Sri Lanka Gem of a Vacation

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January 31st 2016

Published: January 31st 2016

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GeorgeKevinBelarus

Camping

Rouging it in the wilderness

Day 1 - Kevin and I arrived in Sri Lanka this morning and made a full day of it... we were picked up at the airport by our driver, Raj, and whisked away to the countryside through teak groves and rice fields, stopping for a delicious Sri Lankan breakfast with many spicy dishes and hoppers (red rice noodles formed in the shape of a pancake) scooped up with your right hand - YES, YOU GET TO EAT WITH YOUR HAND! Along the way we also took time to take pictures and drink fresh king coconut water straight from the machete-hacked nut. Raj loves that we love spicy foods and he continually stopped to introduce us to his favorite street food treats, including fried dahl, boiled egg and dahl cutlet balls, curries, and string hoppers and fruits – guava (hard green), lychee, coconut, red banana, mango.

A brief rest at our gorgeous Arika Villa hotel near Dambula and a walk through the rural village where we stopped the bread tuk tuk and indulged in Sri Lankan pizza and a curry potato samosa as we walked back to the hotel. Yummy! A quick swim to cool off and then the unexpected highlight

Biking around the ruins of Polinaruwa

We were promised a bike ride so we followed the car. :)

of the day... an elephant ride! She loves bananas and was constantly reaching back with her trunk looking for more.

Day 2 – Up early for a busy day of climbing Sigiraya Rock (ancient fortress palace, about 500 AD) and biking through the ancient kingdom capital city ruins of Polinaruwa. Lines of people snaking up the hundreds of stone steps to the Lion entrance near the top of Sigiraya. The final climb was up a metal staircase fastened to the steep rock wall. The final steps led to the flat top of the rock with evidence of pools and foundations of palace rooms – and a stunning 360 degree view of jungle, mountains, and sky.

A couple hour drive to Polinaruwa ruins to meet our guide and bike and walk through the ancient ruins, learning about the many stupas built to house the sacred tooth relic of Buddha, the huge Buddha statues hewn out of a granite outcrop, including the interesting and beautiful reclining Buddha.

Day 3 – Tolerance – the word we used to describe the coexistence of the many religions and cultures that Raj explained to us: Berger, Christian, Hindu (Tamil), Buddhist (Singalese), Jha (Malay).

Polenaruwa

Stupa

Journey to Kandy with a stop at one of the many spice gardens lining the highway. These living spice shelves are harvested mainly for their oils, including lotus, jasmine, temple flower. Kevin cooked a tomato curry dish and we had a brief but relaxing massage.

Our resort hotel was reminiscent of the one in Jamaica. They are huge complexes of rooms with beautiful, but mediocre buffet food and planned evening activities. Not our cup of tea. We braved the traffic of Kandy to go to the tourist complex of wood workers, jewelry salesroom (interesting gem mining video), and cultural show with drumming, talented dancers, and fire walking.

Day 4 – Kites – Raj indulged me in my interest of the local fascination of kites. “Kite flying is a sickness.” Raj once flew a kite for 5 days when he was a kid – “You get it in the second air layer to keep it up.” There are many traditional kite shapes: peacock, bat, snake, crow (flapping), frog (powerful, no wind required). I bought a red and white bat kite from a lady along the roadside for 70 Sr (about 50 cents).

Today, we went to the

Tuk Tuk Bakery

We heard the music first. Then he came around the corner. I chased him down for Sri Lankan pizza and Samosa. Yumm!

elephant orphanage. Kevin loved seeing the younger elephants playing together and getting fed bottle after bottle. I was in a funk, saddened by the “circus environment,” and use of chains and pikes to control the elephants. I had the feeling you get when you go to the pound. It is a necessary facility taking on unwanted elephants and then trying to find homes for them. We enjoyed watching their daily bath in the nearby river.

We stopped by a simple, but excellent railroad museum near Kandy. It is not on the tourist route so the friendly woman enthusiastically toured us through the entire collection while Raj translated. We loved pretending to drive the train. Next stop was a 70 minute massage that was heavenly and included a steam bath in a coffin-like box with only your head extending out.

We had an introduction to Sri Lanka’s medical system. Raj hadn’t been feeling well because he had an infection in his left arm. We made four attempts to visit a doctor. The public hospital was packed and the wait could be hours. Private offices are crowded too. Finally, we found a doctor that would see him without a huge

Beach

Morning walk on the beach

wait. Doctor visit and prescription medicines less than $5.

Kandy traffic is terrible. The few narrow winding streets in this mountain city result in stop and go traffic. It was full moon Poya day, the beginning of the five month Buddhist religious observance, and the next day was Christmas Eve. This means that you can’t purchase alcohol for two whole days and big lines at the liquor shops. Still it was a festive bunch and they cheerfully directed us to the shorter tourist line. The Sri Lankan people are very friendly. We enjoyed their hospitality throughout our entire trip.

