Background: In December of 1976 my life was not going according to plan. Having graduated from Western Michigan University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Home Economics Education (Summa Cum Laude), I would – most certainly – be offered a full-time teaching position. At the very least, I would have found a boyfriend. And, absolutely, positively, without question …. I was NEVER going to move back to Saginaw, Michigan.

(I think you can guess where I’m going with this.)

Fast forward:  Labor Day weekend of 1978, I was on a plane heading to Manila, Philippines. I’d bought a one-way ticket. Going to meet my best friend (who lived down the street from me in Saginaw) who had been a Peace Corps volunteer for two years. We were going to travel together, through southeast Asia and India, before returning back to our dreaded home town.

The adventure of my life.

But it didn’t go according to plan. Instead of traveling with my friend, I was traveling solo. Instead of staying in low-budget hotels, I was staying in no-budget guest houses. Instead of traveling with a suitcase and matching shoulder tote, I was traveling with a backpack.

But it was, indeed, the adventure of my life.

A few months ago, I was invited on a travel industry “familiarization” trip to Sri Lanka. So here I sit at 4:35 AM, in the best hotel in Kandy, Sri Lanka – reminiscing about the “then” – as I had faithfully recorded in a small travel diary, and the “now.” I’ve traveled here with that trusty little diary to rekindle memories of that time long, long ago . . .

THEN:

[I was 24 years old. I’d been traveling for four months. Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand. For reasons I won’t explain in this story, I was traveling solo. I’d been in Thailand for two months and my visa was expiring. It was time to move on, which – unless I was to backtrack south to Malaysia – required a flight to somewhere. Couldn’t go north (China), couldn’t go east (Laos and Cambodia) and couldn’t go west (Burma). I was ultimately going to travel to the scariest place on the planet – India – but thought I’d “ease into” that experience by first going to Sri Lanka. My Sri Lanka experience was 30 days.]

Wednesday, Jan 17, 1979 – Bangkok Airport, checking in for my flight to Columbo, Sri Lanka

“Met a girl, Nancy, from California, at check-in. Very friendly. She’s got friends in Hikkaduwa that she’s going to visit. Invites me to go with her.

Super-nice flight. Very good airline.

Columbo: very hot and humid.

First impressions: People have dark, dark skin compared to Thais; workers are barefoot; Portuguese influence in architecture; ox-drawn bullock carts in streets; cute little vintage black taxis everywhere; busy streets teeming with pedestrians; women wear colorful saris and men in sarongs.

Nancy’s friend, Mike, meets us at airport and we catch ride into town with a Singhalese friend of his. Check-in at Hotel Nippon, a charming old place.

Nancy’s great, but her crowd is of the laid-back, free-thinking California crowd – complete with typical faddist ideas that I can’t relate to. I can handle it for the time being, but I’m anxious to get back on my own. Once again, I feel like a tag-along.”

Thursday, Jan 18, 1979

“Had breakfast in the Harbour Room of the Hotel Taprobane. Great view.

Left for Hikkaduwa at Noon. Do I ever feel straight around these freaky people! Lots of jewelry, scarves, vests, hats, eyeliner, etc.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . that was then  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

NOW

[I am 59 years old. I’ve been in the travel industry for 34 years, having found my passion and my purpose at some point on my Asian adventure. I was invited on this “fam” trip by Melinda, my sales rep from the Taj Hotel group. Along with seven others from the industry, we flew in Business Class from LAX to Istanbul (12 hours), had an 8-hour layover in Istanbul (did a nice cruise on the Bosphorus) and flew for another 10 1/2 hours to Male (Maldives) and then another 90 minutes to Columbo, Sri Lanka. My Sri Lanka experience will be 5 1/2 days.]

May 4, 2014 – Arrival at Bandaranaike Airport, Columbo

First impressions:

Nice flight(s) – Turkish is a great airline. Grateful that I was in Business Class. Would be difficult to come this far – for so few days – in Economy Class.

After clearing Immigration, I walked through a duty-free area which, in addition to the ubiquitous liquor, cigarettes and fragrance displays, had a large selection of washer-dryer sets!

