Chillin' by the Indian Ocean

Well, we haven't done a hell of lot over the last 5-6 days. We moved from Yala to a resort on the Indian Ocean with not much to do except lay by the pool. Even though it was on the Ocean, people were discouraged from entering the water. Probably because the Sri Lankan's aren't exactly known for their swimming capability and they don't want to take the responsibility for people swimming. Fair enough I guess since apparently an Italian guy did die in the ocean last week. Just a couple of pics to show what we got up to.

Check out the jumbo lagoon prawns.

The only thing we ventured out for was to check out the turtle hatchery. During the night turtles come on to the beach and lay eggs and the next morning the fisherman dig them up and hand them to the hatchery to make sure they survive. They pay the fisherman more than what they would get at the market. Turtle omelette anyone? They were slippery, slimy little critters.

On the way we saw another fishing troop pulling in the net. Guess what they had in there - a turtle. Not surprising given they are fishing where they let turtles out to sea. It was a happy ending for this turtle though.

..and looking the other way. Definitely had the idyllic postcard look. The beaches down south were some of the nicest beaches I have seen.

Our last stop was Colombo for the last couple of days.

On the way there though, we made another visit to Krishni's relatives place. This time her grandmothers old place just outside the main city centre of Colombo. This is where Krishni started life. Our driver, Rangin wanted to knock on the door while Krishni was trying to explain to him that her grandmother no longer lives there!

We didn't have many plans here either except to chill out at the Galle Face Hotel. The oldest hotel in Sri Lanka, first built in 1864. It's a nice place to chill out and have a drink. We were even treated to some more Sri Lankan dancing during dinner as there was a photo exhibition on while we were there.

So that winds up Sri Lanka. Some last thoughts about our trip.

1. Glad we navigated the Sri Lankan roads and lived to tell about it. It was never relaxing travelling between destinations. Just hold on and pray.

2. It wasn't all smooth sailing but in the end we got what we came for. A chance to see where Krishni's roots lie and get an appreciation of life in Sri Lanka.

3. Sri Lanka really does have a lot to offer. Beautiful beaches, beautiful highlands and very tropical fauna. Just a pity travelling between places is so hard.

4. Never seen so many people smile - you always get a huge grin if you even remotely look in someone's direction (with the exception of big city Colombo).

Keep Smiling - till next time.

Kandy, Tea and Animals

We left "Trinco" (aka the ex war zone) and headed on a long and arduous journey to Kandy. In Australian terms, the distance wasn't far but when you have to dodge potholes and other traffic then it takes a fair bit longer.

On the way to Kandy we stopped off at an Ayurvedic spice garden. I was just expecting a show of all the various spice plants but we ended up getting a run down on all the medicinal properties of different spices as well. Needless to say we walked away with a few natural wonders after trying some out ourselves.

Kandy was the last Sri Lankan Kingdom and the last strong hold before the British conquered them in 1815. It is in the hills and we stayed at a hotel high on the hill side with amazing views. It looked like a buddhist monastery on the hillside as we approached. The following view was just outside our room.

That night we both got sessions at the hotel Spa. I thought the full body massage was the way to go. They call it a Sri Lankan herbal oil massage but in reality it was a Sri Lankan male rubbing oil on you for an hour. Luckily I left with my masculinity intact although a little bruised.

We only spent the day in Kandy but it was filled up. In the morning we went in search of a hotel Krishni's grandfather used to own which now belongs to the local university. We managed to find it and were given a little tour through. It was a little run down now but we could see it had a lot of potential back in its heyday.

After our little family history tour we spent a bit of time at the botanic gardens which used to be the royal family's pleasure gardens. They really were quite spectacular. Here I am getting into the Buddhist mood and mediating under my own "bodhi" tree.

We saw more sights until the evening when some Kandyan dancers put on a show. It was fairly entertaining and they definitely dressed the part.

We then ended the day with the temple of the tooth relic. It is supposed to contain a tooth from Buddha which a monk grabbed from the fire after Buddha was cremated. It has travelled back and forth from Sri Lanka and India for centuries as wars were waged but now sits in a 7 chamber bell in a Temple in Kandy. All Sri Lankan Buddhists are supposed to make a pilgrimage here once in their lifetimes. We did a quick walk by but you can, if you line up, have a closer view at the bell.

