Ataxia X Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, hands down one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. Wild forests and jungle surround you yet for some unknown reason you feel safe and at home. This is due to the kind and warm people who flood Sri Lanka’s streets from as early as 6am, selling all kinds of  aromatic spices and colourful fruits that looked like they belonged in a Disney movie.

I always knew that Sri Lanka wasn't going to be a piece of cake. The activities that we had planned weren't for the faint hearted and would prove to be a challenge (with or without a disability!)

After a journey which seemed to go by in a blink of an eye (despite being 12 hours long!) we landed in Colombo, the capital city, a hub for delightful fragrant smells and market stalls. Despite the allure of this bustling city we actually headed for the train station to get to Kandy. This train is not for the faint hearted, all reserved tickets are snatched up way in advance by tourists who end up paying 10 times the price. So we ended up purchasing unreserved 3rd class tickets for a whopping £1 (this was a 3 hour train journey). 

Getting on the train was the traumatic part, I’d soon come to learn that on these trains there seemed to be no limit to how many tickets were sold. You didn’t need to have a seat, you just needed to squish on. The majority of the time when I travel I tend to bring my walking stick with me. This obviously helps me physically but also alerts people to my needs, especially when there is a language barrier. A kind man got out of his seat to make room for me. Something that wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t brought my walking aid. After a 3 hour train ride, featuring stunning scenery of the forest and fauna surrounding us and humbling views of the overcrowded communities containing houses made from scrap materials, we had arrived at our first destination: Kandy.

Kandy was beautiful. The town centre was full of life, every corner you turned there'd be someone trying to sell you everything from floaty trousers with elephants printed on them to fruit and veg that you haven't even heard of. On our last day we went to Sigiriya rock, an ancient rock that tourists, including ourselves, had travelled from all over to climb. Even though I went with my mum and sister this was an activity that I reluctantly didn't take part in (I think back to that day wishing that I too could have spent 3 hours trekking up a mountain in 30 degree heat). Instead I spent my morning being driven round the historical grounds in a tuk tuk accompanied by our Sri Lankan taxi driver that we had hired for the day, the tuk tuk driver and his 1 1/2 year old child. My idea of a day well spent!

Next stop was Nuwara Eliya, the home of tea plantations and where we celebrated our New Years (we were all in bed by 9).

To get to Nuwara Eliya we had to get the train, an experience that was more terrifying than the first time. On this occasion no one seemed to notice my shiny red walking stick, finally I found a seat.

Something which really caught my eye was the sign situated above the seats reserved for those with disabilities (a sign

which clearly no one paid any attention to whatsoever), it read "reserved for differently abled". This really struck a chord with me, I love that, "differently abled", seems so much better than the brash "disabled" ridden with stigma and connotations. It's inclusive, everyone is differently abled for many reasons. "Differently abled" suggests that there is no divide between the "us" and "them".

In Nuwara Eliya we visited a tea plantation, as we decided to do this on New Years day we ended up gatecrashing their New Year's work celebration; however we were kindly invited to join them and we gladly accepted (we were over the moon; we hadn't had breakfast). After the tea plantation we visited some waterfalls, to access these waterfalls you had to climb up a number of uneven steep steps, something that I gave a good go (whilst gripping onto my sister for dear life of course). Halfway through I gave up, the mixture of fear and anxiety that I'd break yet another bone AND drag my sister down with me got too much; it wasn't worth it.

That's my only critique of Sri Lanka, if it was more accessible I would have been able to do nearly everything that my mum and sister did, if there were handrails I would have been able to climb to the top and see the waterfalls.

Following our unforgettable New Years in Nuwara Eliya, we set up camp in Ella. A handful of roadside restaurants, cafes and shops made up the small tourist hotspot which was Ella. For me, Ella was Sri Lanka in a nutshell, we were in a rural town yet surrounded by the hustle and bustle of a small city. It had a real sense of community.

Our last destination was the popular Mirissa, a town composed of many roti shops and a magnificent beach. We spent the last 4 days lazing around, soaking in the sun. Although beautiful, the sea was very temperamental and if you got caught by a wave you had to fight to get back up. I went in the water a handful of times but after the second day I had decided that the overwhelmingly strong currents weren't suited for someone with mobility issues and the closest I got to swimming was laying by the shore, just close enough so that the refreshing gushes of water would cool me down.

So that's my take on Sri Lanka, an action packed holiday that wasn't for the faint hearted but it's doable, I saw many other tourists with mobility aids such as sticks and wheelchairs. 

Of course it depends on each individual, whether you think you will be able to use public transport comfortably. Pavements aren't really a thing in Sri Lanka, so whether you'd manage with the often uneven roads.

I hope this helps whether you're visiting Sri Lanka or somewhere similar!