Day 5 – Raj’s daily greeting – We would meet Raj every morning and he would greet us with the traditional Sri Lankan greeting of a hug and touching cheeks on both sides.

We were tired of hotel buffet food and wanted to get back to the street foods. Raj asked the locals who directed us to a local favorite for Khotu – a dish that is prepared on a large hot plate with much loud chopping with two metal spatulas as it cooks. You can find the restaurants by listening for the chopping sound.

Day 6

Elephant bath time

The best part of the elephant orphanage was the daily walk to the river for a bath.

– The journey soundtrack – Raj’s thumb drive was loaded with an eclectic mix that provided the soundtrack for our journey: Elvis (Raj’s dad played the guitar and his childhood memories were filled with the likes of Elvis), Arabic music, Riana (Raj’s favorite), Julio Iglesias, Happy, Gangnam Style, contemporaries like Pitbull Let It Rain Over Me, Vin Diesel’s tribute to Fast and Furious’ Paul Walker. These became part of the fabric of our trip, interwoven with the sights, smells and tastes of Sri Lanka.

We stopped by one of the many tea plantation factories. There are many because they are within walking distance of the surrounding plantations which are picked on a rotating 7 day schedule. The factory is tall because they use gravity to move the tea leaves through the process: wilting, crushing, cutting, fermentation, drying, grading. The tea shop served a good cup of tea with some chocolate cake. As much as we hoped that tea drunk in Sri Lanka from fresh leaves would be delicious we still find it to be bitter and in need of sugar and milk (and chocolate cake) to enjoy it.

Up, up, up to the cool mountain village of Nuwara

First Sri Lankan meal

String hoppers and curry

Eliya with a lunch stop at the summit at Hot Edge. Delicious local food again. Into town and the much anticipated Hill Club stay and Christmas dinner. British traditions continue at this historic club - after 7 pm all male guests are required to wear a coat and tie. So I got to rummage through the borrowed coat and tie closet looking for just the right attire. We enjoyed the company of a young Kiwi/English couple. Black gloved waiters. Rack of Australian lamb, handmade ice cream filled chocolates served in a blinky light ice bowl – yummm!

Day 7 – Raj shared the recording he made of the snoring driver that kept him awake all night.

We stopped by the train station because we were promised a train ride. The travel agent did not follow through on this promise so Raj tried at every stop along the way to get us a ride. No 1^st or 2^nd class tickets, but possibly 3^rd class standing the next day. This would be the day after the trek up Adam’s peak. Hmmm? Would that be a good idea? Maybe?

The drive to Adam’s Peak (Sri Prada) today revealed a significant

Roadside market

Refreshing coconut water

Adam’s Peak jutting into the sky from the surrounding mountains. We had not prepared for this 3 hour walk in any way and now as I looked at this amazingly steep mountain I was beginning to feel a twinge of uncertainty. Kevin’s enthusiasm prevailed.

We checked into hotel Slightly Chilled (probably named after the shower) and walked around the village at the base of the trail. We would start the journey in the middle of the night so we wanted to make sure we knew the route to the trailhead. Adam’s Peak is a significant Buddhist pilgrimage site and the beginning of the trail snaked through dozens of stalls set up to sell water, trinkets, and sweet foods to supplement the pilgrimage. We passed an elderly woman returning from her pilgrimage – “Thank god, I see the bus!” Would we be saying that tomorrow?

Lunch of noodle khotu, egg khotu, tomato and cheese roti. We ate looking up the mountain. Dun, dun, dun!

Back at the hotel we decided to go to bed early as we had to get up at 1 am to start the hike. This close to the equator it gets dark at around

Elephant Ride

Kevin got an elephant shower for a banana.

6 pm. As we peaked out our windows we could see the lighted trail up the mountain side. Yes, the trail is lit the entire 7 kilometers to the top. The temple at the top glowed momentarily as the clouds moved in to obscure it. We dozed fitfully and got up for a quick dinner before going back to sleep.

Day 8 - Up at 1 am. You have to start early to be at the top for the sunrise and the spectacular shadow cast by Adam’s Peak on the surrounding hills. Raj at the top of the stairs in his pajamas ready to drive us to the trail head.

As we started up the trail we seemed to be mostly alone, but soon found many other climbers. Shortly, we encountered the first of the 5,500 stair steps up to the top. It was a tough 3 hour climb starting gradually up, then many steps of various heights and finally very steep steps requiring a handrail to help pull you up. We made it to the top a 5 am. Rain started just before the top. The hike had started quite warm and we were soon sweating profusely.

Sigaraya Rock Palace

As we worked our way to the top it became cooler and we put on sweatshirts. When the rain started we added our down jackets.

