Sun, Surf and Sand!

As we all know, sometimes life throws some challenges your way that you just have to deal with!

It may have looked like we went missing….and yes we did!

A week or so into our Sri Lankan adventure we heard news from home that Thommo’s mum had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. As you can imagine it came as a bit of a shock!

21^st Century communications while travelling are good though so we continued on while keeping in touch daily to check progress. The doctors were awesome and hopeful that some radiotherapy etc would improve her outlook. Treatment started on the 28^th of December but by the 2^nd of Jan she took a turn for the worse. We decided to get a flight home asap but unfortunately mum passed away while we were at the Colombo airport.

So on arrival back in Aus we had a new set of priorities as you can imagine

We are all good now and life goes on so sit back with us as we fill in the last few days of our adventure before we made the dash back home…

The kilometres slipped away slowly as we wound our way down out of the mountains. The views changed at every turn and we often spotted waterfalls as we made our way towards the seaside town of Marissa.

The rain cleared and the sun was shining as we made our way into town. We had heard a lot about the Sri Lanka’s South East Coast beaches and keen to check them out ourselves. Lots of holiday makers were busy soaking up the sunshine. Mostly westerners and more westerners then we had seen elsewhere.

The beach areas are such a contrast to the rest of the island. On this part of the island we were mindful of the fact that it was the East and the Southern beaches that were the worst affected by the Tsunami in December 2004. Maybe being closer to Colombo and having a few more tourists means that the whole scene has recovered more quickly here? There were many thriving little businesses happy for the tourist dollar and it had a nice feel to it.

 

We checked out a few resorts and they were really nice and then settled in for a few beers right down on the beach. It was pretty warm but most travellers here still seemed to think that baking in the sun was the normal thing to do. We noted that sunscreen was not a big seller here if the sunburnt travellers were anything to go by!

There are an endless choice of seaside villages along the coast line here but we have since heard that Unawatuna is the place to go but we had to board a train bound for Colombo to get to the airport before we had a chance to check it out.

The train was slow, but fun, crammed with locals all heading back to Colombo as it was Sunday afternoon.

We caught up with some people in Colombo and then made our way up to Negombo a little further north to the Airport.

As mentioned above, it was on arrival here that we received the call informing us that mum had passed away.

The flight home via Singapore to Melbourne was a bit of a blur.

Anyway, life is as close to back to normal as possible now and we are busy planning our next adventure.

Stay tuned!

Tea, Temples and Touts

Lion rock disappeared as we made our way towards Kandy. We stopped briefly at the impressive Sri Muthumariamman Thevasthanam Hindu temple in Matale. If we were to give this a nickname it would be ‘Muthy Thevy’.

Hindu temples are incredibly colourful and have lots of detail so it’s easy to A-) recognize them and B-) while away some time taking it all in!

Our driver then suggested we visit a ‘spice garden’ called Surathura No 3.

Gools and I were indifferent about the idea as both of us had been to Zanzibar Island (the ‘Spice Island’) off the coast of Tanzania. We had seen plenty of spice garden demonstrations before, but our driver was persistent.
This was against our better judgement as he had also stopped at a woodcarving place up the road a bit where prices were exorbitant and the salesmen pushy. We walked in then straight back out again as it just felt wrong…We then noticed he was eating his ‘free’ meal with all the other drivers! No wonder he was keen for us to take a look!

With all our travels we have become very aware of all the touristy exploitations that take place and have become quite expert in avoiding them altogether. We have the knowledge and skill to find the genuine places ourselves. This time I think we were too polite and simply got dragged along.

The spice and herb garden was basically a small scale ‘show garden’ where we followed the 'spice' guide as he explained exactly what herb or spice it was we were looking at. He then showed us the processed product. Our 'spice' guide told us about the medicinal benefits that he felt would be gained by using each of these concoctions. Most of us just think of spice as flavour enhancers but they apparently have some medicinal benefits as well. At least according to this guy, he had a cure for everything ;-)

It was about at this point we started to feel some heavy handed sales tactics being employed!
We were continually asked whether we would like to see the Ayurvedic Doctor. Both being pretty fit and healthy we both declined. The pressure continued, we declined again. How about a free massage? No thanks, very little in life turns out to be free!
We were then shown into the sales area and the hard sell stepped up a level.

 

It was so ridiculous, it was amusing. We looked around at the jars of ‘snake oil’ lining the walls. Shelves full of lotions and potions of all shapes and sizes. The best was the promise of renewed hair growth. Thommo could have done with some of this !
Nothing was priced. We played along and asked to see the price list.
Their hair removal cream that the garden guide had applied near my ankle had in fact removed my hair! For a bargain price of just $25 for a jar smaller than the smallest jar of ‘vegimite’. He suggested it was great value. Half a dozen of these jars should do almost one man’s chest.

 It definitely felt like a scam was brewing!

What disappointed us most was that we specifically told our driver that we wanted no part of any touristy venture like this. It is common in developing countries and fun the first time round but once you are in the know it is nothing more than a waste of time and money.

We eventually made it outside to note our driver receive his package from the owner which was clearly his gift for taking us there.
I suspect the gift would have been much bigger had we purchased some products!

He then had the cheek to ‘ask’ us to pay the 'spice' guide a ‘tip’ for the tour…which was supposedly free…

Rather than argue I slipped 200 rupees into his hand ($2) and told the driver to hit the road.

These guys were definitely ‘snake oil salesmen’. Both of us felt badly for the other tourists we left behind, gladly handing over their credit cards to buy baskets full of goods.

We 'googled' the business a little later, if you want a laugh check out what trip advisor users have to say about Surathura No 3. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1865780-d2624756-Reviews-Surathura_Spice_Garden-Matale_Central_Province.html

Note to self: Always trust your gut instinct!!

We whizzed through the pretty city of Kandy, which was absolutely heaving due to the Christmas holiday break. Thousands of people lined the lake area and joined the queue to enter the famous Buddhist Temple. This Temple holds the Sacred Tooth Relic of Buddha.

We are really interested in Buddhism but for us, the crowds were just too much to deal with. Thankfully we know we are returning to Kandy on another trip so we chose to avoid the crowds today and will visit next time.

The misty mountains beckoned and we continued upwards towards Nuwara Eliya, our next stop.

This town is 1889m above sea level and sits just below Sri Lanka’s highest mountain, Mt Pedro at 2524m.

Nuwara Eliya (the ‘City of Light’) was the cool climate escape for the tea pioneering English and Scottish after being ‘discovered’ by John Davy in 1819.

The town is known as ‘Little England’ by many and while it may not look like England to a British backpacker, some of the grand old buildings do look decidedly European in design. The weather however certainly reminded us both of a wet English December, albeit a bit warmer so I guess for us it will remain ‘Little England’ more so than the ‘City of Light’.

 

We visited the Glenloch Tea plantation and had a quick tour to see how tea is processed. It only took about 30 mins and was quite informative. We never understood why Silver Tip tea was so expensive ($18 for 100 grams), but now we know why! If you want to find out why, well you will have to come and see for yourself!

Driving through this area is nothing short of spectacular and we watched in wonder as the tea plantations spanned out in all directions. An amazing amount of timber must have been felled by the pioneers off the steep hills that surrounded us. It would have been back breaking work establishing the plantations.

That hard work is now being carried out by the army of tea pickers that dot the hillsides looking to fill their bags with the new green leaves that shoot from the tea plants.

We drove past an amazing hotel property called 98 Acres that was constructed on a working tea plantation. The pickers were busy filling their bags with the prized leaf.

 

 

 

 

It was raining a little and we learned that the pickers actually like to pick in the rain as they get paid by the weight of their daily pick and of course wet tea leaves weigh more than dry leaves right? Very clever! A win for the workers!

It makes a wet day just feel that little bit easier to deal with. Now it is time for us to head off for a cuppa!

 

 

 

 

Tounge Twisting Towns

As hard as we try, we find it extremely difficult to get our tongues around some of the passing towns. Thirukketeeswaram, Pallavarayankaddu, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee. We find it easier to give them a nickname ie: Thirko, Pally, Anarad, Polly and Trinco. The locals seem to find this amusing.  

Heading into Trinco on the East coast it was with sad memories of the horrific news images of the devastating tsunami that struck the coast back in 2004.

The locals told us that most of the buildings and infrastructure within 1 klm of the coast were completely destroyed. The Kandasamy Kovil temple was worth a look and being built high up on a hill overlooking the coast it was not damaged by the tsunami.

The thing that constantly amazes us on our travels is that people the world over have an amazing capacity to recover and move on.

While there is still some evidence of the destruction that occurred, you have to look hard to see it. New resorts and hotels have sprung up to replace the old and the holiday makers seem to be chugging along just fine.
Village life is back to normal, the kids are happy and smiling again.
The wet season is upon us now so the weather was damp and the skies grey but travelers (mainly Sri Lankans) were still around in small numbers making the best of their holiday time.
We checked out some beach towns including Trinco, Batticaloa ( Batti ) and Passekudah ( Passey ).  The later had the nicest beach by far.

Not a lot goes on here on the east Coast so after a quick look we headed back west and inland towards the city of Polonnaruwa, ( Polly ) the ancestral home of the Kings that ruled the plains more than 800 years ago.

Remnants of this amazing period of development and construction are spread through the Unesco World heritage listed site. It was built more recently than Anuradhapura (Anarad) so the ruins are in a better state of repair. The scale is also a bit smaller here so it’s a nice place to enjoy the sites on a bicycle.

From ‘Polly’ we headed to Sri Lankas most well known tourist site, Sigiriya or ‘Lion Rock’.  This impressive rock outcrop is visible from quite a distance from town, with its near vertical walls ending on a tabletop flat summit. Ruins of an ancient civilisation are scattered across the top.

 

Tourists flock to Sigiriya for good reason and seeing as though we were there on the 23^rd of December there were plenty of them sharing this amazing site with us.

The only way to the top of the rock is to climb the numerous rock stairs that have been built over the years. We did not count them but people told us there were at least 1200!. It might sound challenging but there is plenty to see and most travelers would find it quite easy if you take your time.

 

 

As you head up towards the summit there is a very exposed spiral staircase that goes up to a long sheltered gallery containing some beautiful frescoes. No one is certain of their age but they are very impressive.

As we climbed we noted the ancient steps cut into the rock either side of us. We were both very happy to be doing the climb now and not back in the 5^th century when it is believed that the structures were built. The risks taken back then to get to the top would have been enormous not to mention the froglike toe grip required to hold on to these small grooves they called steps.

As usual the ‘experts’ are still arguing about just exactly what this complex is all about.

The established theory is that the rock and its buildings acted as a residence and a ‘fort’ for King Kasapa during his reign (AD477-495).
If this was the case, then it made sense to us as it would have been an easy place to defend, but on the other hand, easy for invaders to simply encircle and sit and wait until all the King’s supplies ran out at the top!

Some archaeologists now believe that Sigiriya was a religious site and this theory is believable as well?

Really, it does not matter! If you are in Sri Lanka this site is a must see!
As we approached the summit we were greeted by fabulous 360 degree views so we sat for a while and looked out over the vast and lush land.

Personally, I think maybe it was a religious site as you could imagine anybody who made the effort to get to the top in the 5^th century may just have felt a little bit closer to their chosen ‘god’.

The walk down was quick as many of the crowds were still going up and in our opposite direction so we finished our visit, at the bottom in the informative museum.

As we walked back to our guesthouse, along the ancient moats and ruins we  took some good local advice and walked well away from the tourist area to find a great vantage point for a photo and view of the rock, without a person in site! Thanks Mr Desilva!

On arrival at ‘Flower Inn’ we packed our gear and got ourselves organised for our next stop, the pretty hill towns of the Tea Country!

Sensational Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is 2% of the size of India. The Kimberley is more than 6 times the size of Sri Lanka. Putting that into perspective we are looking at a very small and compact country. Most travellers seem to spend around two weeks here which means they need to decide on either the north or the south.

We have the freedom of time so have the ability to take a more in depth look at the Island for the month then we can decide where the best parts lie.

Our friend Nishad gave us some suggestions and a rough itinerary to follow, which included Jaffna, in the far north. Once the strong hold of the fearsome ‘Tamil Tigers’.

I am sure many remember the Sri Lankan civil war that raged from the early 1980’s right up until 2009. Thankfully there is now peace and Sri Lanka has opened its doors, and arms to the rest of the world.

Tourism has well and truly taken off here and is now growing rapidly. We think that now is the time to visit, before it gets too popular.

