Does this sound like regret? It is not. There is a comfort to me in the stark Stadt blocks as I walk to the hardware store and the market, my grandmother grocery cart clattering behind me on the path. I sweat here as well, but it is the the heat of coming into a warm store after a cold walk; too many clothes or not enough. Gone for now are the hot nights with a fan gently wafting the mosquito netting, laying naked on a guesthouse bed and not needing even a top sheet. Walking through the winter-bare trees adorned with balls of mistletoe is like emerging in a Rembrandt etching, a world of fine sepia lines. If the tropics are Gauguin, all bold lines and vibrant colour, Vienna in winter is the Old Masters.
My time in Sri Lanka is over and my new life of discovering Vienna has begun again. The transition from there to here feels natural and without discontent. The clock moved slowly in Sri Lanka, a blessing. There was no rush of time at the end, no wishing for an extension. There seemed to be a balance. I talked about this with My One, who said she had the same feeling. She said she felt that the reason this journey's end did not feel like an ending is that it was not, we were simply entering the next phase of the journey. The next part of the story is building a life together in Vienna. Happy thought.
What can I tell you of Sri Lanka? My first though is this: Go There Now. This is a nation in flux, a place coming fully awake after years of conflict. The long civil war and its tragic ending kept this island out of the collective traveler consciousness for many years. During the last six years of peace, Sri Lanka has become a place of building. Each year the number of tourists is increasing exponentially, guesthouses and hotels are being built at a frenetic pace, and Colombo is exploding with huge new development projects.
As I have said in previous posts, Sri Lankans may be the friendliest people on the planet. Even at the airport security check, I was engaged in conversation. One is not allowed to enter the Colombo airport without a ticket. Just as in India, no ticket, no passing through the door. I have a picture of Che' Guevara on my phone home screen. It is a ghostly image of a graffiti stencil, a shot I took on the streets of Southern India. As I popped up my e-ticket to allow us passage, the soldier saw the photo of Che' and questioned me about it. Rather than barring me as a potential radical, he asked me about the photo and "What was my country, please?" Upon hearing that I was an American, he expressed his surprise that I was proud to have a photo of what he called "a good socialist man." Entry was granted as well as smiles all around.
Sri Lanka is a small island nation, even smaller than Austria (sorry My One!) Despite its diminutive size, it boasts an incredibly diverse landscape and climate, from chilly hill country to sweltering lowlands and beaches. There are steaming jungles, kilometers of paddy country and misty upland pine forests. The weather is just as diverse, with rainy seasons varying dramatically from region to region and over very small distances. Traveling during the rainy season allowed us the freedom to explore without rubbing elbows with the high-season tourists. The penalty of rain from time to time was easily paid and we were very lucky.
The food is Sri Lanka is a wonderful adventure in and of itself. Engage the local cuisine on its own terms and you will not be disappointed. The combination of spices in the fragrant curries and "gravies" will change the way your body smells. Before too many meals had passed in Sri Lanka we began to notice the spice coming out of our pores. On a sweaty Colombo night, in a tiny curry hut, the interior heat of the spices in your body actually make your skin feel cooler.
Travel in Sri Lanka is not as hard as, say, travel in India. Having said that, this is still the "developing world" (is that the new politically correct term?) and it would behoove one to leave that Western sense of personal space at home. Buses are crowded, sometimes incredibly so. Queues are not orderly. Trains are slow and wonderful. There are first class train compartments and private mini-vans for hire. These conveyances will get you where you are going and, in my opinion, take all the fun out of the trip. If you wish to experience life in Sri Lanka, book the third class train compartment.
The Viennese night comes quickly here and so it has done. It is time to attend to dinner preparations, warm winter food without a mountain of rice eaten with the fingers. I have loaded all of my Sri Lankan photos up into my cloud. When it gets a bit too dark or a bit too cold, I can warm my imagination with images of tropical heat and glaring sun.
All is not gloom and gray. There is magic here in Vienna as well. The Christmas markets are in full swing, with crowds of smiling Viennese folks warming their hands and insides with steaming mugs of punch, warding off the cold night under twinkling lights.
So, until the next post, it is a new journey, the same journey, the only journey continuing. I only occasionally delude myself that there is any division between the parts of the whole. As the path continues, Friends and neighbors, Ciao for Now.
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