THE LANKAN SOJOURN!!

Travelling as some wise man said leaves you speechless and then turns you into a story teller. And this is the first in my series of travelogues or travel blogs on South Asia and South East Asia. READ ON !!!!

Ayubowan Sri Lanka 🙏 🙏!! A perfect getaway, I realized  if you have 7 to 8 days to spare coz this small island nation bottled up by the calm and blue seas has so much of a perfect melange to offer to the discerning tourist. Bottled up yes and a deliberately used cliched phrase for this Pearl of the Indian Ocean which has been a hotbed of emotions through so many years, the ethnic strife, decades of struggle for identities and just when one thought that peace had begun to reign in the island, a heinous bomb attack on the Holy day of Easter in 2019, so much so that the country when looked at in the map almost resembles a teardrop.

Thankfully the country was back to normalcy pretty soon and it was great to experience the hospitality on exhibit right from the Airport to even the remotest of small towns on the wayside. A beautiful country where there’s something in it for everyone be it Temples, Monasteries, Pilgrimage trails, Hill Stations with lush green Tea Plantations, Waterfalls, quaint Train journeys reminiscent of the toy train trips, Wildlife and National Parks, Trekking routes, Culture and History apart from 7 UNESCO Heritage structures, Water Sports, pristine beaches etc etc. And if you are a sea food lover, Sri Lanka is just the perfect place to land yourself in, a gourmet’s delight indeed.  

While for SAARC nationals (comprising of visitors from the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan), there is an option to get the Visa on arrival for $25, one could also apply online on the Lankan Government website and get it for $20. The same would cost $40 and $35 for nationals of other countries. Since we were planning to reach slightly ahead of the peak tourist season which picks up from Jan 3rd week once the monsoons depart,  it helped us strike some very  attractive return fares and also get a waiver of the Visa fees for SAARC nationals which was anyways on offer till April 2020. A trip of this duration, if planned a little in advance can be done for a family of 4 at roughly $575 – $650 USD per head. Thankfully, the monsoons had bid goodbye and the weather varied from the temperate warm to the misty and chill to the hot and humid.

Day 1 : Landing at odd hours often has its pitfalls as we discovered much to our dismay after reaching Colombo airport when the hotel guys did not pick up our calls though there was a free pick up on offer. And it was 2.30 A.M local time (GMT + 5:30 hours)

We finally hired a cab and reached our hotel (Castle/Villa Ceylon) in this sleepy little town of Katunayaka which was to be our start point and literally had to shake the staff out of their slumber in the wee hours of the morning. They had presumed that we would be reaching the previous day coz of the A.M and P.M understanding issue and had happily slept off.

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Fortunately, things got sorted out and left with no choice but to gather a few hours of sleep, we embarked on our road trip at around 9.30 AM the next day. We had hired a Caravan from Absolute Lanka Tours for this round trip of 6 days and had their Guide and driver Udara promptly report in at 9 AM as instructed.

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Post the briefing on dos and don’ts, dress codes, weather, changes proposed in the itinerary though I had chalked out my own, potability of water, safety etc, we started our drive towards Sigiriya.

Enroute, after a bite at a wayside restaurant Gimanhla, we landed at this UNESCO heritage site, an ancient rock fortress with a gateway in the form of a huge lion. Given the tired state of our bodies, nobody was willing to do the honors of climbing up around 1200 steps and we decided to give the place a skip after doing the initial rounds of photography around the place. And off we headed for Dambulla. The tickets incidentally as in most countries are exorbitantly priced for foreigners though you do get a concession at some places by virtue of being a SAARC national. Here at Sigiriya however, it was priced at $ 30 if you are not a localite.

The Golden temple of Dambulla, believed to be a 1st century BC UNESCO site has around 5 dimly lit caves adjoining each other and one gets to see different postures of Buddha. The climb was a reasonable 360 odd steps leading to these caves, all located below a huge rock. There are some lovely frescoes done up on the ceiling and walls and these are well maintained. Given the lighting inside, these caves make for a photographer’s delight in terms of the angles on offer and some lovely statues. While the tickets are a more reasonable 1500 Sri Lankan Rupees (SLR), the effort in making one’s way up and going up and around was much less as compared to Sigiriya. The setting sun against the backdrop of a distant lake and picturesque mountains during the climb down are a visual treat to the eyes.

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The last pit stop was a further 2 hours drive to Kandy, a city also declared as a UNESCO heritage site and famous for Sri Dalada Maligawa also popularly known as the Scared Tooth Relic Temple. Located within the Royal Palace complex, this temple makes for some stunning photographs in the night. A disciplined queue takes one into the temple complex where one gets to see 4 or 5 people playing the drums and then the climb up the stairs brings one to the main shrine adorned with a golden canopy. The tooth relic is encased in seven stupa shaped golden caskets, engraved with precious Gemstones but however not available for public viewing. This relic has stood the tests of time in terms of surviving the invasions of the Portuguese while the temple itself was subjected to a suicide bombing in the year 1998 and an earlier attack in 1989. Tickets sell for a 1000 SLR apiece.

