Sri Lanka and Hong Kong
Whew, I thought this trip would never come! I am being dramatic but this trip was our honeymoon and it took a long time for it to come together. With all the wedding planning, I knew I would be too overwhelmed to work, attend classes, and plan a honeymoon in addition to the wedding. We decided we would take our honeymoon after our wedding which meant we had two options: December or summer. We were going to go to Thailand and December is peak season so we decided to wait until summer when I was done with my fieldwork rotation and prices were half the cost. We used our Chase Visa points to pay for the plane tickets ($700 round trip) with economy seating.
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However, we realized that we had a close friend's wedding during that time and changed our flights to the following week. Then, we found out Thailand had Zika! This was an issue for us because we were not wanting to wait 6 months to get pregnant. So, we once again had to change our flights. I had my physician write a letter and the airline did let us change our flights without the $200 change flight fee. Now, the issue was deciding on a new destination. I wanted a place that we could still do similar activities (cooking class, beach, hiking/mountain biking, wildlife watching) but didn't have Zika. We scoured the CDC's zika map and began researching Hainan (China), Japan, and Taiwan. One day I noticed Sri Lanka was not flagged for Zika. I was not familiar with the country except knowing they had experienced recent turmoil. Upon looking at photographs and activities offered, I was sold. They have safaris, beaches, mountains, and more. It is considered a developing country, just ending a 25-year civil war in 2009. They also experienced a devastating tsunami in 2011. Andrew was also on board, so we finally got our flights switched!
We flew out of O'Hare as financially, that was our best option. Our flights were with Cathay Pacific and this was my first experience with them. After checking in, someone was calling our names as we were heading towards security. It was the woman who checked us in for our flight. She asked if this was our honeymoon. We told her it was so she gave us two tickets for their lounge. This was my first experience with one and it was wonderful! We sat in some comfy seats, charged our phones and ate a lot. I was wishing I could have a few drinks but since I was pregnant, I had to just focus on the food.
The flight would have been rough since it was just over 15 hours but fortunately, the man beside me moved to an open seat when he thought I would be taking way too many bathroom breaks. Andrew and I were then able to trade off on stretching out and sleeping. I brought some good books to read and headphones too.
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We arrived in Hong Kong around 11:00 pm their time. It took us a while but eventually we found our hotel. It was actually in the airport. It was the Regal Hotel and we had a good experience. We went to bed around 1:00 pm and I adjusted surprisingly well to the time change. We had some coffee (not good), asked the hotel to hold our luggage as we would be flying out that night, and made our way towards the MTR.
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The Mass Transit Railway (MTR) has cards that you load cash into called the Octopus card. That is what we used for payment. The minimum amount is 150HK and they do not accept credit cards. Of course, as soon as I got on the railway, the door abruptly closed and Andrew and I were separated! The start to our honeymoon and my first time in Asia and I wasn't even with my husband. I had to laugh so I just waved at him through the window. Luckily, he told me where we were headed so I decided just to stick with the plan and go there. We were able to meet up about 12 minutes later at Central Hong Kong station. The total time it takes from the airport to central HK is 24 minutes. There were SO many people! It was wild. The whole time we were in Hong Kong, I felt like I was in NYC. The underground terminals are enormous so it took a while for us to make our way outdoors.
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We stepped outside and immediately felt the thick air. It was VERY humid and hot. Our first stop was to Victoria Peak. We would ride the tram just like the tourists we are and check out the view.
Next, we headed to the Yick Fat Building. You see, Andrew loves talking about density. It doesn't get much more dense than this area. The worse part was on the way to the courtyard area, we passed by a meat vendor on the sidewalk. The smell was basically unbearable to me -- a pregnant lady with morning sickness in extreme heat!
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We also went to a market to specifically look for some electronics. Andrew wanted a waterproof bluetooth speaker and I wanted a SD card. The market was unlike anything I have seen. Most of it was outdoors but the electronics part was in a building. There were products hanging from the ceilings and surrounding you. Every few steps was a different merchant. It was very tight quarters!
We used booking.com for all of our homestays and the resort. Overall, the prices were $20-$30 per night. We decided to stay at a nicer place at the end of our trip when we would be relaxing and spending more time inside and that cost was higher, around $115 per night. I can say we were very happy with all of the places and would recommend them! I was thrilled at the hospitality we received and I liked supporting local people.
We arrived in Sri Lanka late at night, around midnight or 1:00 am. Our driver, Jagath, with Ceylon Discovery Tours picked us up at the airport. Our first homestay was in Negombo at Binnacle Negombo. I would recommend it. Our room was nice and clean and we loved our breakfast! We ate breakfast at 7:30 with meat, bread, and many fresh fruits such as pineapple, mango, and papaya. In Sri Lanka, most people have tea for breakfast. Jagath arrived just a little early to help us load up our bags and get an early start. He let us know that since I was pregnant, it would probably be better to do a safari up north in Kaudulla National Park rather than the one we planned, Yala National Park. We agreed that whatever would be the best for the baby is what we would do. I was 9 weeks pregnant and we didn't mind other National Parks. They all have their positives and negatives. Kaudulla has more elephants so we would likely see a lot but Yala has a wider variety of animals (chance of seeing a leopard). With our new plans, we headed straight for the safari!
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We stopped along the way at a local place and Jagath helped us order some fried food that we could take with us. Andrew didn't care for the fish version but the vegetarian was very good. We arrived and loaded into our jeep. Having Jagath, we were able to secure a very nice jeep and we were the only people in it. They took their time and were careful since I was pregnant and I didn't feel like I was jostled around.
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Once we were inside the park, they opened up the top of the jeep. We saw a chameleon and eventually there was a large, male "tusker" alone near a wooded area. The locals call the elephants with long tusks "tuskers" and it is rare to see them. Only 4-5% of male elephants havae them. We were very fortunate to see 4 elephants with them. We took a fwe photos of the elephant and water buffalo and continued on the dirt path. There were a few jeeps ahead and some behind. It was only us in the our jeep and our driver was excellent. We saw a large herd of elephants coming into view near the lake. They would wade into the water and a few would sit. They would spray themselves off too. It was quite hot, probably 90+ degrees Fahrenheit.
Seeing the elephants was the highlight of our trip for me. Andrew got enjoyment out of the jeeps too and had a good time videoing as we splashed through mud puddles and watched another jeep get stuck. It was almost evening and we did not have any other plans. Jagath asked if we would be interested in going to a place that gives massages. We agreed as that was something we were planning to do when we originally planned on going to Thailand. He called and they were able to schedule an appointment for us. This place was very different! We were in a woods and you go in a hut and meet with a physician. She asks you questions and writes some things down in their native language on a paper and you take that to the masseuse. It started with us sitting in chairs facing each other and they use warm oil on your hair and give you a head and neck massage. I already have low blood pressure and something about the pressure on my neck made me get light headed. I knew I was starting to faint so I said something and Andrew helped me move to the bed. I couldn't believe I was fainting from a massage!