Colombo and Kandy, tea, elephants and dancing :-)

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In Colombo now and off to find our first Sri Lanka-couchsurfer Got a mobile phone number with Dialog, which I'd heard was supposed to be the best, and also turned out to be the most popular, if you count the number of Dialog shops available - it only cost 110 rupees (100 for the card, 10 for two passport copies), but it wouldn't be activated until the next day. I also bought 200 rupees worth of talking time, and that easily lasted the whole trip. Definitely worth buying! So good to have.
But for that moment, the card still wasn't activated, so we had to use a phone box to call Yashasvin, our new host. That was rather cheap too, the call cost about 15 rupees.

We had to take two buses, the 103 to Borella, and from Borella the 174 to Thalawathugoda. Getting to Borella was no problem, or at least so we thought, we paid 9 rupees, and after a while the bus attendant started saying "passport" to us. We didn't really understand what he wanted, and we didn't want to give our passports to him, so we left it at that. Five minutes later he told us that we were at Borella and had to get off. OK, thank you, got out - and no sight of the 174. Hmm.. Walked around a bit, tired and feeling the heat, and decided to ask at a shop. This, Borella? Nonono, Borella - that way. Aha.
Not sure if the guy was angry we didn't want to show our passports or what was going on, but we got on another 103, finally made it to Borella, found the 174 and after a few pronunciation difficulties (Thalawathugoda) paid our 15 rupees and made it out there. Called Yashasvin again, told him we were at Pussala meat shop and sat down to wait.

Little did we know that Pussala meat shop is a chain, and Yashasvin was sitting further up, at another Pussala's and waiting for us. It wasn't until after a while, when we called him, that we found out. In the mean time the nice girls at the meat shop gave us some of their water to fill up our water bottle, and we met two nice Sri Lankan Australians, who gave us their number and told us to call if our host never showed up. He did, however, show up after the second phone call and the misunderstanding was explained. We bought some nice Sri Lankan food, went home and ate it, and went to sleep (at 3PM). Just a snooze :-)

In the evening we went for a drive and dinner with Yashasvin, and learnt 3 important things about Sri Lanka.
1: It's not legal to drink in public. Most restaurants aren't licensed, you have to buy alcohol at special bottle shops, and drink at your home.
2: They eat cows. Cows are only holy in the hindu-religion, thus, Sri Lankans eat beef. Most of them, anyway. The most popular meats are chicken and fish.
3: They tip. Tips are given at the end of meals, and asked for at several other occations. Sadly. Tips make me uncomfortable. I think you have to have grown up in a tipping country to feel OK with it.

The food was good and coconutty, and we had Elephant Ginger Beer to wash it down. Very nice drink, very gingery. Yashasvin told us that his ex-wife Avril, who still lived in the same house, would be going into Colombo the next morning and offered us a lift. Yes please! We went to bed early and got up in the morning to go explore.

Talking to Avril on the way to the city was very interesting. She gave us an interesting insight into the recent presidential election, the civil war that just ended and life in Sri Lanka. She was of Dutch heritage and Christian, and told us that there are about 30.000 Dutch still left in Sri Lanka, many only 4th or 5th generation in the country, but hardly any able to speak Dutch.
Everywhere in town we saw soldiers with AK47s and other automatic guns, it seemed that every street corner had a couple of soldiers behind sandbags with their big guns. Avril assured us that they are just positioned there for safety, that nothing happens and that there is now way less road control and soldiers than there were just 8 months ago, but I couldn't help it feel a bit nervous at the sight of the guns. It did seem that Colombo was very safe and had very low crime rates, though - the city practically shut down in the evenings...

Our first stop of the day was Laksala, the government handicrafts/souvenier shop. We'd decided to get our souvenir-shopping overwith, mainly out of fear of touts and rip-offs but also to get it out of our heads. The prices at Laksala were reasonable and the stuff varied and nice. You can take bus 138 there from Colombo Fort for about 9 rupees. We looked a lot and noted down prices of stuff, but didn't buy anything as we wanted to check out some more shops first.

