Singapore, our planned entrance to Asia

Early in the morning we arrived at the international airport in Singapore. As expected noone was interested in seeing a flight ticket at the immigration. Always this lying at the airports.
From the airport we took the train to get to our hostel.
When we arrived there noone was at the reception, only a note at the monitor with a name, phonenumber and a bed number in a room. So the guy should be there. We checked the room but the bed was empty.
Because Bernd got hungry we went outside to the food court around our hostel and looked what for some good food we could get. At a restaurant we met a Christian priest from China who gave us the hint to take a special Chinese chicken curry soup. Easy decision for us. It tasted really good, we only had to get used to the bones still inside it. After filling our stomach and having a good conversation we went back to the hostel. Still not there. We checked the room again and started talking with the other travelers there, a view minutes later the girl working at the reception came in and was very upset about us being in the room and not waiting outside. She was extremely mad and did not stop messing around, we were already thinking to just leave and get to a different place. But we would not have anything to do with her after gettig our room, so wait until she calms down. Later we heared from other guests that she seems to be always upset and in a bad mood, so not special with us.
For the first day we decided not to do so much and more like relaxing and doing nothing. So we only got to lunch with a guy from India, had dinner with a guy from Uganda and in the evening we met a girl from Germany, who planned to go to Australia the next day in the evening.
After fixing some problems at her computer, we decided for the next day to go together to Sentosa, maybe using the cable car.
We had a good breakfast at another food place around the corner before we took the metro to our destination.

At harbourfront we first walked around at the mall, they were already makig big preparations for Xmas, felt so strange on a warm place like here thinking of Xmas. In our minds it's always connected with cold weather and sometimes with snow.

From the Vivocity mall we had to decide to get to Sentosa by cable car or by train, the price for the cable car was not really acceptable, so we took the train.

From the train we got to the beach and could relax there for a long time, go swimming and have great conversations. A great day.

To not be at the same place again and still having two days in Singapore we decided first to visit the bayfront gardens. Yes a big park with a lot of green.
Before enterin the park we checked out the marine bay sands mall, where you can get a boat trip inside.

Before we could leave the mall I had to drag Bernd away from a shop he did not want to leave. He was very upset when I got him out of there.

From the mall we took a bridge passig through the Marine Bay Sands Hotel, an amazing hotel with three big towers and a pool on top.

At the beginning of the park we went through different styles of gardens, like a Chinese or a Indian garden. The Chinese was the nicest one of all.

In the centre of the park was he most interesting attraction the grand trees with the skyway. For sure we got to get up there and enjoy the view above the park.

Next we decided to go to the cloud forest. Before we could enter it Bernd got threatened by giant ants, jumped on the back of a crocodile and from there he fled in panic not caring what is around him and ended up between two lions. What a big shock for him.

At the end I could get him out of there and took him with me into the cloud forest.
The forest is inside a dome and shows different plants in a jungle and also had a big waterfall at the entrance.

We spent felt like hours in the cloud forest, was absolutely worth getting in there. In the park we headed to the south were we found some footprints, making sure that somehing dangerous might be arround. Bernd did stay as close as possible to me, for sure he hoped that it will first attack me.

Down at the end of the park at marine bay we had a short conversation with a security guard who told us that if we want to take a good look above the town we should get on the sands skypark, it's better than the Singapore Flyer. And we followed his hint. We also were more interested in getting up the tower instead of sitting in a small cabinet. We had a great view from up the tower, too bad that the pool close by was only for hotel guests.

Back down from the skypark we went to the bay and walked to the Merlion. Before we got to him we saw a interesting sculpture for the Olympic games.

And also a big public fan, ran by solar energy. That should be used at many other places too.

The Merlion is one of the most visited sights in Singapore, also when it is not the biggest. But worth getting there, it's a nice walk along the river.

From the Merlion we went through different parks and gardens, because we wanted to see little India. The way to get there was rather long, but offered good thigs to see.

When we arrived in little India we were shocked of the crowd of people around here. The Indian guy at the hostel told us the day before that it really feels like Mumbai, so good that we did not get there. We both wanted to get out of that place as soon as possible.

For our last day we decided to go to Sentosa, there was still so much to see. And we did not want to spent to much time between skyscrapers and on the streets.
On the metro we had the company of the Ugandan guy, who had to take care of some business near vivocity. Again we took the train and first went to the universal studios.

Bernd loved to get in there but after seeing the price he changed his mind and wanted to do something else. We went to the maritime Museum and watched a Video about seafaring, the screen was the tail of a huge Asian chip with a cool dragon figure. Bernd screamed when it started moving and opened the red eyes.

Outside the museum we could see some old ships at the bay. Too bad that the sails were not set, but they also liked great that way.

From the museum we walked to the lake of dreams, it was at least a big deal of an artist to build that lake or better say fountain.

