Bandarawela, Hill country, Sri Lanka

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Sunday 4th December 2005

Peter and I found ourselves a seat and deposited our bags at the front almost on top of an alcove housing a huge and ancient gear shaft. Apparently this is where the large luggage sits to save space for more seats. It wasn’t too packed to start with though and I had a double seat to myself. I am looking forward to the scenery I am going to see on this journey and also an opportunity to review my trip so far. We passed by little villages and groups of white and blue uniformed school children on their way to lessons. The bus began to rise steadily higher. Sinharaja is referred to as low country but we were now in mid country heading eventually to Bandarawela, which is in the lower part of up country!

The views were spectacular, even by Sri Lankan standards. God took a little bit more time over this place I think. We passed by forest growing out of rocky mountains.

The distance to Pelmadulla is about 60 kilometres and the journey time 4 hours. The ratio is 15 kilometers an hour which seems slow even by packhorse standards! Having now witnessed the state of the buses and the bends in the roads and the gaping drops below the side of the roads I believe this speed limit to be too high! My point is I do not want the driver to go any faster than this. I am sitting towards the back of the bus that allows a particular sensation. The bus chugs along for about 100 meters and then slows down for a 180-degree turn. As the bus makes the turn, if you are sitting at the back of the bus, and look down as the bus turns it actually feels as though it leans over, past the edge, defying gravity before correcting itself and repeating the same process. I am pleased I did not eat too much breakfast! It feels like a perpetual roller coaster ride.

The views were really sublime. From the quaint and quirky birds eye view of the goings on in homeowners yards and then passing rice and fruit fields with a gap in the scene revealing deep, gaping valleys and then onto more rising tea plantations up the hillside in the distance. We drove past the town of Suriyakanda and collected some more passengers and then onto Rakwana for a short break for the driver and the passengers. I took a leak and then bought some tea and retired somewhere suitably out if the way for a smoke. I got back on the bus and we were just about to move on when there was a commotion as a woman ran down from the house next to the Tea shop and was shouting and swearing and screaming. All of the locals who were out of striking distance were laughing at this woman. I never found out the source of her anguish as the driver had had enough of this distraction and was revving up the bus as if he meant business.

I am about half way through my Sri Lankan trip now and I feel very pleased with how it has gone. I have felt safe so far and have met pretty positive characters. The highlight has been Sinharaja but also my 1st day in Negombo meeting Sanjay was special. He was such a genuine man and he and his family treated me with a lot of kindness. I sat back feeling content thinking now about the next few weeks and what they had in store. We passed the town of Madample and were heading up the A 18, the last road to Pelmadulla. The roads and scenery were still spectacular and the area seemed a little more wild, not farmed as often. Every 10 miles or so we would pass a commercial tea estate, more often than not with Scottish names. These estates were vast and near the main hub of each could be seen the beautiful estate bungalows built for the British tea estate managers that ran them in the 18th and early 19th century.

We arrived at Pelmadulla at about 13.00 and I got off and said goodbye to Peter and headed to the stop to catch the connecting bus onto Bandarawela. I checked with the station manager that I was at the right stop and smoked a cigarette and waited. Shortly a bus pulled up and a man shouted at me that this was mine so I got on. This bus was even older and more dilapidated than the previous one and the glass was all tinted out to protect the passengers from the sun. This meant that I could not enjoy the views, which was a shame. The bus was very busy and I soon realised I had been fortunate to get a seat. A tall thin bearded man sat next to me and munched cashews and carefully cut and peeled and eat an apple that he produced from somewhere amongst his Sarong.

I felt slightly more anxious on this trip as I was the only westerner on the bus. I just hoped I was on the right one and that we would get to Bandarawela, hopefully before dark so I could get my bearings. I had booked up with the Woodlands network though, so I knew Sarojina was expecting me. I did not take any pictures on the earlier bus journey as I just wanted to relax and take it all in and I couldn’t on this one. I would not feel comfortable taking my digital camera out in front of everyone though as it would draw attention to me and make me a target for any potential thief. I am trying to be careful and sensible though not too paranoid or regimented.

