Thankful

I watched the sunrise from the other side of the Pacific Ocean today. Descending upon a place like Hong Kong is pretty amazing and a bit surreal. The seemingly endless miles of skyscrapers, the hazy hills & peaks in the distance, the surrounding islands, hundreds of boats in the water...it's hard to believe I'm here. After months of planning, list-making, researching, budgeting, Amazon-shopping, packing, unpacking, re-packing, and more trips to REI than I can count, it has begun.

After an hour of wandering the streets of Hong Kong in search of the elusive 15C bus to take me to the Peak Tram and stopping in one of the million Starbucks in Hong Kong for a frappuccino, I finally stumbled upon the tram station. The view from the Peak, which overlooks all of Hong Kong, is like nothing I've ever seen before. It is an immaculate place. You don't see any garbage or smell anything funky around strange corners like in every other big city. And the shopping is out of control. I'm glad my clothes-shopping impulse/obsession has subsided since I started budgeting for this trip, otherwise I'd be in BIG trouble. 

I didn't go into Bangkok during my layover, but I did oversleep in the dayroom I rented (which is a hotel room inside the airport) and woke up 15 minutes before my flight was to take off! I threw my stuff in my bag and ran out that room looking for my gate so fast, faster than I ever knew I could move! Made it just in time!

It's around 530 in the morning here in Sri Lanka and I just settled into my new Colombo home for the next couple days before I move on to volunteer at the elephant facility in Kegalle. I'm so tired I think I could sleep for a whole day, well at least until the New Years festivities get under way.

I am so thankful for being able to do this and for all the love, support and advice all my friends, family and surrogate family alike have provided me. It's really made this sometimes tough and stressful process so much easier.

Have a happy and safe New Year!

(I'll post pictures once I figure out how :)