From Nepal to Maldives

Follow Massimo and Giulia on their journey from the mountains of Nepal to the beautiful sea of the Maldives passing through Sri Lanka.

[maxandgiu]

Last day in Sri Lanka. As we needed to leave quite early in order to cover the 100 km that separate Kandy from Colombo, we only had time for a quick visit to Sri Dalada Maligawa, the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. It is one of Sri Lanka's sacrest places, as it houses the relic of the tooth of the Buddha. Although the tooth is safely kept inside a series of beautifully decorared chests, which we could admire for less than five seconds due to the long queue, it was still a very interesting and humbling experience to walk among the pilgrims, immersed in the scent of the lilies and jasmines offered to the Buddha. We are now ready for our next and last destination: Maldives!

[maxandgiu]

Lazy day today after yesterday's exertion :) We first started visiting the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kandy, where we felt like small ants in comparison with the giant bamboos and palms. Next, we drove towards Nuwara Eliya, where we fullfilled Giulia's second wish: see the tea plantations (thanks Dave!!!). Although Assam tea remains her favourite, it was very interesting to learn and see how Ceylon tea is made, starting from the buds and leaves of the top 1-2 inches of the mature plant (flushes), which then undergo a process of drying, fermentation and grinding, to finally give the wonderful drink that tea is. During our long drive back to the hotel, our driver asked us to describe him Venice, as he recently read 'The Merchant of Venice'. He would really like to visit Europe, but his VISA application got rejected last year as you need to be very rich to be granted one. This got us to think how lucky we are to have the opportunity and the possibility to travel around the world and made us very thankfull and gratefull to all of you who made this possible! Tomorrow we will visit Kandy city before driving to our last stop in Sri Lanka: Mount Lavinia.

[maxandgiu]

Today, as we are now finally used to this weather and no longer dependent on air conditioning systems, we decided to brave the climb of Sigirya Rock Fortress. This lofty rock of reddish gneiss, which dominates the neighbouring valley from 180 meters, has been inhabited since the 3rd century BC. Its fame and its name, which translates as 'Lion Mountain', is however due to King Kassapa I (477-95 AD), who built an impregnable fortified palace after murdering his father and dispossessing his brother. After his death in 495, the site was returned to the monks, thus condemning it to progressive abandonment, until it was re-discovered in 1831 by Major Jonathan Forbes of the British army. As we entered the site, we first encountered the Gardens of the Sigiriya city, which are among the oldest landscaped gardens in the world. 1200 steps and two bottles of water later, we were admiring a breath-taking panorama from the summit of the fortress! While continuing our trip towards Kandy, we obviously had to stop to Matale, to visit a farm where they produce spices for cooking and healing purposes (aka Ayurveda). We were absolutely amazed by the fragrant scents and rich tastes of these products, which obviously seemed so different from those that we normally buy in the supermarkets. Our last picture for today was a stunning sunset on Mahaweli river, Kandy. Giulia will probably barely sleep tonight as tomorrow we are off to the tea plantations!!!!

[maxandgiu]

Ayubowan from Sri Lanka! We arrived yesterday night after quite an endless journey from Nepal. This time we will be 'on our own', as we left our great guide at Kathmandu and our lovely companions from Sussex in Delhi. As we came out of the plane directly after 8 days in the Himalayas, it felt like our clothes were burning!!! This feeling hasn't quite left us as yet, but we now realise that without this suffocating humidity and this torrid weather, this beautiful country would not be the treasure chest of flowers, plantations and wildlife that we experienced today. We finally realised Giulia's dream to see the elephants (aka, her animal counterpart) in their wild environment as we visited the Elephants sanctuary. It was really moving to see them taking a bath in the river and gently caress them while offering a banana on their way back to the reserve! We next drove towards our next hotel in Sigiriya. On our way there we were cought in a tropical rainfall, where we could hardly see where we were driving and roads were transformed in rivers of water and mud. Luckily, the rainfall was as intense as quick, so we were able to continue our journey. We normally don't talk about our hotels in the blog, but this one really deserves a special mention, as it is a brilliant concept and has been so far a great and pleasant experience. Not to mention it is the lovely wedding present from Giulia's sister and her boyfriend!!! I hope the next lines will convey how happy and grateful we are, thank you!!!! Jetwing Vil Uyana is an hotel gem. It belongs to the Small Luxury Hotels of the World and you can immediately understand why. The concept is really interesting, as it was designed and built 7 years ago as a nature-inspired, eco-friendly resort in the midst of a man-made nature reserve. You are completely surrounded by a lush vegetation and wildlife, including countless species of birds and frogs, monkeys and snakes! No signs of giant spiders so far. Luckily they are very polite and tend not to enter your room, but we'll keep you updated on this! Additionally, they organically produce 50% of the fruits and vegetables for their guests and offer a delicious à la carte menu instead of wasteful buffet. The villas are beautifully built in this natural environment and perfect in every detail. Some of them (ours too!!!!!) have a private plunge pool. Off to dinner now! Over and out ;)