After about 3 hours I began to note the little towns I was passing against the map and realised we should soon be at Bandarawela. At about 18.00 we hit the town. I got off the bus and took a tuk-tuk up to the Woodlands that was just off Esplanade road. I had to guide the driver but we soon found it. Sarojina was expecting me and showed me to my room. She asked if I would like to eat and bought me some tea after I had settled into the room. It was fairly basic but for the price was fine. Sarojina introduced me to Joseph Gonsalves, a United Nation consultant in renewable energy, bio fuels and technical development.

Joe came from Goa in India and I told him a little of my plans for the next 6 months. He talked to me about Goa and also recommended that I visit Kadaikanal, a hill station in India near the Kerala/Karnataka border. Joe used to work in the States but I believe is now based in Germany working for the UN. Sarojina soon told us that dinner was ready and we went to the table and were joined by Joe’s colleague Sarath Chandrasena who also worked for the UN co-ordinating the Sri Lankan renewable energy project. The food was really nice. Dhal, Aubergine curry, Rice, Chapatti and one or two other Sri Lankan vegetable curries followed by a really fresh fruit salad. We all drank water.

It was a leisurely meal punctuated by lots of discussion. I explained to them that I hoped to do some voluntary work during my travels but that my time in Sri Lanka was too short to do any here at this time but that I may wish to come back in the future to do this. Both told me about the particular problems Sri Lanka faced after the natural disaster of the Tsunami and the ongoing pressures of the struggle between the Buddhist Sinhalese government and the Hindi Tamil Tigers of the LTTE. Their particular field of expertise is in renewable energy and they are trying to introduce replacement energy sources to areas in Sri Lanka that are acutely affected by poverty and the destruction of the Tsunami. One visit they are making this week is to a Veddah tribe North East of Kandy near the Knuckles range of hills.

They are trying to encourage investment by the authorities supported by the local communities to use an energy source that is powered by vegetable oil. I gathered from their explanation that a good proportion of European countries have signed up to introduce pilots and tests of this new source. In particular France and Germany are very enthusiastic. The British are lagging behind but have agreed for these to be piloted and assessed in Newcastle and Middlesbrough. As energy supplies run out, in particular North Sea oil, we may not have much choice but to be enthusiastic.

Joe and Sarath’s visits to local communities involve sounding out local politicians and Civic and religious leaders about the plausibility of introducing these schemes. Both stressed to me the importance of having these figures ‘onside’. They indicated that it was impossible to get anything done if this were not so. They also stated that you have to have the right signature, backing or authority to get anything done in Sri Lanka and that the bureaucracy could be extremely stifling. These connections had to be in place or any project was a non-starter. They both seemed to have a good impression of me and gave me their cards and indicated I should get in touch with them if I needed any help in getting contacts for NGO’s or other types of voluntary work.

It was a really interesting conversation and I appreciated hearing about Sri Lanka’s problems from fairly important people who were dealing with the reality of the countries problems. It gave me an insight I could never have seen on my own. Sarath told me that if I had help from somebody reasonably senior it would open many doors for me and other authorities would help me in various ways and make it easier for me to proceed with whatever I might be doing. Whilst we were talking Sarath was chatting to his family on the phone and he passed me the phone to introduce me to both of his daughters. One had graduated in Colombo and was working as an Accountant for Ernst and Young and the other girl was still at school. She had just completed a term at Newlands boarding school in Seaford, East Sussex! They both needed to be up and off early in the morning so the party broke up at about 22.00 and I had a read and an early night.

