Sri Lanka with lashings of Ginger Beer...and tea.

Sri Lanka has been known by many names over the centuries. Ceylon was the name given by the British and before that it was famously known as Serendib. Ceylon can be traced back to root Sanskrit in names such as Sinhala, Selian, Seylan whereas Serendib comes from Arabic, which became Serendip in Persian and led to one Horace Walpole coining the word Serendipity in 1754 - meaning “ happy accident “. I can easily imagine over the centuries the many explorers and travelers indeed feeling like that had encountered a happy accident on visiting this most beautiful country. The island was renamed Sri Lanka in 1972, meaning “ resplendent land “ and it is a most accurate description.
 

We happily arrived on purpose, on Boxing Day, which infamously is the day 7 years ago where much of the coastline was devastated by a massive 9.3 magnitude earthquake generated tsunami that hit many other countries shores and so many lives were lost.

Sri Lanka's main international airport is near Negombo and about 30 km's from Colombo. It had been our intention to get to Colombo by possibly train or taxi or tuk-tuk, then hopefully catch the train to Kandy. Due to our plane being a little late for this option plan b came into effect. Plan b hadn't really even been considered so it was a quick check of Official Airport Taxi prices followed by observation of what was happening transport wise outside the terminal. Local buses were deemed too old and too slow ( some understatement ), small crammed mini vans were not really that much cheaper than a taxi, so taxi it was. After some friendly hard sell from various touts we decided on one jovial chap who bought his price down a bit from about $70 to $55. We initially thought this was pretty expensive and were sceptical of the “ but Sir, Madam it takes many hours to get there and the price of petrol here is so high “ lines that we were given, however they turned out pretty true. It is only about 80kms from Negombo to Kandy and we soon found out that the many hours to get there was indeed accurate. The roads are narrow and not maintained, full of pot-holes either lumpily repaired or not and once you get on the main roads very congested which prohibits any idea of fast travel.

We left the airport at about 7.30am and we were immediately mesmerised by the riot of colour that is Sri Lanka, from the lush verdant multi shades of green of the landscape to the bright colours of the shops stocked with all manner of goods, peoples dress, the brilliant decorated trucks and tuk-tuks cluttering the roads, indeed everything is a wonderful colour contrast.

Our driver who's name I forget ( his card is in my wallet so somebody somewhere might know it ) was a very friendly and humble man, his english very good and he was full of information. We stopped after about 45 minutes for refreshment at a roadside restaurant. After egg rolls and delicious tea we were ready for the big drive. You soon start steadily going uphill and the driving is something to behold. First thing you notice is the tooting. People toot the vehicle in front just to let them know they are there, and they toot gain when passing. Passing is a story of it's own. Due to the large volume of traffic much passing and tooting is required in order to get anywhere. It was not uncommon to have 2 or 3 vehicles all doing different speeds, simultaneously passing and tooting at a truck with a blind bend looming. No problem as any oncoming traffic is completely used to this sort of thing and either moves over or stops to allow the passers to accomplish their task, or, some or all of the passers fall back into line again and wait for the next opportunity, most often at the next blind bend. Initially this is all quite alarming as nobody is doing much more than about 50kph so you will have a truck doing 20kph, one passer doing 30, the next 40 and the next 50...but you soon get used to it and there are surprisingly very few accidents and there is not one bit of road rage to be seen.

Sri Lankans seem imbued with a kind of peaceful happiness and don't appear to get upset very often, if at all. They need quality this in abundance for the roads and driving I am convinced. We soon found that Sri Lankans may just be the some of the most contented people on the planet. Wherever you go people are friendly, if eye contact is made a smile and a hello seems almost compulsory. This in direct contrast to the level of poverty. I use the word poverty with caution in the sense of monetary wealth only. There are undoubtedly wealthy people but in general most are not. They most certainly aren't poor in so many other areas of their lives, they accept their place in their society and get on with life generally with a smile and kind words.

