Sri Lanka so far

Wow, this post should have been made public a LONG time ago. Unfortunately though, there have been numerous set backs that have stopped me from posting this. Whether if has been a lack of Internet connection, a lack of time or a lack of a device to post it on. But finally, as the stars aline, I am able to post this.

Our first day away actually didn't have us 1000's of kilometers from home, but at Auckland. We stayed with my mum's brother for less than 24 hours (so just for the night). The day after that however was a big one. It involved us going from Auckland airport all the way to Malaysia while transiting TWICE! (Once in Melbourne and another in Singapore) and once we got to the airport at 12:00 at night we had to find a taxi driver to take us to our hotel, and when you've been up for 24 hours+, this is no mean feat. Unfortunately we were in an airport which meant that all THEIR methods of transportation were an ABSOLUTE rip-off (200NZD to get to the city center) so we had to find a cab driver who wasn't looking to make us pay a small fortune or who was just preying on foreigners and planned to steal our belongings. At last we found a driver who was willing to take us there. After passing about 4 airport security men wielding assault rifles (one was playing a catchy rhythm by flicking his safety switch off and on!). At last we finally got to our first state of residence: the summer suites. This was an apartment complex in Malaysia.

We stayed there for two nights (this number has become pretty standard). The hotel itself was very nice. It had a pool and a spa. This, however, was my first introduction to asian spas. The water inside them is actually colder than the pool itself which is very confusing, different and downright wrong. Another thing to note is that where we were staying, we could see the minera tower (or KLC tower) this would illuminate with a lovely array of RGB colours at dusk, but as soon as the sun was all the way gone if would turn white. This (at least I assume) is due to Ramadan. Ramadan is a Muslim tradition where one is only allowed to eat before sunrise and after sunset. They are NOT allowed to eat in the day. This was also linked to Muslim prayers played over speakers in the city (Which actually woke me up one night). At the end of our stay it was time to get ready for ANOTHER  plane flight! Luckily though, this one was only going to be the distance from NZ to Australia. This was the most unpleasant flight yet though. The whole flight a loud buzzing was playing, the plane was freezing cold, babies were crying and we were flying in the middle of the night! After the usual bore of going through customs we finally had arrived at Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka!