Multifaceted diverse Lanka

Sri Lanka: 14 - 24 May 2014

Based on recommendations of two sets of friends, planning the Sri Lanka portion of our trip was easy. Sri Lanka, known as Ceylon until 1972, maybe a tad bit too ‘hassle-ly’ with seemingly everyone hustling, trying to sell you something, but Sri Lanka has tons to offer. From coconut palm tree-lined beaches to cacti, leopards and elephants in national parks, on to tea plantation, old colonial towns, beautiful hill country, very old trees and amazing cultural history all bundled up in this ‘spice & gem’ island. About the size of Ireland, Sri Lanka’s history is certainly as multifaceted as its natural and cultural offerings. The conflict between Buddhist Sinhalese in the South and Hindu Tamils in the North was only ended recently in 2009. A previous attempt at peace was tragically ended by the 2004 Tsunami which left the two factions quarreling over aid distribution, resulting in another spell of violence. The issues that caused the conflict have not really been resolved, but with the conflict at an end, Sri Lanka has moved forward once again eager to exploit the country’s potential. Through the spice trade Arab traders brought Islam to Ceylon and now there is also a large Muslim population. A succession of Portuguese, Dutch and British Colonialists followed all leaving their footprint on the island.

We arrived in the middle of Vesak festival celebrations which bathwd the country in a wonderful spectacle of Vesak lantern displays and street parties. Vesak festival is the biggest Buddhist festival on the island, celebrating the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Buddha. Apparently Sri Lanka has a holiday every poya day (full moon day) every month. We started off via train from Colombo to Galle where we spent an evening and a morning wandering through the quaint small lanes of this pretty Colonial fort first established by the Portuguese in the 16th Century. We then drove to Kataragama for the Yala National Park where we stayed in a lovely little eco-lodge at the edge of the park. The safari (our first) was awesome – we saw leopards, elephants, tucans, deer, buffalo and many other wildlife. After Yala we spent a couple of nights at a small organic Tea Estate. We didn't know that all the different teas essentially come from the same bush and that the difference between white, green or black tea comes through the preparation of the leaves. We then took a train from Ella to Peredinya (near Kandy and home to Asia's oldest tree) through the hill country and the tea plantations. It was an awesome slow journey which took over 7hrs on a cute little train – we 'luxuriated' in the 1^st class observation car with full rear view for 1000 Rupees each (US$9). We stayed in a beautiful guesthouse in Kandy, but the main attraction of the town  – the temple of the sacred tooth relic – despite being the one of the most sacred placs for Buddhist worship in the world, was a bit of a disappointment, mainly because the tooth is not on display and the temple (in our view) was nothing special. Dambulla’s Rock Temple on the other hand was fantastic and one of the best temple experiences so far. Perched up around 160 m in a natural cave in a big boulder there are five caves, all with various Buddha statues carved into the rocks (some reclining, some standing, some in mediation postures, all painted). It is said that King Valagamba used the caves after being driven out of Anuradhapura and when he regained the throne he had the interior of the caves carved into the temples. From there in the distance you can see Sigiriya where we headed to the next morning. Sigiriya, a hardened magma plug of an extinct volcano, is an assumed rock fortress which was re-discovered by HCP Bell, a British archaeologist in 1898. The precise original use of the complex is unclear, but there are several theories from it being a fortress with palace or a monastic complex – either way it is spectacular. Walking up and down some precarious steps along the rock-face accompanied by wind and hornets one has amazing views over the surrounding countryside. Seeing some of the rock-paintings and original small stone steps one can’t but be amazed at the impressiveness of building the complex at the top. We then drove to Anuradhapura where we spent the afternoon checking out the ‘sacred city’ – a UNESCO world heritage site. Anuradhapura is one of the ancient capitals and centre of Buddhism on the island. We saw some great dagobas (stupas), a famed moon-stone, the world’s oldest continuously tended tree (over 2000 years) and ancient ruins strewn across the countryside. As amazing as the sites were, walking around the holy sites bare-foot on hot stones structures and gravel for quite long distances soon wore us down, and we headed back to the hotel after a couple of hours. Tomorrow we will head back to Colombo for our stop-over stay in Singapore ahead of our Burma adventure.