At 9.28am we stopped on the side of the road to observe 2 minutes silence in remembrance of the tsunami which has affected and still does so many peoples lives. Over 36,000 people lost their lives to the tsunami, 90,000 homes and buildings were destroyed and an estimated 1 million people displaced by this tragic event. Evidence of the tsunami can still be seen on the coast, although much rebuilding has been done, and this undoubtedly has ongoing implications in Sri Lanka's fragile economy.

Nearing Kandy we stopped at a tea factory for a tour and obligatory cuppa. We left bearing bags of tea and smiles.

We got to our guest house, the Forest Glen, after some difficulty finding it, but our driver once again was invaluable through being able to phone,get directions, drive and toot simultaneously. It was about 1pm and we were pretty much exhausted. After a wee rest and a nice pot of tea we felt restored enough to venture off in to Kandy for a bit of a look around.

We had visited Sri Lanka in 1980 and felt pretty sure that we had been to Kandy, however we soon figured that we mustn't have as who could forget this very pretty hill town and it's lovely central lake. Being somewhat hungry we found a good restaurant and tucked into some deliciously spicy samosas and pastries washed down with an invigorating and delicious local ginger beer.

Back at our guest house, Indra our wonderful host soon had dinner ready and what a feast. Some of the best Sri Lankan curries were enjoyed at Forest Glen thanks to Indra's culinary ability, every dish being spicy yet subtle and so many different tastes with each curry. The hard beds at the guest house are worth suffering for the magnificent food. We were usually pretty exhausted after each days exploration so a good sleep was almost assured anyway.

Breakfast the next morning was fantastic with local fresh fruits, eggs any style you wanted ( I opted for a fine chilly omelette ) and endless tea if you wanted it. Friends Alan and Joy, then Colin and Cookie, who had stayed here at different times had recommended this place and we would as well with no hesitation. Just don't forget to shut your windows during the day as the monkeys will almost invariably come in for an inspection if you forget. Mayhem no doubt would ensue.

That day we explored Kandy town, found an internet cafe ( at a ridiculous 3 cents for 1/2 hour ) to check on mail and visited the Temple of the Tooth. The Tooth Temple majestically stands beside the lake and is one of the most revered and visited temples in Sri Lanka. Beautiful buildings and pretty grounds can be explored and enjoyed for hours.

 We were beginning to discover how inexpensive things can be in this country. From the 3 cents internet charge - they almost could give it away at that price, to so much delicious food where you could easily have a generous lunch for two costing $2 - 4. A cup of tea if you look around costs between a third and half a cent, a heavenly choc bomb type ice cream about half a cent. A large bottle of beer about $2.50 and the delicious ginger beer less than a dollar for a large bottle.

Of course you can go more up market where a pot of tea in a hotel is more like $2.00, an espresso about $3.00 and lunch or dinner around $10.00. The most we ever paid and possibly one of the best seafood meals we've ever eaten, which included 2 bottles of beer, juice and water was about $35.00 all up for the two of us. This was at a delightful small cafe/ restaurant right on the beach with views to die for – it doesn't get much better.

Next day Indra had organised a driver for us ( all day for $40 ) to take us first to the elephant orphanage at Pinnawala and then onto the botanical gardens at Peridiniya and finishing with a spectacular display of traditional Sri Lankan dance. We can highly recommend all of these visits if you are ever in Kandy. A possibly interesting and little known fact that is, that about 80% of elephant poo is fibre – they are very poor digesters apparently. As a result of this, and an excellent local money earner both for the locals and the benefit of elephant health and upkeep, their product is recycled into paper goods such as calendars, books, envelopes etc...it can also be compacted into moulds of you guessed it elephant statues. Watching the elephants go down to the river for their daily wash and swim was magic. Many elephants were either injured ( bullet wounds, land mines etc.. ) or orphaned during the time of the wars with the Tamil Tigers. The orphanage does such good work looking after and rehabilitating elephants from small babies and juveniles to large adults.

