Week 2 – Sri Lanka

We arrived at Bandaranaike Airport 30km north of Colombo on the evening of Monday 22 February. We stayed at Negombo overnight as it was closer to the airport than Colombo and the next morning organised a car, driver and guide to take us around the island. We left after lunch, driving along the coast road to Putulam before heading east to Anuradhapura the ancient capital. We spent the next day visiting crumbling temples and ruins, large dagobas and Buddha statues. In the late afternoon when the heat had gone out of the day, we visited Mihintale – this was where Buddhism was introduced from India in 247 BC. To get to the site, we had to climb 1,840 granite slab steps. Our next stop was Polonnurawa where there were some more ruins to visit. We stayed overnight in Sigiriya – a rock fort with stunning frescoes and spectacular views from the summit. After tackling Sigiriya Rock, early the next morning (to avoid the heat, hornets and pilgrims), we returned to the guest house, had a shower and headed for Dambulla where we visited the Cave Temples with spectacular Buddha statues. Then we headed off to Kandy (Sri Lanka's second biggest city), stopping at a Spice Garden tourist trap on the way. We were shown all the interesting plants for ayurvedic medicine and cooking eg sandalwood, cardamom, ginger, pepper, cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves etc. After listening to the man bang on about all the ailments that each herb and spice treated, Keith commented that he didn't realise how many of the ailments applied to him – flatulence, psoriasis/eczema, snoring, obesity, hair loss, kidney malfunction etc etc. Unfortunately, all the medicines and ointments were really expensive – so he continues to suffer.

At Kandy, we walked to the Buddha's Tooth Temple only to discover that Keith's shorts and Suzie's short sleeve shirt were not considered appropriate attire. We bought a towel from a street vendor to cover Suzie's shoulders, then we went to a couple of menswear stores and then to the local market where after much haggling, we were able to buy Keith two pairs of cargo pants for Rs 3,000 (AUD30). We headed back to the Temple of the Tooth only to find that Suzie's denim skirt was not good enough. It was only after Suzie put on Keith's second pair of cargo pants on under her skirt and we were able to get in. Later that afternoon after our visit to the temple, we walked around to the Kandyan Arts Association Hall on the lake side of the temple to see the Kandyan dancers. The dancers wore very colourful costumes, were very acrobatic and there was lots of good drumming.

The next day we left Kandy for our trip to Nuwara Eliya stopping at the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens outside Kandy. The Botanical Gardens were excellent with fantastic orchids, cycads, and a giant Java Fig (Ficus Benjamina). On the way, we stopped at three waterfalls which were really spectacular, and then a tea plantation where we had a tour and a free cup of tea. We found out that green tea, black tea and white tea all come from the same plant!

Nuwara Eliya (also referred to as Little England) is Sri Lanka's main hill station and with its cool climate , we spent a pleasant couple of days here, away from the heat.