After this shop we went to Lakpahana, another souvenier shop up the road. The walk up there was hot, the shop didn't seem as well stocked, and we were close to shopping-dead, so we decided to walk back and search for "The Cricket Club" instead, in the hope that they might show cricket and serve meat pies. I did buy a nice holder for my sunglasses though :-)
After asking a few people for directions and walking in circles in the heat, we finally found the Cricket Club on Queen St. It wasn't actually that far from where we started, we'd just walked too far in the wrong direction before asking anyone.
They did indeed have the cricket on, South Africa vs. India, last day of a 5 day game. Josh was instantly sold. We had nice pints of lion beer for 290 rupees and enjoyed 2 funny looking meat pies, a shepherd's pie and a drover's lamb pie. They were about 700-800 rupees. It was an enjoyable afternoon, and a pleasant way to escape the heat. We got a bit of a shock though, when we received the bill. We hadn't noticed the "extra service charge" written at the bottom of the menu.. Still, we ended up paying only about 4000 rupees for 3 beers each and a pie each, which - all things considered - is quite a good price.

After that we decided to go to the town hall, so we got a tuk tuk there for about 250 RP. It wasn't far. The building was quite nice from the outside, and very interesting from the inside. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but I still managed to sneak a little picture of some of the many cats inside the courtyard. One noticeable thing about the place was the lack of computers. On all the desks in the all the rooms we saw huge stacks of papers and files- the whole scene reminded me of the 70's police station in "Life on Mars". They had a couple of (very old) computers, but the main thing seemed to pe paper.

We then decided that we wanted a glimpse of the Indian Ocean, and set off in a tuk tuk to find a place to have a look. We got out at Rotunda Gardens and went to have a look down by some train tracks, near a soldier in a wooden tower with a gun. A man came over and told us that we were not allowed to take photos near the railroad tracks. He then proceeded to tell us that it was impossible to walk along the ocean in Colombo, and then wouldn't we like to visit this amazing temple with him?
Josh had heard about these kinds of scams before, so we said no thank you and walked away, a bit disheartened that we wouldn't be able to sit by the Indian Ocean.

It wasn't long before we came upon a long promenade, a kilometer-long grass field where all the locals where sitting down, looking out on.... the Indian Ocean! Well there you go, never trust people who want to take you to temples!
We hung out there for a while, eating Sri Lankan olives (there's a reason why they're not famous) chillied pineapples and old prawns on tomatoes. As it was getting dark, we decided to head back. We walked straight North through a heavily guarded area, out again and around until we finally spotted the train station and the bus. We were too tired to eat anything, and didn't make it back until around ten, absolutely knackered.

The next day we went to Colombo with Avril again, but not without stopping at a fabulous pastry-shop, fittingly named "Fab", close to the city centre. It was cheap and absolutely delicious! We had sausage rolls, chicken pies, samosas, cakes and even chocolate fudge! We munched and munched, put the rest in a bag for lunch and yet paid only about 600 rupees in total. They should have a shop like that on every street in the world! Yum!

Then we went to Laksala again, and after thorough discussion and comparison with our chart from the day before, we bought 7000 rupees worth of things - a little wooden elephant, a wall-hanging, an elephant-picture made of real minerals, a wooden mask and several gift items that I shall not yet reveal. We also found a really nice sapphire-bracelet with blue and white sapphires and gold for my mother. She paid :-)

