So quite a lot happened since my last blog entry, though I will spare the part that happened in university classes 
In short, the most important happenings from Oct. 3 to Oct. 10:
Oct. 3: paying my mess bill -> 3355 Rupees, that’s about 50 Euros for one month of eating breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner (although I rarely have lunch & afternoon snack).
Oct. 4: I decided to go to Sri Lanka together with Christina, so we booked flights. In the evening we went to Kadavu resort to celebrate Emilia’s birthday.
Oct. 5: celebrating Varun & Amit’s birthday in the evening. believe me: you don’t want to celebrate your birhtday in India – you get kicked in the ass, they put birthday cake all over your face and in the end – to clean you again – they pour buckets of water over you.
Oct. 6: called my Dad to say happy birthday & watched 2 movies
Oct. 7: went to a restaurant called Paragon in Kozhikode – one of the best meals I’ve had since I left home almost 2 months ago
Oct. 8: figuring out an itinerary for the Sri Lanka trip; Arthur left in the afternoon to meet some Indian guys in the city – he came back the next evening after a long, long night 
played pool in the evening with Varun, Vipul, Abishek, Morten & Luigi
Oct. 9: kept on working on the itinerary for Sri Lanka & had pizza ordered from Pizza corner in the evening
Oct. 10: Christina came back from the wedding of her friend in Norway & we had a chat about our trip to Sri Lanka.
So far. So good.
A little more detail now.
In the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 11 we would leave for our trip to Sri Lanka. We had booked a train down to Kochi from where we would fly to Colombo. That morning we found out that there was something like a NOC (no objection certificate) in India, for people who stay longer than half a year. That means you have to get a document from the university and the police station saying that they are o.k. with your leaving & coming back. Very strange – for what do I have a multiple entry visa in the first place?
So Christina and I first went to the International Office where we first only got the advice to just stay and not go to Sri Lanka (not a good option with booked flights & trains). Finally we could get the NOC letter from them (at 4 pm). We then went to the police station to get the same there, but 2 problems arised there. 1st: police hadn’t even processed our registration which we submitted a month before and 2nd: the only guy capable of stamping the letter (!!) had already gone home. They then just told us that we should come back the next morning at 9.30 and then we MAYBE could get the certificate.
A little frustrated we went back to IIMK where we held a small emergency session, where Emilia convinced us to go anyway Finally we left campus at 10.15 pm to go to the train station and take the train to Kochi, where we arrived around 4 in the morning.
Wednesday, Oct. 12
We waited some hours at the airport to check-in and when we finally got to security control the staff there recognized that we did not have the certificate. Although we explained everything to them they would not let us go for 1,5 hours and made a lot of phone calls. In the end (also through the help of a nice Sri Lankan Airways steward) we were allowed to board the plane and go on our trip.
In Sri Lanka our guide Den was awaiting us at Bandaranaike airport and we continued our journey towards the central region of Sri Lanka and Sigiriya rock fortress where we would stop for the 1st night. It already turned out in the first hours of our journey that Den was a great guide and would become a friend through this journey. On the way we had great lunch at an Arabic restaurant and visited a Buddhist temple in the hill region. We arrived at Sigiriya late, but found a very nice accommodation where we also had dinner.
Thursday, Oct. 13
In the morning we went to Sigiriya rock fortress where we first visited the museum and then went up to the ancient ruins of the fortress which are on the top of a huge rock. The entrance fee is quite expensive, being 3,330 Sri Lankan Rupees (approx. € 22,-). Afterwards we went for an ride on the back of Mutu. Mutu is a 21-year-old elephant. The ride was quite an experience, but still: I would never do it again. I felt bad for Mutu and the job he has to fulfill all day long … 
After that we went on towards Kaudulla National Park where we saw some happier elephants – altogether more than 80 (!!) at once. This was a much better experience, because we could actually see them in their natural habitat. In the national park we could also see water buffalo and lots of birds, including egrets & peacocks. Leaving from the National Park we headed towards Nilaveli Beach on the East coast where we would spend 2 nights. We arrived already in the dark and chose to stay at the Sea View hotel (€ 33,- for the room) the 1st night (I think we were the only guests there) and have dinner at Nilaveli Beach hotel, which is a resort-style hotel directly at the beach. While having dinner there we decided to stay at that hotel the 2nd night (€ 80,- for a room).
