Most international schools have some form of ‘Week Without Walls’, where students travel to different visually stimulating locations, usually nationally, seeking knowledge that can be found more through experience and visual observation rather than that of learning in a classroom. We spend five nights away from home, forced to reconcile differences with the peers around us, and forced to swallow any sign of homesickness. If you feel that sort of thing. It’s the IB version of a field trip but better.
This year the DP1’s and grade 10s had a combined trip (this is something of a tradition here). There were four trip sign-up options. I traveled to Sigiriya, also known as ‘the biking trip’.
Sigiriya is supposed to be a relatively large tourist attraction. And now looking back, I understand why. Fields of green and gold went on for miles, looking like something of an animation, not a blade of grass out of place. It had this sort of undeniable beauty about it. The opening bike ride was a shock of culture and scenery. Society was so adapted to nature there. They never seemed to take too much, but always took enough for comfort. Balance was attained, so different from Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo. Houses of compact mud and straw, wood and sludge, tile and brick trailed the outskirts of the small town. Rivers and channels of water followed us around the trails of our stay, moderately welcoming; especially on the hot day that it was.
Camp was amazing. A resort called Back and Beyond hosted our stay for all four nights. We slept in treehouses, branches winding in and out through the roof and open walls just above our beds.
As charming as it was, it had its drawbacks. It was the 2nd night that two members of the group had the unlucky experience of finding what we now know as the ‘Whipped Scorpion’. It invited its humble self to comfort on the wall above their toilet. It sadly died within a few minutes of its arrival. Its crunched and bloodied body now rests peacefully in the cracks between the bathroom tiles. A drawing for context is uploaded below (I will put it here eventually I promise).
The nights, though, despite the miscellaneous creepie crawlies, were some of the best I had had in a long time. I mean of course there were moments when my social battery got the best of me but other than that the evenings were great. We played mafia, ghosts in the graveyard, innovative table ping pong, and other miscellaneous games. Comfortable chats became more common after the second day. We were getting more comfortable. However, our bodies, not so much.
For daily activities, biking took the obvious win over most of our time. Those without the common sense of bringing bike shorts (including myself) were forced to deal with the pain of sore (EXPLETIVE). Excuse my language. I hope this picture makes up for it.
Our longest day was day two. We rode 40-some kilometers. Definitely worth it. I would explain the scenery, the wetness of the forest and the heat of the fields but not even an image could do it justice, let alone words. I think that was the day I also got run over by a cow, if I remember correctly. My timid, small self somehow managed to scare the massive thing, leading it to charge into my bike head first. I fell. Obviously.
One of the hardest days was when we hiked the ‘mountain’. A multitude of stairs stood between us and the top but even through our poor cardiovascular endurance, we all managed the trek. The view was stunning. As usual. If you’ve ever looked out an airplane window on your way to or from the clouds you would know what I mean when I describe the innocence of the towns. The perfect squares representing pastures and farms.
But more so than anything, food had to take the roster for the highlight of the trip. Our 14-student team was split into three groups which cooked different meals of their choice each night.
Going home was really sad but it was also relieving to be able to sit down for three hours for the bus ride. I came back recharged and ready for school and able to ride a bike with no hands.
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