Our Trip to Sri Lanka

It's been a while since I tried writing a blog. Or anything else really.

What with my recently found extra time and all, it has taken a bit of effort to figure out ways and means to keep the old grey, red blood and their colorful friends humming along, doing their thing.

Serendipitously (couldn't wait for more than 2 sentences before using the word😉) as it were, we got an opportunity to visit Sri Lanka. For someone like Moi that had devoured test cricket in the late 70s and 80s quite ferociously, this was the home of Warnapura, Tennakoon, Wettimuny, any number of Mendis-es, Dias, Ranatunga and many other chaps with exotic sounding names. And then, there was 'the law' - the shorter the distance to a place, the greater the effort - even a place that took lesser time to get to, compared to the good old workplace - was also in play 😀. Finally, I was going to beat it.

I have had some old colleagues from this part of Asia - genuinely nice folks, soft-spoken, hardworking - the kind that you would bring home like school friends... I had heard often, their side of the story about the lack of opportunities back in their 'mother' country. But these conversations always ended with 'you have to go see my hometown, beautiful country, land of elephants, temples, great food etc. You must visit!'

So, yeah, lots of reasons to go see the place.

And off we went. There was quite a bit of behind the scenes wrangling - agents, airlines, permits etc. before one got on the plane. The itinerary basically was:

• Colombo to Sigiriya
• Visit the Sigiriya Lion Park and Minneriya National Park
• Nuwara Eliya via Kandy. 
• Stop by at a tea estate
• See the Buddha Relic Temple in Kandy
• Visit Sita Amman temple (Ashoka Vanam)
• Gregory Lake, Devil's Edge and Horton Plains (near Nuwara Eliya)
• Colombo via the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage
• Back to India

A compact trip with enough time to rest in between travel days.

Lourence Almeida, bless his soul, must have been grinning in appreciation, seeing how excited we were upon landing in Colombo. Enter our tour guide - our friend/philosopher, for the next few days. A short, stocky middle-aged Sri Lankan, who upon hearing we were from Chennai, immediately declared that he did not speak Tamil. Oh well!!

Once we settled comfortably into the 8-seater SUV - our trusty Vahanam for the next 5 days - we embarked on the three and a half hr. drive from Bandaranaike Intl. Airport to Sigiriya, our first stop. It was already the twilight hour, but it wasn't long before we got to see plenty of greenery. And the traffic. Well, very little to talk about. One of those single lane road deals for much of the trip with posted speed limits topping off at 80 kmph. It felt as if Lord Indra himself descended to welcome us, with some dramatic thunderstorms along the way. But nothing seemed to disturb our guide/driver, unfazed, as he calmly motored along, under the speed limit.  Along the way and throughout the trip, we got to see several vegetable shops by the side of the road. The displays looked fresh, irresistible and colorful - all those watermelons, strawberries, brinjals, cabbages, papaya, jack fruit - a feast for the eyes. Then came the town of Dambulla. I was delighted to see the signboard for what appeared to be a grand cricket ground. Our guide mentioned that the Dambulla area was a hub for vegetables and fruits from across the country.

One of the highlights of the drive to Sigiriya was seeing an elephant on the side of the road as it sauntered merrily along in the dark. I took it as a sign that we were going to see more of these gentle giants in these parts. 

Of course, our formal introduction to the jumbos was in the Minneriya National Park. After what seemed an eternity, we got to see a herd of jumbos, including some baby ones! Quite an experience going in an open top jeep through the forest area, scouting for animals. Saw quite a few langurs (black faced monkeys), spotted deer and peacocks. Also saw some hawks/eagles, egrets, herons and even a couple of monitor lizards! Lots of water bodies throughout. The place must truly be blessed indeed!!

