Sri Lanka 2015

Galle, Colombo, and Kandy

Arriving in Galle Harbor
We arrived at Galle at 5am and anchored just outside the harbor, behind a point of land, sleeping a few hours and waiting until daylight to call our agent and enter the harbor for check-in. Two navy officers motored out to meet us, checking passports and boat papers. We then motored in and tied up to what amounted to a floating plastic Lego pier… not the best conditions for tieing up the boat, and no electricity available, which means we won’t be able to leave the boat for more than a day or two to travel inland. The checkin procedure involved many forms and signatures and stamps, immigration, customs, and port clearance. Good we had had an agent, Windsor Reef, to assist us. After finishing the process, we got a tuk-tuk into town, changed money, got a SIM card and then enjoyed our first Sri Lankan lunch, which we ate with our hands. Chicken curry, Dal, jack fruit baked with turmeric and other stuff, soy something-or-other, poppadom, coconut, salad and rice. It was spicy for us even though we ordered it “not spicy”. I am feeling happy, uplifted energy here and am looking forward to exploring the country, as best we can. Tomorrow or the following day we will head to Colombo so Roger can apply for his Indian tourist visa.

I was curious as to whether the famous Indian head “waggling” would also be present in Sri Lanka and was delighted to find that there was, indeed, some waggling here. I’m sure it isn’t quite as prevalent as in India, but we got a chance to practice and it is a delightful part of the culture. 🙂 (smile, waggle waggle, repeat)

Colombo
We headed to Colombo on Wednesday, after resting one day after arriving. We took the 6:55am train from Galle to Colombo Fort, a very scenic trip, mostly along the coast. Once in Colombo we got a tuk-tuk to take us to the agent to apply for Roger’s Indian visa. We submitted the application and paid the fee, only to find out we needed to come back to drop off the passport in 5 days and then pick it up again two days later. So we decided we would plan a short trip to Kandy after dropping off the passport and pick it up on the way back. We caught a tuk-tuk back to Colombo Fort area and found a hotel, which turned out to be very nice with a reasonable price. We walked around the area and then, once again got caught in a little tourist scam… at least I did and Roger went along because I was enthusiastic. 🙂 luckily, it was only about a $10 scam and we got to visit a temple and see the temple elephant.

Then of course we were delivered to the jewelry and gem shop for the work-over, which we politely declined. The day we arrived in Colombo was the presidential election so many businesses were closed. We had a modest lunch at a street stand and had a lackluster dinner at the hotel, although we sat on the restaurant terrace and had a lovely view with a nice breeze. The next morning we set out for a tour of the loval markets in Pettah, especially the Federated self-employed market, but almost everything was closed because of the election. The new president had already moved into the presidential house and all was quiet. We had a marvelous, marvelous, but very expensive lunch at a top restaurant in Colombo called “the Ministry of Crab” with a former colleague of mine and his sister.

We met up with Ekka, the tour guide loved by cruisers, when we returned to Galle and he invited us to his home for tea. We talked about doing a tour for a few days and discussed the options. He invited us back to his home the following evening for dinner and to meet a tour guide that would travel with us. Ekka’s wife, Shanti, made a wonderful dinner and we planned to set off the following morning for the hill country, Uda Walawe national park, Ella, Nuwara Eliya, Adams Peak and then back… 3 days and two nights underway. Before leaving, however, we wanted to move the boat to another Lego pier, which would be better and safer. We got approval from the port captain, but unfortunately they did not tell us how shallow it was by that pier and we ran aground in 4 feet of water. The harbor master had to send out a boat to tow us out. We finally got situated with anchor and stern lines tied to the dock, so felt safe to leave the boat for several nights, though she was dirty and dusty and full of bird poop. 🙁

Hill Country tour

We left at 7am and made a quick stop at the local temple for our guide, Batu and our driver Sampath, then headed to the Ayurvedic herbal garden and training center. A doctor in training showed us all the medicinal plants, including a cream to remove hair naturally, which he demonstrated on a small patch of Roger’s arm hair. We had a lovely cup of herbal tea and then a short head and body massage from two trainees. We then headed along the southern coast and saw the stilt fisherman. Unfortunately, they only fish for tourists these days, so we decided to skip paying for a photo of them and instead just snapped a distant shot as we drove by.