Wednesday 7th December 2005

I am not having much problem sleeping after initially finding it very difficult after the flight at Dephani’s. I think that was partly due to the Mosquitoes at that fleapit though. Woke up nice and fresh today and went out into the Living room and had a lovely breakfast of fried Eggs, toast, marmalade and fruit and some of the best tea I have ever tasted. Sarojina sat down with me when she had a moment and we talked for a while.

Sarojina is a nice looking woman of about 40 I think. She is plumply built and has a friendly manner. She has 2 children. One daughter is married and her son of about 20 is studying mechanical engineering in Denmark. I am not sure if her husband is still alive. I got the impression that maybe he isn’t but she didn’t volunteer much on the subject and I was not going to ask. She has a sister whose husband was in the army and had been killed by the Tamil Tigers. Sarojina also told me about other friends and relatives who had been killed by the LTTE. This was the first time I have met a Sri Lankan who has told me about direct experiences of the troubles and I could feel her anger when she spoke of the Tigers.

When I had been speaking to Palitha’s brother in Deniyaya he had mentioned that there had been some recent rhetoric and renewing of verbal assaults between the government and the LTTE. Apparently the peace treaty talks brokered by Norway acting on behalf of the United Nations had ended in disagreement. During our conversation this morning she had told me that there had been a bombing of a Buddhist college in Jaffna at the Northern tip of the island. It is very worrying and could be the beginning of an offensive starting. The talk is that the LTTE have used the ceasefire that has lasted over 2 years to regroup and rearm and are gearing up for a renewal of hostilities. I have only heard this talk from Sinhalese or government-approved reports in newspapers. There is a real restriction on reporting of this subject and I have not met any Tamil’s to talk to about this. On a lighter note whilst we were chatting we arranged a cookery lesson for me to have with her this afternoon. I got ready and headed out into the town to have a look around Bandarawela.

I headed out of town winding down a curvy and busy main road. The hills below were extreme. At the side of the road were many small paths leading down to homes and gardens perched precariously on the end of their little tip of the stupendous slope. I walked down one and saw that it was a small path leading down to dwellings and grazing land. After a little while and a few sightings of suffering men and beasts walking up this same hill I sat down and had a little think about matters. I had a bite to eat and a smoke and decided the further I went down the further I would have to go back up and it was extremely steep. It was at this point I realised how difficult walking to take in all the views is in Sri Lanka. The views are best seen by bus and train.

I wanted to try and have a good walk so I walked up to the Tamil college at the top of Nazareth hill. The walk was through quiet streets rising and the views down to the town and then further out to the descending green hills. It was a clear and sunny day and it was good to see these views on such a day. I passed groups of schoolchildren on their way home that were busy pointing and giggling at me. I had a chat with a few of the groups and took a few pictures which they were delighted about and then I headed back to the guesthouse and Sarojina to prepare for my Sri Lankan cookery lesson this afternoon.

I had a little kip and then woke up and we started the cookery lesson. Sarojina took me into the heartbeat of the operation, the kitchen. To begin with Sarojina introduced me to various spices, some of which I recognised and others that I didn’t. She told me about the important properties and uses of each of the main spices. Examples were laid out on a large tray and I smelt and touched each whilst she was explaining. We looked at spices for white curries and black curries. There was roasted and unroasted curry powder and mustard seed, Cardamom pods, Fenugreek, Fennel, Tamarind, Curry leaves, Chilli powder, Cinnamon, Lemongrass and a few others.

I then helped Sarojina cut up the vegetables that we were using this afternoon. These constituted Potatoes, Leeks, Banana plant, Aubergine, Tomatoes for individual curries and Garlic and Onion, which are used for all curries. Sri Lankan food and traditional cooking is different to Indian. I am sure that India has a massive variety of regional cooking and recipes that bear little resemblance to the dishes in our curry houses in England. One of the main differences between Indian and Sri Lankan cooking is the use of Coconut oil rather than Ghee to heat the pan.