We made some last-second changes to our plans in Sigiriya, not wanting to spend hours trekking up quite a few really narrow steps to the top of the rock. This place is apparently of great historical significance to Sri Lankans with the earliest constructions dating back to over 1500 years ago. King Kashyapa had apparently chosen this place to be the site for a great fortress. We saw quite a bit of what appeared to be incomplete construction in the area. Quite a few moats, gardens and broken walls. Quite a few caves too, some with colorful frescos and inscriptions; got to see a couple of those without having to go too far. This area was apparently a Buddhist settlement for several centuries even before it caught King Kashyapa's eye. Our guide mentioned that Anuradhapura was the original capital of the isle, before Sigiriya was chosen by the King. Anuradhapura was the original big city and was where the first Buddhist monks settled after the visit of King Ashoka's daughter Sangamitra and son Mahendra. Several layers of history just showed how intertwined Sri Lanka's past is with its religions and royalty.

 

 

The area around Nuwara Eliya reminded me of Kodaikanal. Nuwara Eliya sits at an altitude of about 6000 ft. A giant lake with the regal-sounding name of Lake Gregory in the middle of town, surrounded by misty hills, colonial charm, picturesque tea plantations, eateries, boat rides around the lake, English-style homes, eateries and hotels. Lots of long and winding roads. The weather was quite cool, reckon about 15-16 deg C, on average. This was great weather for a chocolate chip cookie and hot cocoa at a local bistro 😋. Of course, the entire area seemed to have come to life, as if right out of a picture postcard. Very pretty indeed! 

Instead of going to Horton Plains, a good 3 hr drive from our hotel to be followed by a trek, we decided to take in sights and smells of the local Hakgala Botanical gardens, a nearly 160-year-old institution, having an impressive looking Hakgala Rock as a backdrop. Beautiful! Plenty of roses, Cypreses, Dahlias, Orchids, Marigolds, Rhododendrons and many, many more! A veritable heaven for anyone with a tasteful eye for beautiful flora. There was this little dog that seemed to be sleeping for what seemed like an eternity, enjoying whatever little sun rays managed to penetrate the cloud cover. Bliss!

This area is very famous for its Seetha Amman Kovil. There was this gentleman at the entrance who couldn't stop talking in Tamil to us about the Sthalapuranam, once he came to find out that we were from Chennai. The Tamil was quite interesting, not the usual Sri Lankan style, from someone who was apparently a local Tamil. The story goes that when Ravana abducted Seetha from Dandakaranya forest, he brought her here. Beautiful temple, very serene with a Sannidhi for Seetha. This was apparently where Hanuman also met Seetha for the first time in the Ramayana.  There was also a gigantic footprint, said to have been made by Hanuman when he alighted on the rocks nearby. Quite awe-inspiring! Reminded me of Bheema's footprints in Kaiwara, Karnataka, the Kaiwara of Bakasura-Bheema fight fame. The temple was adjoining a stream, and it is said that she used to bathe in it. And oh, not to forget, no shorts allowed. Knees and shoulders are to be covered in Sri Lankan temples, Hindu or Buddhist. This along with the gardens, the Ashoka Vanam, completed our Ramayana-related part of our trip. A very memorable stop.

Who goes to Ceylon without getting to taste Ceylon tea! Tea is after all, one of their main exports. This central region with its fantastic weather is supposed to be a fantastic ecosystem for tea growers. The tea shop that we went to get some of the local brew to take back with was quite quaint. A lot of varieties from their own estates. Plenty of black teas, several classical blends that we are used to such as Earl Grey and English Breakfast, green teas etc. There was even a Masala Chai. Sampled a few of their teas, both with and without milk. Apparently Lankas prefer their teas strong, with a little milk. Another interesting and very expensive tea was something called Silver Tips, a white tea. Price seemed to be on par with the price of Silver 😉 This one was very light, had a subtle flavor and is apparently incredibly healthy. There were plenty of pictures in the store from the 1940s with pictures of British aircraft; after all wasn't Ceylon, along with India, a critical component of their campaign during World War II. Quite an interesting intersection of tea history and wartime heritage!

From Nuwara Iliya, our journey took us back to Colombo via Dambulla, Kandy and the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage.

