Smiling Sri Lanka

Mt. Lavinia

  A few highlights of my holiday in Sri Lanka but first a few facts about the island:

• Sri Lanka lies only a few degrees north of the Equator, but . . . if you travel due south of the country, the first land you reach is – Antarctica!

• Sri Lanka is slightly smaller than Ireland

• Romantic geographers have compared its outline to “a teardrop falling from the tip of India”. The more practical Dutch likened it to a leg of ham!

• Despite being a small country, Sri Lanka has two separate monsoon seasons – and two inter-monsoon periods! This means there is always good weather somewhere on the island, but you can also get caught out by the rain, but . . .

• The temperature throughout the year remains virtually constant at between 27-30ºC

• Sri Lanka has the dubious distinction of having the highest number of snakebite fatalities, per capita, of any country in the world! We only saw two in a month – big, but harmless.

Mt. Lavinia-Locals catching their dinner

 

Day ONE! We arrived in Colombo early on Friday morning, having not really slept. Not being impressed with the accommodation options, we had decided to follow some advice we’d found online and look for a place to stay near the beach in Mt. Lavinia. This would apparently be cheap, and also convenient, it cost us a whopping $7/night.It was a pretty basic room. However, after leaving Colombo for a wander about the town, we both realized we were not in a westernized country any longer, with all the soldiers holding rifles and machine guns on every street, it can make one feel a little uneasy. Happily, we arrived in Mt. Lavinia. It is a beautiful little fishing village full of sweet talking teenagers and bright orange sunsets.

Deb and I in our happy place!

Brave, hey?

  
Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage was set up in 1975 to look after seven orphaned elephants, but the project has grown and there are now over 65 residents making it the world’s largest collection of captive elephants, including those orphaned and abandoned elephants as well as those injured in the wild. The Orphanage has also developed a major breeding program and about one elephant is born here every year.

A highlight of the visit is the afternoon bathing of the elephants when they are all brought down to a lovely river setting and just left to wallow and play in the water. – and the feeding time when the young ones guzzle enormous quantities of milk from oversize baby bottles! 

Locals selling their fresh fruits and vegetables roadside

Tea picker in Mackwoods Tea Estate

Sri Lanka is one of the most important tea producers in the world and its hill country is stunning.  Colonial towns dot the landscape surrounded by tea plantations.  We passed several during your drive in from Kandy, most notably the Blue Field Tea Gardens near Ramboda Falls and the Mackwoods Tea Estate in Labookellie. 

Surprisingly however tea was not native to Sri Lanka and was a gift by the British colonists. It was brought from China and planted in the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kandy. It wasn’t until the 1860′s that crop started gaining commercial popularity.

The vegetation is lush and green and the rolling hills make for an awesome site. Pretend you are in jolly old England for a few days.  We visited old plantation homes, drank tea and ate baked goods.  It doesn’t get any more civilized than this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a back alley the local prepares his carrots for the market.

A rainy day, mother and child head home from the market

Monk praying in the Temple of the Holy Tooth Relic

  The next day we spent exploring Sri Lankas older history. Inhabited by people since about 500 BC, there is a lot to see. Especially Buddha statues and temples. But the most important of all is the Temple of the Holy Tooth Relic in Kandy! The tooth in this temple is supposed to have been snatched from the Buddhas funeral pyre. It was brought to Sri Lanka in the 4th century AD. The Portuguese claim to have destroyed it in 1560, but this can only have been a replica, as the real relic cannot be destroyed by humans.

The Tooth is kept in eight stupa-like caskets, one smaller than the other, stacked inside of each other, russian matryoshka style.
 

Outside a Hindu temple a mother waits for her child to get out of school.

 

Sigiriya

A giant rock in the middle of nowhere. Once it housed a monastery and maybe a fortress. Of the entrance, which used to be through the mouth of a stone lion, only the paws remain.

 

Some of the paintings on the walls inside are very well preserved

 

One of Sri Lanka’s most popular tourist destinations is ‘Sigiriya’ – A 5th century rock fortress shaped like a crouching lion and its name aptly derived from the Sinhalese “Singha Giri” or “Lion Rock”. Sigiriya has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1982 and is today a tourist favorite, featuring everything from history, culture, art as well as some breathtaking views of nature.

On top of Sigiriya, taking in the breath-taking views.

Oh, how this would not fly in America!

  We then spent the day at Nogombo, which we knew was close to the Buena Vista Coral Reef and some of the best snorkelling on the island. It was the busiest resort city we had visited, the long stretch of sand lined with beach bars. Negombo is one Sri Lanka’s most popular spot for independent travelers and backpackers.

paruvas (a large, man-powered catamaran fitted with kurlon dividers)

Add caption

Preparing fishing net for the evening fishing trip.

We loved Sri Lanka.  It was one of those countries that I actually felt sad leaving.  I met inspiring people, saw magnificent sites and enjoyed awesome adventures.