The botanical gardens were beautifully maintained with plants, palms and trees from around the world, including giant Queensland Agathis Robusta ( looks exactly like NZ Kauri – Agathis Australis ) and Seychelles Coco-de-mer. A seemingly popular pastime, and there were 100's partaking, was snuggling. Wherever we ventured young couples were entwined in each others arms in the shade of many trees and palms. All very decent and quite romantic.

The dancing that evening was spectacularly colourful and very energetic with some exceptional bouts of acrobatics and super speed whirling.

Day 4 in which Brian has an intriguing no wallet experience and discovers the healing abilities of the excellent local stout.

Most times I am blessed with the ability to express myself fluently and pictorially with language considered by some to be bad or of an expletive nature...it's my opinion that they are just words and often no worse and at times better than some words deemed to be ok...If you hit your thumb with some force with say a hammer, words like damn and blast don't quite cut the mustard. They certainly don't assist the pain relief process one little bit. Jumping up and down and intermittently exchanging sucking your thumb with a steady stream of well considered expletives has an immediate and therapeutic effect.
Suffice to say my normal easy descriptive ability abandoned me when I discovered that familiar bump in my back pocket was absent...I was gob smacked...literally and I think from memory about the worst that escaped my mouth was something like Gosh my wallet has gone, I can't believe it but it has definitely gone...what will I do. Blimey.
Lynne says she remembers me at least mouthing a certain undesirable word, but I'm unconvinced – she has an unreliable memory and is never one to let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Shock I suppose does strange things to people. I still can't quite believe it happened...Ok it was in my back pocket, not a brilliant place I now realise to keep it, however the pocket was rather deep and has a good stick Velcro fastener ( I'm not going to buy Velcro shares now that's for sure ). It was a busy platform change of trains and although I thought I was pretty aware of anyone around me I must give credit to whoever was able to extricate the wallet from my back pocket. Within seconds of boarding the new train and I think this is when it happened I noticed it was gone. Too late already to do anything as the train had started moving. This sort of thing can happen anywhere in the world and could result in bodily damage or loss of life, before wallet removal, in many countries so I suppose I am lucky. I can't imagine violence being used in Sri Lanka for this sort of thing – your'e more likely to be accosted by someone politely asking “ Sir may I have your wallet I could really do with the money “, “ No please go away “, “ Ok, sir, sorry to disturb you, have a nice day “.

I would prefer to still have it but $150 gone won't kill me and I think somebody somewhere is having a real good time spending it. If you had a good job in Sri Lanka that could be more than half a months salary and for the many not so fortunate, months and months.

The loss of the wallet itself was the hardest, as it had been a present from a friend, then the hassle of having to report and cancel lost credit and ATM cards, health cards and drivers licences. All of these can be re-issued with a bit of time...I do miss that wallet though, it was a beauty. That $150.00 could have been useful too I suppose if I'm honest and who knows the US$100 bill I had secreted away in that wallet, for an emergency, may never have been discovered.

On to Nuwara Eliya. After a solemn start it soon turned to be a pleasant trip viewing the tea plantation countryside. Trains are not much faster than cars although this was difficult hilly terrain and quite a gradual climb from Kandy, so not many kilometres ( about 70 ) took about 6 hours. Arriving in Nuwara Eliya at the magnificent old Grand hotel we were able to freshen up and then head off to the Police Station to report my loss. A Sri Lankan version of Keystone Cops awaited us. What a bunch they were....lovely people abandoned by any modern form of electronic communication except the telephone and typewriter. I had to write out my own Police Report which they typed up for their own use, signed, dated and added a CID number to my original and bid us a good day without the tea they had promised when we first arrived. On the way out one officer implored us to stay for the tea...it wouldn't be long apparently. We politely declined and had a quick look around Nuwara Eliya town, changed some money into local currency ( which we were now a little short of ) and headed back to the Grand to check out the bar and billiard room.

While watching the one day cricket we met and chatted with a nice young couple and it was at this time that I thought I might avail myself of the stout. Having so far drunk only the local Lion lager, the stout seemed appealing. After a few tasty mouthfuls I thought this stuff is starting to have an interesting affect and thereby discovering printed on the label 8.8%. Serious beer then. After 2 big bottles I was feeling very mellow and it had certainly taken the wallet episode off my mind. It is no wonder my shots at snooker later that night were haphazard at best.