Kandy, as it turned out, was sort of a pit stop for us during the trip. We stopped there briefly on our way to Nuwara Eliya and also on our way back going to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. Seemed like a nice place for a visit. There was this gigantic Buddha statue in the hills that seemed to be visible from multiple areas in and around Kandy. Kandy is also known for being the place to go and see the relic of the tooth of the Buddha. Sri Dalada Maligawa, is world-renowned as the Temple of the Tooth Relic. Of course, there are plenty of stories around how this got there. The main shrine, a 2-story structure, had a golden canopy. Not surprised to see plenty of elephant statues at various entrances; after all elephants are venerated in Buddhism. Very peaceful place indeed, next to Lake Kandy. We spent quite a bit of time there, walking around, reflecting and meditating. A tranquil setting, indeed.

The royal palace, with a moat, stands next to this temple. There were quite a few artifacts on display. There was this hall where the King used to apparently hold court - reminded me of the Mysore palace - with his subjects standing at a lower level

Also worth mentioning was the museum for Raja the royal elephant, a tusker from the Batticoloa area.  Raja apparently carried the tooth relic during the annual festival in Kandy for several decades. He was declared a National Treasure by President Jayawardene.

This one above, a statue of Buddha, was a gift from India to Sri Lanka.

Our last stop was the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. Now, I had heard about this place from several people. Clearly, a visit to Sri Lanka will not be complete for anyone without seeing these animals in this setting. A friend had mentioned that this place had become commercialized but was still a great program. Turns out that 2025 is the 50th year of its existence with the sole purpose of elephant conservation. We were told that this was home to nearly 80 elephants at this time. Even the access roads to this place seemed to be other-worldly. So much greenery! When we got into the orphanage, it was nearly time for the mahouts to take them to the nearby Maha Oya River for their bath. Fascinating to see them going on the roads leading up to the river. A Colonel Haathi moment! Great fun to watch the elephants frolicking in the waters and refusing to leave when it was time for them to go back. 😀The one thing that saddened me somewhat was to see some of these elephants in separate enclosures and chained. Of course there were these employees asking for baksheesh, to get pictures with these creatures. Overall, an incredible experience.

During our stay in the country, the hotel staff in all places were quite welcoming with their traditional Sinhala welcome of 'Ayubowan'. They seemed to be wearing what appeared to be colorful Sarongs. Turned out that we were visiting during the lean season and there were less than a dozen guests at the hotels we stayed in. The food was generally quite a spread, with plenty on offer even for the veggie palate. There was thickish Dal, a Sri Lankan version, plus Okra among other things. During both dinner and breakfast, we had hoppers (appam family) and spring hoppers (rice noodles, idiyappam, sewai  family). Pol Roti, egg hoppers etc. The highlight for me was eating buffalo milk curd/yoghurt with Treacle. Never done that before! There was rice as well, plus plenty of salads. Another interesting dish was the Brinjal Moju. Quite delicious, even if it was a bit spicy. There was also the Coconut Sambal, a side dish. We didn't get a chance to try the Kottu Rotti. Another novelty for me was a beetroot flavored idly dish, and a milk-based item called Kiribath. Delicioso!

The roads in the areas that we went through were all pretty good, considering the fact that much of this was hill country. And my God, all these places were clean! Didn't see any garbage anywhere within the city or the other tourist spots. Speaks to the culture of the place. We stayed in Colombo for a night but didn't get to see the city. It appeared to be like any other city with a mix of new and old construction. But very clean. Didn't see any hoardings or garbage dumps. Guess, it is possible if society wills it.

It was time for us to get back to the airport. Our guide managed to squeeze in a little tour of the city while heading to the airport. Got to see names of establishments like Hunter and Co. Didn't see a Higginbotham's though 😉. 

Worth going back to see other places in the north and south of the country. I am told that the cuisine in Tamil-majority areas such as Jaffna taste is very similar to what one finds in Tamil Nadu. For beach buffs, plenty of those too.

Overall, a fantastic, restful experience with great food and great company! 

And many thanks to V for some of the pictures!