CNY 2024: Da Nang, Phnom Penh, Sri Lanka, Krabi

Our long awaited Chinese New Year trip was fantastic.

We started our trip with a visit to Da Nang in Vientam.  It was my second time there so I enjoyed showing Faye around the place, revisiting many of the places I had during my first visit, and seeing new places that I hadn't seen the first time.  We stayed at the Haian Beach Resort Hotel.  This is the same place I stayed last time.  We arrived on February 3rd and really only had time to score a little grass and get dinner.  

On February 4th we got a massage to start our day.  We spent some time on the beach and then Faye got her nails done while I walked around town and got a bit more green stuff and some snacks. We finished the the day by watching the Dragon Bridge show.  This was a great way to ring in the year of the dragon.

February 5th was a beautiful day for a tour so we visited Ba Na Hills.  There was a visit to a "silk factory" included in the tour but it was really just a shitty sales pitch for silk bedding so Faye and I dipped out and I smoked a joint while we waited for the rest of the tour group to finish. 

We decided to take it easy again on February 6th and spent most of the day relaxing at the hotel pool where we had some refreshing drinks and looked out over the ocean.  We walked around a bit later that evening and just enjoyed ourselves. 

On the 7th we departed Da Nang and went to Phnom Penh Cambodia with a quick layover in Ho Chi Minh.

When we landed in Phnom Penh we went to a restaurant called the Pink Elephant where I got a "happy shake" and bought some herbs.  The herbs were really cheap and low quality smoke but the happy shake had me floored within a few hours. I actually got a little too high and had Faye worried but I just needed to lie down.  After a lovely dinner at the Banana Tree Restaurant I almost passed out and we had to rush back to the hotel so I could sleep it off. 

On February 8th we just walked around Phnom Penh and spent some time at the hotel pool.  We needed the relaxation because we would be hitting it hard over the next few days in Sri Lanka. 

Our next stop on February 9th was Colombo Sri Lanka.  We had a short layover in Bangkok and landed in Colombo after 10pm.  I hired a driver for our trip in Sri Lanka and I am so glad that I did.  He picked us up at the airport and helped us to arrange tours and activities every day.  We only stayed one night in Colombo at the Cinnamon Red Hotel.  The view from the hotel the next morning was amazing. 

We had a lot of amazing adventures in Sri Lanka.  Our first full day on the 10th started with a long drive to Kithulgala where we did some white water rafting and canyoning.  Faye did really well overcoming her fear of deep water while on the raft.  She chickened out when it came to canyoning but we still had a really great time. 

After our rafting tour we got some tea and dinner at the Hatton Tea Club on the way to our hotel in Nuwara Eliya.  The tea in Sri Lanka is outstanding   The tea grown in this region is what made Sri Lanka so desirable to the British Empire. We drank tea that was grown and processed on site.  You could taste the sunshine that bathed the leaves and the water and soil that nourished the roots.  The food was delicious.  While we only ate two meals a day during our five days in Sri Lanka and packed each day with lots of activity, we never felt too hungry.  I even managed to lose a little weight. 

It was already dark by the time we reached our hotel in Nuwara Eliya.  We stayed at Unique Cottages for a night.  It was pretty chilly in this part of the country because we had gained quite a bit of altitude.  Faye spent the entire night shivering. 

We woke up early on February 11th and ate breakfast before our driver came to pick us up.  He arranged an alternative ride for us on this day because we were planning to visit Horton Plains and his car was not equipped to take us there.  The ride to Horton Plains took about an hour and once we arrived we paid the entry fee and drove to the start point for our hike.  We hiked the World's End/Baker's Falls Loop which took us a few hours. 

On the return to our hotel we stopped at Ambewela Dairy Farm where we got some cheese spread and yogurt to hold us over until dinner.  Then we returned to the hotel and proceeded to Weligama. 

The drive to Weligama took over five hours.  On the way we stopped in Ella and got a dinner of rice and curry at One Love Cafe.

Before we arrived at our hotel we arranged and paid for a whale watching tour with Kumara Whale Watching in Mirissa. 

We arrived at the Weligama Marriot well after dark, checked in, and promptly went to sleep to ensure we were well rested for an early wake-up the next day.

After grabbing a breakfast to go from the hotel we boarded the Kumara vessel and set off for a full morning of whale watching on February 12th.

We only saw one whale but we saw many dolphins.  Faye really enjoyed this activity, it was her idea, but I was not a huge fan.  The boat was uncomfortable and when it got up to high speed and people clambered to see the whales and dolphins it was even more uncomfortable as the boat jostled us around on the waves.

We saw a bunch of spinner dolphins and one fin whale.  We only saw the fin whale breaching in the distance.  When we managed to get closer it was not as interesting as all we could see was the fin and blow hole.  When we got to shore I was really glad it was over. 

