I'm glad you had a wonderful time. Sri Lanka is a remarkable place. We felt we didn't have enough time either and Sri Lanka remains on our list of places to revisit.

more, more

Day 1 - Ordeal by road

Our overnight Sri Lanka Airways flight from London to Colombo deposited us on time at the airport [at the time of writing, there is only the one international airport in Sri Lanka, about 20 kms north of Colombo, though another is planned at Hambantota in the south] and after 11 hours or so in the air we were glad to be back on firm ground. Neither of us claimed to have slept a wink, though we were each of us positive that we had heard the other snoring during the flight! Still, we managed to negotiate immigration and baggage reclaim successfully, and made our way out onto the airport concourse to look for our driver, who we had been told had good english and a knowledge of birds. [At least part of that statement turned out to be true!]

[Before I carry on, a note about immigration and baggage reclaim, which those who are not interested in such things may skip - we had read that visas were compulsory since the beginning of 2012 and could be obtained on line for a small fee - about £20 each - which is what I did about a month before we left. We were therefore quite surprised to be told on board that it was still necessary for us to complete landing cards, which contained exactly the same information as the application forms for the visa - name, address, age, nationality, passport no, address in Sri Lanka, etc. When we got to immigration, the officer showed no interest in our visas at all, but just scrutinised the landing cards and our passports, which led me to wonder if obtaining the visa had in fact been necessary. Who knows? We didn’t see anyone being sent back for not having one.

And the baggage reclaim at Colombo airport gets a prize from me - the first airport ever to ask to see the baggage tickets you are given when you check your luggage in, before we were allowed to remove it. Why don’t other places do that?]

As at every airport arrival gate, there was the usual row of people holding up handwritten scraps of cardboard with names on them, plus a few posh printed ones, amongst which, along with the ones for Kuoni and the Jetwing, we were surprised to see our name. [This name-plate was proudly displayed by our driver on the dashboard of the van for the entirety of our trip, which made us feel very exclusive!] Our driver introduced himself as Ajith, and after asking if we needed to change money [which we didn’t, we needed an ATM, which he didn’t fully appear to grasp] led us out of the concourse, and deposited us on a corner while he went to get the van.

[for those who are interested in these sorts of details, I should add here that we had originally booked a normal car, hopefully big enough for the 2 of us plus our luggage and the driver of course, but about 2 months before we were due to leave, I sent an e-mail to BSL setting out the things that we were interested in doing and seeing over and above what we had specified on booking, and they in turn suggested that we could have a larger vehicle which they called a people-carrier with a driver who knew about birds and had good english. We weren’t able to establish fully what this really meant, as people carrier was not a term which Sri Lankans recognise, but when we saw it, it turned out to be a small mini-bus or van with seating for about 8 people, and fairly minimal luggage space, which was quite enough for us two, and our driver, but would have been wholly inadequate for 8 people and their luggage. Anyway the cost was the same, and we were very comfortable in our van, which had excellent air-conditioning - a major requirement!]

Standing on the corner waiting for Ajith gave us a chance to get our first impressions of Sri Lanka - the heat, the chaotic traffic, and the friendliness of the people, who wanted variously to find out where we were from, and to get us to change British pound coins into notes for them [presumably so they could them change them into rupees]. We only did this once, before we realised that we could well be lumbered with forged £ coins and just said no. We also said no to offers of taxis, hotels, and tuk tuks.

Then Ajith arrived with the van, our luggage was put on board as were we, and we were off. Thanks to Mohammed, I had already e-mailed a suggested route to BSL which would not take us to Dambulla via Colombo but more directly via Dankotuwa, Narammala, and Kurunegala. I think that is the way we went - certainly we did not go into Colombo at all, but as for its being a good road as suggested by Mohammed, I have to say that it was good only in Sri Lankan terms. Our route took us through a succession of what we came to realise were typical Sri Lankan towns - long strips of small shops and work-shops thronged with people, buses, carts, cattle, dogs, tuk tuks, bicycles, scooters...and there are probably several other means of transport I’ve missed out, all seemingly with their own unique versions of the highway code. 3 main rules of the road seemed to emerge.

1. you drive on the left, unless it is more convenient to drive on the right.
2. you give way to anything bigger than you, but only if you have to.
3. it is a slur on the manhood of any sri lankan driver [and they are almost invariably men] to fail to overtake the vehicle in front unless to do so will cause a fatal accident. [Overtaking should be read as including undertaking, which is equally acceptable if conditions allow].

We spent the next 4 hours alternately open-mouthed at the driving we were seeing, and giving thanks for the fact that we were not doing it. If you, dear reader, are contemplating a trip to Sri Lanka, and take one thing away from this trip report, it should be this - do not try to drive yourself. Hire a car and a driver. It is very little dearer, and it will be worth it. All this said, we saw not one accident. They are amazingly skillful drivers and can judge width and distance to a millimetre. But do not, in any circumstances, try this at home.

After about 2 hours [when we had no idea how much longer there was to go to get to Dambulla, but I now realise was about half-way], we suddenly stopped in the middle of a town and were directed by Ajith to an ATM - why this one, in this town I have no idea, but it worked fine with DH’s Nationwide card, and played music at the same time, which was novel, if a little distracting. We had noticed [how could we miss them?] numerous roadside stalls selling a huge variety of fruit so now we had some money we asked to stop to buy some to eat, and some water, as we were getting thirsty, though not really hungry after the long flight. Again, seemingly at random, Ajith stopped the van by the roadside, we clambered out, and found that we were at a small fruit stall with a tiny shop next door selling water, soft drinks, and various other necessities. with Ajith’s help we managed to buy some bananas [which type did we want? - there are different types?] some papaya, and a pineapple which the stall-keeper kindly peeled and sliced for us with his machete, [again, we won’t be trying this at home] all for about £1. [200 LKR] Refreshed by the water and the pineapple [when had I ever tasted anything so delicious?] we journeyed on.

An hour or so later we found ourselves making another stop, this time by a lake, where there was a small hotel where we could have a beer, use the loo [very clean] and have a snack. The roasted cashews were delicious [the best we had all the time we were there] and definitely better than the beer - though the Lion brand was better than the rest, we thought, it wasn’t brilliant. But the setting was lovely, so top marks to Ajith for stopping there. And sorry, I have NO idea where it was, except that it was between the coast and Dambulla, and closer to the latter than the former. BTW, Ajith had helpfully been keeping up a commentary when traffic conditions allowed and one of the things he told us was that Sri Lanka has over 1000 lakes, so the fact that it was by a lake won’t help!

[Again for those who like these details, I should add that at this stage of the journey, we were very much in our driver’s hands, as we had no idea of what was available or where to find it. As time went on, we became more savvy and therefore more able to influence when and where we stopped, but at the beginning of the trip, he was very much the one in control. We didn’t mind this, but if you think that you would, you would need to do some very careful research into what exactly you want to see and do while you are on the road].

Finally, after what seemed like an age, but was in fact near to 4 hours since we had left the airport, we turned off the main road and made our way long some very narrow roads to Kandalama [about 11 kms from Dambulla] and finally drove up the track to the hotel, which was came to know all too well over the next few days. At least we were arriving in daylight! And what a place to arrive at. The drive swept round up a short incline to deposit us at the front of the hotel, which is built seemingly into the rock face. The van door was opened, [we would never have had to open it ourselves in the course of 15 days, if we didn’t want to, though of course we did] and we were assisted out and up through a rock tunnel to a reception area where we had a welcome drink of fruit juice, while our luggage was magically whisked to our room, without any effort from us. A small bit of paperwork later [all the hotels were vigilant about getting us to sign a guest contract when we arrived, and taking a credit card no where necessary] and our payment made to Ajith, [cash in U$ as arranged with BSL] were we then taken to our room - an upgrade apparently, which we didn’t ask for. [they were by no means full during our stay].

And what a room - even in the gathering dusk we could make out a view over the lake from our balcony - with a king-size bed, plenty of hanging space, TV, mini-bar, and a large bathroom complete with glass wall over looking the lake - a room with a view indeed! We quickly unpacked a few things, made sure that the balcony doors were locked [essential as it turned out] and set out to explore the hotel.

When I booked this hotel on Kathie’s recommendation, I really had no idea of its iconic status in Sri Lanka but as I did more research, I came across the name of its architect Goeffrey Bawa a number of times. for those who are interested in learning more, here’s the link to his entry in wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Bawa. A long thin building set into the hillside in a way that almost camouflages it, it stretches for fully 1 km from one end to the other. Most noticeable was the fact that the back of the hotel is open so that as dusk fell, bats and other night creatures accompanied us on our walk from our room to the centre of the hotel, where the restaurant, lounges and other public rooms are found. Little lizards ran along the hotel walls, and insects I’d rather not get too close to had built nests in dark corners. We even found a praying mantis over our door one evening - I never knew they could be green!

Again on Kathie’s recommendation I had booked half-board at this hotel, and indeed the food did not disappoint. [in fact, there’s nowhere else much to go, unless you get your driver to take you to a neighbouring hotel, or go to the a la carte restaurant on site which wasn’t pushed at all, which I found strange]. Like many hotels in Sri Lanka it runs a buffet for all meals and our first taste of Sri Lankan food was to be our first night dinner. but it turned out that there was not only Sri Lankan food to choose from, but european, chinese and thai as well, all of it very good indeed. For starters this first night we chose to try the tempura prawns which were being cooked outside plus some salad [plenty of choice there] followed by some of the Sri Lankan curries and accompaniments. I can’t recall exactly what we had [i think that it was a fish curry] but I remember that we liked it, a lot!

Too tired by now to bother with pud, we just made for our room, and bed.

See you in the morning!

Great start. I think that place by the lake was the same place we stopped at on the way to Kandalama...

thanks, craig - i suspect that certain places are regularly used by the drivers for various reasons - hopefully the fact that they appeal to their clients, but also the advantages for them like the food they are offered, the accommodation where appropriate, even, might we say, financial inducements. it would be naive to think otherwise.

certainly another couple who had been on the flight with us turned up at the same place while we were there, so I'm not surprised that you went there too.

There is a string of places in Sri Lanka which are meant for visitors. They are supposed to assure clean restrooms, good, safe food and good service. For the most part they do just that.

Reading your report makes me want to go back now. Did you have the avocado juice when you arrived at the Kandalama? Yum.

Glad to see this get underway.

Was amused by your reaction to the roads and the driving. Am I right in thinking you haven't been to India yet? I arrived in SL direct from India and found the driving quite sedate in comparison... Not to mention much quieter - in India it's HORNS all the time.

Looking forward to more.