The train was booked out so we took the overnight bus to Jaffna instead. Neither of us really knew just what to expect on our arrival but our underlying thought was that there would be much evidence of the long and bitter war.  We expected to find the people alert and wary.
We were certainly proven wrong and found a bustling town that looked pretty normal with loads of smiling faces and happy people. If you looked hard in the background you could see some evidence of crumbling buildings, riddled with pock marks where bullets had struck, but this was not the norm.

We had an interesting walk down at the wharf area where the fisherman were docked and busily sorting their catch. The fish market was in full swing and the dusty streets were carpeted with fish lying out in the warm sun to slowly dry.

From here the fish are sold and sent to hang in the shop fronts for sale.

 Jaffna still has a little work to do to take advantage of the growing tourism but we did note some nice new hotels being constructed.

Departing Jaffna we took the train to Anuradhapura.

It had been a while since we had travelled by train but nothing had changed. It was still our favourite mode of transport.

Upon arrival our driver took us out to the Wilpattu National Park where we had arranged a fantastic tented safari camp.

Being greeted enthusiastically by the management we were handed a welcome drink and a cold towel.

After an awesome lunch spread was served, quite by magic and almost to a 5 star standard we jumped into a 4WD safari truck and entered the NP.

It had been wet the week prior so there was plenty of water around and all the plants and grasses were spectacular shades of green.

Our guide told us he thought that there we approximately 90 leopards in the park but of course they are incredibly elusive. We never saw one but the bird life and natural beauty of the park was more than enough to make up for it.

From here we drove back to Anuradhapura, the Unesco recognised Heritage sight and location of a sprawling ancient city complex.

Anuradhapura became a capital back in 380 BC. This important city and was invaded by several groups from Southern India. It was then retaken by the now hero Dutugemunu who instigated a major building program. It then continued to grow under the next generations of rulers through until around 300AD. The city survived another 500 years of invasions. Ironically these invasions were made easier by the massive clearings and road building projects. Eventually the capital was moved to a new city, Polonnaruwa. The ruins that remain are quite amazing and well worth a look.

This complex covers a massive area and while many ruins are only obvious by their foundation stones, along with some old columns and steps, it’s easy for your imagination to run wild and create a picture of how the city would have once looked.

Stone ponds, constructed to supply the water needs of the city are still intact and are strategically placed throughout the complex. Buddhism is a major component to this important area and many of the important Buddhist ‘Dagobas’ (Domed structure containing Buddha relics) have been rebuilt and stand tall and impressive across the old city.

 

We visited the ancient site of the ‘Sri Maha Bodhi’. A Banyan Tree that the Sri Lankan Buddhist legend suggests was grown from a cutting of a Banyan Tree brought from Bodhgaya in India where Buddha found enlightenment!

The belief is that this tree has been tendered by guardians for over 2000 years making it supposedly the oldest authenticated tree in the world. It is important to Sri Lankan Buddhists and many continue to visit and pray today.

The day went quickly as we drove from point to point and as the day gave way to evening we started to plan our night.

After such a great day we though it fitting to have a bit of a splurge so we booked a table at ‘The Sanctuary at Tissawewa’. This beautiful Colonial hotel was once the home to the British Governor. The food was great and the ambiance unbeatable and we decided then and there that this hotel was definitely going to be on our must visit list next time around.

We finished the evening sitting on the deck with a cold beer and enjoyed the cool evening breeze.

Next stop, Trincomalee and the beaches on the east coast of the island…..

 

 

Colombo, the Garden City of the East!

Colombo, Sri Lanka, was a thriving sea port as far back as the 5^th century.

The seafaring Portuguese arrived in the early 1500’s, followed by the Dutch and then of course the British.

As you pass through the old fort area, it is obvious that Colombo flourished throughout these colonial times.

Fabulous old buildings overlook the leafy streets giving a wonderful insight into daily life of these earlier times.
The old city is extremely flat and very compact which made it great to walk around. We were both fascinated with the grand colonial architecture. The beautifully restored old Fort precinct gave way to the bustling bazaar area of Pettah.

It was your typical Asian market with all sorts of goodies for sale ranging from clothing and trinkets to locally grown fruit and vegetables. It did however have a somewhat relaxed feel due to the abundant smiles and waves we received from the street vendors and other shoppers alike.