We kept on walking, passed by at a big lions statue and went through the jungle and ended up at the beach. On the way were several attractions, at the end we could not decide and took the sea to cool down.

Maldives islands of dreamvacations

From Sri Lanka it is not a long way to get to the Maldives. We got the idea to get there after checking for cheap flights going anywhere on skyscanner ( I know covert advertising, but some things need to be advertised ). Also when you plan to stay in Malé or on Hulhumalé you can get a hotel for a normal price, okay then you are not staying at these perfect dream beaches in a cabin, but you get to know how the people live here and get a better experience of that place. And the beach is also very nice.

So what can we do in Hulhumalé, we did choose the island, cause it's close to the airport, rather cheap and is not like the capital island only an island with thousands of towers. First thing after taking a short look at the beach was exploring the island, it is also not too big so you do not walk to long around.
Near to the centre with all the shops and the restaurants we also found a very green area, which looked like a park, but it wasn't a park.

The mayor plan of our first exploration was to find the ferry terminal and get to know the prices for a cruise to Malé. The ferry was surprisingly cheap. So not everything in the Maldives is expensive.
Next we did what we preferred to do here. We got to the beach and relaxed for a long time. There we met a girl from Austria and got into a good conversation.

Later that day we went with our company to dinner and also met some people from the Maldives, who were very friendly and easy going. It seemed that nothing could stress them
After that night we took the next day the ferry to Malé, the capital. First we went along the bay to get to the place of republic, which did not look like a typical square.

From the square we headed to the national museum, don't know what you may see there, unfortunately we got there on a Friday so it was closed and no chance for us to learn something about their history.
For a small island it felt strange that the people have so many cars, scooters and bikes, well and also a bus transfer. Shows again how relaxed the people are, do not walk to much. The streets were very colourful, because it was election time when we got there, for us it made the place more welcoming.

Because we did not only want to stay on one island and see only our beach we went to another ferry terminal at the south east of the island. When we came back to the bay Bernd thought that we came back to the north and not to the east as we planned. But we could easily proof if we got the right direction, we found next to the bay a compass showing that we took the right way.

Near the place were the ferry departures we got to see a modern pirate ship, Bernd got quickly away and was not willing to take the ferry, because it might get entered by the pirates. After a short discussion he believed me that it won't happen, there were not enough pirates around for that.

At the island Villingili the beach looked more like the beaches shown on the commercial pictures of the Maldives and we were the only travelers here, only locals were around. What was quite good, so there were also no annoying people around trying to sell stuff to tourists and disturbing you all the time.

We spent a lot of time relaxing and doing nothing at the beach. And we did not stay too long there, Bernd did not get toasted this time. Maybe his skin not that tender anymore. Back on Male we walked along some random streets and to a very old cemetery, so we got to see something of there culture.

Back at our island we decided to get to the beach and spent there some time, before getting some rest and be prepared for the next day.
Next day we met at noon with the Austrian girl again and had our lunch before we all went on a boat trip for snorkeling. The ride on the speed boat was very amazing, sometimes it jumped into the air. Bernd tried to use both hands to hold the railing, which looked for us very funny because of his short arms, making it impossible to use both hands at the same time.

First he also wanted to go into the water for snorkeling, but when we arrived at the reef he changed his mind. He was to scared that there might come a shark, a moray or the smaller fishes will start eating him. I think they do not get feed with bread like fishes on fishing grounds do but the other two possibilities made it impossible for him to get into the water.
It could not stop the rest of the people on the cruise so we got to enjoy the view we got offered under water. We got to see many different kinds of colourful fishes and corals. Best part for me was seeing a small moray, only about two metres long, which surprised and a bit scared the others. Too bad that my phone is not water proof otherwise we would have been able to take many great under water pictures. When we got back to the boat and out of the water I was not really in the mood to leave, but we did not have any other chance, for swimming it would have been too far.

Back in Hulhumalé we stayed at the beach and enjoyed the sunset and also the fist star we could see in the night. A good ending for a wonderful day.

The last day we could not relax as much as we wanted to. From the hotels internet it was not possible to book our flight to our next destination online so we got to get to a ticket office in Malé, first they did not want to sell us a one way ticket, because they were telling me that for our destination we need to have a ticket that is showing that we are going to leave the country. What wasn't true at all, it felt like they wanted to sell us another ticket too. But not with us. After a long discussion they sold us the ticket with our agreement that it will be our problem when the employees at the airport won't let us take the flight.
Back at the hostel to make sure that this might not happen we booked  a flight with another airline. At least it was a very cheap one, but for us it felt like were forced to make a flight again and we more wanted to keep on travelling from there in a different way.
At the airport first they did not ask about the ticket, but later when we were at the gate someone came to us and asked about our ticket, we had to go all the way back through the security to the check in and again discuss with this annoying people, why cannot they just know the correct travel rules. At the end they let us go back believing that the ticket we had is not a fake one, they kept at their point that we need to have a flight ticket.
And we could leave to our next destination.