We passed Marissa, the launching point for whale watching expeditions, but we won’t likely see any when we sail out, and since we sailed in at night, we’ll likely miss the blue whales and sperm whales in this part of the world. We turned north and headed up into the hill country. We drove up to Uda Welawa national park and the Elephant Transit Home, and orphanage for baby elephants. We arrived there at feeding time and it was sweet watching the baby elephants fed milk. There are loads of wild elephants in the park, best seen at dawn and dusk.

We didn’t have enough time to spend a day at the park, but one elephant was standing along the road and I was happy to feed her mangoes purchased from a vendor conveniently next to the elephant. We drove on and had lunch at a touristy place, but okay. Sampath was excellent at finding and pointing out birds and other interesting sights along the way. We saw a huge spotted bill pelican, a gorgeous peacock, blue-tailed bee eaters, and we just missed a horn bill.

We drove through the mountains and saw beautiful waterfalls (with some cheeky monkeys), mountains and hillsides. We went to the temple of the cave, completed about 2500 years ago and not restored since.

Ella was our final destination for the first night. We had an herbal Ayurvedic massage and then drove to our hotel in the mountain out of town for a surprisingly good meal, gorgeous view, and good nights rest.

The next morning we set out with brekky-to-go for the amazingly beautiful train ride to Nurawele Eliya along the mountain ridges. There was damage due to heavy rains this season and we were lucky as the train only started running again this day, though only the 6:39am, and no observation car. Still, we barely sat, choosing to stand by the open doors and take photos most of the way.

Our driver and guide picked us up at the station and we went to the old Pedro Estate local tea plantation and factory at “Lovers Leap”. Unfortunately, the factory wasn’t in operation as we were there on Monday and with Sunday a rest day off, there were no tea leaves to process. Still, it was informative and we enjoyed a nice cup of tea after the tour.

We had a very basic local lunch of Dal and roti and then drove on to the base of Adams Peak. This is a 2270 meter mountain and on top there is a shape of a footprint said to be the place where the Buddha ascended to enlightenment. The Christians say it is where Adam fell down to earth after being expelled from heaven after eating the apple in the garden of Eden. The Hindu say it is Shiva’s footprint. Funny how each religion has its own spin on this important site.

We had an early dinner and early to bed so we could wake up at 2am and begin our 3000 foot 7km hike up to the summit in time for sunrise… A strenuous, and at the top, chilly affair. 5200 steps, give or take, with tea houses dotting the path up. We were glad to stop for tea twice and have some roti, banana and crackers. It was packed at the summit, but the views and sunrise were worth the trip.

Coming back down was faster, but challenging as well. Roger’s knees were giving out and our muscles were fatigued. We finally reached our hotel at about 10am and had a bite for breakfast and a shower before heading on. Our hotel was built into the hillside and we were all the way at the top, which seemed like way too much effort after our earlier climb, but we somehow managed it, albeit slowly.

We drove the long way back to Galle through beautiful tea plantations, around lakes and up and mountain sides. Sri Lanka is a beautiful country and we are glad to have spent a few days in the cool heights if the hill country.

Kandy
got back to the boat to find two others beside us, but not too close, and all was well, if still filthy. Exhausted from our hike and being up since 2am, we had a little yogurt and fruit then headed for bed at 8pm, as we needed to leave for Colombo, then on to Kandy the next morning.

The trip up to Colombo by train was fine but crowded since  we traveled mid-morning rather than catching the early train as we did last time. Once in Colombo we needed to drop Roger’s passport off, but we didn’t count on the fact that the city was in an uproar with the Pope visiting that very day. Traffic was a snarl and the tuk-tuk drivers couldn’t tell us whether it would take an hour or six hours to get to the visa agency and back to the train station. We thought we would miss our train and our reserved seats in the “observation car”. We also had to pay about double the normal price. Such is life, and we got into a tuk-tuk and went careening off trying to avoid the most heavily trafficked areas. We didn’t get to see the Pope himself, but we did get to see three huge glossy helicopters in a field which probably were part of his entourage. We actually made it back to the train station in time to catch our 3:35pm train to Kandy. The observation car was not anything like I had imagined. This was an old car that they tacked onto the end of the train with large windows at the back. Luckily it was air-conditioned, but the sun was beating down on us and Roger had to pull the curtain across the window because he was so hot. The train ride was very nice and scenic, but didn’t compare to the ride from Ella. We arrived in Kandy a little past 6pm and it was already dusk. The town is situated around a lovely lake with the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic on one side and some old upscale hotels on the other. Ekka arranged for a tuk-tuk driver to meet us at the station and we were whisked up, up, up the hillside to the Breeze Hillside hotel. We had a nice dinner there and a good night sleep on latex mattress and pillows and cool with A/C, though we didn’t really need it as it was cool at this elevation.

