4. Sri Lanka - Part 1

4. Sri Lanka – Part 1

Sri Lanka....

....it's charming

Our flight left Dubai at midnight for the 4 ½ hour trip to Colombo. We had booked a hotel for the night of the 2^nd December and check in was from 2pm.  We arrived at the hotel at 7am and thankfully they let us into our room at that time.  We slept for most of the morning before going down for something to eat.  Today was a day to get used to the heat and humidity of Sri Lanka.  We had just missed Cyclone Ockhi that had skirted around Sri Lanka, but it had dropped a lot of rain. Luckily the rain was moving out to the Arabian Sea so we had missed the worst.

We only stayed for one night in the Negombo area as we had arranged a private tour for eight days, so at 9am the following day our driver arrived. Priya packed our bags into the car and we set off east into the middle of Sri Lanka.
We were heading to Dambulla where we would stay for three nights.  On the way we passed many interesting areas including the cashew nut city (guess what grows there?)
As we got nearer Dambulla the fields turned into rice paddies with coconut trees along the road side.  We stopped at a little stall where we had a drink from a king coconut.

While driving along we spotted many macaque monkeys and a wild elephant at the edge of the road.

After checking into our hotel – Kassapa Lions Rock – we headed out on a Jeep Safari. We were going to look for elephant.  We turned off the main road and along a dirt track through the jungle where we again saw monkeys before entering a vast clearing with a large lake. Due to the previous rain the ground was boggy, but we were in a sturdy jeep so we headed to where we could spot elephant. 

I never imagined that we would see so many of them.  The locals called it “A meeting of Herds”.  There had to be more than 350 elephants, mainly female and young elephants but also some males looking to reacquaint themselves with the females.  Seemingly it is most unusual to see that number.  While travelling over the grass land we noticed that one of the jeeps had got stuck in the mud.

Our driver decided that he would pull it out. It took over half an hour and many attempts but he eventually managed to pull it out. Unfortunately our driver then hit a tree stump that was sticking out of the mud and we ended up requiring help.  The front bumper had been knocked tightly against the wheel.  The bumper had to be pulled out a bit so that the tyre could turn.  All part of the adventure.

Our first temple visit was to Dumbulla Rock Cave Temple.  There are five caves that are used as the temple which dates back to 3BC. Each cave houses statues of Buddha. The caves have been adapted and added to from 3BC until the 13^th century. Interesting to hear about the temple but the climb up the 350 stairs was a challenge.

The next day we visited Sigiriya.  A 5^th century rock fortress and now a world heritage site. Until the early 1800’s it had been left to ruin.  In the 1920’s they started to excavate the site and found the gardens and water features that had been created at the bottom of the rock. Lions Rock Citadel is located at the very top of the rock.

To get there you have to climb up 200 metres from the jungle floor. Endless stairs including two spiral stairways that have been bolted onto the cliff. (Did I say that yesterday was a challenge!) Just glad that I don’t suffer from vertigo.  

As you approach the entrance to the citadel you see two huge lion paws. Originally there was an enormous lion’s mouth that you stepped through to climb up into the citadel.  We climbed the last few steps and stood on the top of the world. 

The view was spectacular.  The whole place had me looking about for Mowgli and Baloo from Jungle Book.

We travelled through the paddy fields and jungle to Polonnorova which used to be the ruling seat of the King of Sri Lanka.  Here we viewed the ruined remains of palaces, bath houses, temples and stupas.  They are of similar construction to some that we viewed near Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

Priya did say that there was some Cambodian influence.

Todays was also a day for wildlife, spotting iguana, skink, mongoose, fruit bats, elephant, deer, woodpecker and hornbill.

It was time to move onto our next destination – Kandy.  Kandy is further inland and higher up in the hills. The drive up was pretty.  We stopped off at a Spice and Herbal Garden where we were shown the local spices and herbs and what they are used for.  We each had a back, shoulder and head massage before being shown the shop where you can purchase the items that they produce.  Needless to say, I spent more than I should have. Our home for the next two nights was the Hilltop Hotel Kandy.  It is up a very steep slope but the view over Kandy is stunning. 

We were taken to a Culture show which has dancers and drummers showing the ancient dancers performed by the people in this area.  This was followed by fire walking.

Kandy is a very busy city. It is home to many artistic craftsmen. The woodcarvers produce very intricate furniture, jewellery and ornamental items.

Kandy is the home to the “Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic”.  This is a tooth which is said to have belonged to Buddha and is therefore worshipped by the Buddhists. The tooth is kept in a shrine. Three times a day there is a ritual  - Pooja Ceremony - where people make offerings.  During these times you can have sight of the chamber where the relic is housed.  When people file passed giving their offerings to the monks, the door to the chamber is open and you can spot the gold casket where the tooth is housed. It was fascinating.  We went to the midday ritual at 10 am!!!

The botanical gardens in Kandy were worth seeing. 147 acres of plants and trees from all over the world.

 We arrived back at the hotel to find that our room had been invaded by a couple of elephants.