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Pretty close to the temple, the sight of a shop with the name of Balaji Dosas caught our attention and some yummy dosas and vadas more than made up for what we missed as our staple diet over the last 2 days. A tiring day finally came to an end at around 8 PM post which we made our way to our lovely temporary abode, atop a hill with some lovely views from the balcony. Melheim Kandy Villas, it was to be for the night. Kandy incidentally was just one angle of the cultural triangle which we had covered, the other 2 being Anuradhapura and Polonnoruwa.

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Day 2 :   The breakfast was on the house and we were given a fruit palate and a choice of string hoppers with Daal, Sambol (Coconut ground with Red Chillies and Onions and a dash of Garlic) and potato curry or bread toast with eggs as an alternate.

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If you are an animal lover and have a liking for elephants, Pinnawala is the place to visit. An hour’s drive from Kandy led us to this Elephant Orphanage located around 40 kms away.  This can also be accessed from Colombo though its around 90 odd kms away. There were these captive wild elephants on display with their little ones marching towards the river front, all in unison for a nice shower and they do this twice a day. This ritual goes on for about an hour post which the waiting public are allowed to feed them from the side stands. They are then taken back to the grazing area while a select few get invited to be fed fruits by the public. Have read quite a few blogs on how these animals have been chained and are beaten up but this is a bit untrue. Chained yes for the sake of public safety since these are wild but all they receive is a gentle prod if they tend to become naughty. The entrance fees are a reasonable 800 SLR per head.

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On our way back to Kandy, had a quick bite at a restaurant by the name of Sadeepa in Hingula and post lunch we resumed on our drive to the 3 ancient Buddhist temples of Galadeniya, Lankatilaka, Embekke  which date back to the 14^th  Century and are located in close proximity. A unique feature of these temples is that they have been built by rock. Each of these temples levy a fee of 300 SLR per head and in most of these places, it appeared to be an optional coz either no one was at the counter nor did anyone check for tickets of any kind.

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The last stop for the day was at the Hindagala Temple, a 14^th Century temple built in a cave though there are some rock inscriptions which date back to the 6th and 7th century. One gets to see some lovely wall paintings here.

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A short drive back to town and then onto our hotel at Kandy for the night. Dinner for the night was to be some Grilled Pastas and Sri Lankan Rice and Veg curry along with some spicy and very well made  Sambol to go with  it.

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Day 3 :   Having checked out of the hotel, we commenced our drive towards Nuwara Eliya with a plan to stop by at a few places of interest enroute. A distance of 75 kms in all to be traversed but the idea was to reach before the sun sets in so that we get some time to free up our legs. The drive was through lush green tea plantations and through an uphill terrain and was very pleasing to the eyes. The temperatures also got relatively cooler as we reached the Bhakta Hanuman temple, built by the Chinmaya Mission and housing a pretty large deity of Lord Hanuman.

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Being a weekend, lot of locals from in and around Nuwara and Kandy had come there to offer their prayers and once we were done with the prayers, we had our lunch at Annapoorni, a small outlet attached to the temple where there was a good Indian Vegetarian buffet spread on offer.   

Our next halt was just about 10 kms away  at the Ramboda Waterfalls, where one had to get ferried down a steep slope into a private property where this waterfall is located and  the descent to the place from where one walks down an alley leading to the falls is through an elevator. All we needed to do here was tip the person driving us both ways with a very small levy of 50 SLR per head.

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We then commenced our drive towards Nuwara Eliya which was around a further 25 kms away and the last pit stop was at a very picturesque and bluish coloured lake by the name Gregory created by a British Governor as early as 1873 for the sole purpose of generating electricity but which got later on used only for recreational purposes and including some boating. The temperatures had dropped considerably and with a nice wind blowing across the lake, it was becoming quite nippy. Post the customary walk around the lake and the photo sessions done around the lake, a small wooden arch bridge and a nice statue of Snow White and 7 statuettes of her Dwarfs. A small fee of 200 SLR is levied per head to walk around the lake.  It was a short drive up a small hill to our Hotel Grand Camelia which was to be our halt for the night. There was some semblance of Indian food on offer at the hotel itself and while the family had the luxury of Dal Makhani, Pakodas (a kind of Onion fritter)  and Vegetable Curries along with breads, I stuck to the Sri Lankan Veg and Rice Curry with Dal.

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Day 4 : The check out formalities done, off we headed for the Animal Farms. While we were given to understand that the Ambewala farms were out of bounds for visitors, we headed for the New Zealand Farms. True to the original country’s name, a picturesque green landscape opens up for visitors dotted with the Jersey breed of cows. One gets to see stud bulls, rabbits and goats in different enclosures where they are reared. There is a very nominal charge of 100 SLR levied for visitors.