After shopping (which all had to go into a 400 rupee new sports bag of bad quality) we headed straight for the train station on bus 138, for our train to Kandy at 3.30PM. It was hot at the station, and there were no seats outside, so we decided to go into a little drinks-shop and have some refreshing drinks. It turned out to be a bad idea, as it was even hotter inside than outside.
After a while we spotted a bench outside, jumped away and promised to bring our Elephant Ginger Beer bottles back later.
Before the train arrived, this deaf person kept trying to ask us which carriage we were on. Finally I complied and he pointed straight to where we were, indicating that the carriage would arrive right there. We had already asked some people where the observation carriage was, and were thus sitting in that position for the very same reason.
When the train arrived, the observation carriage turned out to be in the other end of the station. They hadn't been able to turn the train around, so we were seated in our observation carriage - our panorama view obscured by the engine.. Hmm.. So much for 1st class!
Straight after we got on, the deaf guy came into our carriage and asked us for money, showing us a list of people's names, all stating that they had given him 1500 or 2000 RP. Well, I really don't like begging, and I don't like giving tips for a service we neither asked for nor really got, so we didn't give him anything. Afterwards I felt really bad, but on the other hand I don't particularly want to support this way of making a living... Hmm..

We had bought pop corn for the ride, and they were salty! What a pleasant surprise! It is very near impossible to find pop corn that aren't sweet in China, so we were very happy.
The train ride was VERY interesting, but after a few K's we were actually quite happy that we weren't riding backwards, because the train ride was one of the bumpiest rides I've ever been on. Even facing the front we both felt a little nauseous. The first part of the ride was in built up areas, and it was fun to watch people walking on the rail road tracks or playing cricket outside their little huts. The second part of the trip, after about an hour or so, was stunningly beautiful - especially on the right hand side. The side we would have been on if the car had been facing backwards. But the nice Sri Lankan couple sitting on the right hand side offered to let us have their seats, which was very very good of them. Got some great snapshots after that!

At about 6 PM, we arrived at Peradeniya, just before Kandy, where our CouchSurfer Ajith had told us to get off. The train only stopped twice between Colombo and Kandy, so it was relatively quick.
We then headed straight for his lovely home, where we met his beautiful wife Nadira and their two boys, of whom I only have a faint idea how to pronounce their names, and thus will not dare try to spell them :-)
He told us that the water supply had been shut down - but he'd already arranged for himself and two dirty travellers to take a shower at his friend's place.
After a nice shower we shared a bottle of Arrak (Sri Lankan coconut whiskey) with Ajith and his two friends, talking merrily and enjoying the pleasant Kandy evening - it wasn't sweltering hot!
At about 9 we drove back to Nadira and the kids, where we enjoyed an absolutely delicous Sri Lankan home cooked dinner. There was daal (a kind of mashed, curried lentles; served with almost every Sri Lankan meal), curry, pol sambal (grated coconut and chilli), special pancakes for eating, and all sorts of yummyness! We ate with our hands, of course :-)

On our first full day in Kandy, Ajith offered to take us around to some of the things we wanted to see. We just had to pay for petrol, and conviniently got to see all the further away distances. It was about 2000 RP pr day. Bus connections out there are not very good.

One of my must-sees was a tea factory. Ajith said the best ones are located near Nuwara Eliya, some 70 K's mountain riding to the south of Kandy. We got up early, had breakfast at about 7 and headed along on the windy mountain road. Didn't take us long to start feeling a bit queasy, so we were thankful we didn't choose to go by bus.

After about 2 hours of beautiful tea-scenery, waterfalls and mountain views - we made it to "Blue Fields Tea Factory", an old British factory. We had a very interesting tour of the whole place, and I was fascinated to see how much the process of making black tea actually resembles that of making oolong.
Skip the next part if you don't want to hear too much blabbering about tea.