There is a string of places in Sri Lanka which are meant for visitors.>>

Kathie - i knew about the rest houses and this place wasn't one of them. It said "hotel" over the front which was meant in the western rather than Sri Lankan sense. we weren't offered avocado juice on arrival at the kandalama, sadly, but i did try it later and wasn't that keen to be honest. My fave turned out to be plan old simple pineapple.

thursdays - you're right, we've never been to India or anywhere else in Asia. We have driven extensively in europe, including in Italy, and once rented a car in Chania [Crete] which was the closest to driving in Sri Lanka i can recall, just with all the signs in Greek! [god job DH had done maths].

but nothing had prepared us for this chaos, and yes, noise. If we do make it to India - and we are seriously considering it - we'll take ear-plugs!

love the starting adventure... could you also speak to some of the costs you encountered please.

rhkkmk - Thanks for the encouragement.

I am certainly happy to have a go at giving you approximate costings - here they are:

flights - approx £600 each LHR - CMB return. if we'd come back the day before, they'd have been £900 each.

hotels - average £100 per night per room, B&B. [costs were a bit distorted because we paid for 1/2 board in some places]. you could do a lot better than this, but I've got to the age where i like my creature comforts.

car + driver - U$ 830. [15% deposit paid on booking plus rest payable in cash in $ on arrival]

food - easier to say in rupees which are £1 = 200, or U$ = 130.

a bottle of beer [660 ml] = R 300-400, wine [we didn't drink much of this] R400 - 700 for a glass, water - between 60 and 200 a bottle depending on where you were and how big the bottle. we did have the odd cocktail for about R 600 each.

a local curry - anything between R 600 - 1000; a hotel buffet up to R 1900 each.

entrance to monuments - the cultural triangle no longer has a combined ticket which was
U$ 50 pp. Polunawara was U$ 25 each, and Siragya U$ 30 each. the first "safari" we did was U$50 each, and the 2nd U$ 75 each. other places like the gardens and Temple of the Tooth were approx R1000 each [foreigners' price].

We budgeted £1,400 each excluding flights and i think that we will come out pretty close to that, ie £100 each per day all in. I'm sure that we could have done it cheaper and another time we'd have a much better idea of what we wanted to do and which level to aim at, but we were pretty pleased with the way it worked out overall.

please let me know if I've omitted anything significant!

Wow, I thought the combined ticket was expensive! Glad I've already seen those places, I think that's more than they're worth.

thursdays - I agree about Polunawara, but not about Sigarya, which we loved. ironically, though we were staying nearby, we never got to the Dambulla caves, about which we also heard good things.

the fact is, that though we hope to go back, it may never happen and in the great scheme of things, they did not form a large proportion of our holiday costs.

thanks...

Well, I liked Sigiriya too, but one full day (and you get the evening before too) at Angkor Wat, which is a MUCH bigger site, is $20. Three days is $40, so SL is really overcharging in comparison. Come to that, the foreigner's price for the Taj Mahal is $14, and there were howls of outrage when it was raised to that a few years back.

Thanks for sharing your experiences in Sri Lanka with us, Annhig. I just made my reservations for March, also through BSL, and will be following your report for tips and ideas. Great start so far...

thursdaysd - that's a useful comparison.

as you will discover, we did feel at times that the Sri Lankans are at risk of killing the goose by over-exploiting tourists. the fact is, though, that they have relatively few places where they can raise significant revenue, and the market sets the price.

trippplanner - don't let THEM dictate your itinerary. our driver seemed to think that what was written on the itinerary supplied by BSL was written in tablets of stone and we had to work quite hard at the beginning to ensure that we did what we wanted to do, when we wanted to do it. he got the message quite quickly though, and became very adaptable, and full of useful suggestions.

Loving this report and considered Sri Lanka for a future adventure - but so hard to get there from the US.

An excellent TR annhig, so glad you had a fantastic time. Loved your description of Sri Lankan driving! It does seem that SL is in rip off mode when it comes to entrance charges but I guess all those poor government officials and ministers have to fund their retirement some way??

I think the entrance fee that annoyed me the most was World's End - $30! I'm all for funding decent maintenance, but in SL it felt more like price gouging. And of course, these were foreigner's fees. Although a bit more justifiable in SL than foreigner's fees in India, where there are plenty of well-off locals these days. But I don't want to derail a promising report!

Annhig, thanks for the tip regarding the itinerary. I will make sure that our driver understands in the beginning. Like you, we're getting a "people carrier" as well, although there are four of us.

thursdaysd - you won't derail me, don't worry, i can do that all by myself!

and I think that i forgot to mention you in the earlier credits, so belated thanks for your help in the planning of the trip. We actually had world's End on our itinerary, but the drive up to the place we were staying in above Nurewa Eliya was pretty tortuous, so once we got there, we didn't rally want to go anywhere else. So we walked from there a couple of days which was both lovely and free!

crellston - I appreciate the encouragement. We had a most terrific time and really the costs of the sites did not impinge on us at the time, though in retrospect they do seem high in comparison to others in Asia. Our driver was pretty down on politicians, and when we found out that they [and people like doctors, all of whom are very well paid compared to the average sri lankan] don't have to pay the 400% tax on new cars that ordinary people have to pay, i could see his point.

tripplanner - because I realised that the itinerary that we started off with when we booked wasn't really what we wanted to do, I e-mailed BSL about a month before we travelled with a revised version. this didn't change any of the hotels, but it did re-arrrange the activities that were planned. I wasn't entirely clear that our driver had received it - at times i thought he had, then he'd day something which made me doubt this. so i think that it's worth doing this, but also having a copy for the driver when you arrive. and being very clear about what you want to see, and don't want to see, or do come to that.

To be fair to Ajith, once we'd got used to each other he proved to be a terrific resource, and he was invariably polite, punctual and professional. These drivers get a different lot of people to look after every fortnight or so, and when the trip starts they have no idea what sort of clients they've got!

Thanks again, Annhig. I've given BSL a rough idea of what we want in terms of an itinerary and they've given me a quote based on that. I hope to spend the next couple of months going through guidebooks and emailing them with a more detailed plan. Now that you mention it, I will definitely make sure I bring a copy with me for the driver.

tp - that sounds very sensible. i have left a specific comment about your itinerary on your other thread - if you want to e-mail me when you've read it, please feel free to do so - aw@kbgchambers.co.uk should find me.

I do think flexibility in your guide is essential, We had a few problems on our trip and ended up with a replacement guide. The first was very nice but hopeless and in retrospect was a bit lazy. He would rather sit in the car and wait for us than show us around. Fine as it happened but it would have been nice to have had the option! The second, by contrast, was amazing, he would constantly make suggestions for variations of the set itinerary all of which proved to be great. He also took us to numerous places exceeding the set mileage allowance and did not charge. In the end he became a good friend.

With any guide I think it is essential to build a good relationship from the off and set out clearly what you expect. It worked with our second guide but failed miserably with our first! Other travellers we met had wildly varying experiences with their guides. I guess it is pot luck. SL is just one of those places where the more planning you do in advance, the better.

Crellston, you're spot on regarding the guide. I've had so-so guides and really good guides on my previous travels, and that really made the difference in numerous cases.

Annhig, thanks for your offer. An email is coming your way.

tp - a response should now be winging its way to you.

i agree so much with Crellston - the more research you do, the more it will pay off. That said, however much you do will not entirely prepare you for the reality! [good and bad!] in the first few days you are bound to make mistakes [well, we did] - and then it's a case of going with the flow and not letting minor niggles spoil your enjoyment of a lovely place.

as Crellston says, you are very reliant on your driver, and a good one can make or break the trip. taking all into account, Ajith was pretty good at explaining things as we drove around, but always maintained a professional reserve, so I could not describe him as a friend. He certainly tried as hard as he could to make the trip a success, and to be responsive to what we wanted, though occasionally, it got lost in translation!

Thanks so much Ann. Agree with you and Crellston 100%.

Annhig: It's great to "meet" you on this forum! I've been concentrating on Europe lately so do not often check t he Asia board but when I did just now, and when I saw your name right up at the top of the column, I knew that I was in for a good read!

I've not been to SriLanka since the last year that the island was named Ceylon (scary thought, that one!) so I guess there have been a few changes since my own visit! I'll buckle my seatbelt and join you as you recount your adventures!

hi, ek,

glad to have you along.

hoping to post the next segment this weekend - especially if I continue to operate on SL time!

What a great report. I'm enjoying reading this and will consider a trip there in our future. For those who have been to both Sri Lanka and India, how do the two compare?

thanks, dgunbug. from what I've read, India is definitely noisier!

dgunbug - the late, great dogster described SL as "India lite". He was right.

India has more of everything. If SL with BSL is Asia 101, India is a senior thesis. Maybe a graduate thesis.

Day 2 - Ordeal by monument

Our original itinerary had us going to Sirigiya today, but we’d been advised that would need a 6 am start, and being our first morning in SL, we thought we might want to sleep in, [BST being some 4 1/2 hours behind SL time] so we had opted for Polunawara instead - a longer drive, but not requiring such an early start. So it was a surprise to wake up bright, breezy and well-rested at 6am - the equivalent of 1.30 am at home. We pottered about for a bit, watching the sunrise, the birds flying over the lake, and having a cup of tea [there were tea/coffee-making facilities in all our rooms except the one at Warwick Gardens, where you could ask for tea or coffee whenever you wanted]. We also had an amusing moment when we caught the monkeys trying to open the balcony door - we had closed but not locked it and watched with astonishment as a macquake managed to open the heavy door, but got no further after we shouted at him. We always locked it after that!

By 7am we were ready for breakfast and went along to the dining room to see what was on offer. Wow! You want curry for breakfast? or ham and eggs? or a full english? toast and croissants? Whatever style of breakfast you wanted, there it was. Having read about egg hoppers [a sort of pancake made with rice flour and coconut milk with an egg cooked in the middle] we were eager to try them, and they did not disappoint - very tasty. [the highest accolade a sri lankan can give to food, so far as I could tell]. With fruit, fruit-juice, and some toast, plus the terrific tea, we were well set up for the morning and all that it might throw at us.

We easily made the 8am time we’d agreed to be picked up by Ajith, and soon we were back negotiating the traffic on the way to Polunawara. Ajith had said the journey should take about an hour, but from memory it was actually more like two - it certainly felt like it after the day before. And the heat! We’d barely noticed it in the hotel as being built into the hillside it was relatively cool; out here in the dry plains of northern Sri Lanka as soon as we opened the door to the van at 10 am it was already baking.