The next morning, we had a great brekky of fruit, omelet, fresh juice and great local Ceylon tea before setting out with our tuk-tuk for a whirlwind tour of Kandy and surrounds. We began the day at the Ceylon Tea Museum, which was very informative, with lots of old machinery and archives, plus a lovely cup of tea and video at the end.

 We spent quite some time there and then needed to pick up the pace in order to get to the many temples on the agenda for the day.

Three were in the outskirts of Kandy and were old with lovely carvings and paintings.

The first was Embakka – Sri Katharagama Maha Devalaya, which was created in the 14th or 15th century with intricately carved wooden posts. That’s about all that we could see there as the back area was curtained off for some service.

The next was Lankatilake, high up on a hill (ugh… Stairs! Legs still were very sore from our hike up Adam’s Peak) and had some beautiful paintings and carvings.

The third was Gadaladeniya Raja Maja Vihara which had a unique design with a roof over the stupa. Each of the three were lovely in their own way, set in the hillsides.

After lunch, which was late, we went for a lovely walk through the botanical gardens, which had a great orchid house and was nice after the hectic tuk-tuk and train rides, then to a wood carving factory. What lovely things there, but on a boat nothing we wanted to take with us.

We then went to a Kandyan Dance performance. We had heard that this was not to be missed, but we were underwhelmed with the whole thing… not really professional and the costumes were mediocre. At the end, they did walk on fire and eat fire, which was both interesting and surprising.

After the performance, we headed to the highlight of the day… Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. Our tuk-tuk driver arranged for a guide of the temple, which turned out to be a wonderful experience, with his knowledge and his outgoing personality. He talked non-stop for at least an hour about the history and explained things throughout the temple and grounds. There was a ceremony going on, and he knew how to best navigate the crowds. We didn’t actually get into the room to see the glittering golden tooth relic boxes (you can’t actually see the tooth itself), but we did get a glimpse and a photo when they opened the door to let the next group of impatient people inside.

We had a late dinner back at our hotel and then a leisurely morning. We walked down the hill to the lake and then walked around the lake before catching a tuk-tuk to pick up our bag and head to the train station. In Colombo, we picked up Roger’s passport and Indian visa without issue and made our way back to the train station. Although we bought 2nd class tickets for the train back to Galle, we couldn’t find a 2nd class car and with the crowds, we decided to hop on the 3rd class car and stand by the open door. That worked well for two stops until hoards of people started to board at stops further south. There were throngs of people and we were crushed from every side. I held on for all I was worth to the inside and outside handles at the door and managed to hold my ground and not get pushed further into the middle of the train. Roger had the bag and was swept inside as more people pushed their way onboard. This was apparently a local train too, so we stopped at every single station along the way and it took us over 3 hours to get to Galle. We were exhausted by the time we stepped off the train and caught a tuk-tuk back to the customs/harbor gate.

Fort Galle
Although we would love to stay longer, the conditions at the harbor are awful and we are on a schedule, so we decided we’d check out on the 19th and leave on the 20th. That gave us one day to walk around Fort Galle. Unfortunately, we had some paperwork to complete in the morning so it wasn’t until almost noon when we arrived at the Fort and it was very, very hot. We had a bite to eat, something called Kottu, which is like a stuffed roti that is then cut up and stir fried all together. It was good, but by the time we finished and started around the fort, it was scorching hot and Roger was getting overheated. The Fort was nice and it would have been fun to spend more time walking around, seeing the museums, walking along the wall, etc., but it was simply too hot.

Ekka picked us up and after a few quick stops for some basic provisions; we headed back to the boat. Tomorrow we will check out and then anchor in the outer harbor so Roger can dive under the boat and check our prop, we can do some cleaning (the hull of the boat is filthy and stained with rub marks from the navy boat) and I can prepare our passage meals, then Tuesday…. Zoom… Off we go to Kochin, India!!