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A bit of mythology next and a visit to the Ramayana trail came up with a visit to the Seetha Amman Temple, located around 5 kms from Nuwara Eliya. The very same place where Goddess Seetha was supposedly locked up and Lord Hanuman discovered here at this very place.

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The prayers duly offered we had a quick bite at a small so called Indian restaurant Thushara and drove on towards Mahanevmawa Buddhist Monastery. A tough climb up a steep hillock led to a Monastery in the making.  Maybe we were 6 months early for it but looking at the models of construction on display, am sure this would turn out to be a great piece of architecture.

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By the time we commenced our descent we realized that we would be late for an hour’s train journey from Haputalle upto Ella which we had thought of  and decided to replan our journey from a small station enroute called Bandarewala upto Ella. The only tickets available for this half an hour train ride were of the 2^nd class category and costing just 30 SLR a piece. In hindsight, this turned out to be a right decision since we were able to see the same beautiful greenery on offer and picturesque tea gardens in a short span and without having to undergo the rickety train journey for over an hour.

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Time for a quick photoshoot at Ella Station :

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We had booked ourselves in a hotel very close to the Iconic 80 feet high 9 Arch Demodara Viaduct Bridge made out of stone, mortar and cement. The early morning mist across the valley where the trains pass by made for some excellent views.

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Day 5 : We started off on our 4 hour long drive towards Tangalle, a coastal town, located towards the Southern side of Sri Lanka. We passed by the Ravana Falls enroute and thanks to our travel guide Udara’s advice, we chose to head for Tangalle via Udawalawe, home to a National Park besides a lovely sanctuary for Pachyderms .

Had a lovely lunch of Sri Lankan Veg Rice Curry and Dal while the kids settled for some nice Veg Burgers at a restaurant by the name Adhgira, located bang opposite the Elephant Transit Home and some 10 kms ahead of  the Udawalawe National Park. We were lucky to see a wild elephant which had come to the periphery of the National Park in search of food and all that separated us from the elephant was an electric fence which served as the only impediment for it.

Post lunch, we commenced our drive to the 600 feet high Mulkirigala Temple which was located roughly 16-17 kms before Tangalle. A temple where one has to climb over 500 steep steps over 7 levels to get to see statues of Buddha and smaller statues at each of the levels. There are some beautiful paintings adorning the walls at each of these levels. The climb up those steep levels of steps are pretty tough on the legs but worth the price of 500 SLR you pay for the tickets apiece.

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We then headed for our hotel at Tangalle (Villa Tangalle), a beautiful independent villa located very close to the Medaketiya beach and with a private pool. Once the check-in formalities were done, we headed for the beach close by. The stretch of this beach had lot of small restaurants and was not very crowded and probably the reason for its cleanliness.

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Day 6 : The undulated and hilly terrain besides the sight of stray dogs seen here and there over the last 5 days proved to be some kind of impediment for my morning runs and finally decided to break free on Day 6 into an early morning run along the Mekadetiya beach. Got to shoot some lovely photos of the sunrise and moored boats on the sand in the bargain.

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The breakfast done at the hotel, we commenced our journey towards Colombo with plans of seeing the Silent Beach enroute besides whatever beaches come our way.

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The Ahangama beach where we wanted to stop by for a photo shoot of the stilt fishing turned out to be a dampener as not only were the locals quoting very high prices just for posing for the cameras but also deciding the rates based on number of fishermen who would pose on the stilts while actually not fishing at all. We drove on and stopped by for lunch at a decent restaurant Indian Hut in Unawatuna. Slow on the service front, the food otherwise was pretty good and once we were done with the food, started our drive towards Colombo.

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Since there was some time on hand after checking into a hotel slightly away from town and by the name of The Loft, we headed for the House of Fashions for a  little bit of shopping and rounded off the day with some nice dinner at Kottu Labs located very close to our hotel in Nugegoda. A pizza type treatment given to the staple parathas with a choice of carb, protein and veggies.

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Day 7 : We started off the day with a visit to the Colombo City Centre Mall and had reserved the 2^nd half of the day for some local sightseeing. The Independence Square, The Independence Memorial Museum, the Vihara Maha Devi Park, the Galle Sea Face front and the Gangaramaya temples covered, we had some time on hand and again headed for the first edition of the House of Fashions for some more shopping.  The Gangarama temple alone had an entrance fee of 400 SLR levied while it was a free entry at all other places.

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Time to round off the day with some socialising. A visit to my friend Krish’s house after which we headed with families to Maharajah Palace Restaurant. A lovely North Indian dinner done, it was time to bid goodbye and head for the Colombo Airport for our return back to India. Lovely memories of this nice island and am sure we would want to revisit but with plans of doing some other places like Jaffna, Trincomalee, Anuradhapura, Yala and Galle which got missed out in Round 1.

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