First stop was the ticket office and museum - U$ 25/3025 rupees each was indeed a bit steep [just over £15 each]. Sadly they have suspended [or abolished] the combined Cultural Triangle ticket which was U$ 50, and don’t take c/cards, so cash it had to be. Thankfully the museum was air-conditioned and provided information in [what we assumed were] Sinhalese, Tamil, and English. I suspect that it would have made more sense if we’d seen it after visiting the site, but that didn’t seem to be an option, so after 30 mins or so, and a use of the very clean “facilities” [we made sure we “went” even if we didn’t need to “go”] we stepped out into the searing heat again, and were ferried round to the start of the monuments, which I vaguely remember being a statue [of the king?] and the library. We tried to find out what the 5th century books were written on which would have survived the heat and damp, but sadly never discovered the answer. [anyone?]

Then we were whisked to the next site which was a much larger area where a palace had stood. We dutifully wandered round trying to make sense of the ruins, but our main focus was on getting the various touts to leave us alone. “You want hat, madam? you want elephant? where you come from, you come from England? Why you not want elephant? very cheap!” In retrospect, I rather needed a hat, but I had an instinct that once you bought something from one of them, all the rest of them would see you as fair game, so we kept up our constant streams of “no, Cornwall, no, thank you, no,” until they got the message that we weren’t buying and went to pester someone else.

Polunawara is a very large site and the system seems to be that the driver transports the guests from one part to another until a) they have seen everything or b) they get fed up. We had reached point b). [already? you ask. what wimps. But we’re from Cornwall where if it gets above 20C, it’s headline news!]. We asked if we could go and get some lunch and come back, but that apparently wasn’t an option - no passouts. [a bit much considering the cost] It was much too hot to take off one’s shoes to go into any of the temples except one which had a roof, so the interiors of the temples will remain ever a mystery to us. One we thought we would go into turned out to be completely solid like a bee-hive, which we only realised after we’d walked all the way round it. No joke in 35C without a hat. [DH had one though, but he wasn't lending].

Being our first day we’d just about had enough by then, and not being great afficionados of ancient Sri Lankan monuments, we decided to call it a day. So we sadly decided to forgo the rest of the treasures of Polunawara and asked Ajith to take us somewhere for lunch. The ensuing conversation went thus:

Ajith: What about your elephant safari this afternoon? [we looked in horror at each other].

Us: WHAT elephant safari?

Ajith: The one that’s on the itinerary.

Us: We think we’d rather go back to the hotel and rest for the rest of the day.

Ajith: But it’s on the itinerary.

Us: Could we do it another time? possibly after we’ve been to Sirigirya tomorrow?

Ajith: [clearly struggling with this] mmm - that should be possible.

Us: fine. How much is it?

Ajith: n U$.

Us: how much is that in rupees?

Ajith: 13,000.

Us: 13,000? [thinking that at this rate our cash was not going to last long between visits to ATMs.] How long does it take?

Ajith: 3 hours. There are many elephants. [and elephants were part of what we had come to see, after all]

Us: [doing the maths - mmm - just over £60 for 3 hours, this had better be good] OK - now can we please go and get some lunch?

Of course it didn’t quite go like this, but it was the first time that we had a clash of interests, and it was important to establish who was boss. [you may think that we did just that, but possibly not in the way we intended!]

The place that we were taken for lunch [and it was pretty impossible to have any control over things like this, especially at the beginning] was just about ok - with a Sri Lankan curry buffet, and other choices like sandwiches and fried lake fish. To my surprise, DH, who at home normally has curry whenever he can, decided to have a chicken sandwich, whereas I opted for the curry, which was pretty tasty, whilst the sandwich [which was the same price as the curry buffet] was truly awful, and the ladies’ loo wasn’t much better - I had to wash my hands in the gents! [the total cost for the two meals and 2 beers was about 2,500 rupees, BTW].

The journey back to the hotel took about 2 hours [there were several jams where they were carrying out much needed road improvements] so it was gone 5pm by the time we were able to dive into the hotel pool and finally cool off. [I say “pool”; in fact there are 3 and we tried each of them!] Then after dinner and a drink in the bar watching some of the cricket it was time for bed, ready for tomorrow’s adventures.

Tomorrow - you want elephants?

bring on the elephants

I want elephants...

You know, we absolutely loved Polunawara! In part, this was because we love ruins, especially Buddhist ruins, but our enjoyment was enhanced by having the best guide. Our driver asked us if we wanted a guide the day before and we did, so he called his friend. A good friend had their driver (who said he could guide them) show them around and they weren't impressed. I think this is a place where it helps to have a great guide. Given the heat, you might have wanted to stop early anyway.

Did you eat at the rest house constructed for Queen Elizabeth's visit back in the 1950s?

i wasn't much impressed by Polunawara either, but I saw it in the rain.

Kathie - our driver suggested a guide and we thought that we'd said yes, but then none materialised. [we had one the next day which did make a difference but that's another story!]

we are not, truth be told, great ones for ruins [at home we would rather visit an inhabited stately home than a ruined castle, and if it's got a garden, even better!] but we were open to the experience, and if I've given the impression that we were not having fun, then that would be wrong. But for us a few ruins can go a long way!

The rest home is being renovated else I'm sure we'd have stopped there. it has a beautiful position over-looking the lake and when it's finished will be lovely.

Hi annhig and great to read you report so glad you have enjoyed the trip albeit some interesting interludes too, will await to see more... (I am currently in London here to drop my daughter off at University)

Hi annhig and great to read you report so glad you have enjoyed the trip albeit some interesting interludes too, will await to see more... (I am currently in London here to drop my daughter off at University)

Hi annhig -- visiting from "Europe" and now along for the ride

I think I did a current events project on Sri Lanka in the 80's in high school. That, and this report, may be as close as I get.

Hi Mohammed,

thanks for "dropping in" [almost literally].

hope that your daughter gets settled in ok.

what is travel without its "interesting interludes"?

we need both the warp and the weft, IMO.

hi indy-dad, welcome.

shame if you don't ever get there - as you can see it took us 25 years or so, but it was worth the wait.

Great post, Ann. Sounds like you had all you could handle on your first day of sightseeing, which isn't quite bad given that you came off your intercontinental flight and 5-hour drive the day before. Is there no shelter at all from the heat at Polunawara? How were the crowds the day you were there?

hi tp,

yes we were very surprised at how perky we felt the first day, which was probably just as well. Being driven is of course nowhere near as tiring as doing the driving oneself [which in Sri Lanka would be inclined to induce a nervous breakdown in short order] and there were certainly no crowds at Polunawara the day we were there, in fact we didn't encounter what i would call a crowd at any of the "sites" though the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy got closest to it.

as for shelter from the heat - only what one brings oneself. A hat &/or an umbrella [very popular with the locals for whom they double as parasols] would be good ideas.

Thanks Ann. Appreciate it.

sorry about the delay folks, but here's the next installment:


Day 3 - Ordeal by elephant.

Sigiriya being relatively close to Dambulla, we didn’t need such an early start as yesterday, but by 8.30 we were on the way and by 9.15am we were arriving at the site, with Ajith advising us that we really did need a guide here, AND that the guide should cost 1000 rupees. [NB - don’t make the mistake that we did and assume that the guides acknowledge this going rate - not fixing the cost with the guide at the beginning led us into untold difficulties later, as, dear reader, you will discover if you read on].

Anyway, introduced to our guide, we were taken to buy our tickets [a whopping U$ 30, or approx £20 each] and then across the road to the site itself. The tour started with an introduction to the history of the palaces and how this 5th century king had supplanted his half-brother, and built the palace with its water gardens around the rock for the dry season and the rainy season palace complete with swimming pools on top of it, both as a retreat and a fortress. His kingdom, we learnt, lasted for 18 years until his brother invaded with an army of elephants and realising he was defeated, he committed suicide. The guide, whose father he said was a guide from the time that the site had been rediscovered by the british in the mid 20th century, certainly knew his stuff and greatly enlivened the tour.

By now we had reached the massive rock that rears up from the floor of the valley, and in 30C heat we started to climb the 1000+ steps that lead to the top. From the bottom these steps seem to go on forever, and they were certainly hard work, but blessed relief was afforded half-way by the terrace where we were able to inspect the miraculously preserved 5th century paintings of some extremely pretty girls [whether of daughters of the king or his courtesans or both seems unclear] and the mirror wall where the ancient graffiti has enabled scholars to unpick the mysteries of the ancient singhalese language. Shortly afterwards we reached the terrace where it is said there used to be a huge statue of a lion - sadly only the paws remain - and after that it was a relatively easy climb to the top, and to fantastic views over the surrounding countryside, as well as the chance to inspect the remains of the ancient palace and swimming pools.

The top of the rock is surprisingly large, and undulating, and we spent 30 mins or so exploring the ruins and trying to visualise how it might have looked 15 centuries ago, but there was no shade at all, and the sun was unrelenting, so we decided that it was time to descend, which of course was a lot easier than going up. It was interesting to see on the way down that excavation and renovation works are still going on and to observe an age-old building-method in action - a human chain of about 50 men literally throwing bricks up the hillside to where they were needed. But we were soon at the bottom, and duly proffered our guide his 1000 rupees as advised by Ajith, only to be met [you’d guessed this was coming, hadn’t you?] by outrage that we were offering him so little - he was “expecting 2000 Rs. Not only that, but the 200 rupees that we offered to each of his “helpers” [local lads who had given us the odd helping hand on the way up, clearly in the hope of a tip] were rejected with scorn, each of them demanding 1000 Rs each! After a good deal of argy-bargy we more or less threw 3000 Rs at them to argue about amongst themselves, and in a somewhat soured mood [mainly at ourselves for being had] we got back into the van, and sped back to the hotel for a restorative beer and swim.

Sanity restored, we determined not to allow these unseemly wranglings to spoil the memory of what had otherwise been a fantastic excursion - probably the best we had to any of the monuments in Sri Lanka, and in any event, we had barely any time before we were due to set off on our elephant safari!