The end of our Sri Lanka trip

After all this traveling through Sri Lanka, almost half a day in a bus and exploring Kandy we got not tired of exploring. But also were thinking about our next stop and maybe relax for some days.
So we checked for some flights and our possibilities, after finding one we kept to the plan in Sri Lanka and decided to go to Sigiriya ( -> wonna know more ?). If the others would have joined us earlier coming with the idea of going back into the highlands and walk up Adams peak and see the sunrise from up there we would have joined the. Bad luck this time.
So we took the bus to Dambulla, where we wanted to visit the golden temple, but before the temple we wanted to get to Sigiriya.
It took not long to get from Dambulla to Sigiriya and the rock looked already from far away very impressive.

From the bus stop we had to walk for a few minutes along the moat, this moat was also protected by crocodiles, we did not see any, but there were a lot of warning signs, so for sure no bathing time.
Finally we entered the old ruins and could walk around there, fist looking at the rests of some bathing houses and many different buildings.

We walked up some stairs and reached the councils chamber. It was a lot different from the council champers you can usually see. Build on a bigger rock next to some trees under the open sky. What a nice place to stay, not like small champers with stifling air.

Back at the main stairs leading up we got to the place were the guards had to stay during their duty. A place were you only fall one time asleep. They were forced to stay at a small path with enough space for staying and not able to lean on something. For sure they would be able to sit or day down, but I think then everyone would be sure that they were not following their duty and get some punishment.

Next we had to get up a staircase at the mountain and got to see some paintings, we were wondering how the people got here in the past, the metal staircase is to modern for being used several centuries ago. But there must have been a path leading up here otherwise nobody would have been able to see the paintings.

Again we walked down the stair case to get to the mirror wall. The reflection is not as good as a real mirror, but it looked pretty interesting having a wall made of clay or something looking like that and having such a good reflecting surface.

We passed by at the wall and got to a place were the first building on the way up was, whatever it was used for, we made there a short break and we could also see a big rock lying only on smaller ones looking like it will fall down the next minute. A sign there was telling us that behind that rock used to be the prison. So the rock might be there to pretend the prisoners from breaking out. Hmm how would they put there a new one, when they were forced to use it ?

Another stair lead us to a plateau, were the main entrance to the palace was. The lions gate, with the huge lions claws does still exist, the old stairs up the rock were all gone after a few metres so you only can imagine how the path up there would have looked like.

Bernd was exhausted when we got to the plateau, so we took a longer break before climbing up the last stairs. It did not take long to arrive at the top of the rock. From there we got a great view above the country. The next mountains are far away so the rock is the highest peak in the is area.

Up there we enjoyed our lunch and also took a closer look at the ruins. Too bad that it is almost everything destroyed what was up here. Must have been amazing living on the rock.

Getting down was much easier then getting up, so we could as often as we wanted stop to enjoy the view instead of taking a breath and not able of looking around for felt like hours. On the day down we saw some lizards taking a bath in the sun, still small ones. But Bernd wanted to have a picture with them. I could only take one with the lizard before it ran away.

Last thing we wanted to see around here was the museum, so we followed the sign leading us the way, on the path there we had a conversation with a Sri Lankan guy who told us about his religion and wanted to give us a flyer, because we already knew a lot about the Christian religion we told him to give the flyer to someone else.
At the end of the path surprisingly we not got to the museum, instead of the museum we arrived at a small temple.

We were not in the mood to go back so we decided to walk along the street to get to the main road to get the bus to Dambula, we still wanted to visit the temple there.
On our way to the main road it started raining and we stopped for some minutes at an old house, that was the first time on our explorations we got rain, arriving at Kandy two days ago at night and only getting to the hostel does not count.
Fortunately a different bus came by and stopped next to us. There was loud kind of reggae music coming out, it seemed more like a party bus. We took the chance and got on the bus. Not as usually there was no one on the bus selling tickets. And we started to have some conversations with the people on the bus, they were all Christians from Colombo on a day trip to Sigiriya, so more of them. Unbelievable how many Christians are around here.
In Dambula they invited us to have lunch with them, we did not say no to this invitation, they were all so friendly and they also planned to go to the golden temple. So why not joining them.
After lunch it was already to late for the temple, lunch was more like an very early dinner, so we left them at the main road and got at the bus station the next bus back to Kandy.
Late at night we arrived at our hostel and the old lady there was already worried that something did happen to us, many other travellers arrived and she seemed to expect us to be back a bit earlier. That was so nice from her. We did not think that she might take care of her guests so much.
Next morning we left Kandy and got to Negombo to be closer to the airport to take our flight the next day. We stayed there at the hostel ran by the same company like in Kandy offering the same prices and hospitality. There we spent some time at the beach and night together with two girls from the Netherlands before we left.