We stopped at a pharmacy to get me some aloe for my sunburn (which I got at Horton Plains the day prior) and treat my developing cold. We both took a long nap after the whale watching. In the evening I went and took a surf lesson.  I did not bring my phone or a camera for this so unfortunately did not get any footage.  It was pretty cool though.  Wadi Curl provided a fantastic instructor.  I do not recall his name but he did a great job of explaining how I could fix my mistakes.  Within an hour I had stood up on the board a total of three times, which is a lot better than any effort I attempted on my own when I first tried to surf in Jersey Shore three years prior. 

After my surf lesson Faye and I went to get dinner at a beachside restaurant called Cutty Sark.  We got rice and curry and some ginger beer.  Then we walked on the beach and chased ghost crabs for a while to digest. 

Our last day in Sri Lanka, February 13, we visited Galle Fort. The old fort was built in 1588 by the Portuguese and later it was occupied and further fortified by the Dutch. It is among the oldest and largest European forts in south and southeast Asia.  Inside the fort is considered the Galle's "old town" and it is filled with boutique shops, bars, and restaurants.  We walked the perimeter of the fort, visited the museum and a couple old churches, and finished our trip with a stop at the Galle Fort Hotel where we enjoyed a the local Lion Beer and I taught Faye how to play chess. 

Then we went to the airport.  We got there pretty early so we had to wait to check in for our flight.  While we waited I spotted this cool bird by the pond in the airport garden.

We had dinner at the airport and boarded our flight to Bangkok where we would layover for the night before heading to Krabi.

Our overnight layover in Bangkok was not too bad.  The Moca Hotel was not great but it was better than sleeping on the terminal floor at the airport. 

The next morning, February 14th, I got some much needed weed and we got breakfast at Kanah and Red Tea before returning to Don Mueang Airport for our flight to Krabi.

Once we landed in Krabi we took a taxi to our hotel in Ao Nang. The Ayodhaya Palace Krabi Beach Resort or Krabi Nature Beach Resort was a pretty disappointing hotel.  It was an enormous building with unique look to it, but it was old and crumbling, we experienced electrical problems on our last night, the service was poor, the pool acidified, and there was a whole host of other issues that we had that I don't feel like going into further.  Needless to say I left a bad review.  Despite the hotel the area was pretty neat.  We were on the very edge of Ao Nang beach and so it was peaceful and quiet. There was a night market and plenty of bars and restaurants. 

The 14th being our first night we mostly just walked around the night market and got dinner. 

The 15th was a great day for sleeping in and lying on the beach.  I waded in the water but did not swim because there was lots of algae.  We hung out beside the pool at the hotel for a bit and took a swim there instead.  That afternoon we got a massage at Radarom Spa.  The massage was good but they pissed me off when the reception desk mistakenly called me twice during the massage.  We got dinner at a place called Mama Kitchen and then bought some handmade macrame jewelry at a store called Entwined Energy. We finished off the day by organizing a tour for the next day and stopping at a bar called The Pink Lady for drinks and billiards before calling it a night. 

The 16th was our last full day and night in Krabi.  We took a kayaking tour to Mirror Lake which included swimming and lunch.  We started with the kayaking.  Despite showing a lot of bravery during our white water rafting trip in Sri Lanka where the stakes were much higher, Faye turned into a total scaredy cat on the kayak even though the water was more clear, shallow, and still. It was actually pretty funny how she reacted.  After the kayaking trip we had the tour driver drop us off in town so we could walk home.  We stopped at the Nang An Beach Bar and listened to some great music while the sun set and then we walked back to our hotel.

We left Krabi on the 17 but not before taking one last walk on the beach and stopping for lunch at Wang Sai Seafood.  It was the worst food we had eaten through the whole trip.  The view was nice and they sold beer and weed so it was ok with me.

We departed Krabi and landed in Bangkok for yet another long layover with another stay at Moca Hotel.  We departed early the next day so we just got subway at the airport and ate in our hotel room.  Then we had just enough time that night to wander around a bit and I had one more chance to smoke a couple joints.  

We had a fantastic trip together.  While we had small arguments here and there ultimately we communicated really well.  While there were a few small hiccups along the way everything ended up working out well.   Four countries in two weeks may seem like a lot, but we managed to strike a perfect balance between relaxation and activity.  

Returning to work this week was a bit difficult.  I got hit with a bout of diarrhea the day after we returned.  It still hasn't really resolved which is concerning as I only seem to have this problem in China.  Halfway through the week I had to take a day off because I got hit with a migraine, sore throat, and fever.  Fortunately I managed to sleep that off within a day but the diarrhea is still a problem.

I am still waiting to hear back about the decision for science department chair. I don't know what is taking so long since the English department chair has already been selected. 

For our next trip during Ching Ming (spring break) in April we are hoping to go to Japan.  I need to get a new passport because I am down to my last few pages and Faye needs to get a visa for Japan so she is waiting for that.