Before heading to Sri Lanka we have a single night in Delhi. What better way to spend it than with a former colleague, Niharika, and her husband, Abhi. Niharika and I had worked together for many years, although we had only had the opportunity to meet once before in person. Was really lovely to meet up on Niharika’s home turf and to share some our respective news over excellent kebabs. We were made to feel incredibly welcome and even invited to Niharika’s sisters’ wedding later in the year – that would be a very cool thing to attend! Very grateful that the stars aligned and we were able to meet!
Our first stop in Sri Lanka is in Colombo, the capital. We arrive late afternoon, so just enough time for a bit of a stroll in the twilight. 18 months or so ago the country was gripped by hyperinflation and rapidly increasing taxes. By all accounts, the situation for the average person was pretty dire. By contrast, we’ve heard great things about the country from fellow travellers, so aren’t entirely sure what to expect.
Our first impression of the capital is very positive, infrastructure is good, the park we walk to is very tropical, and everywhere is very green. Fun watching the mass exodus of bats as the sun sets.
Next day we take in the sights of the city, courtesy of our driver (who, unfortunately for him, is stuck with us for the duration of our trip). Interesting place, with lots of colonial and local history. Stroll around Independence Square, visit the lighthouse, red mosque, and even make it up the newly constructed Lotus Tower, the third tallest tower in Southeast East Asia.
We later hear from locals that the building is largely despised. It has become a symbol of the country’s corruption and mismanagement. At a time when people were struggling financially (bare in mind a nurse here earns as little as $100 USD a month), the government invested in an outright vanity project. The fact that it is illuminated at night ad is visible across the city adds salt to the wound.
That evening we are fortunate enough to meet up for dinner with another former colleague of mine, Isuru, and his wife. Isuru, has helped us to organise this part of the trip by putting us in touch with a local agent, so great to meet up for a drink and get first-hand knowledge about his beautiful country. Note: Isuru has made it his personal mission to make sure we are looked after whilst we are here and we are very grateful. Feel like well cared for children!
Next day we drive 4 hours to Sigiriya. Nice journey through miles of tea plantations and luscious jungle. If any reminder were needed of the abundant wildlife in Sri Lanka, we are fortunate enough to see two wild elephants meandering along the road on the way to our hotel. The proximity of these enormous animals to the tuk-tuks and local cars is somewhat concerning. Such a great shame that mankind continues to encroach into the homes of these majestic animals.
Our hotel is set on a series of lakes and feels very special, with birds and wildlife everywhere one looks. Time to grab the camera…
We don’t have time to rest on our laurels and head out that evening to climb Pidurangala Rock. It’s hot and humid, and navigating the summit involves squeezing oneself under a narrow overhang, but the views from the top are beautiful. We are joined by other tourists with the same idea, and a host of badly behaved monkeys. In a fit of gallantry, I save a lady’s phone and handbag from a would-be thief…
Next morning we are up reasonably early to try and beat the heat as we head to Sigiriya rock fortress. This is a pretty incredible place and one that feels like a well-kept secret. Neither Jenn nor I had heard of it until we started planning our trip. Sigiriya was the capital of Sri Lanka in the 5th century and the skyline was dominated by an impressive palace sat on a 180m granite rock.
It reminds us of a miniature Manchu Pichu and is certainly worthy of more notoriety than it currently receives. After the death of the founder, it served as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century.
After an excellent Sri Lanka breakfast of string hoppers (nests of noodle-like dough served with curry), we head to Polonnaruwa, another ancient Sri Lankan city. We make several stops to see the ruins of palaces, temples, and monasteries. The scale is impressive and some of the buildings are incredibly well preserved given that they date back as far as the 10th century.
The rest of the day is spent wandering around the amazing grounds of our hotel. Manage to find one of the two resident crocodiles and even a water snake!
We are both a little sad to leave the following day as we make our way to Kandy. En route we stop at the Dambulla Cave Temple. Again, a bit of an uphill hike, but the caves are seriously impressive, and have served as a sacred pilgrimage site for over two thousand years. The caves contain over 153 statues of Buddha, with the murals covering 23,000 sq. ft.
Next day we head to the botanical gardens which are extensive, beautiful, and very hot. Surprised to see Flying Foxes flocking in large numbers during the day.
In the evening we watch a local cultural dance show before heading to the Scared Tooth Relic Buddhist temple for the famous Pooja ceremony. The temple as the name suggests is the home of one of the most sacred objects in the Buddhist faith, a tooth from Buddha himself. It’s crazy busy, and we queue for half an hour, in order to file past the golden shrine holding said relic (it’s only open for twenty minutes). Interesting spectacle.
The next morning we are up early to get the train to Ella. The train is purportedly a great way to see the countryside. It is also popular with Instagrammers who make the most of the windows, open doors, and Sri Lanka’s lapsed health and safety regime, to dangle from the moving carriages. The train arrives reasonably promptly at 8.30 and after having our tickets checked by a myriad of officials we are safely ensconced in our seats.
Or so we thought…
A nice chap politely points out that we are in what he believes to be his seats. We show him our ticket and are surprised to find that we are seemingly double booked. The train guard comes over to help.
Pans out that our tickets are actually for the following train, scheduled to leave in 2.5 hours. Of course, by now we are well underway.
The guard tells us that we need to leave the train at the next station. We politely point out that 3 different people checked our ticket, and that our driver has now left Kandy to meet us at the other end. We ask if we can sit somewhere else, or buy a new ticket. We are unceremoniously told that we have to leave the train at the next station or, the police will be called and our passports confiscated!
At the next station, we are shepherded off the train by an entire entourage of people. Once on the station, the locals are incredibly apologetic about how we have been treated. Very sweet of them. Never been thrown off a train before.
Once we’ve calmed down we resign ourselves to our fate and wait in the middle of nowhere for the next train.
The train once it eventually arrives is actually pretty cool. The scenery is stunning and we traverse hundreds of tea plantations and generally watch the world go by, as a dizzying collection of hawkers attempt to sell us samosas, nuts and fruit. The journey takes nearly 6 hours. So, in addition to the two-hour delay, it feels like a long day.
We spend a night in Ella, before heading on again next morning.
Sri Lanka is very beautiful but it’s a big place, and the journeys all take twice as long as one would expect! Next stop Hatton…
TAFN.
Nice to see old friends it really is a very small world. Not impressed thAt you had to be thrown off a train!!
Great to meet up with friends. The /temples are impressive. Thrown off a train as well!!
Yep – so embarrassing being chucked off a train in full view of everyone1