Winter break of 2017.
For reasons out of my control, this could be the only holiday that I could (or at least, willing to) spend with my parents who lived in China, who had been yearning for my visit ever since I left for graduate school in the states. Well, partly that's because my mom had some major surgeries during the last summer, and I happened to be away during all of them, the oh-it's-tomorrow-but-I'm-booked-on-flights-today sort. And, it turned out that my winter break would be much longer than I expected. I was looking for a two-week official winter break, only to be told that at University of Maryland, this was followed by another two weeks of winter semester, during which nothing happens. So to forward goodwill with my mom, and to bring to the states all my online shoppings of 2017 (I know two checked bags for my first trip were never enough for years of study), I decided to spend this winter break in China.
A bright sunny day as woke up in the town of Ella. The plan of the day was to hike Ella's Little Adam's Peak, and visiting Nine Arch Railway Bridge in the afternoon before heading to Tissamaharama in the evening.
Eighth day of our Sri Lanka trip as we left the beautiful city of Kandy.
The plan of the day was to drive to Nuwara Eliya, a city on plain nicknamed "Little England" for its climate, which made perfect sanctuary for British settlers. On the way there, we would be passing the major tea production region of Sri Lanka.
Seventh day of our Sri Lanka trip.
We would be staying in Kandy for the whole day, visiting the Temple of the Tooth and other temples scattered around the city and enjoying the amenities of a modern city that we haven't really experienced before in our visit to Sri Lanka.
Sixth day of our Sri Lanka trip.
Today we visited Sigiriya in the morning, and Dambulla Cave Temple in the afternoon, before reaching our overnight apartment in Kandy in the evening.
Fifth day of our Sri Lanka trip.
Today we drove from Trincomalee to Polonnaruwa, the capital city of the second most ancient of Sri Lanka's kingdoms (the first was Anuradhapura which we visited a couple of days ago), while reaching our overnight hotel near Sigiriya.
Farmland from Hotel Balcony Although Pigeon Island National Park attracted great volumes of visitors to Nilaveli, Trincomalee, and there were luxury hotels sprinkled along Nilaveli's coastline, the town of Nilaveli was still very much underdeveloped. Just outside our hotel's fence, there was this grazing ground for cows.
I accepted offer from the Graduate School of University of Maryland, and this summer I embarked on a trip to US that would hopefully lead to a bright new chapter in my life.
In short, from my home city of Hangzhou(杭州), it was a Cathay Dragon flight to Hong Kong, connecting onto an Air China flight to Beijing, and then the next morning another Air China flight to Newark, after which I would take Amtrak to Union Station, Washington DC, after which it was a Uber ride to College Park, Maryland, where my school was located.
From the moment I decided on this itinerary, I knew it would be phenomenal.
Check-in Counters at Hangzhou Airport International Terminal