All three major kinds of "real" tea (black tea, oolong tea and green tea, not counting herbal tea, rooibos and the like) essentially come from the same plant, camelia sinensis. Different climates (and ultimately different brances of the tea-plant family) make it possible to make different types. Hot climates like Sri Lanka are perfect for black tea, which becomes very aromatic and full of flavour. The green tea they grow in Sri Lanka is grown only for "medical purposes" - it tastes very bitter.
Colder, mountaineous climates in the middle regions of China and Japan are on the other hand perfect for green tea, but they wouldn't be able to make aromatic black tea in those areas.
Southern China and Taiwan make great oolong teas, from the green leafed tieguanyin to the darker taiwanese oolongs.
Plucking: Green tea usually uses the top buds, the tiny ones. Black and oolong teas use the couple of leaves surrounding the top buds. They all use the tender shoots of the tea bush and they all agree that 2-3 year old bushes are the best. Most tieguanyin bushes are replaced after 7-8 years, whereas the black teas we saw near Nuwara Elia are replaced after 30 years. All plucking is done by hand (well, not sure about tea bag tea, but the tea I've seen anyway)
After plucking, green tea goes through only two more steps whereas black and oolong go through four steps.
Green tea: 1. Steaming/Panfiring to destroy the enzymes and stop oxidation, 2. Roll drying (breaking and drying leaves), ta-daa! Full of the antioxidant catechins.
Black/oolong tea: 1. Withering, 2. Rolling, 3. "Fermentation" - which actually means oxidation (no fungi or other things are introduced) to convert the catechins into theaflavenols and thearubigins, which are also antioxidants, 4. Drying in an oven. The main difference between black and oolong tea is the time that it is allowed to "ferment" (and of course the climate)

The main difference I saw in the black tea plantation from the green/oolong tea plantations I've visited in China was the amount of automatization. In China, everything is done by hand (OK, I'm sure there are factories too, but not where I've been..). The farmers produce their own tea and they take pride in what they produce.
At the factory in Sri Lanka the (almost all female) workers were shovelling huge amounts of leaves onto big machines. I could imagine the feeling among the people when these Brits with their high hats just came along and converted all the fields into factories and all the farmers into factory workers. Well, it is Sri Lankan owned today, but I don't think much has changed in terms of equality between the boss and the workers.
It still was very interesting, we learnt a lot and got to taste some black tea. The black tea in Sri Lanka is divided into 5 categories, Orange Pekoe (OP), Pekoe, Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP), Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings (BOPF) and Dust. It is the same tea, but divided into size, OP being the biggest and mildest, Dust the smallest and strongest.
Most English and western people drink BOP (Earl Grey, English Breakfast), Sri Lankans drink BOPF or Dust and drown it in milk and sugar - I definitely preferred OP, it had a much more natural flavour. The green tea I tried, like I said, tasted very bitter. The boss said they only make it for medical purposes.
As I've gotten my father hooked on green and oolong tea, I felt like I had to make it up to my mother, and bought her a pack of OP, Pekoe and BOP for her morning tea.

Over and done with the tea, I felt like visiting another factory but we had elephants to see! On the way we stopped at "Tea Fortress" in Kandy, one of the many businesses Ajith had a hand in. We had a nice cup of tea, and I bought some porcelain salt and pepper shaker-elephants with OP in them. And some BOP for making chai at home. On we drove to Pinnawalla elephant orphanage!
On the way it became too much for me with the sun shining on my head through the back window and the driving on crazy roads, so I had to get out and say hello to Ulrich, as we say in Danish.

We made it to Pinnawalla in the scorching hot sun, and we were in for a mild heart attack when we saw the difference in price for locals and foreigners. 100 RP for locals, nice and cheap, maybe 200 for foreigners would have been fair, but what did they charge??? 2000! TWO THOUSAND RUPEES! An insane price when you consider the cost of everything else in the country. Apparently the government not only accepts but encourages this kind of foreigner-charging, alledgedly because they have more money. Well, what about the Indians, the Laotians, the expats on Chinese wages?? I think the policy is flawed, and if escalated will keep tourists from going there. Why fly so far if the holiday costs as much as a holiday in Greece?
Anyway, maybe I wouldn't have been so upset with the price if it wasn't for the fact that all the guards inside kept prompting us to touch the elephant, pose for photos and then give them a tip. I touched a fellow who'd stepped on a land mine and was limping - great that the orphanage exists for elephants like this - for like ½ a second, and the guy said "where's my tip?"
We didn't tip, and later found out that it is actually illegal for these guys to ask for tips, so all good.