I had read before we left of the “gathering” at the Minnierya national park, when several hundred elephants make for the watering holes there at the end of the dry season, and we were keen to fit it into our itinerary. The guide also suggested that we might see many bird species and a few other mammals too, so it was not to be missed, we thought, though the cost seemed again pretty high - U$ 50 each, [including entrance to the park] or 13000 Rs. [our cash was diminishing fast, though thankfully, as I told DH, this was the last of our big expenses for several days, until we got to Yala]. Safaris take place either in the early morning or afternoon/evening, and as our mornings had been taken up with monuments, the afternoon it had to be. The disadvantage of this time of day was brought home to us as soon we we boarded our jeep along with a somewhat taciturn guide, and were racketing down the dusty road in the full heat of the day with no roof cover. Still, this mode of transport provided an unparalleled view of Sri Lankan life, for example the chap keeping “look out” for the petrol tanker driver by traveling on top of the tanker, the 4-5 people riding on a moped, [look, the baby’s wearing a hat!] the cow and her calf wandering aimlessly into the traffic. [that’s not unknown at home, actually]

Once at the park [about a 30 minute drive] while the driver bought our passes I took the opportunity to use the toilets [pretty ok, surprisingly] and the realisation dawned upon me as he gave me direction to the ladies that our guide wasn’t just the strong silent type, he was mute! [whether deaf as well we weren’t quite sure, but I think not]. It soon became evident that our guide had developed strategies to overcome, at least partially, his difficulties in his chosen profession. For example, he banged with a ring on the frame of the jeep to get the driver to stop, go forward or back, [in fact they all did this] and had a collection of kissing a whistling noises which he combined with gestures to indicate what he wanted us to look at. Fortunately due to Ajith’s instruction we already had an idea of many of the birds and other wildlife that we were likely to see, and years of playing guessing games with our kids stood us in good stead, but still, at times the trip resembled nothing so much as a cross between Twenty Questions and Give us a clue!

We managed to spot a number of bird species that were new to us but after an hour or so, we had reached the lake area where it was obviously hoped that we would be able to see the highest concentration of elephants. Indeed we did see 50 or more in several family groups, but there were numerous other jeeps there too, all jockeying for the best position, and clearly putting the elephants under stress. OK, we all got terrific photos of them, including some very “cute” babies, but several of the elephants made mock charges at the vehicles, and they were obviously and understandably cross at our behaviour, so we asked [via our driver who was with the driver inside the jeep as we couldn’t get our guide to understand] if we could drive off to another area and look at some birds or other wildlife, which caused a degree of consternation - didn’t we want to see the elephants? We tried to explain what was worrying us, but to little effect as we then spent the next hour or so stalking a couple of tuskers [young males] and nothing we said or did could divert our driver and guide from this course, so we more or less gave up.

Eventually the sun started to set and a positive caravan of jeeps made its way out of the park, and we were taken back to our van and then, not particularly happily, back to our hotel. I think that Ajith realised that we were not happy bunnies when we refused to tip the driver and guide - not only had they not done what we wanted, but we felt, had already been quite well for not doing it. Should we have tipped them? After all the driver and guide probably don’t see much of the money we paid, and the guide had certainly overcome what must have been quite substantial odds to get a job doing something he clearly loved doing - there was no doubt that he loved those elephants.

Back in the peace and quiet of our hotel room, over a nice cup of tea [well we are british] we tried to bring some perspective to the day and enjoy our last evening, whilst we watched the sun set over the lake. We agreed that we needed to talk to Ajith to ensure that we got more say in what we were doing [dear reader, you can judge for yourselves whether we were successful in this if you keep reading!] and that there was no point in crying over spilt milk - we had the rest of the holiday to enjoy, and come what may, we were going to enjoy it!

Our last evening meal at Dambulla was as ever very good, though if we had stayed longer, we might have explored the other dining options as the buffet though very well cooked, was becoming a little predictable. Then we had a nice drink in the lounge listening to some local musicians, who were certainly enthusiastic, and finally took our last evening walk to our room accompanied by myriad bats, lizards, and a few things I’d prefer not to think about.

Tomorrow - why didn’t we bring any ear-plugs?

We also had the mute game-spotter. We thought he was quite good. He used a book to point out specific species of birds.

We also didn't like the jeeps harassing the elphants to get them to trumpet and charge. Fortunately, our driver came on the truck with us, so I was able to tell him what we wanted and he told the driver. They all seemed a bit mistified as to why we didn't want to see the elephants trumpet and charge, but complied with our request.

Also, our driver was persent when we paid guides, so we had no difficulty with the sort of thing you experienced. It reminds me how much a good driver can mitigate the common problem of the increasing price.

I'm enjoying your report!

Thanks Ann. Another great installment! I too would not feel comfortable about how the elephants are being treated.

Still reading ann, although am traveling now. I didn't have a guide for Sigiriya and didn't think I needed one - I had read up on the site. I intentionally skipped any and all elephant offerings. Had ridden one in Thailand and been unhappy with the way they were treated. Did see a couple by the side of the road in SL, though.

Kathie - we found out later that they all use the same book to point out bird species, but the mute guide had far more problems when he was trying to tell us other things, like animal species and how old the baby elephants were. Also, when we had 2 different guides at Yala, one for a bird walk and the for a "safari" in the national park, both of whom could speak, it brought it home to us how inadequate the mute guide had been. and of course we couldn't ask him questions very readily or have any sort of conversation with him.

our driver, who in other ways was very good, seemed a bit ambivalent about tipping - whenever we asked him how much was appropriate, he would say that it was not acceptable for the recipient to ask for anything and that it was entirely up to us - which wasn't particularly helpful. but he was clear about prices, which helped. we just should have listened to him!

tripplanner, thursdays - we should have predicted what was going to happen at Minniyera, as really the elephants are the only things to see there and it was peak season for the "gathering", so it was entirely our fault that we fell into doing it. We'd have been much better off going to see the Dambulla caves, to be honest. in our defence I think that there is always a steep learning curve at the beginning of every trip, which was exacerbated by the fact we hadn't been to Asia before. I'd like to think that had we done the trip the other way round, by the time we got to Dambulla we'd have been a bit more assertive and "street-wise", but you never know.

Ann, you're right that "you never know" and sometimes not knowing is part of the experience. IMO, if overall, you had a good experience and came away with some nice memories or perhaps insight into the culture, etc., then to me, you've done pretty well.

IMO, if overall, you had a good experience and came away with some nice memories or perhaps insight into the culture, etc., then to me, you've done pretty well.>>

all of that and more, tripplanner. We came away wondering if we had ever had such a good holiday in all our years together, and talking about going back. so you will understand I hope that I am not complaining, but trying to portray a balanced picture of our trip, not a "it was all wonderful" TR, which would be neither true nor interesting.

Funny that you had the same guide! Or maybe they're all "mute" - a lot easier to not speak at all than to learn English. The ele situation is sad and nails the complications of cultural differences.

crosscheck - yes, it is quite a co-incidence.

I don't think that they are all mute [I'm not sure I've ever met a mute person before to be honest] as i could see other guides talking to their clients. and this chap was clearly genuinely mute - i noticed he was communicating with other guides by gestures and various noises, so that would have been taking pretence too far!

No, Ann, you're not complaining. I enjoy the balanced approach, as that is more interesting and most helpful to other travellers like me.

Day 4 - Ordeal by cricket match

Dawn on our last morning at Kandala brought the usual bright and sunny weather [the job of being a weather forecaster in Sri Lanka must be an easy one] and we had a last cup of tea on the balcony before packing up and going down to breakfast. The plan today was to make for Kandy, check into our hotel, and then head down to the T20 match at the Pallekele stadium about 15 kms outside the city. We got our tickets via the internet for the grand total of U$10 - U$1 for the tickets and U$9 for the postage. We weren’t expecting much - just a patch of grass to sit on, and a view of the match or rather 2 matches as the ticket covered both of the matches taking place at the ground that day - not bad for 50c pp.

Had we really thought about it [or known more] we might have fitted in an early morning trip to the Dambulla Caves [which are on our list for our next visit] but we weren’t in a mood to rush, and by the time we’d packed, breakfasted and paid, it was about 9.00. Ajith had said that the journey to Kandy should take 2 1/2 hours, plus the obligatory stop at a spice garden so our ETA at our hotel, the Theva Residence, was about 1pm. The beginning of the journey was pretty standard - the usual chaos with Ajith doing an excellent job of avoiding collision with all the other road users. Then the traffic eased off and we started to climb into the hills along some rather better roads. After 90 minutes or so, in the middle of a little town Ajith suddenly pulled into a yard, and there in front of us, was possibly the most ornate temple I have ever seen. [OK, I haven’t seen that many but not one single inch of its surface could be seen!] It was completely covered in hindu images and was clearly a well-known land-mark as several other vehicles pulled up while we were there. Photo-op over, we got back in the van, and carried on ever upwards towards Kandy.

Next stop was a spice garden - we’d thought about whether or not we really wanted to do this, but actually we were quite interested as we grow a lot of herbs at home and whilst by no means having alternative beliefs, we like to see ourselves as being open to new ideas. [by which you will realise that we are actually fuddy-duddy conventionalists!] Of course, many of the spices are familiar to anyone who does any cooking, even the “good plain” cookery beloved of the british of yesteryear [and not a few cornish people as well]. Nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, allspice - all are thoroughly familiar to anyone who’s ever made a fruit cake, though our guide seemed to have difficulty believing this. [this was not a unique reaction to our saying that we had .......at home - in general Sri Lankans seemed to have some pretty strange ideas about Britain - or as they described it - England]. Most interesting was the information about the medicinal spices and herbs - I suspect that we in the west lose a lot by ignoring this resource. Of course the visit concluded with the opportunity to avail ourselves of the obligatory gift shop and we bought a few presents - a hair preparation for our daughter, spices for cooking, some cocoa for our son.

The rest of the trip up to Kandy was marked by a distinct increase in the traffic and Ajith explained that the main rush hour in Sri Lanka is around 1-2pm when the children all come out of school. This was obvious from the number of school buses, the children in their very smart uniforms spilling out of their schools, and the tuk-tuks racing away with their charges. So by the time we arrived in Kandy the roads were clogged and progress was very slow, which gave us plenty of time to admire the sights - the lake, the temple of the tooth, the market, the prison [the prison? - yes - built by the British and not renovated since by the look of it], the hospital - we saw them all.

When we booked it, i suppose that we realised that our hotel, the Theva Residence, http://theva.lk/theva.html - wasn’t exactly in the centre of Kandy, but i don’t think that we had appreciated how far up above the city it was - it seemed to take ages for us to wind our way up the hillside, until finally we arrived, with our van making a sharp right-hand turn into the drive which was so well hidden we hadn’t even seen it.

Once the arrival formalities were over - [a contract to sign arrived with every welcome drink we had during our trip! ] we were shown to our room which was just off the drive but still very quiet, dumped our bags, and made immediately for the reception/dining area where lunch was being served. And what a lunch! I opted for some fish I’d never heard of wrapped in banana leaves with a risotto and DH had a biryani with some other accompaniments both washed down with local beer. I honestly don’t know which was the most delicious.

We’d already decided that we weren’t too fussed if we didn’t see the whole of the first match which was due to be Sri Lanka v New Zealand, but even so we were getting a bit impatient to get there as we struggled through the traffic again along the road to the cricket ground. Finally we got to the ground and located the correct entrance, only to be confronted with long queues to get in, even though the match had started some time previously. Actually to be strictly accurate, the queue for the men was long, the queue for the women was non-existent. Why separate queues? Because everyone was having a VERY vigorous body-search, and I mean vigorous. Barely any orifice remained unprobed. That meant that I had to wait for DH for some considerable time while he waited for his turn. Still his fellow queuees were very friendly and cheerful, especially when he said he was supporting Sri Lanka.