The kitchen was clean and well stocked. The cooking pots we used were made of Clay. Everything was very well organised and an older lady who works for Sarojina was helping. It came across as an experienced, capable double act with me in the way! After we had prepared the veg we added the coconut oil and began to cook over the portable gas stoves. We started with the Chicken curry because this would take the longest to cook. We heated up the oil and cooked the chicken adding spices before and during cooking. Whilst the chicken was browning we boiled the potatoes. Coconut milk was added just before cooking time finished to allow it a few moments to bind together with the ingredients. This process was followed for each of the 6 curries we cooked.

When the Potato & Leek and Chicken curries we re cooked we made the aubergine and banana plant curries and then two more. A lot of salt was added at the end. We cleaned up as the cooking finished and in a couple of hours all of the food was prepared to eat later. This was an excellent lesson and Sarojina also told me which brands of spices to buy in the supermarket before I head home for Christmas.

I sat back in my room later and had a smoke and then went out for a late afternoon walk. I fancied a beer so I popped into the New Chinese hotel and headed for the bar. There was a barman kitted out in a fine costume waiting for some customers. I was the only one. It was a plush setting and there was a billiard room attached so I had a beer and knocked some balls around and occasionally into pockets. It was eerily quiet with no-one around so I tried chatting to the barman but his English was limited and he did not seem too keen so I headed back to the guesthouse for a nice evening eating most of the curries we had cooked and talking until quite late with Sarojina and a friend of hers who was staying.

The next morning I woke refreshed and a little late after a 9-hour sleep. I had breakfast with Sarojina and bought a few copies of the excellent cookbook written by Harry Haas of Dutch ancestry who used to run the Woodlands network before he died. The book has plenty of recipes and descriptions of spices but also looks, in a leftfield way, at the links between the islands history and culture with its food and the connections between the moods and behaviour of people to the way that food is prepared and eaten. It is a lovely curious book presenting Sri Lankan food and cookery in a very compelling manner.

I packed up my bags and jumped in a tuk-tuk to the station to catch a train the short distance to Ella. I arrived at the sleepy Bandarawela station about an hour before the train was due and sat down on one of the large wooden benches to relax and take in the scene. Train stations in Sri Lanka seem a hive of activity. They are used as pedestrian walkways. I saw many groups of people using the lines and adjacent ground as walkways to the town. Women in white dresses using small umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun, brothers and sisters dressed up for school, clutching their books and workmen who would sit opposite the station on Girders resting before continuing their journey. I was happy watching the world go by here.

A couple of lads passed me and one of them came and started chatting and telling me what they had been making at school. His mates were laughing. He asked me what I had in my bags and I told him lots of things for the next few weeks. He looked at me as if I was crazy for needing so many things. I think he was right. My pack is full and heavy and it is literally a bit of a drag carrying it around 12 different destinations in 24 days. I will look to cut down what I take to India in January. It was now getting close to the trains arrival but an announcement came out on the speaker and some commotion and chatter between the few people waiting. One of the lads told me that the train was delayed but was not sure for how long. A group of teenage girls walked up and passed me and smiled shyly at me so I smiled back. They continued on their way and stopped and waited and then came back down past me and smiled and laughed so I said Hello and they chatted with me for a few minutes and then went off on their way at the bidding of one of them.

The delay was not looking promising and I had already spent a very pleasant 90 minutes lounging here, relaxing and slowing down. So I decided to speed things up a bit and got a tuk-tuk to Ella. It’s not far, only about 15km away. A lad jumped in the car with me and I presumed he was a friend of the driver. He kept asking me for some clothes, though he looked well dressed to me. Fortunately amongst the many items in my bag I had bought some t-shirts to give away so I gave one to him and one to the driver. The trip was short but spectacular going up and down massive hills until we arrived at Ella and just before the train line we took a right up an extremely steep winding hill towards the Little Rawana Ella Falls on the way up the guesthouse I had booked for the next 2 nights, The Ambiente.

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