Outside, Krishni and I iit a candle for Buddha's wisdom. We aren't Buddhists but you could say we are part of his fan club.

We moved on from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya. This is where the British set up all the tree plantations and was once home to the famous brand Lipton's. It is high in the hills at 6000ft asl so has a dramatically different climate to the rest of Sri Lanka. We stayed at a renovated tea factory and looking out the windows in all the mist you could easily imagine you were in England somewhere. It also had a little eerie spooky feel to it.

Inside it was very modern with a lot of the old machinery still scattered around.

They had a tea bar where you could taste a bunch of different teas. I am not much of a tea drinker but we did have a 5 spice tea which was really, really nice.

We only spent another day there. Krishni was sick and spent most of the time inside recovering but I managed get out and did a fair bit of walking around the plantation and the nearby village. The tea pickers are like little ants that work in teams moving from one patch to another.

They were all very friendly and said hello and 'photo' as I walked by. You have to give it to the women for doing most of the work in the field.

After recovering at the tea factory we moved from the high country back to the low country and the national park of Yala. This is the main Safari capital where there is the densest population of leopards in the world. Well that is what they say since we didn't actually see any. We stayed at a hotel just outside the main entrance but was still very much in the roaming grounds. This is a (wild?) boar that kept on doing circles around the hotel grounds.

We weren't supposed to walk around at night so had to be escorted to and from our rooms for dinner. The unique thing about Yala is that it is right on the Indian Ocean so the following beach was a mere 20m from our room. I made it down but Krishni wasn't game to walk through the 10m of scrub between the rooms and the beach. It was worth it though. I saw some elephant dung on the beach as well so they were definitely very much around.

In the afternoon we did a Safari. It is not the same as the African Safari but still pretty cool. We saw a lot of Buffalos and Peacocks. I would say it probably has the highest population of peacocks in the world as well as they were everywhere but don't quote me on the that. This is one showing us (or the hiding females) his stuff.

We were on our way back with no elephant or leopard sightings when we suddenly ran into a big WILD bull elephant on the road. It had a real close look at the car ahead of us.

He then started heading our way. Gently strolling along.

He literally brushed past the truck. It was definitely a nice up and close encounter.

A definite highlight and worth coming all this way for!

Sigiriya and Tricomalee

Each morning at the Cinamon Lodge, a Mongoose weaves it way through the tables in the restaurant while people are having breakfast. It typically stops at each table and looks up to see if any food is coming its way. Most people see it is as cute. Krishni saw it as a threat and kept a sharp lookout for a potential attack. That and the scary (*cough*) squirrels had her nerves on edge.

One morning I went up for a second course of breakfast and on the way back I couldn't help myself. I bent down and tickled her ankle from behind. She shrieked and also threw her coffee in the air which came down all over the table. It was definitely a bigger reaction than I expected. Needless to say we drew a little attention of the neighbouring tables who thought it was fairly amusing. Luckily we had a good laugh and I didn't get the rest of the coffee thrown all over me.

After breakfast we had a full day ahead sightseeing. First we went to Sigiriya, a miniature version of Ayres Rock but was home in the old days to an old monastery and a potential palace.

The walk up on a hot day was a bit of an effort. We first saw some old wall paintings which were the best kept rock paintings I have ever seen. Apparently they are a depiction of a buddhist god. Either that or the monks were a bit raunchy.

The rest of the walk up was a little daunting up a staircase that just went up the side of the rock. At the bottom there were some massive rock lion claws which were impressive in themselves.

The view from the top was amazing. It showed how green and luscious Sri Lanka really is. Most of the time travelling you are on a main road and just notice the other cars and people immediately around you. It was nice to see the bigger picture.

Needless to say we held on tight when coming back down as if you looked over the edge it was a near vertical drop. I can't imagine how they used to do it in the old days.

We got down the bottom of the rock and were nearly on flat ground again when I heard another shriek from Krishni for the day. I turned around and she was on the ground having slipped on the gravel. She had grazed her knee. Within about 45sec two separate groups of older women had fronted up with bandaids and betadine to help clean her up. She was like a wounded solider walking the rest of the way down.

We moved from there to Dambulla where there is a temple built by a grateful king for the Buddhist monks that had help quash an invasion from the South Indians. The massive Buddha out the front was impressive but apparently it was a recent addition.