[maxandgiu]

Last day in Nepal! We started with visiting its capital, Kathmandu. We learned that it was named after Kasthamandap temple, which in Sanskrit means wooden covered shelter. Legend has it was constructed in the middle of the road which connects Tibet with Delhi via Tibet using wood derived from one single tree, and it still provides free shelter to those who need. In Durbar Square, we also visited the Kumari Ghar, the palace where the Kumary, the living goddes, lives. Kumari Devi, is a young virgin girl who is worshipped as manifestation of the divine female energy in Hindu religious traditions. She is selected from the Shakya or Bajracharya clan of the Nepalese Newari community through a very rigorous selection process and helds her position till her puberty, when she is released and can come back to a normal life. We have been extremely lucky and were able to see the actual Kumari, who was installed in 2008. Unfortunately, pictures were strictly prohibited and many guards were making sure nobody disobeyed! We next climbed a small hill outside Kathmandu to visit Swayambhunath, also known as Monkey Temple as there are holy monkeys living in its garden. It consists of a stupa and multitude of shrines and small temples and a Tibetan monastery. The stupa was decorated with Buddha's eyes and eyebrows and something which looks like a nose but that is actually the Nepali symbol of unity. From the top it is possible to admire a wonderful view of the Kathmandu Valley. A legend tells that it was originally occupied by a lake and that Buddha himself cleared out the water, making possible the colonisation of the valley that today hosts Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan. This last city, also known as the city of fine arts, was our last stop. It was quite similar to Bhaktapur, with each temple decorated with the finest wood and stone carved works. On our way back, as a bonus present from this wonderful trip and experience, we were saluted by a joyful and colorful parade to honour a lady's 84th birthday. We had great expectations from Nepal, and we can say they were absolutely satiafied and we certainly hope to be back one day. But for now... The next destination is Sri Lanka!

[maxandgiu]

Walking in Nepal part 2… Or, should I say Walking in Tibet?!

After our usual early rise, we left our hotel and started climbing towards the Namo Buddha stupa, one of the most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites south of the Himalayas. Tibetans named it Takmo Lu Jin, meaning “Tigress Body Generosity”. Buddhist tell that, in this site, Lord Buddha met a starving tiger with her cubs and, overcome with compassion, allowed the tigress to consume him and feed her cubs.

The walk was very pleasant, as we encountered many villages, beautiful and lush valleys and mountains full of colorful flowers.

Once we reached the top, we looked in awe at the beautiful Thrangu Tashi Yangtse monastery and, as we walked amongst a multitude of Buddhist monks, we forgot for one moment we were actually in Nepal and not in Tibet!

The stupa itself was very small, but it was quite interesting to look at all the pilgrims offering money or food to the Buddha.

On the top of the mountain we discovered another smaller stupa decorated with thousands and thousands of Buddhist flags… And the view of the Kathmandu valley from there was magical!

