spring fling

Living in beautiful Oman has it's pluses and minuses.

One minus is NO fall or NO spring.... (ok - there's not really a winter either but we like to pretend.....)

One plus - we are able to travel to spring or fall :)

It's May 1 and it's HOT - summer began for us back in March so it was very lovely to escape and head to europe for the first time (for me and the boys - DH has been there before).

Technically, you could say we had a spring fling.... for 9 days :)

For example, below is a trip, last weekend to beachy keen spot - it's summer - it's hot and not very green but at least we have blue and turquoise water for relief and occasional ocean breeze (not a cool breeze bit a breeze none the less).

Below is a picture of spring like weather that we were all craving.... GREEN fields, rainy weather, cool breezes, fresh non air conditioned air :)

Can not really complain about either one of these spots. Just lucky to have been there and done it together with mi familia. It's amazing to watch the boys grow in ways I never really thought. Showing them the world, at least parts of the world, we might have never gotten the chance to see, if we didn't live here. It has been life changing and character forming for them. Seeing giant buddhas in jungly mountains, visiting mosques, temples and churches and learning about new cultures, touring castles and forts. It's pretty cool stuff for a 8 and 6 year old.

Check out this rainy day..... it was cold too! (ahhhhh)

Something I didn't really think I would miss, too much with our move to middle east, was pork. Living in a muslim country, pork is not allowed. Fortunately, here in Muscat a very westernized society, pork is available, it just doesn't always look as appetizing as this - or taste as good either and you pay a 400% tax on the product, so literally, if you want pork hot-dogs be prepared to shell out $15 us dollars. Here's to the old expression "while in rome do as the romans do" - boy did we PIG out..... a little too much for me - I can only hope on our summer trip home, I remember to eat pork in moderation. Fortunately, Espana is FAMOUS for their pork, the iberian pig, they raise, cook and cure it quite lovely. Unfortunately, I took advantage of the "availability" of this little piggy at one too many meals..... Now, I am paying the price in my waist line..... When we got home I think I ate vegetables for a whole week straight.

Funny how after talking with friends who traveled for spring break - they all said the same thing... "we ate pork non stop"..... :)

Amigos, just a little "taste" of our pork induced trip to Espana. I will be back soon with a couple more shots and a couple more stories...... Until then -

Take good care,

xo- amt

interior of sri lanka

Sadly - I am neglecting my bloglandia - I have not posted to "nest happs" regularly in any way shape or form - I have very little checked up on all my fav blogs :( Do I miss them? absolutely!!! It's 2 parts - my time on the computer is limited - and the MAJOR part is our internet connection. It's HORRIBLE (the internet connection) since I have had a taste of high speed internet.... I find it hard to wait - and wait for my pictures to upload - or to download images and cookies from other friend's sites - it's just painful and I usually get frustrated spending 2 hours trying to make a blog post (sorry of my lack of patience) maybe I need to become more selective with pictures? limit my photos to 2 photos per post?? and go straight to the blogging.... maybe I have been looking at it wrong? I really need to write more anyhow - I might have to have adjust resolutions this year... Anna from Chameleonia - make a change and adjustment to your new surrounding.... The term ---Anna from Chameleonia--- is an inside joke. Since we have moved and been fortunate and BLESSED beyond words to be able to see these new places in the world - I found that with my skin/hair coloring - I am easily mistaken for an arab - an indian (from india) - a sri lankan - a turkish dervish dancer :) , a flamenco dancer (hahah) so I decided I need to turn in my US passport and ask for a passport from the land of Chameleonia - because I clearly must be a chameleon..... Clearly :)

....where I left off.... interior of sri lanka.....
To journey from the coast to maybe 250-300 kilometers.... seems like maybe 2 1/2 -3 hours .... not in sri lanka. It seems that the whole country runs off a two lane road - paved in some areas - not so paved in other areas.... you are competing with cars, tut-tut taxis, bicyclist, motor bikes with families of 4, elephants, cows, pedestrians, buses packed with sri lankians and that's just one side of the road.. the other side is the SAME story.... sometimes if you get stuck behind some one slow - then you have to play chicken with the other drivers - head on... it's scary to say the least - fortunately I did NOT have the privilege of driving in sri lanka. I mostly just prayed in the back seat for safe travels :) I did enjoy the views.... there is soooo much to see - so much agriculture - so many mountains - so many Buddhist outcrops - so many churches and temples - it's a lot of newness to take in.

Our 3 hour drive was a 7 hour drive..... ouch.... but when we arrived - it was amazing. The hotel we stayed at was built into the side of a mountain - a beauty meant to be one with nature. It was really an amazing hotel - giant boulders in the lobby, a forest outside the door and right in the shower(yes - there are glass windows separating us from nature and hotel rooms).

lobby of hotel

view from outside of the lobby

walking to our hotel room

---- I had to steal these from the www to show you the amazing feat of this world renowned Green Buildings....

these are hotel rooms

this is the view of the resturant - check out the living roof! One morning I had to escape my whinny kids at the breakfast table and just look out to the sky - I saw at least 10 bald eagles in like 5 minutes!!!

