Located off the coast of the South Eastern tip of India, this country is full of contrasts and charm. I can't recall being to a place that has such a variation of micro climates and things to do. One day I was up in 'Little England' high above sea level where it was about 16 degrees celsius, the next I was down in the plains of the Udawalawe National Park on safari in 32 degrees! Predominantly a Buddhist country, there are many examples of the old British colonial rule in the days when the country was known as 'Ceylon'. I would definitely recommend going to Sri Lanka but because the country is so diverse, you need to travel around rather than base yourself in one place, although finishing off for a few days on the beach in somewhere like Bentota would be ideal!
I did a tour of Sri Lanka over 6 days (if you don't include the days you are travelling to Sri Lanka and home) with On The Go Tours that was excellent and pretty varied! You can see a snapshot of my tour in my Vlog below or just read the highlights in this post. If you want to see more pictures, they are in the Gallery section on my site.
I flew direct from London (LHR) to Colombo with Sri Lankan airlines. The plane was only a year old and I thought the service was impeccable! As you fly over the ocean and into Sri Lanka, the first thing that struck me was how green it was. Palm trees and forest as far as you can see! The airport is actually quite far from Colombo itself, about an hours drive. The second thing that struck me was the crazy traffic, not only the amount as you get closer to the city but the way they drive! Weaving in and out of each other and beeping their horns, not out of road rage but more to let them know they are overtaking.
Day 1
I stayed at the Ozo Hotel overlooking the Indian Ocean. The hotel was quite modern, centrally located and had a gorgeous rooftop pool. You come out of the hotel and the craziness starts. Cross the road (carefully!) and there are the train tracks next to the sea which my geeky side found fascinating as I watched the trains crammed full of people and watching the locals walk up and down the tracks to the platforms!
The other side of the tracks, I watched the fisherman catching while the Tuk Tuks weaved in and out of the traffic behind me.
We made our way inland to Polonnaruwa and stopped off at a local Sunday market in the bustling town of Kurunegla. The first thing that struck me was the variety of smells and colours - some of the smells of dried out fish was quite overwhelming! The local traders were haggling loudly but one image that I captured of a lovely lady sitting down selling her produce, was one of the defining pictures of the trip for me.
Polonnaruwa is a UNESCO World Heritage site that was once an 11th Century city. Now it is a large fascinating site of ruins, temples and monuments including the Royal Palace and Gal Vihara. We wandered around the site, my favourite memory being the Buddha statues in one of the temples, watching the local monks preparing flower offerings while incense burned strongly in the air. There were lots of pilgrims visiting the site which clearly demonstrated to me the religious importance of Polonnaruwa.
The next stop was Sigiriya, also known as the 'Lion Rock' fortress. It's basically a HUGE rock in the middle of the jungle that was built about 1500 years ago and is 200 metres tall! It was an important stronghold back in the day and is actually really very impressive as you walk up to it. For those energetic enough, you can climb right to the top or half way through a series of steep staircases that passes through some very ancient buddhist paintings in the rock. The halfway point is the lions 'paws' and the final journey is from here but you have to be quiet as there are number of large hornets nests on the way!
Once you get to the top the view is awesome! Needless to say, it's a lot easier going down than it was coming up in the heat!
Day 2
Today was all about different modes of transport! We were taken by jeep a few miles off road down some dirt tracks where we were dropped off by a large lake full of lillies. We all got in to several rickety coloured rafts and paddled out across the lake. It was so peaceful and fun watching our guides making hats for us out of lillies. As we made our way to the other side, we walked a short distance to a tiny village called Kayanwala where a local family made us a home cooked dinner in their mud brick home. I have to say it was DELICIOUS! Probably one of the best meals I had on my trip - curry dahl, spiced rice and pickle presented on of course, a lilly leaf. De-lish!
After lunch, it was a mad tuk tuk ride out of the jungle and back to the main road. It was quite unusual to go off-road on a tuk tuk rather than weave in and out of city centre traffic! We went to visit the Dambulla rock temple, a complex of 5 cave systems containing over 150 images and statues of Buddha including one impressive 14 metre statue carved out of the cave rock itself.