Greeted at hotel (Taj Samudra) with a troupe of amazingly acrobatic dancers. Hotel staff lined up to welcome us; flowers; photographer and a welcome drink. Is this what a celebrity feels like? (But please, all I want is my room key!)

May 5, 2014

They serve continental breakfast in the lounge of my Executive Level floor, but I want something less “continental” (i.e, watered down for the western palate) and more local. After all, Sri Lanka is reknowned for its spices. At the main breakfast restaurant, the waiter helps me figure out what I’m eating. “Hoppers” are a traditional Sri Lankan staple. I try a “string hopper” – seems to be a small portion of rice noodles shaped into a round patty – with some vegetable curry and a bit of spicy stuff on the side. The waiter brings me two other Hoppers – one with egg, one without – which are rice pancakes cooked in a bowl-shaped pan. Fill ‘er up with curries, sambal (spicy condiment), etc.  Oh, yeah … it’s spicy, but not quite as hot as I remember it from my first time. I’m a little more “worldly” now than I was back then, and I’m sure the hoppers that the locals eat from the food carts are MUCH spicier than these!

City tour this morning. Our guide points out two of the hotels I experienced when I was here 35 years ago. (They’re considered “heritage” hotels now. (Hmmmm – so what does that make me?)

Very few women wear traditional saris. Men are all in western garb. No ox-carts, nor a single vintage black taxi. They’ve apparently been replaced by 3-wheeled tuk-tuks which dodge and weave through the traffic congestion. LOTS of high-rise construction. Most development is financed by the Chinese. Another developing country that is expanding its middle class – and thus, car ownership has soared. Traffic just does not move at times (makes the 101 Freeway seem like a speedway!). Fortunately, they don’t use their horns much.

The city is very clean. Apparently, littering is a crime. I don’t think it carries a death sentence, but they do have capital punishment here. A newspaper article featured a story about the lack of applicants for the position of hangman: “The name of the hangman’s post is to be changed to a more humane one to encourage more applicants for the job…”

People are smiling and seem very gentle. Sri Lanka has one of Asia’s highest literacy rates. Our tour guide tell us that Buddhists, Muslims and Christians live harmoniously here. (Can they teach the rest of the world??)

May 6, 2014

Traveling inland to the city of Kandy, we visit the Temple of the Tooth, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Apparently, 1,700 years ago, someone stole a molar from Buddha’s funeral pyre and smuggled it to Sri Lanka, where it is enshrined within seven golden bell-shaped stupas. Once a year, in August, the smallest of the stupas is taken out of the Temple and paraded through the streets during a 10-day festival featuring elaborately costumed elephants, dancers, non-stop drumming, fire-eaters and thousands upon thousands of tourists. I make a mental note … sounds like something for the Bucket List!

I don’t remember visiting this tooth temple in 1979, at least there’s no record of it in my diary. I probably avoided it, since I often disdained any place that was visited by “tourists” (and charged an admission fee!).

I met a flute player who was featured on a recent segment of “The Amazing Race.”

We stopped at an elephant sanctuary where a few dozen elephants of various sizes were bathing in the river, and then marched through town. I had a perfect vantage point to watch them shoving, growling and trumpeting. Apparently, it was time for lunch!

Learned that they make “poo paper” from the dung. Across the road, at their enclosure, I paid a couple of dollars for a basket of fruit to feed one of them: a 38-year-old female, pregnant for 15 months with only 7 months to go. Hard to describe her tongue – and the sensation of being fondled by her huge, hairy trunk. She almost got my Maui Jim sunglasses!

We saw an elaborate dance performance which concluded with fire walkers. How DO they do that? I could not resist the temptation to touch the coals … if only for a second. Not a bright move. Yes, indeedy – they were HOT! And I got a blister to prove it!

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Wishing I had more pictures from my 1979 journey. Film (and developing costs) were prohibitive, so I took very few photos back then.

1979? Doesn’t seem so long ago . . . !

Here is a video of what I’ve been doing over the past few days!