In order to reach the hotel, we had to first travel to the coastal foothills.... massed with tea plantations, pepper plantations, rubber trees!!

tea plantation - did you know black pekoe is Ceylon tea.... Ceylon is one of the former names of Sri Lanka - it's the birth place of tea!!

Pepper

rubber tree forest.......

Once we reached the "forest", we were climbing deep into the central mountains of Sri Lanka. We stopped at an Elephant refuge in Pinnawela, Buddhist sanctuaries (around every corner), lakes, rivers.

the boys and elephants!!!

we were standing 5 feet from this ANGRY momma elephant..... (yikes!) She rammed her baby down for doing something wrong - i was not watching what the baby did wrong - but I sure heard her charging forward and the baby making a big fuss.....

after a few minutes - she decided her baby needed some love :)

One day we ventured from the hotel to an ancient civilization called Polonuwara. The ruins here dated back to BC!! They are mostly buddhist temples and ancient castles.

I found this particular stop to be fascinating. Ancient Buddhist carved into the side of this mountain..... when they heard of the dutch invasion they decided they would bury it, to be hidden and safe from destruction..... It was recently discovered by the British in late 1800 and then dug out and declared a world heritage site in the mid 1900's.

acient ruins from a castle dating back to 5 AD

the LARGEST stupa in ALL of Sri Lanka - stupa is a buddhist temple - the Buddhist usually put RELICS from buddha or his disciples inside the center of the stupa - but no one can ever see or touch them.

more ruins

jungle lands......

Nearing the end of our adventure in Sri Lanka, we were able to visit Sigiriya. It was an absolutely breathtaking site. It is a giant boulder..... in the middle of a jungle - had to wiki it for you.... Sigiriya (Lion's rock),(Sinhalese - සීගිරිය)(tamil=சிகிரியா) is an ancient rock fortress and palace ruin situated in the central Matale District of Sri Lanka, surrounded by the remains of an extensive network of gardens, reservoirs, and other structures. A popular tourist destination, Sigiriya is also renowned for its ancient paintings (frescos),^[1] which are reminiscent of the Ajanta Caves of India. It is one of the seven World Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka.^[2][3]

Sigiriya may have been inhabited through prehistoric times. It was used as a rock-shelter mountain monastery from

about the 5th century BC, with caves prepared and donated by devotees to the Buddhist Sangha. According to the chronicles as Mahavamsa the entire complex was built by King Kashyapa (AD 477 – 495), and after the king's death, it was used as a Buddhist monastery until 14th century.

here is the rock - we climbed it in the pouring rain and very few of my pictures turned out....

the lion's gate to the castle

graffiti

On our last day we left Kandlama via Kandy back to Columbo. We saw some more breathtaking scenery though out the entire drive. We stopped in Kandy at the TEMPLE OF THE TOOTH. Literally, it houses Buddha's tooth, carried to Sri Lanka in one of the ancient Queen's hair. It was a beautiful place - serene and peaceful. it is said for the most strict of Buddhist that they should make a pilgrimage here at least once in their life. Kandy was a beautiful town nesteld in a valley completely surrounded by jungly mountains.

city view of Kandy

wiki definition - The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is a Buddhist temple in the city of Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located in the royal palace complex which houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country. Kandy was the last capital of the Sinhalese kings and is a UNESCO world heritage site partly due to the temple.

Monks of the two chapters of Malwatte and Asgiriya conduct daily worship in the inner chamber of the temple. Rituals are performed three times daily: at dawn, at noon and in the evening. On Wednesdays there is a symbolic bathing of the Sacred Relic with an herbal preparation made from scented water and fragrant flowers, called Nanumura Mangallaya. This holy water is believed to contain healing powers and is distributed among those present.

The temple sustained damage from bombings at various times but was fully restored each time.

Temple of the Tooth

flower offerings to the "tooth"

a similar tradition of "lighting a flame" as catholics have... only buddhist style

One random stop we made was to see the largest hindu temple in all of Sri Lanka..... I can say I know ZERO about hinduism so I am not qualified enough to comment on anything about this culture. I have had the pleasure of meeting many hindu people while living here in Oman. And I did discover on this trip that Buddhism is actually a religion that broke off from Hinduism. Similar to Christianity is to Catholicism. It's fascinating to learn something new on these trips that we have been BLESSED to take.

Well friends, that about sums up our adventure to Sri Lanka. I am sorry I have been away so long. I am going to have overhaul my idea on what it means to be a blogger..... In the time that I let pass so quickly, we happened continue our adventure spree...... this time the adventure was altogether different but equally as breathtaking as Sri Lanka, so stayed to tuned..... (hint - my first trip to Europe)

All my love,

AMT