Sri Lanka Continued

Our stay in Sri Lanka was only seven days ,but wow , did we pack a lot of adventures into that week!

We ventured south to Kandy , a major city in the Central area for 2 nights. Our hotel was a little out of town, but on the way we visited the Cave temples in Dambula ( only 340 steps up to these ones ) and this was in the afternoon after our Sigiyira climb. I was dizzy on the climb and had a nosebleed ( definitely pushed myself over the edge and I paid for it the rest of the week ).

The temple is a series of chambers made out of caves in a hillside. The statues were exquisite and the painted ceilings and walls , intricate. No monks were apparent here but plenty of security to dissuade vandals or thieves. We wandered in and out , enjoying the dimly lit caves. An entrepreneur set up a kiosk to watch our shoes for a small fee, and another sold fresh pineapple and ice cream. The kids all had a cone and poor Alex was jumped upon by a large monkey who stole his ice cream right out of his hand !

Kandy was a bustling city and our hotel was just outside of the city noise , by a wide river. Our rooms were spacious with a large veranda. On both mornings we saw bridal parties having photographs taken in the hotel’s beautiful gardens. A helicopter also landed on their helipad and we were told it was the deputy prime minister of Sri Lanka , who was also a very tall monk. Our driver wasn’t pleased at him using funds for such frivolity.

We visited the Temple of the Tooth Relic where a tooth of Buddha is kept in a golden casket. Thousands of people queue past daily to view it , as we did. It’s a quick glance as you are pushed along from behind , but we did see it , briefly. The worshippers give food and lotus flowers as offerings. Families brought their newborns to be blessed and school children came in droves. It was very interesting and a museum on the upper floors was informative and full of historical artifacts and explanations.

Catching the train from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya ( a 3 hour ride up through forests and tea plantations) was one the best experiences of our trip. We hung out from the doors and took photos , delighted by the scenery , played dominos , ate fresh roti , samosas , chocolate and hot sweet tea from the vendors.

Our driver drove up the windy hairpin roads to the 6000 feet elevated town in the van and met us from the train. It was much cooler and like a pretty English village , having been a popular location for the Colonial British.

We visited Lovers Leap Tea Plantation, had the tour and a lovely cup of hot tea. There was an elderly lady picking the young tea leaves on a small hillside and she waved us over to take photos ( for a small gratuity of course). The tea is only picked by females and they must pick 18kg per day to make their $5 paycheck.

The Grand Hotel was next for a delightful afternoon tea ( yes, we felt a little guilty spending money on such nonsense after seeing the hardworking tea pickers , but this was something I had wanted to do before we even left the USA.) We enjoyed pots of tea , scones and bite sized cakes and pastries.

The drive down from Nuwara Eliya took us past the river that they filmed the Bridge Over the River Kwai in and around (talk about full circle!) We had lunch and watched rafts floating by and children fishing.

Our last destination was Unawatuna Beach in the south. Our hotel room had a balcony overlooking the beach. Absolutely gorgeous sunsets and clean beaches. We went out snorkelling off a boat. I have a deep fear of open water and once I summoned up enough courage to slip into the water , I started having a panic attack the moment I felt the ocean. Justin calmed me down and I snorkelled , looking at fish of all colors and sizes , finally relaxed. Getting back into the boat was a challenge and let’s just say , not graceful in the least for me.

This area is famous for turtles and we were sad not to have seen any whilst out on the boat. A quick search on the internet and we found that the next cove over often had turtles swimming in shallow water. We were not disappointed ! They swam right up past our legs, eating the kelp growing on the reef. It was a special and exciting experience for us all, we were delighted to capture a few photos underwater of them.

The kids were invited to play cricket on the beach with a group as the sunset.

Our very last sightseeing was the harbor town of Galle , which has a historic Dutch fort and a lighthouse amongst the walled town. This area was hit hard by a tsunami but has recovered very well.

The last day was about a 4 hour drive to Colombo airport, stopping for some egg hoppers with Dahl and chilies for dinner. Security was tense at the airport and we were x-rayed and showed our passports to more officials than in any other airport we have been through.

Sri Lanka exceeded our expectations , a diverse , clean and friendly destination with the most delicious and cheap food options. We would most certainly consider another trip back there but at a slower pace next time.