On our way back to Kathmandu, we became slightly worried when we saw lots of people carrying political flags standing in the middle of the road! But, don’t worry, no bombs this time, it was just a gathering of the people from that region celebrating their local political hero who was awarded with a seat in the government. Even though it was quite difficult to find our way through the motorcycles chaotically abandoned on the side of the road and buses and waggons full of people beyond their capacity, it was actually quite entertaining to look at those people covering their political leader with red powder and decorating him with marigold chains.

After braving Kathmandu rush-hour traffic, we finally arrived to our hotel, where we will be staying for two night.

Tomorrow we will visit Nepal’s city of culture (Kathmandu) and the city of art (Patan).

[maxandgiu]

What a day! It started at 5.45 am in order to admire a wonderful and moving sunrise on the top of the Himalayas. As the first ray of light appeared we could not help but feel grateful for this wonderful experience that our friends and families made possible. We then began our journey to Bhaktapur. Bhaktapur is an ancient Newar town located in the Kathmandu Valley. It was the ancient capital of Nepal until the 15th century. The title of UNESCO World Heritage Site has helped maintaining the city original style and decorations. Bhaktapur is a jewel that needs to be explored slowly, with every corner, every street that seems to hide a small treasure. Every turn took us to a new yet different hindu temple or to a 'stupa' (Buddhist sacred building), or crossed the path of an 'Annaprashana', a Hindu ritual that marks the first time a baby takes food other than milk. Bhaktapur is decorated by his remarkable artists' handcrafts, which you can find and buy at every corner of the streets: pottery, wooden-carved objects, paintings and much more. Bargaining is, of course, a must but also quite fun, as people are very friendly. Durbar Square is a chest decorated with the finest handcrafts that pictures can describe better than words. After exploring every single angle of Bhaktapur, our exhausted guide drove us to our next hotel, but, on our way, we managed to make another stop to admire 'Kailashnath Mahadev', the World's Tallest Lord Shiva statue. It is made of copper, cement, zinc and steel and is 143 feet high (43.58 meters). It might be appropriate to mention that Shiva is one of the Supreme gods of Hinduism. On tomorrow's menu: trekking and back to Kathmandu.

[maxandgiu]

Greetings from Nagarkot, a lovely small city at 1900 meters above the sea level. We got there after a 30 minutes-not-at-all-scary-flight from Pokhara to Kathmandu, courtesy of Buddha Air, and a 1h45min drive. After a quick lunch, we decided to go to what we thought was a very close view point. After almost two hours and with the sunset approaching fast, we started to wonder if this was really a good idea. Eventually we managed to arrive at the tower, where we had the greatest view of the Himalayas, including His Majesty Mt. Everest which, because of the distance, actually looked like any other peak! But we were equally excited to see it :)

[maxandgiu]

And... We are back! After one chillout day at the hotel to physically and psychologically prepare for today's treck, we left early to catch a boat to our next hotel, on the other site of Begnas Lake. The cruise was a very relaxing experience, as we were gently lulled by the sound of the oars and enchanted by the lush forest and the mist raising from the lake. Afterr dropping off our bags at the hotel, we begun our treck to Begnas Knot. The hike was very pleasant, apart from few encounters with giants spiders (no idea how Giulia is going to survive in Sri Lanka, but let's not think about it!). We encountered many villages and were always met by cheerful little boys and girls who, after a very respectful 'Namaste' would not leave you until you gave then some 'mithai' (sweets or chocolate). I hope they did enjoy our Holland and Barret multiseeds bars! We also shared our way to the top with entire families (men, women and children), which were carring literally tons of harvested rice to the top of an hill, where it would then be processed through the help of the bulls. We eventually got to our destination, just in time before the clouds completely covered the Annapurnas. The panorama was, nevertheless, simply breathtaking! After a yoga class, which Massimo attended as well (no pictures though, so you will have to believe me) and a delicious dinner where we tasted fresh fish from the Begenas Lake, we are ready for a good sleep (also because, here in the Nepalese jungle, electricity goes off at 10 pm) in preparation for tomorrow's adventures, starting with the very scary flight with Buddha Air!