The walk up was longish and the hot Sun didn't make it any easier. At the top we had to remove our shoes and walk the 20m to the front over hot and I mean hot stones. Krishni did not look like she was having fun but soon found a solution and used the bottom of the wrap around to protect her feet. Am the sure the Sri Lankan's were quite amused at us foreigners.

The caves up the hill were impressive and you definitely got the feeling they liked their buddha statues back then. In the 5 separate caves there were hundreds of Buddha statues side by side around the walls. The roofs where impressively painted also. As well as the small statues there were quite a few 15m+ statues of Buddha lying down.

The next day we headed off up to the North East Coast and the town of Trincomalee. Trinco is where there used to be a lot of fighting between the Sri Lankan Army and the Tamil tigers. On the road in you still saw gun emplacements setup every 1km or so with soldiers still in them.

All the houses and shops don't really have windows but have boards cover the windows and doors. A lot of the shops look like they are permanently boarded up. The guide book said it looked like a war zone and I tend to agree. While the war finished a couple of years ago, you get the feeling that people aren't going to let down their guard too easily. There are still a lot of Army with Guns manned around the place.

Amongst this 'war zone' we found our Oasis and it was like a different world. You pulled off the gravel road with potholes and suddenly you are transported into this nice hotel with a pool overlooking the lapping waters of the Indian Ocean.

We were quite happy to just spend the next couple of days just relaxing 'in our own world' chilling out with only one little excursion. I have never really stayed at resorts before but the service in the Sri Lankan resorts are impeccable. There are also there to do whatever you want. You just wave at them and they setup some beach chairs with Towels ready for lounging. You also mention about a chocolate milkshake and in 10mins later - there it is. This is the life.

Squirrels are everywhere and are pretty cute hoping about. They have this cute but scary look when they come up close and give you a bit of look. This is one of the killer squirrels I mentioned earlier.

One of the more interesting things that happened during our stay at our Oasis was the fishing haul that happened right in front of use. Obviously overnight they had put out some nets into the Ocean. In the morning/afternoon we noticed a long line of workers pulling in the net bit by bit. Throughout the day I had been watching the birds diving far into the ocean trying to catch the school of fish that were trapped. They had a rhythm and a little chant going.

It wasn't fast but slowly they hauled it in.

As they got it nearly in, the seagulls and eagles that had been circling for most of the day disappeared and suddenly the crows swooped and flew over the catch being bought up the beach.

It was definitely a spectacle. In the end it actually looked like they had a decent catch. There are few bigs ones but most were quite a small fish.

This guy here was a pretty strange looking dude. It reminds me of Ben Stiller(I think) in a movie but can't remember which one it was. Anybody know?

They all knew their place and what to do These two started fixing the holes in the net soon afterwards. They are the classic south indians you see in the movies.

I was just sitting on some steps taking a few photo's when a really nice dog suddenly appeared beside me. This one looked like it was fed well as it had a really nice coat. It had a nice spirit so I can imagine it had a Buddhist owner.

Hong Kong and Sri Lanka - the start of the journey

Well, it's been a while between trips. This trip is a bit of a pilgrimage really. Krishni hasn't been back since she left at the tender age of 2. A trip to see what life would have been like if her parents hadn't moved over to the lucky country 27 years ago. It also appeals to me as I have heard such a lot about Sri Lanka and how good it is.

We started out by heading to Hong Kong. A bit out of the way but thought about spending a couple of days there on the way through just to get a taster. It was a good choice as we both loved it there. So much to do. So much to buy. One of the things that strikes me the most about the Hong Kongnese (if that is a word) is their sense of style. It was hard to see anybody that wasn't dressed like they hadn't just walked out of one of the fashion houses. I guess it happens when the only shops that are available are the ones that sell top quality items. We felt a little underdressed in comparison. Krishni soon found a few items to get her looking back to normal.

Just an example of a bargain we got. We managed to pick up 1 suit for Krishni and 7 business shirts between us for the equivalent of about $280 aussie dollars. Not bad going. In most cases things are amazingly cheap and as there is just such volume and variety there is always something there to buy.

We only spent a couple of days there but at least we did it in a little style. Krishni booked the Langham of course and it was a great place to stay - they look after people really well.

