We were lucky to get to Sri Lanka last week, around Christmas time. You may call it the best time to be there: though it might seem hot , it’s hotter during the other months of the year. For the whole of our trip we hired a cab with a guide cum driver cum safety advisor making it very convenient for us. And I think that’s the best thing to do, considering public transport is not really effective and it can be unsafe to venture out on your own, at late hours, especially if you’re a foreigner. Sinhalese sounds nothing like any of our Indian languages and not everyone there understands English.
Kandy
Kandy, also known as the "hill capital" was our first destination. Most hotels here have a good hill view, and this place gifted with nature’s beauty, is a prime center of spirituality.
Pinnawala
About an hour away from Kandy is the world famous elephant orphanage which has attracted researchers and laymen alike. What initially started off as a tourism venture is now an educational and conservation center,and now houses about seventy abandoned or orphaned elephants and has been the birth place of a few. These elephants have either been abandoned, or injured in terrorist attacks or have suffered attacks from other predators. We saw a blind tusker, an elephant which was crippled in a bomb blast, and one more whose ear was eaten up by a leopard. Sorry as you might feel for them, this place comes as a boon - and with my little knowledge of animal mind-reading,I can tell they are happy! I think too happy considering some have even given birth to their young in this place(er..) and it's fun to see the mothers suckling their young. At nine in the morning, there is a baby-feeding ritual. The orphan kids are fed bottle milk, and its way too cute. The young ones are very naughty. It's great fun to see them giving the mahouts a run! We even saw a couple of them playing football with an orange when suddenly one of them smashed it within no time! After which is the bathing ritual when all these bulky creatures cross the road (elephant-zebra crossing?!) to get to the river on the other side. Once there, these aanes have a ball…
Gardens at Perdeniya
About six kilometers from Kandy is a nice botanical garden, huge in dimensions, has some nice plants and trees and is good for a walk if the weather is pleasant. There is a very colourful orchid room which has a variety of orchids. A stream also flows close by. Nice place to see, but not something I’d recommend if you don’t have much time!
Tooth relic temple
The highlight of Kandy, this amazing temple is situated on the bank of a lake built by the last king, Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe. It houses the tooth of Lord Buddha picked up by an Arahantha monk during his cremation, and brought to Sri Lanka by Princess Hemamala. With many hands wanting to destroy it, it changed many destinations and finally came to be enshrined in the temple at Kandy. The temple has beautiful interiors, some very pretty deities, bell shaped shrines and huge elephant tusks .Close to the temple is the cultural centre, where we got to watch the cultural show comprising of dances, depiction of scenes from mythology,songs with loud drum beats, and some fire eating and fire walking. Not that these are new to Indians, but it still gives me goosebumps each time I see these gory scenes.
Kandy also boasts of many lapidaries. One can get very good deals on gemstones on bargaining, but must be sure that it's an authentic buy.
Nuwara Eliya
From Kandy, we drove to Nuwara Eliya, about 76 Km away, which is a pleasant hill station surrounded by acres and acres of tea estates. They were established by the British, who wanted to create a typical English village here. Most estates have retained their European names. Most part of the morning was spent in a tea estate that has a factory attached to it, and we got to see the whole process of grinding, sorting, drying, filtering, etc. There are some extremely cute tea shops en-route where you can enjoy a great cup of Ceylon tea. The climate is pleasant here, and can get cold in the evenings. That evening we enjoyed a walk around this town, went to the 'Hill Club', a British venture again. It is surrounded by a picture perfect garden, with a rich variety of roses. Nuwara Eliya also has an 18-hole golf course, one of the finest in the world. The day ended on a great note with dinner at a very cute Indian restaurant close by, attached to the Grand Continental hotel, the best in Nuwara Eliya.
Kelani river
The next morning we set out to Bentota, a coastal town. We drove alongside the river Kelani, the second longest river in Sri Lanka. The river also breaks into some beautiful water falls, and it is here that the movie “The Bridge on the River Kwai” was shot. The bridge was of course destroyed in strife a few years later.
Bentota
Bentota/Kalathura are costal areas on which most resorts are located and they boast of a spectacular beach view. We were lucky to get an amazing room with a great balcony from which we could watch the waves. Awesome food by the beach side, and great hospitality. Bentota does have some water sports but one needs to be wary of unauthorized vendors. There are also numerous turtle hatcheries, where turtle eggs are hatched, kept for three days and released into the waters, and injured or blind turtles are also nurtured.
The Bentota river also flows across the town, and one can take a boat for pure time pass. We found Bentota made our lazy selves lazier, and there was one day when we did nothing but eat, sleep and watch the waves!!
Galle
Galle is another coastal city, about 60 km south of Bentota. It was a Dutch establishment, and has many cultural remains even now. A very huge Dutch fort envelopes some museums, a Dutch reformed church and colonial houses too. The ocean waves hit against the fort and the waters are crystal clear here.
On the coastal road one can still see the damage the tsunami caused in these parts. The intensity must have been so high, that even these places were affected, despite being on west coast. The Japanese Government has erected a huge statue of the Buddha here, and has named it the Tsunami Honganji Vihara.
Colombo
Colombo was a total surprise… After visiting beaches and hill stations, we didn't really look forward to Colombo, as we thought it would be a city like any other. It proved more than that, it is greatly modernized with many glimpses from the past.Colombo is divided into fourteen sectors, some of which are very well kept. Colombo-1, where we stayed, has clean, wide roads. On one end is a harbour: on the other end is a well maintained beach, which also has some antique ammunition. Odel is a high end store here, with some super duper collections, which apparently are resold in the international market with a much heavier price tag. I found aroma products and accessories to be a good buy here. There is also a very exquisite Buddhist temple here, with a little Indian and a little Thai influence. Frescoes on the walls, statues of Hindu deities and the Buddha, ivory works and bronze sculptures are a feast for the eye.
With that, we were almost at the end of a well cherished holiday. Sri Lanka seems to be a great destination, with a part of it yet to open up to tourism, and lots more to explore.
We were told by our guide that the East coast is very beautiful, probably more picturesque than Maldives, but tourism hasn’t really flourished there for reasons we all know.
And if you’re going there...
These are the places we went to; but if you have more time and if things like huge statues of monolithic Buddhas in what looks like a god forsaken land intrigue you, you must plan the cultural triangle of Anuradhapura-Sigiriya-Pollunuwara-Aukana-Dambulla .It might require some trekking and beating the heat before you get there, but I’m sure it's worth it all.
Good buys: Gem stones, Batik stuff, Lace stuff - SL is famous for these
Food for veggies: Rice and curry and fried rice :when you say rice and curry here you get a portion of rice with some six vegetable curries and papad and pickle!
Watch out for: Touts and middlemen!
Good info: There are some brochures available on the Sri Lankan official website and might be a good read.
