36 reasons to fly back home.

36 things I look forward to experiencing on returning to Peterborough after 25 days in Sri Lanka. I know that some of these sound trivial or petty, but sometimes the little things mean a lot.

1. The familiarity of my own house, bed books, kitchen etc.
2. Going to Drolma Buddhist centre. So lucky to have this on our doorstep.
3. Some nice cold or cool weather. Still not used to 30 degree heat with high humidity
4. Playing walking football
5. Going for a run, or spin class
6. A decent cup of coffee, either at home or in cafes
7. A decent cup of tea with cold non uht milk. Tea tends to be served with hot uht milk in Sri Lanka.
8. Cooking. Longest period of my adult life with no cooking. My expensive vitamix will be rusting up with disuse.
9. Not living out of a rucksack. And stuffsacks. 
10. A break from hotel buffets. These are great, but have had too many of these because there aren't a huge number of evening restaurants in Sri Lanka outside of Colombo.
11. Talking to people about things other than travel
12. Reliable and reasonably fast wifi and affordable 4g.
13. Normal local bird watching, even in the wind, rain and cold.
14. Live football on TV and radio. This seems to be one of the few places in the world where hardly anyone cares about soccer. cricket on the other hand is very popular.
15. Pavements to walk along without fear of a broken ankle
16. Going to a nature reserve without queuing for a ticket. Ticket buying can sometimes be slow business and in national parks you can't buy them in advance. Surely they can improve on that.
17. The familiarity of a British supermarket.
18. seeing Family and friends or communicating with them in the same time zone.
19. western art and culture
20. Charity shops
21. Fenland skies and weather. Lovely flat landscapes.
22. Cycling on familiar routes
23. No more bakery tuk tuks playing a crappy electronic version of fur Elise 
24. Traffic without horn parps every few seconds
25. No more bumpy noisy rides in tuk tuks or jeeps.
26. Cheese. Proper cheese. 
27. Beer other than the standard nothing to write home about lager.
28. No more air con noise
29. A real log fire in the living room
30. Cities that are not horribly polluted and full of chaotic traffic.
31. A washing machine at home. I became an expert at wringing out clothes washed in hotel sinks. 
32. Quorn. Yes I know it's sometimes derided, e.g. by jay rayner, but it's not done mo farah any harm has it?
33. Bare trees.
34. No more negotiating with tuk tuk taxi drivers to save the equivalent of 50p. If you don't do that, other tourists think you are horribly naive, and encoraging exploitation of tourists by money grubbing locals.
35. Seeing adult couples without a guide/driver. This seems like a win win  situation bringing income to Sri Lankans and benefits to the tourists , but it sometimes turns intelligent visitors e.g. Retired head teachers into the equivalent of infants. The classic was seeing so many tourists being put on a touristy train ride whilst the guide driver transports their luggage by car to meet them down the line to continue their tour. We are glad that we only had a guide driver for 4 days out of 25, and that was to buy in specialist birding experience, not easily available at short notice.
36. A choice of walks that are possible that are off road and do do involve hiring a local guide. For my next trip abroad I am thinking of having a sign printed in the local language saying "I am primarily a bird watcher. I am not really interested in getting to the top of a hill to see the view. Please find me a nice woodland glade with some tall trees,  ideally bare at the top, where I can stand, or preferably sit, for 10 minutes. A wetland edge habitat is also good, but no crocodiles please."
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

36 things I miss about tropical Sri Lanka after returning to wintry peterborough

1. Lovely curries, even though they are usually served lukewarm. Plenty of choice for vegetarians, with dhal being a staple.
2. water Buffalo curd. Lovelier than cows yogurt, and served with palm sugar syrup. 
3. Short eats - samosas, vadai, roti and other savoury snack items. The deep frying cooking method provides some reassurance in terms of bacteria.
4. Colourful birds aplenty and wonderful bird sounds, even though the sources are hard to track down. 
5. Birding from hotel verandas and balconies, often with stunning views. Add tea or beer to make it even more pleasant.
6. Smiles and waves from schoolkids, who often ask "where are you going?", and then start giggling. 
7. The low levels of anger displayed even in heavy traffic merging and interweaving from all directions. 
8. Hills that are completely covered in forests (as opposed to our bare sheepwrecked variety). 
9. Old fashioned trains that take me back to the 70s, and clatter slowly and noisily through majestic scenery.
10. Buses that are kings of the roads and cost about a £1 for a journey of up to 4 hours. It's double that in peterborough for a 10 minute ride.
11. Swimming in hotel pools, rivers and the Indian Ocean to cool off in the heat of the day.
12. Beautiful buddha statues and shrines all over the place, big ones, little ones.
13. Hardly any rain (just one hour in 25 days).
14. Cheap food in local restaurants. Lunch for two for £5 including a fresh fruit juice. Not a huge number of evening restaurants outside tourist hotels though.
15. Warm welcomes especially in very small hotel/guest houses
16. The sound of Buddhist prayers morning and evening
17. Beautiful Buddhist ancient ruins that are regarded as holy places, with special rules for visitors. No bare shoulders or knees. Shoes off.  No selfies allowed with Buddha statues in the background. 
18. Water monitors and land iguanas. Except for the time I feel into an iguana hole.
19. Humongous butterflies. Tricky to photograph though.
20. Beautiful lotus flowers.
21. Fruit bats aka flying foxes in great abundance at dusk or in large tree roosts during the day.
22. Superb botanical gardens, especially in the morning when it is cooler and there are fewer visitors.
23. Wild elephants, including the bolder more opportunistic ones that come to the edge of the elephant fences to be fed.
24. Beautiful lakes fringed by natural vegetation. many of these  so called "tanks"  were created hundreds of years ago as reservoirs.
25. Early mornings birding in a t shirt. Starts around 6 am. Nicest part of the day. I like to stay in one place looking at tall trees in open glades.
26. Monkeys. Three types, all with different haircuts. The toque macaques have hair like footballers. The purple faced leaf monkeys look like they are wearing goggles.
27. Trees of incredible variety.
28. Tropical fruits freshly prepared for eating. A great way to start breakfast.
29. Kottu - a national dish of left over bread chopped up fine wth vegetables and spices.
30. Rice paddies, all dotted with white cattle egrets.
31. Tea plantations in the highlands.
32. The sound
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    of Buddhist prayers early in the morning and in the evening. The sound carries a long way.
33. Friendly hotel staff, often keen to show you the hotel vegetable and fruit garden.
34. Roadside fruit and veg for sale at incredibly low prices. Limes for example are less than one 10th the price of limes in the uk.
35. Female tourists in elephant print trousers purchased locally. It's a look that suits very few male tourists.
36. Knowledgeable, friendly and streetwise Aussies and Kiwis. More than you can say for a lot of the Brits, some of whom are mainly chasing winter sun. Aussies can of course just stay at home in January if sunshine is their priority.