Walk with Sonia

18/07/2022

It was almost 2 in the wee morning hours. But you wouldn’t be able to tell in the worlds’ busiest airport by international passenger traffic. The place is teeming with life, people from all over the world rushing about to exit or catch connecting flights. Dubai International is as massive and busy as I remember from my last visit here.

Transiting as part of an adrenaline fuelled journey, it’s wonderful to observe how the masses have once again gone back to their traveling ways. As we move towards living with Covid. May this remain the norm!

Join me online and perhaps in person next trip, now onwards to the next airport. Let’s see how crazy that gets.

Heading Somewhere in the Middle of Uganda!

26/04/2022

20/04/2022

Despite the Spanish love hate relationship with flamenco, as with many things in life, economics usually trumps sentiment. A national cultural identity borne of gypsy heritage, it is now undeniably a must see while here. The flair and passion in this display is in your face, under your feet and surely anchored in your heart.

Forever in ours.

Somewhere in the Middle of Barcelona with

15/04/2022

We are in Spain!

Postcard headed home! As with other trips, let us know if you’d like one from Santiago de Compostela for a small fee of $10. Only 3 available.

Somewhere In The Middle of Camino de Santiago with Adventures Unlimited - Live Openly and Expansively

04/04/2022

Kodukaraya or first time climbers, that’s what we were. A journey that necessitated a 2am start so that we may witness a sunrise from the 2243m conical top of Adams Peak.

At the pinnacle, a rock formation believed to be the footprint of Buddha, to Hindus Hanuman or Shiva, Muslims and Christians Adam. Known as Sri Pada in Sinhalese, many a pilgrims objective to climb all 5560 steps. The earliest stone inscriptions indicate devotional
visits from as far back as 17th BC!

Seeing young and old, brave the chilly early morning wind, determined in their display of devotion, some chanting mantras as they made their ascent. And that peak, teeming with throngs of people, each jostling for the best spots to view a glorious dawning of a new day. Even on the sides of the mountain, stairs leading either direction, cramped with human traffic.

It was madness but what an experience to feel truly present and alive! And the burning leg muscles tell me I need to train more!

Somewhere In The Middle of Nuwara Ellya.

Sacred Steps of Sri Lanka with unlimited.

10/03/2022

We’ve been moving from town to town, spending a night in each. Just to rest before we dive into yet another day of activities.

- Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is the most revered site in this country. Located on the grounds of the royal palace complex of the former kingdom of Kandy, constructed in 1592.

- Top of Ambuluwawa, a biodiversity complex and multi religious sanctuary. The spire at its highest point of the mountain at 3567 ft is an experience in itself! The stairs winds around the outside of the tower and get narrower as you ascend!

- Tea education and tasting at Tea Bush Ramboda plus lunch at the most scenic restaurant thus far!

Somewhere In The Middle of Kandy.

Sacred Steps of Sri Lanka with unlimited

09/03/2022

06/03/2022

Sri Lanka is probably one of the most underrated tourist destination in my opinion. It's a country that has everything you would want out of an adventure. This is the third and final part of the Sacred Steps of Sri Lanka series. We scaled mountains, danced along the train tracks with the locals, visited ancient monuments, experienced both land and water safari.

00:15 - Little Adam's Peak
00:46 - Nine Arch Bridge
1:37 - Buduruwagala
2:48 - Yala National Park
4:37 - Madu River Safari
5:23 - Ceylon Cinnamon Harvesting Hut
6:08 - Moonstone Mining Site
6:49 - Galle Fort & Dutch Reformed Church
7:17 - Drive back to Colombo & Ministry of Crab

Shot entirely on DJI Pocket 2. Keen Footwear sponsored by Outside.sg. Tour partner Adventures Unlimited - Live Openly and Expansively

https://youtu.be/Hp2x1PnWvbk

Sri Lanka is probably one of the most underrated tourist destination in my opinion. It's a country that has everything you would want out of an adventure. Th...

04/03/2022

What to expect on a trip with us? Village life!

Bullock cart ride, a boat trip across the lake and a demo plus trying our hand at traditional methods of chaffing rice, grinding rice flour, dehusking coconut and weaving roof thatching!

Treated to a home cooked scrumptious Sri Lankan meal by super sporting Aunty, entertaining all our nonsense and having the patience of a saint trying to teach us city folk.

Plus I got to swim in the lake and drive a tuk tuk! Watch the YouTube video of the terrifying experience! For the passengers!

https://youtu.be/MTtY1UTMfmo

Somewhere In The Middle of Sigiriya

Sacred steps of Sri Lanka with Adventures Unlimited - Live Openly and Expansively

03/03/2022

More from our recent trip to Sri Lanka!
This is Lion Rock Sinhala or Sigiriya, an ancient rock fortress with a 180m high monolith. Atop it sits ruins of a palace that was built in 477 AD!

The capital and the royal palace were abandoned after the king's death. It was used as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century. Sigiriya today is a UNESCO listed World Heritage Site.

Such rich history and we had a wonderful local guide whose animated accounts made the stories come alive at every point.

Join on next time Somewhere In The Middle of Sigiriya on Sacred Steps of Sri Lanka with Adventures Unlimited - Live Openly and Expansively

18/02/2022

For those who love travel and adventure, Sri Lanka has much to offer. There are different terrains to traverse and sights to behold. From the spiral peaks of Dumbulawawa, to the sacred summit of Adam's Peak, and to the end of the world on Horton Plains. We even took the train from Nuwara Eliya to Ella complete with an old world experience; the type you see on National Geographic and travel shows.

This is part 2 of The Sacred Steps of Sri Lanka Series.