When we got into the ground, it was surprisingly easy to find our “seating” area, which as we’d suspected, turned out to be a patch of grass under the score-board. In theory we could have sat down, but as all the enthusiastic Sri Lankan supporters around us were standing up, we had to stand too. This match turned out to be a corker, with the teams tied at the end which meant that they had to have a “golden” over to finish the match - cricket doesn’t get any more thrilling than that. [apologies to Masterchef!] By this stage the noise was almost overwhelming - whistling, shouting, two bands, a trumpeter, and pop music blaring out of some nearby speakers, all at the same time.

The England v WI match was a bit of an anti-climax, [the WI won easily after Chris Gayle set about the english bowling with a passion] but luckily many of the locals went home after that so we had room to sit down on the grass, and move around. We’d been quite curious about the food and drink that might be on offer, but we need have had no fears about it - there was plenty of beer available plus freshly cooked noodles, crisps, and hot dogs [to which we gave a wide berth]. The loos started off ok, but deteriorated somewhat; it must be said that they were no worse than many I’ve come across at sporting events in the UK, though a torch would have been useful later on.

We’d been worried about how we were going to find Ajith and the van at the end of the match but we needn’t have - i just sent him a brief text to tell him where we were going to exit the ground, and he met us and led us straight back to where he’d parked. The journey back to Kandy was interesting - we overtook carts crammed with people, over-loaded mopeds, and buses with positively overflowing with passengers, and finally we fell into bed at about midnight.

I think the "best" places to stay in Kandy are all quite some distance from the city - out in the lovely hills. The place we stayed was like that, and it took half an hour each way whenever we went into town.

Looking forward to more...

Sounds like a great travel day!

Another good read, Ann. I must say, I don't understand cricket, but that's for another day!

Day 5

Much as we liked the Theva - and we liked it a lot - it must be said that we didn’t sleep very well there, mainly due to the weird design of the bed, which meant that by the time we woke up, the bottom sheet was wrapped around us rather than the mattress! Note to designers/architects - please don’t make beds with those fancy wooden surrounds that stick out below the mattress, as all they do is provide opportunities for guests to hit their shins and generally wake up grumpy!

Nor are we great fans of the open-plan bath/shower arrangement that our room had - thank goodness that the loo and basin were in a separate cubicle. But compared with its advantages these were relatively small gripes - the food and the view, plus the very friendly and helpful staff, more than made up for them. We had a terrific breakfast, including the best croissants we had in Sri Lanka, and then drove down into Kandy to visit the botanical gardens at Peradeniya, just outside the city, said to be the best botanical gardens in Asia - not sure by whom, and I can’t comment as we haven’t been to any others outside Sri lanka, but they were very good.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Botanical_Gardens,_Sri_Lanka

First stop was the orchid house as recommended by Mohammed, and it did not disappoint - the plants were very beautiful, being just as good if not better than as the prize-winning ones we had seen at the Keukenhof gardens some 6 months before. After that we worked our way round the gardens in a more or less clockwise direction, trying not to fall over too many “courting couples” as we did so! Apparently they are allowed access to what is probably one of the few places that unmarried couples can go to be alone [if you don’t count all the other couples doing the same thing] so long as they can produce proof they are over 18 - and most were a lot older than that! Of more interest to us were the huge fruit bats that were flying around overhead and of course the trees and plants - all very well tended and labelled. Poor DH gets dragged more or less willingly to botanical gardens wherever we go, but even he had to agree that this was a “must see”. It was fascinating to see plants that we have at home as small house-plants growing to 6 feet or so - the poinsettias for example - plus all the medicinal and tropical plants we can only grow indoors thriving outside, and all blooming together.

However by about noon it was getting rather hot [ok, VERY hot] and we were pleased to get back into the van and return to the hotel for a swim and lunch, before returning to Kandy later in the afternoon to tour the city and visit the Temple of the Tooth. We’d planned this as a bit of a day off in between drives, and we were very glad we did - it was great just to sit round the pool, sip pina coladas, and have a nice long leisurely lunch. [did I say how good the food was here? I can’t remember what we had for lunch this time, but I’m sure that it was excellent!] At 4pm Ajith arrived to take us down to Kandy and he spent about 30 mins driving us round the city before dropping us off just outside the Queen’s hotel, saying he’d pick us up there later - we just had to text him when we were ready to leave.

As this was our first experience of a proper Sri Lankan town or city we were eager to look round but sad to say we were a little disappointed - perhaps our expectations were too high, or we didn’t look in the right places. As it was still daylight we thought that it would be a good time to walk along the lake-side but we got fed up with being plagued by men/boys wanting to be our guides and felt a bit thirsty, so we made our way back to the Queen’s and decided to explore its bar - as we had thought about staying there, but been put off by some of the reviews, we were interested to see what we’d missed. The lobby is huge with cool marble floors, and the atmosphere is “old colonial” - revolving doors opened for you by bowing flunkies! The bar is large with lots of comfy chairs and sofas and one side opens onto the gardens and the pool area. Tea seemed the obvious thing to order, and for 200 rupees [£1] we got a large pot of perfectly brewed tea for two plus a great view of the cricket on the large-screen TV - perfect.

But after an hour or so we thought that we ought to go and do some shopping so we set off on a hunt for pool sandals for DH, and a souvenir cricket top for DS; this being Sri Lanka, we ended up paying over the odds for a t-shirt for DS and a linen shirt for DH. How we got conned into going to the market in the dark with some bloke we didn’t know to pay higher prices than in the perfectly good shop we’d started off in I’m not sure, but it was an experience, and it gave us an opportunity to contribute to the local economy. Of course we bargained, but they’re better at it than us - they’ve had a lot more practice.

Our wallets somewhat lighter than they had been, we walked back to the Temple of the Tooth, where we had been advised we should arrive at about 7pm, to watch we weren’t sure what, and after another vigorous search of our persons, we made our way to the Temple, where we deposited our shoes, and barefoot, made our way inside. At this point I think that some sort of guide would have been advisable, but we didn’t have one, not even a guide-book, so we just followed the crowd inside, and tried to make some sense of what we could see. Downstairs we were greeted by some drummers, and going past them we found a large hall with a frieze around the ceiling telling the story of the tooth - kings deposed and restored, the tooth found and lost, stolen and sold - you get the picture. Then we made our way up the stairs where lots of people we queuing - for what we didn’t know - so we avoided that and worked our way along the opposite wall until we had a good view of - well - not a lot, to be honest. There was an enclosure with some people sitting in it, and a door, which finally opened to reveal - another door. This prompted a frenzy of camera clicking, and to my shame I joined in with this, but I’ve no idea what it was we were taking. The highlight were some school children, beautifully dressed in their smart uniforms, and they kindly posed for us to take pictures, giggling and smiling - very “cute”. [for once, that over-used american expression is the most apt].

After that we retraced our steps to the “shoe depository”, had a desultory argument about how much we should tip them, and made our way back to the sanctuary of the Queen’s where we had some perfectly good, in fact extremely good club sandwiches and beers, again at very reasonable prices, and explored the “ museum” [a fascinating collection of pictures and memorabilia going back over 100 years] before meeting Ajith and going back to the hotel. We did think about going up to a bar we’d heard about from some other brits we’d chatted to at the cricket match - the Slightly Chilled Lounge [no 1 restaurant on TA, but I think that it’s really just a bar that serves food] - but we were glad we didn’t as we heard from some other people we met later that they had been completely overwhelmed and ran out of almost everything during the T20 matches.

Kandy was very pretty at night and the view over the city as we climbed up to our hotel was lovely, but unless we were to visit again for the Perakhera, I’m not sure that I’d want to return.

Tomorrow - it’s as if we’d never left home.

<<Another good read, Ann. I must say, I don't understand cricket, but that's for another day!>>

thanks, TP. BTW, i'm very happy to explain cricket - but do you have a year or so it spare?

<<I think the "best" places to stay in Kandy are all quite some distance from the city - out in the lovely hills. The place we stayed was like that, and it took half an hour each way whenever we went into town.>>

Kathie - you may well be right but on the whole, I'm glad we stayed nearer to the centre of Kandy - for reasons that may become apparent on Day 6, I'm glad that we resisted the lure of those lovely rural properties in the hills.

Ann, I was thinking that the other nice places to stay were, like Theva Residence, in the hills around the city. I wasn't thinking of the places way outside of town, out in the countryside.

It sounds like your impressions of the town were much like ours - not a lot to recommend it. We did stop at a bookstore, but my visions of great shopping were nowhere to be found.

I, too, was rather disappointed by Kandy. The lake was quite nice, so long as you only looked at it from the hills, and of course the botanical gardens were well worthwhile.

Thanks, Ann, but I think I'll pass on the cricket explanation . I'm looking forward to the botanical gardens though, as I enjoy them very much and seek them out when I travel. Also on my list are the gardens in Singapore, where I'll spend a few days before I head to SL.

what i would REALLY have liked to have done in Kandy was to go to the High Court, which was a very impressive building we passed on the way to the Gardens.

DH thinks that i'm mad as I spend virtually every day of my working life in a court building somewhere or other, but I should have liked to have spent at least half a day observing the Sri Lankan legal system [which i believe is based on the english one with which I'm familiar] at work. for some reason I didn't think of this until we got there, by which time it was too late.

Never mind - perhaps another time.

TP - it looks as if we are all of the same mind - don't spend too long in Kandy. 2 nights - just long enough to have a quick look round and go to the gardens - should be long enough, IMO, though some of the cricket fans that we met who were staying there for the entire duration of the England's participation in that stage of the tournament seemed pretty happy. We met one chap who'd brought some of his wife's jewelry out to be mended which he had arranged at a very good price and he was very happy with where he was staying:

http://www.oldeempirehotel.com/

frankly it lookeds a bit more run down to us than the pics on the website indicate but it gets very good reviews on TA, and for Rs 2,500 per night, you aren't going to get the Taj Mahal. Unless you are going to be there in the Perakhera [August] you might even think about not booking a room til you get there, then seeing what's available. with a short-list of places that you like the look of, and a co-oerative driver or tuk-tuk, you could probably find somewhere very nice pretty quickly.

BTW, did anyone go to any of the local dance-shows? we passed and were glad that we did as people we met later in our trip said that they were not very good and went on for ages.

There are a number of dance shows, which apparently vary wildly in quality. We went to one we enjoyed, on the word of both our driver and the manager of the Kandy House. We heard reviews from other people who went to other shows and were disappointed. Apparently, one show manages to get the best dancers.

