asia

We left this lovely hotel after a breakfast of egg hoppers served with curry and daal. Absolutely delicious. I had two. Then they brought another and then another. I don’t know how many times you are supposed to say no here before they stop force feeding you. Just a well the food is so good.

We waddled to the car and headed for the first city of Sri Lanka. We hired some bikes from a lovely family business near the centre. They’d lost half their house in the cyclone but they greeted us with big smiles and had cold water for us when we got back. The bikes were somewhat rickety and covered in thick plastic for some reason but they did the job. I’ve not been on a bike for 10 years other than the stationary kind so I was just glad to survive. We started at the Abhayagiri dagoba, a stupa built in the1st century BC. It is very impressive – like a pyramid to look at. I have literally no idea what these structures are for other than storing relics of the Buddha and looking at with awe. Because the structures are sacred you have to have knees and shoulders covered and remove your shoes and hat before going to see them. Wearing socks was a good call as the floor is burning hot. The Sri Lankans all walk bare foot with no sign of pain, while the tourists hobble and sweat.

The next stupa was the big one. The Ruanvelisaya Dagoba. I think it has some of the Buddhas ashes in there. Not actually bigger than the last one as it has shrunk for some reason over the centuries. Indian invasion was the cause according to my guide book. I don’t get what they could have done to make a huge dome sink several metres into the ground. There are 344 carved elephants in the walls outside – maybe they used them to stamp it down. This one was busy with pilgrims, not many tourists. Everyone dressed in white for purity, with the only colour being the purple lotus flowers carried as an offering to Buddha and gold cellophane wrapped eggs containing food and drink for the monks. In sweltering heat I walked around the stupa. Family groups sat in the tiny bit of shade offered by the outside walls, meditating and chanting. It didn’t feel right to take photos.

We got our shoes back and saw the ancient Bodhi tree. The Buddha had his enlightenment under a bodhi tree and this was grown from a cutting of that very tree more than 2000 years ago. It is looked after so carefully that basically it is still the same original tree, albeit grafted and supported. It has huge spiritual significance to the Buddhists.

We cycled for a while more seeing more ancient sites then returned the bikes and headed to our next hotel with a quick stop for king coconuts.

The hotel is stunning. Built on reclaimed paddy fields so basically a swamp and we are being bitten to shreds. But they’ve done it so beautifully and all with conservation and ecological priorities in mind. More snake and elephant warnings but we’re getting used to that. The constant sound of wild peacocks and monkeys. We sat by our little pool watching the monkeys in the bamboo. Monkeys are everywhere here and they are oblivious to us.

More curry for dinner and another day ahead tomorrow.

Chandanna picked us up bright and early to drive to the hotel near the Wilpattu National park. About 4 hours that gave us a sense of this part of the country. The first thing that hits you is the colour. It is so green! We thought that it was just our hotel that was in the middle of a tropical garden, but it seems that the whole country is a garden with some buildings filling the gaps in the borders. Coconut palms grow like giant weeds in every space and underneath banana palms and bamboo vie for attention. The suburban towns out of Colombo sprawl for miles with roadside shacks and shops selling everything from motorbikes to bananas. The road is good – few pot holes here – but seems chaotic at first with multiple bikes, tuktuks, cows, dogs, buses and trucks all using the space as well as the cars. But once you get used to it it feels safe. There is a system of overtaking is understood and it works. Except for the dogs. They are everywhere and mostly sit on the side of the road but also like to lie in the middle of it, or to randomly cross without warning, or, even better, they run out and try to attack the car from behind. Not the brightest…

Many street corners have a shrine to either Buddha or a catholic figure of worship – usually Mary. They are in glass cases with coloured fairy lights behind the statue. Hinduism is big here too but they don’t have so many of the shrines, just the odd brightly coloured temple. Our timing was that school kids were on the road. At the bustops, on bikes, on the back of mopeds, in pristine white uniforms. The girls in white starched dresses and the boys in white shirts and blue shorts. Immaculate. I struggled to get mine out of the door in a clean sweatshirt and matching socks – if I’d had to iron and starch a uniform every morning i may have expired.

As we left the suburbs, the school children still trotted along pristinely, but the land became softer and the green even greener. Less houses, more trees and paddy fields giving a bit of space to the view.

After about 4 hours we got to the hotel, a complex with only 7 villas in the park. Only 3 were occupied so it was very quiet, and with about 20 staff we were completely outnumbered. We were shown to our room with strict instructions to keep the doors closed in case of snakes and not to go out at night in case there was an elephant in the grounds. We saw neither elephants or snakes but lots of monkeys in the trees and we had a visit from the resident dogs – there to keep with for elephants apparently. We got one bikes and had an explore. The local village consists of a through road and a few shops. As we cycled past kids came running out to wave and say hello and the older residents stopped to stare at the strange white people who couldn’t handle a bike. There was a drunk lying at the side of the road talking to himself and a pack of dogs chasing monkeys. And a shrine to the Virgin Mary in front of a disintegrating army base not far from the sign warning of elephants crossing. Standard village life I’d say.

We came back to our tightly locked hotel room, checked under the beanbags for snakes, and went for dinner in the restaurant. One other couple was there so with 6 staff the service was attentive to say the least. We had the Sri Lankan feast and it was amazing. Curry all the way for this trip I think.

Georgia and Tim on tour

Anuradhapura

Safari