We ate at the Langham restaurant which also has 2 Michelin stars. The food was amazing and at about the same price as a normal restaurant meal back at home would cost. I think it cost us about $80 for both of us. It was so good we ended up going to the sister restaurant the following night at the other Langham further uptown. This was a beef dish with a crispy walnut side.

Didn't have time for much else but did manage to come across a statue of Bruce lee on the harbour.

The next stop was Columbo - Sri Lanka. We arrived at about 10:30pm. There are always certain customs that you pick up on when land in a new country. Something that seems normal to them but a little different to others. This stop was instead of having only the normal duty free shops of Alcohol etc, they had shops and shops full of washing machines and fridges. Just want you want when you first arrive.

We found our driver - Rangin - and headed to the hotel. Krishni booked this hotel specifically because her cousins (Charathra and Brie) had stayed there on their honeymoon and loved it. It was called the Cinnamon Grand. We arrived and it looked really good. Massive foyer, soft lights, lots of staff. We got to the desk to sign in but they said that due to "maintenance issues" our room was now unavailable. Instead we got shipped off to another hotel just down the road that wasn't really all that grand (maybe in its heyday). At 12:30am there wasn't much we could do but we did wonder if this was going to be typical of the trip to Sri Lanka. Lets just say it was a bumpy start.

The next morning we headed off to the first destination, Habarana, about 3-4 hours away. Apparently there is only one way to drive in Sri Lanka and that is to overtake at every possible chance. I lost count pretty quickly at how many times we were on the wrong side of the road heading towards a bus coming the other way only to weave back in at the last second. The rule is that if you can squeeze 3 cars on the road you do it and people will generally get out of the way. After a while you just try to forget about it and and stare out the window at a world that is pretty foreign to our current standard of living. You pass through little villages that each have their own specialties. Selling coconuts, cashews etc. We stopped at the cashew stall and stocked up for the rest of the trip. Wasn't cheap but I am a cashew nut so donated some well earned cash for organic cashews straight from the source.

On the way we also stopped off at the Elephant orphanage. We got there and they were down at the river for their daily swim.

It was quite a sight seeing them head back to the orphanage through the little street. There were some pretty big elephants in the pack.

We wandered up a little later only to come across a few stragglers heading down for their swim.

We checked out the rest of the orphanage and had the obligatory photo with one of the elephants.

Krishni loved the babies. Here is one particular one that ran up the hill after its Mum sqealling. It was quite funny.

We got to our new hotel at about 4pm and were relieved it wasn't the same scenario as the previous night. This place was the sister hotel to the Cinnamon Grand. It is called Cinnamon Lodge. The rooms were great and very spacious - a great recommendation from Charini.

It was so nice, we pretty much just chilled inside with the air con on for the rest of the day recovering from the broken sleep the night before. It wasn't until 7:30pm that we ventured down to the restaurant for a buffet dinner - mostly curries. One of many banquets put on I presume. It is such a nice place. Here is a picture from our table near the pool. This is more like it.

The next day we went to see some Ruins at Polonnaruwa which was very interesting to see how life was back for the Kingdoms in the 11th Century. They had the foresight to build massive lakes to serve as dams for their irrigation. One of the more interesting sights were the large statues of Buddha carved into the stone. Here is a really big one of Buddha on his death bed. Apparently 74% of Sri Lankan's a Buddhists.

We headed back to the hotel for a nice rest by the pool. There were a lot of Monkeys playing close by our room so I grabbed the camera and took a few shots. They spent a lot of time grooming each other as monkeys do.

I was there about 5-10 feet away for a good 20minutes taking a few photos when all of sudden there was a monkey about 2-3 feet away in the tree looking at me. I was just about to take a photo when it jumped from the tree and started towards me. I must have been mid photo as this is a blurry image of me just about to start running with a pair of Monkey paws coming after me!

In the afternoon we went for an Elephant ride. Had to be done. Expensive in Sri Lankan terms but how often do you get the chance to ride an elephant. Our Elephant was called Manika and was a female.

Later on, Krishni even managed to get up the nerve to ride up front. We had a bag of bananas and Manika would raise her trunk onto her head for us to give her one.

Just before dinner we went for a stroll and got the following couple of pictures as the sun was sitting on the adjoining lake.