Interesting and enjoyable, but not something to go out of your way for.

Ann, exactly. My priorities in Kandy would be the gardens and the Temple of the Tooth, not much else.

Kathie, do you know the name of the show you saw in Kandy?

Great report, annhig. Will there be some photos at some point?

What a frustrating existence for the mute guide.

I noted these comments from both Kathie and Annhig on separate visits:

"...but there were numerous other jeeps there too, all jockeying for the best position, and clearly putting the elephants under stress."

"We also didn't like the jeeps harassing the elphants to get them to trumpet and charge. They all seemed a bit mistified as to why we didn't want to see the elephants trumpet and charge, but complied with our request."

Looks like a recipe for disaster. Are these the only conditions under which ele viewing in Sri Lanka can be done?


Looking forward to Yala at Chaaya.

Looks like a recipe for disaster. Are these the only conditions under which ele viewing in Sri Lanka can be done?>>

atravelynn - i don't know, is the answer to that. in retrospect we should have expected it at Minnierya as people were bound to be interested in the "gathering" which had been quite well publicised [it must have been, we'd heard of it!]. There aren't many elephants at Yala, the lure there is leopards, but we made it clear straight away that we weren't interested in chasing around after them but just wanted a leisurely drive looking for birds and anything else interesting we might come across. I'm not sure the guide believed us at first, but we insisted and after that, they did exactly what we wanted which was great. and we did see some elephants, but after we'd watched for a few minutes and some other jeeps arrived, we asked to move away.

in the museum at Yala is a very sad photo of a dead leopard cub that was run over by a jeep in 2011.

No, you should not arrive in Kandy without a reservation, at least not in high season. I didn't care much for my accommodation and spent an unsuccessful morning looking for somewhere else. I seem to remember crellston also had difficulty.

No, you should not arrive in Kandy without a reservation, at least not in high season. I didn't care much for my accommodation and spent an unsuccessful morning looking for somewhere else. I seem to remember crellston also had difficulty.>>

thursdays - there seemed to be so much accommodation in Kandy that out of high season, just turning up seemed a possibility - and it would get round the problem that you had of your reserved hotel being unacceptable. We did just turn up and find a room later in the trip, and it worked well for us.

We need some upbeat activities and experiences now to follow the dead leopard cub comment.

working on it now, atravelynn!

tp, sorry, I have no idea of the name of the dance show we saw.

Day 6

Throughout the trip, whenever we asked Ajith how long it was going to take to get from A to B, he said it would be about 2 1/2 hours, and this morning was no exception. Quite often he had proved correct, but despite this I found his estimate of 2 1/2 hours to drive the 82 kms from Kandy to our next hotel in Nurewa Eliya unbelievable - that would be an average speed of roughly 30 kms an hour. Ridiculous.

OK - now an apology. I know that before we went on our trip I had suggested on another thread that people were being too pessimistic about driving times in Sri Lanka and to them I must apologise, because I had no idea what I was talking about. It actually took longer than that, or would have done if we hadn’t stopped at a Tea Factory just outside Nurewa Eliya, where we arrived almost exactly 2 1/2 hours after we’d left Kandy. Partly it was due to the condition of the roads themselves, though actually they weren’t too bad [better than the ones round Dambullla] but mainly it was due to the fact that we had to get from the relative lowlands of Kandy [at 1,600 ft] to the much higher altitude of NE - at 6,000 ft. So the road wound backwards and forwards through the hills, getting higher and higher, and cooler! Nice!

The lonely planet guide doesn’t think much to the tour of the Mackwoods Tea factory, but we were very happy with the one we had there - Ajith introduced us to a guide, and she proceeded to show us the whole process from plant to cup, with detailed and interesting explanations in between. As big tea drinkers [in the sense that we drink an average of 6 cups a day] this was something close to our hearts. We learnt that all tea, from the most delicate earl grey to the strongest builder’s brew, comes from the same plant, a species of camellia. We asked the name of the species, but this was one of the few things about tea that our guided didn’t know [it’s actually camellia sinensis, we looked it up when we came home]; nor did she know, and why should she, that tea is now being grown in the UK. We probably wouldn’t know either if it weren’t being produced just down the road from us. http://tregothnan.co.uk/tea-plantation-bar/]

After a fascinating tour and a free cup of tea [the chocolate cake for which you have to pay seemed to be going down very well with the patrons who had it] we got back in the van and carried on up through gathering clouds to NE. First impressions weren’t great to be honest - it looked just like another scruffy Sri Lankan town, with shops, offices and workshops intermingling in a haphazard fashion along the main road. Ajith dropped us off in the middle of town, and as we got out, a light drizzle started so we grabbed our plastic macs, and trudged around a bit in the worsening rain, until we found a cafe on the edge of a park, which looked as if it could be quite nice.

Anyone looking for a light meal in NE could do a lot worse than the cafe of the Royal Victoria Park, though you may not get quite what you order! DH wanted chicken and sweetcorn soup but got vegetable, I wanted a coffee and got hot chocolate. The curries looked very nice and might have been a more reliable choice, but my club sandwich was excellent, and was just what I’d ordered. All this and a bottle of water for less than £5.

By the time we’d eaten the rain had stopped, and we decided to go for a walk around the gardens before we got back in the van for the final part of the drive up to our hotel. They are not on the same scale as the botanical gardens in Kandy, but still very nice to wander around for an hour or so, with lawns, trees, a rose garden, and even the Sri Lankan version of a herbaceous border. Luckily we missed the killer bees that struck the park the next day and put several people in hospital. But we were keen to get onto our hotel, so after buying some fruit from the nearby market, and admiring the victorian-style post office, we got back in the van and after passing a very nice lake [Gregory?] started climbing up the hillside again, along a track that got windier and narrower with every turn. When we’d booked our trip we’d both approved our accommodation choices, but I don’t think that either of us had realised just how remote our hotel in NE, Warwick Gardens, actually was.
http://www.jetwinghotels.com/jetwingwarwickgardens/, and certainly the look on DH’s face as we drove further and further away from “civilisation’ was a picture. “Where have you brought me to this time?” it said?

However, as we climbed out of the van and were greeted by the staff and a cool drink, the mood changed dramatically. What a view! how lovely and cool it was! what is this country house built of granite with an english country garden doing in the middle of a Sri Lankan tea plantation?

After the customary drinks and signing of the guest contract, we were shown to our room, which turned out to be a peach. Accessed from the first floor landing by a 2nd set of stairs hidden behind a tapestry hanging, the “White Room” is a massive and luxurious bedroom overlooking the front of the house and the lovely view, with a separate private bathroom with shower and victorian bath-tub. Perfect for us, and also for anyone wanting some privacy. I can’t remember in detail what we did that evening - I think that there was some cricket on the TV [only available downstairs, not in the rooms], had a beer, relaxed, and got to know the house and the grounds. The staff are lovely - very friendly and willing to bring you anything at any time - we had only to ask, and drinks would appear as if by magic plus snacks or whatever you wanted.

At about 5pm we were asked what we would like for dinner - it’s little difficult when confronted with almost infinite choice, but with some gentle guidance, we opted for soup, sri lankan chicken curry and the trimmings, and fruit for dessert. We also chose to eat at about 7pm, [which left the communal dining room free for the Sri lankan family who were staying there to eat a little later,] but i’m sure that they would have accommodated us all if we’d wanted to eat at the same time. The food was not as good as that at the Theva, but that would have been well nigh impossible; the soup made from herbs and vegetables picked from the garden was delicious, the main course very tasty and the fruit refreshing. For £10 each it was also very reasonably priced, which was a nice surprise given that they have a more or less captive audience! The only disappointment was perhaps the wine - much of the list was unavailable, but that’s a minor quibble, considering the problems of getting anything up there. 

After yet more cricket, we retired relatively early and slept wonderfully well - no issues with errant sheets here. And the silence - you rarely get silence that profound nor a sky that black.

Tomorrow - busy doing nothing.

Ah yes, I'd forgotten about the NE botanical garden, nice place. I stayed right on the lake, but your choice sounds good.

Day 7

Our original plan had been to go to World’s End today but after the grueling trip we’d had to get to Warwick Gardens we weren’t really in a mood to leave it again so soon, and certainly not to spend over an hour there and back to in a jeep togo for a walk, when we could just walk out of our own front door. So we postponed this possible trip to the next day, and set about having a relaxed and lazy day. This meant having a late [english] breakfast and following that up with a gentle stroll around the garden. I would have been happy to have sat around all morning, but DH had other ideas, and after consulting the staff [who indicated that we could just wander off where we liked] we set off down the “drive” to the house, and then along a path that took us about as far to the east as we could go, giving us a great view across the valley to the distant hills.

Because this was a bit of an impromptu stroll, and we hadn’t planned on being out for long [indeed we weren’t out for more than an hour or so] we neither of us bothered with any sun protection other than a hat - and later in the day we began to regret this as bits of both us started to turn red and hot. Of course what we had forgotten was that the effect of the sun at 6000 feet is quite intense; it was a good lesson to learn though. We had a late soup and sandwich lunch, and while DH dozed, I spent the afternoon looking around the garden a bit more thoroughly. Many of the plants had clearly been here a long time - the monkey puzzle and other mature trees, shrubs like roses and camellias [in bloom together which would have been unusual in the UK] and many of the other plants. I learnt later from the manager that he’d spent several years hacking the garden out of the undergrowth - a sort of Sri lankan mini “lost gardens of Heligan” and many of the plants were either the originals or planting based on what he’d found. No wonder the garden seemed familiar. Beyond the borders, the vegetable and herb gardens were neatly tended with potatoes, carrots and leeks grown in raised beds, in fact nearly all of the little market garden plots that could be found on every bare patch of land were equally immaculate. Did we get the trick of growing climbing beans up bamboo poles from the Sri Lankans or did they get it from us?

We had tea outside on the veranda, and later on another delicious dinner, this time in company with an couple who were english but living in Thailand. Did we want to go with them to World’s End? Well, it was tempting but we’d so enjoyed the short walk we’d done that morning, that we decided we’d try to do another one the next day, rather than venture further afield. [so long as we used some sun-screen that is]. So we said no, and planned to set off early in the morning to do a longer walk around the plantation before breakfast. The best laid plans.....

Warwick Gardens sounds lovely. These old tea planter's homes converted well to small hotels.

Kathie - it was. [lovely, that is]. if you'd told me that I'd be happy spending two days of our precious holiday doing virtually nothing i wouldn't have believed you, but it was a very restful and delightful interlude. we were lucky that we had the cricket to watch, and that it didn't rain - that might well have put a damper on things, in more ways than one.

