Tasting Sri Lanka

Old Oct 13th, 2017, 02:24 AM
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Tasting Sri Lanka

Yay, we two fans of all things Asia are off on another trip !
I’m reporting in live from Gold Coast airport while awaiting a boarding call for our first flight. Transit time (door to door) is about 19 hours, (2 down, only 17 to go), what a grind. Our flights are with AirAsia via KLIA2 with a 3.5 hour layover, and arrival in CMB at 9.30 tomorrow morning. I hope we get some sleep.

We have 16 nights on the ground, split up like this :
Negombo 1 night
Anuradhapura 2 nights
Trincomalee 2 nights
Sigiriya 2 nights
Kandy 2 nights
Ella 2 nights
Galle 3 nights
Colombo 2 nights

Accommodation is booked in 5 of our 8 locations, the rest will happen one way or another ! The places that I have booked are small family run guesthouse/homestay types and mostly less than USD $50 per night.

We have a driver for 9 days found via a website srilankacaranddriverhire.com. It's a site that allows you to request a quote and receive responses from numerous candidates, mostly individual operators. The quote process gave me a chance to get a feel for the person, and make a decision based on their responses. So, I've chosen Dilee, and have been back and forthing with him, tweaking the plan and considering his many suggestions.

After that, I’ll arrange transport via our accommodation (fingers crossed).

As with our past few trips, I plan to post from the road for a warts 'n all take on what I'm told is a beautiful and friendly country. Suggestions are always welcome, so I hope you'll come along for the ride and chime in !

There's that call, it’s time to fly.
Aayu-bowan !
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Old Oct 13th, 2017, 02:26 AM
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Following and looking forward to your trip!
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Old Oct 13th, 2017, 03:43 AM
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Well have fun and I suppose you will get quite a sampling of bitter melon as was discussed on another thread here. Seems it’s used a lot there.

Will follow.
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Old Oct 13th, 2017, 04:09 AM
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Have a lovely and safe trip. I enjoyed your wonderful live trip report from India, and am expecting to be entertained this time as well.
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Old Oct 13th, 2017, 08:20 AM
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Have a wonderful trip! And thanks so much for bringing us along via your live posts.
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Old Oct 13th, 2017, 08:47 AM
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Eagerly looking forward to this! Hope your flights and connections go well!
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Old Oct 13th, 2017, 01:24 PM
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Safe travels, you two. I very much look forward to it all.
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Old Oct 13th, 2017, 01:39 PM
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Thanks all, currently caffinating (second cup) at KLIA2.

I’m looking forward to the bitter melon JW, a newly acquired but delicious taste for us. And yes, as you may have guessed from the title, food will play a large part of this trip.

As we dithered about the next destination a few months ago, Sri Lanka became more and more appealing given its proximity and therefore similarities with southern India where we just lurved the food. We both like cooking, and have enjoyed an almost exclusively Indian diet at home for the past six months. CL, I can give you lots of dal ideas (when the PM function goes live), we eat it every day.

Anyway, the flight was uneventful, I think we even got a little sleep. Having 3 seats between the two of us helped. Thankfully the gate agent was kind enough to let us through despite being 2 kg over our 14 kg limit. The cost to check one bag would have been AUD $140 ouch ! New luggage scales will be bought, and we’ll have to lose a few items before going home. Perhaps I should get M one of those multi pocket travel jackets. What are they called ?

Next post from Sri Lanka !
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Old Oct 13th, 2017, 02:45 PM
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I have a safari jacket or travel jacket from LL Bean in the US. I love it! it has tons of pockets including several inside ones with zippers so good to keep the pick pockets away.

kKhaki&pla1=0&mrevice=c&mr:adType=pa&mr:ad=15916775972&mr:filter=4583176781785515&qs=3132324&gclid=CJm1if3i7tYCFRaXxQIdXUwPJg&gclsrc=ds&dclid=CKOkkP3i7tYCFYIQPwodLgIOXA

it has so many pockets I misplaced the customs form I had to fill out for one of our trips coming back home. I had to fill another one out and wouldn't you know it I had the original all along. .
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Old Oct 13th, 2017, 02:50 PM
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https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/5066...FYIQPwodLgIOXA
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Old Oct 13th, 2017, 02:51 PM
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The above link works.
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Old Oct 13th, 2017, 07:56 PM
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Have a fantastic time Sartoric. Try to check out the "short eats" in Kandy - very tasty!
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Old Oct 15th, 2017, 04:11 PM
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Colombo Bandereneike Airport was weird. The arrivals hall is filled with appliance retailers and one lonely duty free store. Do people really buy a brand new washing machine when getting home from their holiday ?
We queued for the one out of four ATMs that was actually dispensing cash and then bought a Dialog SIM card (1299LKR for 9 GB of data plus calls). I’d asked our host to send a car and the prearranged meeting place was easy to find. Twenty minutes later we’re at our home for the night.

I know, we’re here in the inter monsoonal month and rain can be expected anywhere in Sri Lanka. Today in Negombo we’ve had bucket loads, and all day. So much so, it’s been difficult to do much other than stay put and watch the rain come down. The plan was to to do some sightseeing this arvo with the driver who met us at the airport, instead we got immersed into Sri Lankan family life.

