Dambulla

18/4
We leave Singapore, and after a short flight, we finally land in Sri Lanka, very excited to meet our friends soon!!In Colunbo, a driver meets us to drive us another three hours to the little resort in the North West of the country where the wedding will take place. It is hot and humid but the sky is red, warm and the first impressions are good, we feel surprised: the driver rides the car like a mad man, overtake badly, speeds, it feels mad but the villages we see are clean, nice, the forests lush and everyone wave at us from the cars around, we discover the country in the light beam of the car in a crazy way. The driving is even madder than in Vietnam!! Loads of people are walking on the road making things a little scarier (for them). Fab sleeps in the taxi as the driving makes him feel uncomfortable, I let go and trust the driver ability to manage the traffic, and his mad crazy drive takes us to the beautiful Amaya Lake hotel. As soon as we arrive, we met with Sandra, Timeo and Bertrand, we feel quite emotional to hug them, catch up, see them after 4 months on the road and for such a special occasion. Hugs, drinks then bed time!! We feel excited, exhausted and happy to be here with them in such a gorgeous hotel: nice swimming pool, a lake, forests, in a 4 stars palace!!! What a change for us!

19/04
Today is a free day, we are all relaxing before the wedding, the guests are slowly arriving, dealing with their jetlags and the heat! We relax, swim, eat a lot ( so nice to eat tons of food: I so enjoy the breakfast, with croissants and little cakes!!), we chat a lot with our friends, catch up with the group of friends and family: it will be a small wedding around 30 people, mainly from France and some Sri Lankan guests, how exciting!! Both of us are hapy to be in a nice setting, a gorgeous lake, a swimming pool and I even treat myself to a brilliant massage in the ayurvedic centre of the hotel: FAB!!! A nice day to ease in as it somehow feels weird to suddenly be in a group, even of people we know, in a different easier nicer environment, what a shock after nearly 4 months alone on the road!! The luxurious bungalow we are staying in is very posh in comparison with our $10 a night guesthouse and we have very different conversations to the ones we have been having for the last few months with travellers, we feel a bit outsiders, on a different planet but nothing bad, just very different!! This little time here is going to be a holiday within the trip, an easy fun moment for us.

20/04
We are in the cultural triangle of Sri Lanka and there are many sights to visit and our friends have planned some excursions so we can discover the area even before the wedding! Today is sightseeing day and we end up in a small bus with a guide, feels weird to discover the country that way but easier, so much easier!! The mood is really positive, everyone chats, laught, despite the tiredness and the heat!! During the drive, we see many ripe rice fields, lots of lakes around, they are actually artificial reservoirs (ancient ones)to hold rainwater! We arrive in Polonnaruwa, the ancient medieval capital of the country, we visit some large structure built of bricks and see lots of ruins. We then go and see some massive buddhas sculpted in stone, those statues are full of dignity, strenght, and it is beautiful, very inspiring!!
I like watching those colossal figures carved in the stone, the recumbent buddha and the seated buddha in meditation are particularly amazing. I find it a bit hard to focus on sightseeing as it is weird to be in a group, to see our friends, to be with people, we chat all the time, spend some time with baby Timeo who is so brave, coping with the heat and the changes with big smiles, there is so much to catch up on!!! But we are happy to go with the flow, to see this site, full of archeological importance (long ancient old civilisation here) but also of important religious significance!! We have lunch then it is now time to climb Sigiriya, the lion rock, the citadel which rises high above the flat plains!This place is really impressive: a massive rock fortress built in the 5th century AD, a mad man's vision, a king who transformed a rock into an almost impregnable fortress! There are great paintings in some rock pockets, some steep rock surface so highly polished that one can see its relflection in it, hence the name mirror wall. I love the paintings: beautiful women painted on the stone. It is hard to climb, so many steps and so steep!!!Above the courtyard are a number of hornets nests, quite scary!! We then reach the pathway in between the paws of the lion, it is a difficult climb, despite the railings, quite mad!!! The summit was used for the palace of the king, we all watch the remains of the foundations, like the pond filled with water and the crazy beautiful view. Fab and I keep being surpprised by this country, clean, beautiful, lush and with a great culture, so many ruins of very old civilisations, temples, monuments, buddhas everywhere (apparently Buddha visited Sri Lanka three times!) and 70% of the population is buddhist!We also feel the hindu influence a lot, in the architecture, in the way people act or dress. Weirdly enough, we are not very much informed of the conflict going on in the North of the country, yes we see many police and military check points (the bus is often stopped and there are military men everywhere) but it doesn't feel unsafe or too tensed. We feel secluded here, in the tourist oasis, we don't really hear about the humanitarian crisis or how the government is fighting the Tamil Tigers! The day has been so tiring with so much to do but we now both have to run around as soon as we reach the hotel, as it is the stag and hen parties tonight (we are both organisers!)
A quick shower, more running around to plan things, then men and women split to start the eve!! It has to be soft as the wedding is tomorrow...few silly games for both of them, reenactement of the proposal under water in the pool, some drinks,Sandra and Bertrand are a bit of a hit in the hotel tonight, him running around with a superman underwear, her with a mad pink t-shirt, looking for men to sign it!!!Some little presents, some drinks and we all meet again to finish the eve, quite cvilised!!