00:10 - Buddha Tooth Temple
00:28 - Ambuluwawa Tower, Kandy
00:46 - Adam's Peak (Sri Pada)
03:21 - Sunrise at 6.15am
06:24 - Horton Plains National Park, Dayagama
07:29 - Train Ride from Nuwara Eliya to Ella

Experience a wide array of activities this majestic island offers. Travel and adventure with us somewhere in the middle of Sri Lanka.

Tour organiser: Adventures Unlimited.
Travel hosts: Somewhere In The Middle - Eugene & Sonia

Video is recorded entirely with DJI Pocket 2



https://youtu.be/B1Bx1WgwmNw

For those who love travel and adventure, Sri Lanka has much to offer. There are different terrains to traverse and sights to behold. From the spiral peaks of...

13/02/2022

Watch the highlights of our recent adventure - Sacred Steps of Sri Lanka, part 1.

https://youtu.be/MTtY1UTMfmo

From the mystical Dhambulla Caves to the sacred Adams’ Peak, the vast wide open of Hortons Plains to the expansive views atop Pidurangala. Village life, anci...

01/02/2022

Happy Lunar New Year of the Tiger! May this season bring us all greatness, abundance and adventure!

With gratitude, Eugene and Sonia. Somewhere in the Middle of Ella, atop Little Adam’s Peak.

Sacred steps of Sri Lanka.

30/01/2022

Two short hikes up many steps to see…

Dambullah Cave Temple is a UNESCO Heritage site that dates back 22 centuries! With 5 cavernous shrines that are visited by Buddhist primarily though Hindus do make the climb up for a small altar. In keeping with a longstanding tradition associated with living Buddhist ritual practices and continuous royal patronage, the cave shrines underwent several renovation and refurbishing programmes before assuming their present interior forms in the 18th century.

And thereafter more stair training and climb up to the top of Pidurangala for a breathtaking sunset scape as the day ended. Perfection.

Somewhere in the Middle of Sigiriya!

Adventures Unlimited - Live Openly and Expansively

29/01/2022

Brekky and on to the first stop of our day, Negombo Fish Market. The second largest in Sri Lanka, through the rows of stalls and dried salted fish, an assault on our senses!

This is a must to experience, getting right into the thick of local action. Always at their markets.

Somewhere in the Middle of Sigiriya.

Sacred steps of Sri Lanka.

Adventures Unlimited - Live Openly and Expansively

27/01/2022

Ayubowan!

We got in late last night but I had to see my first Sri Lankan sunrise.

Light breaks at about 6.30am my time, I’m 2.5hrs behind you. Some takeaways since the journey began :

- must have paper print outs of vaccination cert, visa, memo from clinic of PCR negative pre departure test.
- changing money at Bandaranaike International gives better rates
- purchasing a SIM card at airport here is value for money. Data only 35GB is about 1499 LKR or S$10 valid for 30 days.
- have QR code from online health declaration ready (pic is fine)

Such a different process from Europe but that’s part of the adventure isn’t it? Let’s see what today has in store for us…

Somewhere in the Middle of Marawila.

Adventures Unlimited - Live Openly and Expansively

26/01/2022

What goes into Eugene’s bag for the Sri Lanka trip?

Packing list

For Hiking
Lowepro 25l Photosport
Keen leather hiking boots
Keen sandals
SAF camo pants
Drifit tee from decathlon
Thick socks
1l water bladder
Torch (1000 lumens)
(No long sleeves tee, mosquito repellent or hiking stick for me)

For Content Creation
DJI Pocket 2
iPhone 12
iPad Pro 11”
Manfrotto tripod
Joby tripod
20000mah powerbank
Travel adaptor + extension socket
Video editing app - LumaFusion

Necessities
Medicine (Panadol, Dimotal)
Liquid soap, Shampoo
Toothbrush, toothpaste
5 sets of clothes

25/01/2022

Hey hey everyone! Sonia here, one half of Somewhere in the Middle. You must be wondering how this page, previously known as Walk with Sonia, suddenly underwent a facelift! Most of you are here because you’ve believed in me enough or come for my walks. Much gratitude for your faith and trust in my leadership.

It is in that same vein that I ask for your support in my latest collaboration, with Eugene Tay, in birthing Somewhere in the Middle (SITM) and living vicariously through his videos and my photographs. We piloted this travel and adventure series with the German and Italian legs last Nov and Dec. We hope to continue showing you what it’s like in this new frontier of travel, as we adopt an endemic mindset towards living and adventuring with Covid!

We are kicking this year off with a small group tour of Sri Lanka, with our travel partner Adventures Unlimited - Live Openly and Expansively. The first of many trips! Look out for our offerings soon here, on our personal pages Sonia Khurana and Adventure Village! Tay

https://www.facebook.com/groups/theadventurevillage/

https://www.facebook.com/imeugenetay

May you be enticed enough to come with us on our journeys!

22/01/2022

5 days to departure!

If you are unable to join us for this trip, stay tuned to this page and join us in spirit as we share our videos, photos, and - if the bandwidth allows it - live streams of our journey.

For Somewhere In The Middle - Adventures Unlimited participants, we look forward to meeting you on Wednesday, 26th Jan 2022, Terminal 3 Changi Airport.

For those sitting on the fence, undecided if they should go or not, here's our advice for you - just go for it!

19/01/2022

Brief itinerary for the upcoming tour to Sri Lanka (26th Jan - 4th Feb 2022).

The Sacred Steps of Sri Lanka is organised in partnership with Tour Operator Adventures Unlimited - Live Openly and Expansively.

Leave or comment or PM us for bookings.