We’re at a homestay I found on Airbnb, AUD $35 a night, for an aircon room with attached private bathroom. Our room is directly off the eat in kitchen, and simply furnished but comfy. There is a second kitchen at the back of the house where all the cooking action happens. From my perch on the porch I can see ripe king coconut, mangoes and more mangoes. A lone white rabbit hops the yard freely, roaming and nibbling. His name is Kitty, hmmm.

The owners are Roman Catholic and have just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They have 6 children and 20 grandchildren, with 2 great grandchildren on the way. One of their daughters and two of her daughters all came by to help their mother/grandmother as the husband/father is away. Later, the son in law/ husband/father would join us.
Confused yet ?

I did venture out to a supermarket by tuk tuk with one of the grandkids. We’d bought a bottle of gin duty free thinking that tonic would be plentiful given the colonial history. That turns out not to be the case (two supermarkets later) and a tiny bottle of tonic cost 450 rupees, ouch. They don’t make tonic here, it’s imported.

Nimashi is a 20 something young woman doing an internship at a major bank in Colombo. Her wages barely cover the cost of her travel to and from work. She has a Buddhist boyfriend, and they go together to her church and his temple. Both families are happy with this arrangement. She had perfect English and was a delight to chat with.

Early evening we pile into Nimashi’s fathers car and visit the fish market to see huge fish being hacked into pieces by men wielding machetes. We check out the harbour and St Mary’s church. Churches aren’t really my thing, although here there are some pretty ceiling frescoes and statuary. Later, dinner with our host family consists of ten different dishes with rice (including a homegrown mango curry). It was spicy and delicious. We talked late into the night and slept well.
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Old Oct 15th, 2017, 04:27 PM
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Sounds like you had a good introduction to Sri Lanka despite the weather. Hope the skies clear for you.
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Old Oct 16th, 2017, 01:55 AM
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Lovely start, sartoric! I'm so taken by how you've quickly become integrated into the family - what a wonderful intro to a trip!

May you have better weather for your travels!
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Old Oct 16th, 2017, 02:13 PM
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Well if you could not get out much due to therein then it seems to me you more than made up for it by have a great time with the locals. Things like that I love to do.

We had a driver in Barbados once and we got to meet his mom and went to his sisters bar for a drink. That was cool!

Following and waiting to hear about your experience with bitter melon. .
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Old Oct 17th, 2017, 02:24 AM
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Thanks Crellston, TP, Progol and JW, we had a rainless day in Anuradhapura and short eats have been et (eat doesn’t sound right), bitter gourd hasn’t happened yet, but bring it on I say !


Negombo to Anuradhapura and the tradition of tea money.

After a delicious breakfast of string hoppers with dal curry and coconut sambal, we said farewell to our new family.
Dilee, our driver for the next 9 days arrived just before 9 am and off we went up the coast road to Puttolam. On the way we checked out Negombo beach, counted the catamarans out fishing, enjoyed a king coconut drink from a roadside stall, visited a Hindu temple with a few devotees and got to know Dilee.

I’m struggling to notice much that is different from southern India. There’s the same chaotic traffic with multiple modes of transport all jostling for position, the same mandatory use of horn, the trash, the garish neon signs and street dogs everywhere. Dilee asked me if we have many street dogs in Australia, err no, they’re not allowed.

So we cruise, and before long are flagged down by a brown uniformed police officer. Apparently we crossed an unbroken centre line. Dilee takes it with good humour, pays a small fine and we’re off again. Not twenty minutes later, again we’re flagged by the police. A speed gun shows 66 kph, the limit on this stretch is 50, although most of the road is 70. This time the “fine” is 500 rupees. These fines are not official. If they were, it would be a case of relinquishing your drivers license, receiving a formal fine document, paying it at a post office and handing the stamped receipt to the local police station to retrieve your license. It’s Sunday, no post offices are open, it’s best not to argue, and there is less good humour from Dilee towards the cops. This is tea money.

Arriving in Anuradhapura, we seek out lunch and end up at Dilee’s favourite restaurant Chammy. The chef cooks in an open booth at the front sweating over a giant wok. We ordered rice and curry, the choices are veg, egg, chicken or fish. We chose veg, and are presented with five different curry dishes, a bowl of crispy pappads plus each person gets a basket lined with a huge lotus leaf and a pile of rice. Here we go native and eat with our fingers like Dilee. The food is tasty, only a little spicy and enjoyed by all.

I’d booked Sudu Nelum Resort for 2 nights. Big mistake as we discover a six storey hotel under construction next door. The power tools whined away, a fire burning builders waste smoked away, and we hastily made our getaway. I burned the cost of the accommodation and Dilee phoned a friend.

So here we are at Indika Lake Resort, three separate cabins dotted around about a hectare of grounds with magnificent trees including many teak, views to the lake and birds galore. We’re the only guests, but four dogs and a cat adopt our porch as their new meeting place. Dinner is a toasted club sandwich with fries and a few cold beers before we retire to our firm but comfy bed. To top off the day I received an email from Nimashi asking if we made it safely to Anuradhapura and how was the weather. She’d addressed it to mama and papa.
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Old Oct 17th, 2017, 03:07 AM
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String hoppers are?

Chaotic traffic, horns, dogs and trash are also noteworthy in northern India as well.

We too have experienced “tea money” in India. .

Following. .
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Old Oct 17th, 2017, 07:40 AM
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String Hoppers are a type of noodle made from rice flour. Its a local staple and I personally must have it atleast once a week. Usually eaten with some spicy curries and sambols.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiyappam
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Old Oct 17th, 2017, 08:01 AM
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Thank you.
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