The elephants themselves were of course nice to look at, beautiful creatures. They were all gathered at the foot of a hill for feeding, and we could have stayed all day to watch them - if it wasn't for the sun and the guards yelling at us if we tried to go closer than 500 metres.
We also saw a milk feeding of some baby elephants, but that was more circus than anything, so we quickly walked away and bought some nice paper made out of elephant dung! Is that awesome recycling or what?

We then met Ajith outside the shop. We were going down to the river a bit later to watch the elephants bathe, but first we walked into a leather shop to get some nice sandals in Sri Lankan leather (about 1000 RP) and I fell for a leather hand bag as well :-) As we were looking at leather, Josh suddenly yelled: Look, elephants! And right he was - right outside the leather shop, on an alley no more than 5 metres wide, 80 elephants (or thereabouts) were thundering past. It was an AMAZING experience to stand there, only centimeters away from the huge, beautiful creatures. The leather shop is definitely recommended as a vantage point for when the elephants pass by! They do control the tickets before you go down the alley though, so no escaping the 2000 RP.
We sat at a hotel (to the left of the alley) and sipped juices as we watched the elephants bathe. It was beautiful, and definitely worth the ticket price. Photos are uploaded :-)

Elephants all bathed we returned to Kandy. Before the cultural dance show in the evening, we just had time to hop past the "Tea Fortress" again, to see a video about the mining of gems and hear about the differences between the different stones. Sapphires in all colours and shapes (I particularly liked the star sapphire, which is white-bluish in colour, cut on only one side and has a star made out of lines in the right light.. Guess it needs to be seen!), pink rubies, moonstones, topaz etc. etc. Very interesting!
Couldn't help but buy some earrings after seeing all the trouble that goes into finding the stones :-)

After the show we went to Kandy itself and saw the cultural dance show. It was supposed to cost 350 RP, but we got caught up in a Polish tour group on the way up, and even though I first didn't accept it, their tour leader - who was Polish - looked me in the eyes and insisted that I take a Polish programme, and thus gained free entrance. I must have looked very Polish :-) Hopefully it didn't mean that anyone from the group didn't get to see the show.
The backbeat of the show was these Sri Lankan drums, drummed on with both arms from start to finish. They did do it in teams, which I think was a good idea. The dancing was interesting, the music entrancing but the highlight was the acrobatics during the show and the fire-walking after the show.
To get a good spot for the fire-walking I recommend going straight from the show up the balcony outside, where you can get a great birds eye view. We didn't, and we didn't really have a great angle to see stuff, but it was still fascinating to watch.

Ajith then suggested we go to take an Aryuvedic massage - yes please! We paid 1500 RP each and had a head massage with herbal oils, a full body massage with different herbal oils, a good steam in a wooden "coffin" and a nice shower. Amazing! Recommended. I'm not sure exactly where we went though, as it was away from the main road, down some twists and turns. Ajith said it's popular with westerners, who come there to learn about Aryuvedic medicine for a few months. Cool!

We then went back to Ajith's place, had another lovely home cooked meal and a saree-testing. The whole trip I was so fascinated with the sarees worn by all the women. Such a lovely shape, and so beautiful with all those colours on the street. So I'd decided to get one, and therefore got Nadira to teach me how to tie one up. Basically a saree is just a 6 metre piece of cloth, so it's complicated!

We went to bed early, preparing to get up early to go visit Ajith's mum and the mines in Ratnapura!

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Comments

[aloka]

passport!
when bus conductor says passport he's not really asking for ur passport, before borella there's another bus halt called "punchi borella" (could say little borella) that's where the passport office is. probably thought two foreginers going to get some work done (extend visa n etc) there.