Matheran escape

While in Mumbai, I decided to escape from the big city to the countryside for a weekend
After googling areas around Mumbai I picked Matheran, that looked like a tale town...
I was supposed to travel alone, but the night before my departure my host told me that there was an Italian couchsurfer in Mumbai, I sent him a text inviting him to join me and with surprise he and his American friend accepted to meet and travel together the day after.
When you travel alone  you are out of the normal scheme of known and unknown, friends of friends become your friends even sometimes your best friends!
For me it is normal to meet strangers and travel together, it can sounds weird or dangerous  but usually I travel with couchsurfers so a little bit I have an idea of the person.
Only once I traveled with a boooooring girl, she was a friend of a friend and after half day it was clear we were better off each one in our own ways!
The way to Matheran was enchanting , we took a small little train that drove us to a magic town!

Beppe and Bryan 

The train was way to small :D

View from the train

Matheran is famous for its horses, a must is to ride a horse around the hills.
Obviously you have to bargain with horses owners to get a good deal.
I was in charge of the negotiations and for this my Italian friend gave me the nickname of "Shark"...

 In Matheran while exploring around we met a group of international students living in Pune.
We joined them in their cosy chalet for partying. It was a great night dancing, drinking and singing songs from our own countries. It was also a good mix: Iraqis, Afghan, Iranians, French, Indian, American, Khazakhi and Italians,all having good craic!

Beppe playing with monkeys

Sunset

Lovely sky

Indian dance

on the way back 

From Negombo to Mumbai

After my Visa was issued I runned off to Negombo. I spent my last two days in Sri Lanka with Egor, a Russian guy, who also was flying to India the same day I left. This guy is also a couch surfer, friend of another friend.
We met in Colombo train station and from there we traveled together to Negombo. It was lots of fun from the very beginning!

A guy in couchsurfing, posted a message saying that he made a mistake with the reservation in a hotel in Negombo, he reserved the wrong dates, so he offered his reservation for free. Even though, it was the last night of his reservation, I called the hotel before arriving in Negombo and the owner of the hotel agreed in checking us in...so we got a room for free in a hotel....COOL!

We arrived in Negombo late in the night, no busses were in service, and we decided to hitchhike... a tuk tuk driver approached us, first he wanted some money, but then, because we insisted in hitchhiking, he offered us a ride for free...it was sooo unreal!
 Who traveled in SL, or in general  around Asia, knows that   tuk tuk drivers usually rip tourist off, but this guy drove us for 5 km for FREE!
Simply insane :)

Negombo is a lovely beach town, we were there during the monsoon season so there was not too much going on, but the airport is only 20 minutes by bus, so it is better to stay there than in Colombo.

From the Negombo quite and relaxed atmosphere  I flew to the Mumbai hell.
The first day I was Mumbai I felt overwhelmed almost scared from this big dirty monster.
 I didnt know a lot about it and I was  in a horrible part of the city: plenty traffic, smog, trash and slums everywhere...I thought I was used to see poverty but Mumbai, especially in some areas is dreadful...there are mountains of trash, little kids climb these mountains, looking up into the trash, I cannot explain the feeling: my stomach was twisted, nauseated by the smell and what I saw.

Houses in from of the train station

Trash just few meters from the above pict...it was on fire..the smell was awful

The day after I contacted a couch surfer, an Indian girl, and I moved to a nicer area in Bandra West. A little tip: if you visit Mumbai: every area in the city is divided in West and East, the West is the nicest part, on contrary the East is the less comfortable.

Mumbai,as all the big cities, reflects India. It is heaven and hell together, the eternal contrasts live together side by side...
It is an enormous paradox kept steady and compact by the old and absurdus caste system that clashes with the modernity and development the country is undertaking. What makes your heart sinking is to see little kids that are deprived of their childhood, exploited since birth :(
After the first confusing period, I set in the city quickly I learnt how to use trains and buses...to me far better than taxi and tuk tuk. I loved trains for several reasons:

•  You dont have to breath all the smog
• You dont get stressed for the counter that goes up because of the traffic
• They are quick and incredibly cheap

After all Mumbai is a nice city but I would not stay longer there as India is soo big and plenty of amazing places!

Supreme Court 

Sree Siddhivinayak

The Jaffna Peninsula

After Vavuniya, I decided to travel to Jaffna.

The trip to Jaffna was a little bit annoying because, even though the war finished more than 4 years ago, we had to go through 3 check in from Vavuniya to Jaffna District, that is less than 4 hours by bus.

Jaffna was a previous Dutch and British colony, and the colonial influence is still visible in some buildings.

The Dutch Fort

There is no that much to do or see in Jaffna District but I had to stay in the area for 5 days because I issued my Indian Visa overthere. 

I thought it would have taken less time but Indian bureaucracy is very slow and actually I was lucky because usually in other districts ( Colombo and Kandy) it takes 1 week and they do not  accept any exception or urgency.

Jaffna, like other previous war torn cities in Sri Lanka, is pretty quite. People want to live a simple and ordinary life, leaving behind the horror and destruction of the war. However, the military presence is still very strong and you can feel how uneasy and unpleasant is their presence overthere.

The Army and Navy people try to be nice with foreigners, trying to be gentle and funny. 

Nallur Kandaswamy temple,

Once I was waiting for a ferry and a Navy officer offered me a cup of tea and a chair to be more comfortable while waiting. Obviously I refused  and  instead I  sat in the waiting area with locals , and a old lady welcomed me with a big smile.

If you will be visiting the Pearl of the Indian Ocean for a short time, I would not recommend to travel up to the Jaffna peninsula because it takes too long and there are other more beautiful places to visit.
In any case I had good time up there, I met so many nice and interesting people except from a little disavventure me and a Norwegian guy had while visiting the Delft Island.

Jaffna Train Station

I had the chance to visit the train station that was badly destroyed during the war. Nowadays the rail station is under reconstruction and according to the rebuilders it will be finished by April, even though I have my doubts, seeing the damages and the works that were done up to December. To see the train station in that condition,( see picts below) had on me a weird effect, I am used to see houses destroyed but I never saw the effects of bombs. It is surrealistic, I imagined the scene, you are there, waiting for the train, when suddenly a huge explosion, able to create a pit of 1 meter deep in the roof, run over you...how dreadful and miserable is the war!

The roof of the rail station torn by a bomb

The explosion from the first floor

The wall riddled with bullets

However back to the  Jaffna MUST, not related to the ruins ,  are the Hindu temples around the area, they are huge, the painting inside are breathtaking and all atmosphere with the smell of incense elevate you to a relaxing and positive state of mind...
There are few islands around the peninsula, I visit two of them. The nearest is Nainativu,  it is around 30 minutes by ferry, and there are two nice temples, a Hindu and a Buddhist one.

In the ferry

The Nainativu Temple

Add caption

Nainativu Island

Inside the temple in Nainativu Island

Nagadipa Temple

 Dutch Fort in Delft Island

The Fort is made also with fossils...

A pond in Jaffna

 At the entrance of the city

Jaffna-Pannai

Kayts Causeway

This is something the government should think about!

Sunset near Jaffna