Day 8

After yesterday’s lazing about we surprised ourselves by keeping to our plan to get up early, and by 7.30 we were out of the house and heading up the hill behind it to try to pick up one of the trails going round the western side of the valley. There were few people around at this time, just a lot of children heading for school in their wonderfully clean uniforms, and then a little later someone who we guessed was a teacher - a very smart young man carrying a briefcase. The children are funny - some quite shy, others boldly shouting “pen, pen” at us. We wave and keep walking.

The first part of our “route” [that sounds a bit too well organised, really we were just following our noses] took us into the shade behind the hill so it was actually quite chilly, but once we emerged into the sunshine, it started to get hot. This time we had sunscreen and hats, not to mention a couple of bottles of water, so we were happy that we were well-equipped to deal with whatever the morning threw at us. Apart from getting lost! The paths went on forever and there are loads and loads of them criss-crossing the hillsides which thickly planted with tea bushes, all look the same. Help!

Eventually after several wrong turns, one of which threatened to take us way too far down into the valley, so that we’d have needed to get a tuk-tuk back up, we rounded another turn and found ourselves overlooking the village which lies just below our hotel. Phew - we’d been walking for 3 hours by now, and we were tired, hot, and just about out of water. But what a view - the hillside fell several hundred feet away below us with a vista right across the valley to the hills opposite. Hard work but it had been worth it. Half and hour later we were sitting down to the Sri Lankan version of brunch - fruit platter, egg and bacon and/or curry and rice - I stuck to the egg and bacon with several pots of tea.

The rest of the day was spent in a siesta, followed by a trip down to look at Lake gregory - which would be a nice place to spend an afternoon if one were staying in Nurewa Eliya and had run out of things to do! Supper was spent exchanging largely truthful tales with our fellow travelers and watching yet more of the cricket on the telly, which proved to be a great bonding exercise between ourselves and the staff.

Tomorrow we were off to Yala, for more encounters of the animal kind.

What an amazing trip report! We have just got back from Sri Lanka and am in the middle of writing mine. Feel embarassed by how short it is! look forward to reading your impressions of Yala.

hi carrom, thanks! any and all encouragement is gratefully accepted.

i hope that you enjoyed your trip as much as we enjoyed ours.

Here's a little more, encouragement that is.
Do you have any photos for us, Ann?

thanks, sundried.

sadly I've never conquered the method by which one can post photos on a computer. DD keeps promising to show me, but i never get round to it. also they weren't stellar, frankly - i blame my camera.

here we are - the next instalment:

Days 9 - 10 - Yala!

After another excellent breakfast [how do they get english bacon to the middle of a tea plantation at 2000m above sea level?] we bade a very sad farewell to the staff and Warwick Gardens and set off down the dreadful track, which had now lost some of its terrors, back down to the main road to start our journey to Yala. Ajith didn’t seem entirely clear how long it was going to take, but we were reckoning on at least 4 hours, though we were presently surprised by the state of the road, which he said had been newly resurfaced. It didn’t make any difference to the twists and turns of the car as we wound our way down through the endless tea bushes and vegetable plots, but it certainly made traveling more comfortable than some of the roads we’d been on.

First stop was for coffee in Ella - we passed the railway station, and several little guest houses, and reading the guide book, I had come to the conclusion that for day-tripping whether by rail or foot, Ella might be a better bet than NE. Never mind - next time! The hotel we stopped at had a very pleasant terrace, and the view down the valley was magnificent, so I was more than a bit peeved that my camera battery chose that moment to die, and of course I had no charger with me. I might manage to find a charger in Colombo, but in rural Sri Lanka? We were not confident.

Back in the van we explained the problem to Ajith who confirmed that there was no-where in Ella, but we might be lucky in the town [name forgotten] we would reach just before we got to Yala. Fingers crossed! What this meant of course was no more pictures, so it was pretty disappointing that the next stop was at a magnificent waterfall just outside Ella - or it would have been were it not for the fact that due to the lack of recent rain, it was more of a trickle than a torrent. We didn’t linger.

The rest of the morning passed slowly as the scenery gradually changed from the hills of the centre to the plains of the south and apart from the odd little town, and lurking traffic cops with their speed traps there was little for Ajith to point out to us. Round about 1 o’clock we stopped somewhere for lunch where the most memorable thing was the price of the rather sad looking seafood displayed in a labouring fridge [we were clearly a great disappointment to the waiter when we decided just to have some soup] and then an hour or so later we hit the rather larger town of Tissa where Ajith had high hopes that we might find a charger. Were we in any doubt that having a local driver was an advantage over trying to find one’s own way around, this would have been one of the occasions to convince us. In the middle of a typically nondescript row of shops he found a photograph’s gallery that stocked batteries and other sundries, and yes, they had a charger that the owner assured me would work. Indeed he was so confident that he gave me his phone number and details in case it didn’t! [not quite sure what he expected me to do with them but still, it was good salesmanship]. It cost of course - about 50% more than it would have done in Colombo according to Ajith but it’ll be just the thing for charging camera batteries on future trips to Sri Lanka.

Beyond the town the road started to deteriorate, and as we got closer to Yala our progress slowed, but eventually we were skirting the lake which sits between Chaaya Wild and the beach, and finally we had arrived. What a lovely place! We drank our welcome drinks in an outdoor lounge overlooking a huge freeform swimming pool. After the normal formalities we were escorted to our “room” which turned out to be an individual bungalow set amongst trees about 200 yards from the main building complex, and were warned that after dark, we should always ask for a member of staff to escort us to and from the restaurant and bar. That sounded intriguing!

After quickly unpacking as much as we needed [not much, but somehow unpacking always makes me feel as we’re stopping for longer] and admiring our room which was very spacious, first stop obviously was the swimming pool where the water was as delicious as it looked. Following this up with a couple of beers while we watched the cricket on the big screen, we had failed to notice that the light was falling and suddenly it was almost dark. Forgetting entirely about the injunction to be accompanied by a staff member, we started to make our way back to our room when right in front of us were a wild boar and her babies - close enough to touch. We froze as they scuttled off into the undergrowth and then carried on gingerly down the path to our hut.

Needless to say that after showering and changing, when we wanted to go back to the restaurant for supper, we did phone for an escort, and ironically we never saw any other animals of interest all the rest of the time we were there. We’d chosen B&B here, so rather than pay for the buffet we decided to try what they called the “a la carte” restaurant, which turned out to be the bar where we’d watched the cricket earlier. Service was not stellar, but the food was reasonably good - I think that we both had some sort of fish, which we were finding was pretty reliable. While we were sitting there we decided to book an early morning bird-watching walk, so as we were going to have an early start, we needed an early night!

6am the next morning found us armed with binoculars and the ubiquitous Sri Lankan bird book waiting by the lake for our guide who immediately he arrived started to point out the vast variety of bird life all around us. Some of it was already familiar to us, but quite a lot wasn’t and it was just lovely being outside in the relative cool of the early morning. Having spent quite a long time by the lake, we walked over to the sea and watched the waves of the indian ocean crashing onto the beach before following some elephant tracks up a sand-dune - who knew that elephants could climb like that?

After a most interesting couple of hours, we went over to the first floor restaurant [topped by an observation platform and bar, sadly not open at 8 in the morning] and partook of the breakfast buffet. Not of the same standard of the Kandalama but still pretty good, there was a terrific choice of fruits, yoghurts and even porridge to start with, and everything from egg and bacon through hoppers to curry and rice to follow. The only disappointment was the juice, which was pretty poor apart from the freshly squeezed orange juice for which there was an extra charge. [Although the climate looked as if it would be good for oranges we never saw any growing and assumed that they have to be imported, hence the cost of orange juice - does anyone know why they aren’t grown in Sri Lanka?]

We now had a free morning before our afternoon safari to Yala, [booked through Ajith which turned out to be a bit cheaper than the safari offered by Chaaya, working out at Rs 17,000 or roughly £85 including the park entrance fees as opposed to the Rs 20,000 the hotel wanted] so we spent it swimming, reading and writing postcards, and generally lazing about, though actually in the heat of the day, it was difficult to find the energy to do anything else. We’d forgotten how hot it could get whilst we’d been up in the hill country.

Promptly at 2.30 pm we were met by Ajith and his friend with the jeep, and we were immediately relieved to see that this time we had a nice modern vehicle with forward facing seats rather than the old-fashioned side-ways benches of the one we’d suffered a few days ago. As soon as we set off, we realised that this was going to be a far more comfortable experience and the slight [ok more than slight] misgivings I’d had about doing another safari began to dissipate. Could we/should we stand another 3 hours chasing some benighted wildlife about in phalanxes of trucks? it certainly wasn’t what we wanted to do again.

First stop was the museum and visitor centre where we picked up our guide, who much to our relief spoke reasonable english [in fact, much to our relief could actually speak] and, re-enforced and saddened by the sight in the museum of the dead leopard cub killed by a jeep the year before, we immediately said that we did NOT want to be chasing any animals around, not even to look for leopards, or elephants, or anything else. If we saw anything like that it would be a bonus, but we were mainly interested in birds, and just in having a leisurely drive round seeing whatever there was to see. He seemed a bit uncertain about this, but we repeated it, and the guide nodded, so off we set.

I have to say that I have forgotten which birds we saw on this drive, but the guide was very good at spotting them, and after a couple of false starts when the driver succumbed to their normal way of chasing about, we got our own way and had a really lovely time looking for birdlife. The highlight was finding a large lake where there was a huge variety, not just of birds but wildlife in general. The guide was very good, and certainly gave the impression that he was enjoying this more leisurely approach; he got very excited when we found some baby crocodiles and their mum, telling us that he’s never seen such small ones before.

After about 3 hours dusk was falling and with the other jeeps we made for the park gate and headed back to the hotel. Sadly we didn’t spot a leopard, but it turned out that despite the hype, this is statistically pretty unlikely - our guide had seen one approximately 20 times in over 3 years of guiding which isn’t very good odds. And we had had a much better time than at Minneyera, so we were very happy to tip both the guide [who had left us back at the park] and the driver.

This evening we thought that we would try the buffet, and for a very reasonable Rs 1000 each we were able to convert to half board for one night. As with the breakfast the range of food was excellent but it was not in the same class as the Kandalama - it was tasty but no more than that - and after half and hour or so catching up with the latest cricket, under the watchful eye of one of the staff wielding his trusty torch we made for our room and bed.

Tomorrow - are we there yet?

Hi Ann, just want you to know that I'm still following along and enjoying your report.

Same here...