Friday, Oct. 14
After getting up we went for breakfast/lunch at the Green Park hotel in Trincomalee (about 10 kms from Nilaveli Beach) and visited a Hindu temple (under construction) on the way. Driving around the area we still could notice the tracks of the 2004 tsunami. After that we checked-in at Nilaveli Beach hotel and immediately went to the beach there to relax a little. At the beach Kamal, a boat tour guide, offered us to bring us to a reef for snorkeling, going to a lagoon to watch birds and then having dinner at his place near the lagoon. As we had nothing better to do we agreed and the trip was worth every cent!!!!
We first went to the reef for snorkeling which was quite nice and then also had a little swim around the rocks standing out from the water. Then Kamal took us to the lagoon he had told us about where we were able to spot a sleeping crocodile in the water, which just woke up when Christina took a picture of it
With this experience in mind Kamal took us to his house where his wife had prepared a meal for us – rice & curry, fresh fish, crabs & prawns. I might have said that at another point while blogging about this semester abroad but THAT WAS DEFINITLY THE BEST MEAL I HAD SINCE I LEFT HOME!!!!! After dinner Kamal organized a tuk-tuk to take us back to the hotel, where we decided to jump into the pool as it was still early. Before going to sleep we took some pictures of the rising moon and had a cocktail at the beach bar.
Saturday, Oct. 15
After getting some nice shots on the beach at sunrise we left the hotel early around 8.30 as we had a long journey ahead of us – back to the West coast. On the way we stopped several times for having snacks or do some more sightseeing. We stopped at Dambulla rock temple (near Sigiriya), which is a really great place if you want to see large Buddhist sculptures. We also made a stop at a huge vegetable market and at “Happyland” Herbal & Spice Garden, where we got an explanation of different spices and also an ayurvedic massage – also we shopped some spices of course
We then continued our journey to Kandy where we had a look at the local market and shortly went to Den’s house to meet his wife (Emma from England) and his 1-year-old son Lometh. They welcomed us very nice and we had a cup of coffee & cookies before we went on to Negombo (about 30 kms North of Colombo) where we would spend the last night. On arrival we had a look at rooms in 2 different hotels and decided for a room at Village Inn (€ 25,- for the room), about 50 m from the beach. We then said good-bye to Den and went for dinner at a nearby restaurant where we had some prawns and fish again
Sunday, Oct. 16
After having breakfast we went to the beach for an hour and did some souvenir shopping before we went to the airport. Around noon we left Sri Lanka again and 1 hour landed safely in Kochi, where we would have to wait for the train for 4 hours. We decided to go to Fort Kochi (a part of Kochi that looks like an old European town rather than an Indian one) and had dinner there. The rickshaw driver who was supposed to take us to the train station in Ernakulam town stipped us off at the wrong station, but fortunately another driver rushed to the right one just in time …
After a 3.5-hour-train ride we arrived back in Kozhikode and at IIMK. Upon checking my mail I realized that I had to finish two presentations until the next day
Well then, as the exciting part is over – back to short format 
Oct. 17: not much happened; meeting the other foreign exchange students again who had gone to Mumbai for the weekend & finishing the 2 presentations (which I had not to present in class in the end)
Oct. 18: just 1 class that day, but had to prepare 2 more presentations for Wednesday – this time for real … in the evening Arthur and I made a run down to Kunnamangalam & back.
TODAY, Oct. 19: after presentations I went to International office with Arthur where we got informed about a study trip to Bangalore mid of November. Afterwards we went to Kunnamangalam for shopping fruits & snacks.
So far, so good – pictures are to be found on Facebook or flickr.
greez to all of you reading!
keep strong in faith & be blessed,
Gerhard
