. Initial plan nak naik bas je. But thinking of the nasty drivers and how rough the roads are, we decided to naik kereta sewa. Introduced by our homestay landlord, we paid RM160 / per car for 12 hours trip to Nuwara Eliya. Dari coastal south of Sri Lanka, naik ke tanah tinggi mistikal Ceylon.

All the way up, kami lalu coastal cities and only after 4 hours driving via Hambantota we started to hike up to 2000m++ highlands. The view and skylines started to get different. No more beaches, palm trees and hot sun. We passed by quite a number of small towns between the mountains such as Wellaweya, Bandarawela, Haputale & Elia

We arrived Nuwara Eliya almost dark and welcomed by thick mist from the mountain. Nuwara Eliya famous for its tea plantation and beautiful town between the mountains.

We spent 2 nights and managed to roam around the town. Cuaca dia lebih kurang mcm Cameron Highland back in 80s when the global warming was just the hoax back then.

Baca: 18 Tips Menulis Dan Terbitkan Buku Travelog Dari 2 Penulis Bestseller

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Highlands Train dari Nuwara Eliya ke Colombo. Lalu celah-celah gunung & ladang teh.

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Pasar Tamu Nuwara Eliya. bermacam2 jenis tanaman dan buah-buahan hutan. Its so cold in Nuwara Eliya, it was 14deg C that day.

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Tuk Tuk & Galle Fort

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Nanu Oya , 30 mins ride on cab – On the way to Nanu Oya Train Station dari Nuwara Eliya. The road was under construction.

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Antara kampung dan empangan di pergunungan Sri Lanka.

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Coastal Fishing. It needs the whole kampung to help pulling the net. Good tradition – Galle

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Ella Waterfall. We dropped by at this waterfall one the way to Nuwara Eliya. Tremendous view.

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Misty Nuwara Eliya : The hotel owner claimed his hotel is the highest (altitude) hotel in Sri Lanka. And Im agreed sebab hotel dia paling tinggi di Nuwara Eliya secara pandangan kasar.

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Pemandangan dari balkoni bilik Hotel of Nuwara Eliya.

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Galle : This family off to kenduri kawin and they looked pretty with the dresses

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Kids of Nuwara Eliya’s tea plantation

The 3rd day we off to Colombo on 8 hours ride highlands train dari Nanu Oya station. And the view from this train was one of the best view we ve had. Ever. With tunnels, mountains, bridges, tea plantation, paddy field and alot of kampung all the way. We paid only RM12 for this trip per head. We were spoilt by the charm of Ceylon and the people I must say. Beautiful country and kind ppl blend well.

Overall Sri Lanka is one safe country. Yeah, they had confrantation between the Gov and LTTE, but that was their pass. Today Sri Lanka open their country to the world and it is worth visit if you need something different than Krabi and for a nature & culture lover like us, we are going back to Sri Lanka. Soon.

Baca lagi: 11 Tip Mendapatkan Harga Murah Untuk Tambang Kapal Terbang

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