<<Could we/should we stand another 3 hours chasing some benighted wildlife about in phalanxes of trucks?>>

Loving your adventures (and the white room looks awesome), but still can't decide if SR is somewhere I want to go.

thanks, tripplanner and crosscheck - glad that there's at least two people out there who are still with me. [though I wouldn't blame anyone for giving up, given my tardiness with posting the installments].

crosscheck - of course i don't know what you like to do on holiday or where else you've been. Sri lanka was our first foray into Asia, and if you are looking for somewhere where you can dip your toe before going the whole asian hog [apologising for the mixed metaphors] SL might well suit you. if OTOH you are old asian hands, what might attract you is the mix of scenery and cultures in a relatively small area, not to mention the wide range of things to see and do. although 3 weeks would have been better, in 2 weeks or so you can see quite a lot of the country and not at a break-neck pace either. food and transport are relatively cheap, and accommodation can be as cheap [or expensive] as you like.

We have seen a lot of Asia, but are not the fanatics that others on this forum are...Mr.Crosscheck and each have been to about six or seven Asian countries, not always together. Our next big trip will probably be to another part of the world, but SR remains intriguing for beaches, culture and tea...but would go back to Africa for wildlife.

Oops...That would be SL

I'm still with you, Ann. We loved Sri Lanka and will return at some point.

Still enjoying your report!

Hi Kathie and carrom - thanks for the encouragement.

just Galle and Colombo to go!

I'm reading and looking forward to your next installment.

Annhig, I have a documentary on SL recorded on PVR, and am anxious to watch it so I can follow along with your trip, which I have been reading with great interest.

is that a hint for me to finish it, sundried?

Yes, Annhig, we've never been to Asia, so it all sounds very exotic. Closest we've been is to Guatemala, not geographically speaking, but where we saw coffee plantations, and tuk-tuks, and beautiful lakes, howler monkeys and the quetzal birds.

Yes please finish...SL is on our map for a visit in the next year or so. Busy taking notes.

Day 11

Woken up early by some long-taled local residents running over our roof, we got up early, used the excellent monsoon shower for the last time, packed, then walked over to get breakfast from the main building, where I fell for the egg hoppers again. Another local, feathered this time, liked the look of them as well, so I gobbled them down quick. The rest of the breakfast buffet was very much as it had been the day before which is really my gripe with these buffets - they can get very samey.

Then after paying the bill we set off along the not very good road [or should i say track?] to drive the entire length of the south coast of the island to get to Galle where we were due to spend 2 nights in a “boutique” hotel in a resort just along the coast from Galle itself. I’d guessed at 5 hours for this drive, but if our rate of progress along the track was anything to go by, it would be more like 15. However, just the other side of Tissa we came across something most unexpected - a dual carriageway. It was clearly unexpected by most of the other users of the road too, as they failed to keep to the right side of the road with distressing regularity, and just did what they did on every other road we’d been on ie occupied whichever part of the road appealed to them. Ajith explained that the government was ploughing money into this area, focussing its efforts on the previously undeveloped town of Hambantota, which purely co-incidentally happens to be the town where the president comes from. The road was part of the development around a brand new harbour complex which was aimed at attracting the massive tanker and container ship trade, some of which we could see sailing past just off the coast. We’d known a little about this, as they have also built a cricket ground which is out in the middle of absolutely nowhere and hated by the England supporters we’d spoken to as it’s a bugger to get to, and there’s nothing there when you arrive. What we didn’t know til we read it in a guide book was that the main port for Sri Lanka had originally been situated along this coast, and was moved to Colombo by the British. So its development wasn’t so daft, after all.

Whilst interesting, the drive wasn’t exactly exciting, to the extent that I’ve even forgotten where we stopped for lunch. Eventually we arrived at Matara which our map suggested was about 2/3 of the way there, and desperate to stretch our legs, even though it was stinking hot we decided to go for a walk. First of all we walked along the side of the beach [which like all the beaches along this coast was very narrow, so we stuck to the pavement] then headed off away from the sea into the market area, ending up at the Fort, and old Dutch area, which wasn’t very exciting. The most interesting building was the old dutch church, where we were shown round by a very friendly lady who apologised for the benches being full of sleeping locals. We felt that it should have been us apologising for waking them up, but a small donation by us to the church fund made everyone feel happy.

One of the photos we took here was of a road sign telling us how far it was to Galle - about 80 kms, it said. How long could that take? Especially as we weren’t going all the way. Two hours later we were drawing into Unawatuna, where we were booked to stay at the Thamberpanni Retreat; trouble was, we couldn’t find it. Ajith had so far had 100% record, but even he had to admit defeat and there was a remarkable lack of locals around for him to ask. After about 30 mins of fruitless exploration including having to reverse along a jungle track, DH was getting a bit [OK, more than a bit] grumpy and was chuntering about staying out in the middle of nowhere again, and as if by telepathy, we turned to each other, more or less simultaneously, and said - Shall we go to Galle? So that’s what we did. Ajith clearly thought we were a bit bats, but we established that there was no driver’s accommodation at the place we were supposed to be staying at, so he wouldn’t be inconvenienced. As we drove along I was consulting our trusty Lonely planet guide, which had so far proved quite reliable, and as luck should have it, the first likely looking hotel we came across was the one at the top of their list. [The Fort Printers, right in the middle of the Fort area]. Not only that but they had a vacancy for a couple of nights for a room that was positively enormous, AND it was U$140 which was within our budget, even after paying the penalty for failing to show at the original place. [strangely this was only 50% of the room rate, rather than 100%, as I happily pointed out to the agent from BSL who phoned to inform them about our decision]. Sold to the woman in the van.

We were quickly deposited there with our luggage, offered the obligatory welcoming drinks, and within 30 mins or so, we were setting out to explore. As we’d not been planning to stay here we weren’t really up to speed on Galle, but its charm and character struck us immediately, and never left us. We loved this place. It seemed to have just the right combination of things to interest the tourist, and “real life”. The obvious place to start was the wall around the Fort so we climbed up and walked as far as we could, before stopping for a very pleasant cup of tea in a cafe where they sold lovely cakes and the best ginger biscuits DH said he’d ever eaten. Not only that but the proprietor informed us that he was a story-teller and proceeded to tell us the myth of Adam and Eve. I’m afraid I got a bit lost when he said [I think] that Eve was in Saudi Arabia when Adam was in Sri Lanka, which was of course the Garden of Eden - where else?

After a wash and brush-up [another lovely shower, this time on a platform behind the bed, which worked better than it sounds] we went out for a wander round the streets, and then had supper at a place we’d spotted earlier - Deco on 44 http://www.decoon44.com/- and had a lovely though not stellar meal, and a guided tour of the hotel, including the terrific pool. I suspect that we’d have done better to stay here, and eat at the Fort Printers!

Galle was very dark at night - the night sky was amazing - but a torch was a definite must, as we tottered back to the hotel, with every intention of going to bed. However when we got back there was yet more cricket on the lounge TV, with staff and guests all gathered round together. Before we know where we were we were sharing a bottle of wine with some aussies and trying to explain cricket to the serbian hotel manager. [Serbian? how on earth did he end up in southern Sri Lanka? - we never did find out, but speculating was fun].

Burning question of the hour - what are we going to do tomorrow? The itinerary said a tour of Galle, but we’d more or less done that. would we find enough to occupy us? would we finally have time to do some shopping?

stay tuned!

Fort Printers is where BSL recommended we stay, though we ended up not going to Galle. It sounds lovely.

Kathie - that's funny - when I phoned BLS to tell them of our change of plan so they could tell the other hotel, they acted as if they'd never heard of it! I'm sure we can't be the only people ever to change plans, but you wouldn't have thought so if you'd listened into my conversations with them. but for us there was no choice- DH had simply had enough of staying in remote locations, and truth to tell, I wasn't sorry to be in a town either. Note to self - remember this the next time I'm being entranced by a hotel's remoteness and solitude - it looks lovely but it's not for us!

both Galle and the hotel were great; we were slightly worried by the proximity of the mosque to our window, but neither of us heard the 6am call to prayer, whether because we were too tired or because of the thickness of the curtains I don't know. although the public areas at the Fort Printer aren't air conditioned they are extremely high-ceilinged, so it felt very airy. I'd certainly be happy to stay there again.

Finally found time to watch my documentary, Green Paradise, Ann, so I can now picture myself there in Sri Lanka travelling along with you. You've mentioned the heat; is it also humid there?

Isn't it true that the unplanned places sometimes turn out to be the most enjoyable? We like staying in towns, too, it's more fun at night and gives more choices for meals and such.

Glad you enjoyed Galle, Ann. BSL originally recommended the Thampapanni to us as well, but we said we wanted to stay in the Fort area. We'll be at the Galle Heritage Villa.

You've mentioned the heat; is it also humid there?>>

nice to have you along, sundried. the north [well as far north as we got, which was Dambulla] was hot and dry, the centre was less hot, and the tea country was positively cool at night, [so we didn't need air/con] and the south and west [from Yala round to Colmobo] were hot and humid.

I agree with what you say about unplanned parts of a trip sometimes being the best - we hadn't planned our time in Galle at all and it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable parts of our trip.

tripplanner - the Galle Heritage looks very nice. I think i remember seeing it opposite the museum - which is a must. as it hasn't got a pool, if you want a swim i suggest that you do what we did and get a tuk tuk out to a hotel with a pool - eg the Lighthouse - which is another Jetwing property. We did that with the sister property of the Fort Printers and had a lovely day on the beach.

and do leave time for some shopping - Galle was definitely the best place that we found for buying gifts and souvenirs.

Thanks for the tips, Ann.

Have just discovered your great report. You've awakened an interest in Sri Lanka in me! Am wondering, did you have to accommodate the driver, or did he make his own arrangements, included in the driving agreement? Thanks.

carrabella - thanks! glad you are enjoying it. We had a great time and were only sorry that it had taken us 25 years to get there.

as for the driver, their accommodation costs are all covered in the agreement. Some places have accommodation for the drivers on site, in other places they don't and i assume that an allowance is made for this and for their food in the overall cost. The only reason this came up was because we cancelled the hotel outside Galle and i was worried that if Ajith had had accommodation provided for him there, he would have been out of pocket. if that had been the case, we would happily have paid [within reason] for him to stay somewhere else.

We stayed in Thalpe at the Frangipani Tree which is a sister hotel to Fort Printer's. Also very nice. When we were in Galle (end of Nov) the Fort Printer's was doing some renovation works but they let us in to explore. It looks lovely and will probably be even better once works are finished. Your rate was very good - we paid almost double at the Galle Fort Hotel and it looked about the same!

carrom - i agree that we got a very good rate at the Fort Printers. plus, as you will discover from my next instalment, we got to enjoy the Frangipani Tree as we took advantage of their offer to use its facilities for a few hours, so we got the best of both worlds.