At the temple entrance we removed our shoes as required and walked in our socks that were soon soaked and making squishy noises. (Note to self – next time we climb Adam’s Peak bring an extra pair of socks. Kevin says “no next time!”) We walked through the temple housing the footprint of Buddha, then huddled against the rocks at the temple base to stay out of the worst of the wind and mist. We waited one hour for the sunrise and famous shadow that never appeared.

Disappointed, we decided to start our 2 hour descent. Only we couldn’t get to the exit because of the morning procession of flute and drums and special candles and flowers and gold cloth-covered plates circling the temple, and pilgrims surging forward to touch the items and pray. After several failed attempts to circumvent the procession we worked our way (a bit of shoving involved) to the exit. Many other people decided to descend at the same time so it was slow going at first. The stairs

Sigaraya

Ready for the climb to the top.

were even harder going down and it took sheer willpower to step down the lower portion of the mountain. At the bottom we saw Raj – “Thank god, I see Raj!”

We ate breakfast then braved the two flights of stairs down to our room to shower (remember, slightly chilled) then nap for a few hours. We drove several hours through tea plantations, then small farms of leeks and other vegetables. After inspecting and rejecting several tourist restaurants we stopped at a small roadside local restaurant for rice, curries of chicken and potato. Just what we wanted!

Driving in Sri Lanka is slow! We drove less than 100 km, but it took the rest of the day – narrow, winding roads, all modes of transportation with different speeds: walking, bicycles, motorcycles, tuk tuks, buses, trucks, tractors… all making for chaotic driving – and police waiting after “no passing” solid line markings to give tickets to fill their annual ‘ticket targets’. Oh, and did I mention that we stop frequently to sample the street foods?

We arrived at Mount Heaven hotel near Ella in pouring rain. Our room wall was natural boulders as the hotel is built into

Lion Gate

Ready for the last climb up the steps of Sigaraya

the mountainside, descending from road level. We were horrified to learn that we were two flights of stairs down. With our Adam’s Peak-traumatized legs we were walking one step at a time sideways, each favoring one “worst” knee. The view from our balcony was across the Ella Gap with an amazing view to unspoiled hillside green, so green it hurt your eyes.

A buffet dinner of Indian food. I ordered a mango lassi (a favorite of mine) – YUCK! They made it with buffalo curd and it tasted like musky goat milk. (More on how we learned to love curd later.)

Day 9 - Leisure in Ella – Sleep in, coffee on the balcony, overlooking Ella Gap, birds singing, river sounds from the canyon below.

Into the village of Ella to find a massage spa. TripAdvisor led us to Hela Osu. After some searching and one near miss with a spa that was “definitely not recommended,” we found the sign and… Yikes! More stairs! The rustic place and “the boss” were welcoming. We decided on the 2 hour package with full body massage, steam bath (in coffin), oil poured on forehead, and herbal sauna. We left relaxed

Lion Gate

and rejuvenated. We flowed down the street to Chill Café to try their famous lumprai (curries and rice wrapped in a banana leaf) and beer. Yum. Yum. Raj insisted that I try the curd again – at the Curd Shop. It was very good with honey (treacle) served in a sundae dish. Home to relax and have a cocktail. Which leads to the ice incident. I spent an hour trying to get ice. Several visits to the front desk and phone calls: “I will send it right down,” hang up, “Ok, I’ll send it,” “We don’t have any,” “It took long because I had to break it.” I asked Raj to intervene and we finally got some. By then I really needed a drink.

Day 10 - We left the hotel at 9 am to hike outside the village of Ella. Raj drove us to meet our local guide to the beautiful Demodara nine arch bridge and to see the train we didn’t get to ride. We walked with him to his modest home (with one of the cleanest toilets in Sri Lanka… and most toilets were very clean). The best thing about his home is that it is

The Last Steps

We made it to the top of Sigaraya Rock.

situated on a bench overlooking the bridge, so they have capitalized on this location. We sat under a little thatched pagoda while waiting for the train. His father made ginger tea and served crackers and small bananas. We chatted with a couple from Washington, D.C. With great excitement we spotted the train across the valley and took our places to be photographed with the train in the background.

Raj helped us arrange a cooking class with Sujatha of Jade Green and it was definitely a highlight of our trip. We met her at 4 pm, put on our aprons and were quickly introduced to all the ingredients for making six curries, including okra, and beautiful purple and white streaked eggplant. We took photos and copied down the directions as Sujatha scooped the ingredients in. The cooking smells were intoxicating. First, she made coconut milk from the scraped coconut and water blended for 2 minutes. The milk from the first blending is heavy milk (thicker) and the second time processed is light milk. After all the cooking we sat down with Raj (who earlier had joked that he may not be able to eat our cooking – he