[maxandgiu]

A beautiful full moon welcomed a new day at 6.15am and, after a quick breakfast, we got in our car with destination Pokhara. The trip was a blast...literally! As mentioned in a previous post, Nepalese people are not happy with the present government or the oppositon and are trying to boycott the upcoming election. One particular way to do so, was apparently to place two bombs on our way, which were luckily exploded by the police. Another interesting thing we noticed, at least on our way, is that there is much less poverty than we expected. Nepalese people are definitely not rich, but nobody seem to be starving. Our guide explained that is very common for families to own and cultivate a piece of land and/or to breed cattle, chickens or monton. Talking about animals, we also learnt that crows, dogs and cows are sacred animals, which are celebrated during the Diwali festival. As a direct consequence, they can't be eaten or killed, so you can see lots of them wandering around. We were also quite impressed when we stopped to get some fuel and discovered that the price here is 1$ per litre! After 6 hours travelling on a very bumpy road (but not bumpy enough for Giulia not to sleep) we finally arrived in Pokhara. We started off straight away visiting Devi's fall, an impressive waterfall named after a poor Swiss woman who died swept away by the force of the water. Nepalese people have definitely a creepy sense of humour! After this, we deepened our spiritual knowlege by visiting two hindu temples where we learnt all about Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu and their incarnations. The name of Pokhara is derived from the word Pokhari, which in Nepali means pond or a lake, so it seemed appropriate to end our day with a boat trip on Phewa lake. Although Massimo's movements almost flip over the fragile boat, we managed to arrive to the small island situated in the middle of the lake and visit yet another hindu temple. The athmosphere on the island, combined with the mist coming from the lake and the colours of the sunset nearly induced a deep state of serenity and relaxation. Tomorrow, due to the elections, no public vehicles are allowed to travel bafore 5pm, so we'll wonder around Pokhara and start training our old legs in preparation for Thursday trek!

[maxandgiu]

We arrived in Kathmandu via the misty skies of India. As we approached Nepal, the skies became clear showing high peals and flourishing forests. The best part of today was the landing in Kathmandu. We lookedin awe as we flew over green mountains sprinkled with little houses connected by vertiginous roads. Kathmandu is a huge city, much bigger than we expected and it is constantly expanding, with new building and roads being built, which created a layer of dust that covers the city like a mist. At the airport we met our tour leader Mukta, who greeted us with the traditional 'Namaste' and a typical pashmina called khada. We immediately felt the tension and the excitement in the air due to the upcoming national elections. Nepalese people are quite upset as the previous governments failed to keep their promises (sounds familiar?!) and, as a results, strikes are happening in the city and the streets and hotels are patroled by armed guards. As the evening was already approaching, we decided not to brave a night tour of Kathmandu and delay it until the end of our trip. Tomorrow we will have an early start! Destination: Pokhara.

[maxandgiu]

The day has finally come and we are eager to start this well-earned adventure! Our hope and wish is to come back with our eyes, hearts and souls full of new places, new people, cultures and experiences (Cit. Memme)

We managed to leave our room in an incredibly tidy state, especially compared to the beginning of this afternoon (photo not available :P)

And now are at the airport waiting for our flight to board.

Next update in Katmandu, Nepal ;)

[maxandgiu]

15 days to go.

This is what the countdown app is showing on my phone.
 To go where?
 Well, let’s start from the beginning.

We are Massimo and Giulia, a newlywed couple from Italy who is now living in London.
 We have always loved travelling but there has never been enough time to stay out of work boundaries for more than 1 week.
 Now that we got married, we finally have a solid excuse to embark on an adventure: our honeymoon.


Please fasten your seatbelts because we are taking all of you with us on a journey from the white peaks of the Himalayas to the crystal clear waters of the Maldives passing through the green hills of Sri Lanka.
 Don’t expect many updates while we lay on the beach though because we need to concentrate on our sunbathing sessions. Staying in London all this time has made our skin colour become like the cliffs of Dover.


We will share what our five senses will experience as soon as a wifi connection is available.
 Also, in the About section we added a map that automagically updates the trail of where we have been. That’s it for the first post. We will update you with further information soon, so keep following!