Day 3
Travelling to the hill city of Kandy, higher up in the centre of Sri Lanka, for 10 days each year, the city explodes into a madness of colour, noise, music, dance and activity. Known as Esala Perahera, it's a fairly grand affair with elegant costumes and is celebrated either in July or August depending on the Full Moon Poya Day. We explored the city first and went to the Temple of the Sacred tooth and made our offerings of flowers. The crowds were already large at this point.
Thankfully we had reserved seats as the crowds were huge in the evening! People seem to travel from all over, a mixture of tourists and locals but the majority appeared to have travelled from afar for religious reasons. These families were already saving their space on the floor from 9am when I walked around Kandy that day, so a good 10-12 hours before the processions began!
Before the procession, we went to a local town hall to watch a traditional dance display. The procession started around 7.30pm with some whip cracking and fire dancing displays, followed by cultural dancers and musicians in silk costumes and around 100 elephants elaborately decorated which represent each of the local temples. It finishes at the Golden temple of the sacred tooth, alleged to house a tooth of Buddha, which the last elephant in the procession carries on it's back in a casket. It was a long evening but worth it.
In addition to this day, we also visited a Tea Plantation, the Geregama Tea Estate, to see how tea was made and produced, as this is one of Sri Lanka's famous exports. The only disappointing part of this experience was it was quite rushed and it would have been amazing if there was a tea tasting at the end of the experience so we could smell and taste the various flavours.
Day 4
This was probably one of my favourite experiences in Sri Lanka - the scenic train journey from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya in the heart of the Tea producing country. I can't believe how much cooler it was up here, from about 28 degrees in Kandy to around 18 degrees at night in Nuwara Eliya. The 4 hour journey was beautiful as we passed through winding valleys, tea plantations, waterfalls and suspension bridges. We were in second class with seats and windows which were open, which i actually preferred so you could look out the whole way. Third class was crammed full of people so we definitely had the best seats! Many of the stations have British related names such as Great Western from the old colonial era. When we arrived we were transferred to our hotel in 'Little England'. The Grand Hotel, aptly named was something out of the countryside in England. A beautiful old colonial stately hotel with an impressive lobby. In the lounge area a guy was playing the piano to old classics with the crystal chandelier above him. I literally could have been anywhere in England! Not to mention the post office in the town with a classic red post box outside!
Day 5
Today we travelled about 4 hours from high above sea level in Nuwara Eliya back down to the plains of Udawalawe National Park where the temperatures were back into 30 degrees plus. On the way we stopped in a little town called 'Ella' to admire the view, and WOW! You can see the pic below. We also stopped to see a sprawling tea plantation and the pickers who kindly walked up to us. Once we arrived at the hotel we had a quick swim and then were transferred onto jeeps to start the late afternoon safari game drive. We were all hoping to see the Asian elephants, the Sri Lankan elephant being the largest of these. As we drive around, the guide was pointing out various animals and creatures that I have to say, i wouldn't have even spotted as they were so camouflaged! We saw lizards, chameleons, eagles, deer and a kingfisher with it's beautiful blue feathers shining in the late afternoon sun.
We approached a watering hole with several buffalo in cooling off and spotted the odd crocodile rearing it's head. Then, out of no where, a couple of elephants appeared and strutted into the lake. Then, if that wasn't enough, a herd of elephants came after, including several baby elephants who stayed close to them out of the Croc's harm. It was amazing to watch! After about 30 minutes, they strutted back out of the lake and into the distance. It was something i won't forget! As we were approaching sunset, we headed back and came across a lone Bull elephant. He walked along side us then stopped, I got a little nervous as he was so close to me and wasn't in the best of moods until my lovely fellow traveller, Jane, said 'Andy, i actually think he's a bit excited'!! Well, I will leave the rest to your imagination....clearly I pulled!
Day 6
Travelling back to Colombo, I was thinking how amazing this trip had been, the people I had met and the variety of experiences I had had. For a relatively small country, it really is a country of contrasts and micro climates.
Colombo itself is a mix of old and new. There is lots of evidence of the British colonial rule from the names of streets to the architecture and buildings. One thing that I will not miss though is the traffic. Lot's of it and crazy drivers!
Sri Lanka, until next time!