During the 2 day stay in Nuwara we visited another tea plantation and factory, walked everywhere and found the Franciscan Nunnery where they sell ( and we bought ) the most divine pickles and sauces.

Day 6 involved a long shared taxi ride down from the hills to the south coast. Wherever you drive in Sri Lanka the scenery is just magnificent, from the variety of lush greenery to majestic waterfalls, interesting little villages and then having to quickly stop as a large monitor lizard decides to cross the road in front of you. This happened quite a few times. Also observed on the road were many high speed squirrels and one mongoose and a lady walking 2 porcupines on leashes. Our driver saw a snake but we missed that fellow.

After a 6 hour drive we finally arrived at out destination Tangalla Bay where we were to spend the next 6 days and what a heavenly place it is. Beautiful coconut palm fringed beaches fronting crystal clear and vivid blue/ aquamarine seas. The water temperature was just perfect and much time was spent swimming and sunbathing, snorkeling, lazing about or relaxing at a beach cafe/ restaurant and for one of us most early mornings and evenings were spent on the rocks fishing. I think I must have quickly become the talk of the area - ah that crazy kiwi out there every day with fishing rod and assortment of colourful lures. I met so many interested and very friendly locals, either on my way out to one of the rocky points at each end of the beach, or out on the rocks fishing. My bag of tricks was always keenly inspected and talked about and advice given. I had so many asking me to give them ( as presents ) my lures, fishing rod and reel. By the end of my stay most of my lures were given away, a few were lost to being busted off on the rocks when a fish was hooked and lost, my rod was swapped for an assortment of beautiful shells, one fish was successfully landed and I had the most enjoyable fishing I've had for years. One morning I will especially treasure is where one of the local fishermen took me out on his traditional outrigger boat, a fantastic experience.

Our hotel the Tangalla Bay Hotel is a fantastic and to my mind enduring piece of 1970's architecture.

The brainchild of local Tangalla identity Dr. Wickramasooriya who commissioned Sri Lankan modernist architect Valentine Gunesekara for the design. Gunasekara is apparently an admirer of Le Corbusier’s work and created a hotel incorporating many of his ideas: a central corridor from the entrance to bedrooms that soars/ floats over a ground floor dining room while stairs lead down concrete flues to lower levels. The building’s layout resembles a lobster spread-eagled on the rocks although others liken it to a ship. It is certainly unique.

Besides just taking it easy we did a couple of day trips. One started as a trip to nearby Matara to organise future train tickets, however upon arrival at the station we found that there were no trains due to the main line being relaid. Our tuk-tuk driver suggested a ride out to the local and famous Weherehena Buddhist Temple which was a fascinating place. An artificial cave, decorated with many hundreds of colourful somewhat gaudy paintings, it was like being inside a comic book life story of the Buddha. Then on to Dondra Head, the southernmost point in Sri Lanka and the site of a magnificent old and still operational lighthouse. I did the climb to the top and was rewarded by spectacular views up and down the coast.

Our tuk-tuk driver was a lovely bloke and told us of the loss of his daughter during the tsunami. His wife was 8 months pregnant and amazingly both parents survived. They now have a lovely 7 year old son. A tragic story, just one of the many thousands of similar stories of the loss of family and loved ones, the legacy of the tsunami lives on and has had such a huge effect particularly on those living on and near the coast.
With time still to spare we decided to go further along the coast to Galle.

Much of Galle's interest is centred around the huge old Dutch fort built on the southern promontory.
A fascinating maze of streets with splendid old buildings, buzzing with activity. We only had a few hours but you could easily stay here for days and explore the fort and its many shops, cafes, restaurants and beautifully restored houses and buildings or observe the goings on in many of the still operational courthouses, administrative buildings, the waterfront etc...The wall, beside the sea, late in the afternoon is very busy and a popular place to unwind at the end of the day and wait for the sunset.

On another day trip ( and the only rainy day ) we caught a tuk-tuk to beautiful Dickwella beach, ( interesting name, nearly as interesting as Wackwella near Galle – what goes on there I wonder? ) and explored the nearby Ho-o-maniya blowhole, which unfortunately only really goes off during the months of June to August where the large southerly swells force water up a 23 metre high natural chimney then another 18 plus metres into the air – must be something to see. That day we also visited the impressive Mulkirigala rock temples. A decent climb of over 500 steps brings you to a series of cave temples with reclining buddhas and adorned with some amazingly colourful wall and ceiling paintings. On return to the hotel I discovered that I had left my glasses at the temple site. A hurried tuk-tuk ride there and very luckily, thankfully not too many steps up, one of the monks had found them and put them aside on one of the collection plates - they got an extra late donation that day.

We cant speak highly enough of this southern part of the coast, it is far enough away from the more popular and busy beaches like Hikkaduwa and Unawatuna to allow complete peace if you want it, yet close to so many interesting places to explore if you feel the need. I could have stayed here for months.

Sadly our holiday was near an end. A local bus to Matara from Tangalla takes an hour and costs $1 for two people. The smaller a/c bus from Matara to Colombo takes about 4 hours and cost $6 for two plus another $3 as our bags took up one seat. Seemingly no luggage compartment, we didn't even care to ask. Arriving in bustling Colombo we stayed just long enough to have a cup of tea and then catch the bus to Negombo where we were to stay our last night, before flying out the next day. Negombo is a busy beachside city handily located near the airport. It has an interesting array of shops, restaurants, bars and tour companies on the street immediately parallel to the beach where many of the hotels are.

Our hotel, the Golden Star turned out to be completely and utterly misnamed. It was neither golden or star like in any sense apparent to us. It was the worst hotel of our vacation, had no in room tea and coffee making facilities ( which is the norm ), a dirty bathroom and shower, no TV, uncomfortable beds, mosquitos and no mosquito net. No power adaptor could be supplied and the next morning no hot water.

They tried to add a 10% service charge on top of our bill and I had great delight in carefully explaining to them, when they offered no service whatsoever, why we wouldn't be paying this extra charge. As they couldn't give any examples of the service we were supposed to pay for, they quietly relented and dropped the charge.
The beach itself warrants less recommendation than the hotel. It looked pretty enough during sunset the night we arrived, but an early morning walk presented us with rubbish strewn everywhere, the sea was a dirty brown colour and there was evidence of human waste along the beach. Yuk!! We observed one old fellow having his morning constitution right next to one of the traditional boats on the beach - it may have been his boat, who cares, if you haven't got or can't find a proper toilet then at the very least dig a deep hole first and bury it you silly old coot. Perish the thought of beach cricket or sun bathing anywhere near that nasty bit of business.

Suffice to say we opted to swim in the hotel pool which was one of it's very few redeeming features. Breakfast was ok and they did have free and fairly quick wireless internet at reception...not really enough for a recommendation. I did enjoy reviewing this hopeless excuse for accommodation on booking.com and as it turns out I am not alone in the department of scathing comment.

Thats it really....we flew out later that morning...could have stayed forever...beautiful country, beautiful people, beautiful food...A resplendent land? You bet.

Photos left to right and top to bottom are:

Tea sign at Pedro Tea Estate, Nuwara Eliya.
Sunrise at Tangalla Bay.
Elephants bathing at Pinnawala.
Overtaking truck with elephant.
Monkey at Forest Glen Guest house.
Lynne enjoying view over Kandy.
Kandy lake.
Elephant at Temple of the Tooth.
Tea sign Grand Hotel, Nuwara Eliya.
Tea plantations near Nuwara Eliya.
Sunrise Tangalla Bay Hotel pool.
Tangalla Bay Hotel.
Pole fisherman near Marissa Beach.
Reclining Buddha at Mulkirigala.
Sunset at Matara.