It was clear right from the moment we arrived in Sri Lanka that the people here are incredibly friendly and welcoming. Their first question was usually a simple ‘what country?’ As soon as we answered ‘Australia’ their white broad smiles lit up and the conversation started. The first thing they wanted to talk about was the cricket!

 

Working in the Kimberley, away from the news and TV for extended periods of time proved to be a disadvantage for us as far as these conversations went. The locals here were way more up to speed with the results of the recent games than us! Of course they thought we must know the players personally!? One guy was very proud to show us a selfie of him and his favourite Aussie cricketer, Shane Watson!

 

We were instantly captivated and pleasantly surprised by Colombo as it lacked the chaos of many other Asian cities we have visited.

The day just got better and another surprise was in store for us! Our friend in Colombo, Nishad, arranged for us to stay at the Colombo Swimming Club. Both of us expected the equivalent of a room at the Casino Municipal Council  swimming pool, and most likely just behind the broom cupboard! Wow, how wrong were we! This place was amazing! A private club, in an fabulous old colonial building with an olympic size swimming pool overlooking the sea! Just Incredible!

The service was impeccable and we enjoyed an amazing afternoon lazing by the pool. We were very spoilt!

A little later, as we walked into the city, we passed the well known Galle Face Hotel. A very grand colonial building perfectly placed on the seashore. We couldn’t resist going in for a look.  The terraced verandah overlooking the ocean provided the perfect opportunity to try a classic ‘high tea’. Silver 3 tiered ‘high tea’ trays were delivered with Scones, biscuits, sweets and savouries. It was a devonshire tea on steroids along with a large choice of local Ceylon teas!  Simply brilliant ! As we left at 5:30pm we certainly knew that dinner that evening would not be necessary.

As the day drew to a close, we both wondered how it was possible that after 20 + years of travelling, we had not yet experienced Sri Lanka!

We are now very excited and absolutely certain that the next 3 weeks are going to be simply amazing!

 

 

 

 

 

High Expectations

Udaipur, was founded in the mid 1500’s by Maharana Udai Singh II.

He set the foundation stones for what was to become a fantastic city as Udaipur was voted as the best city in the world in 2009 by the Travel + Leisure magazine!

Colonel James Tod, from the East India Company, recognised the beauty of the city way back in 1829 when he famously quoted that Udaipur was ;the most romantic spot on the Indian continent’

Wow, this city sets very high expectations before you even arrive!
We settled for Hotel Swaroop Vilas on arrival. A nice heritage property just a few minutes walk from the centre of the ‘old town’.

After dumping our bags in the room we set off on foot to explore the city.

Numerous lakes surround the city, offering gentle cooling breezes for the locals during the hotter months of the year.

The centerpiece of the city is the City Palace with narrow alleyways jammed full of small shops radiating outwards. The Palace majestically rises from the shoreline of the lake creating spectacular views from many vantage points.

The streets were humming with activity and we simply enjoyed the day of easy walking. Stopping along the way to admire the Palace and Jagdish temple.

Beautiful traditional Rajasthani handicrafts lined the streets. It was a shoppers paradise! We were reminded of the many boxes of pillowcases, doona covers and silverwares that we have collected over the years. These are still carefully stored away awaiting the day that we get settled in our house. This may still be a little while away!

As the sun started to head towards the horizon we positioned ourselves at a lovely rooftop restaurant above the Lake Pichola Hotel to enjoy a beer as the sun started to set.

The view from here was brilliant overlooking the Palace and the jumble of historic buildings that lined the shoreline of the lake opposite.

The sound of trumpets and other wind instruments drifted across the lake towards us. It sounded like a wedding ceremony was beginning. We finished our beer and walked across the pedestrian bridge to see if we could locate the action. Clearly that was going to be pretty easy as the closer we got, the louder the music was.

As we rounded the corner of a narrow alleyway, we were confronted by a traffic jam of cars, motorbikes and people all yelling excitedly to try and clear a path through the gathering crowd.

The wedding party did a great job of ignoring the chaos they created while they danced and clapped to the music as they lead the procession through the city. The groom, sat proudly astride a beautiful horse, dressed in his finest as they made their way to the hotel a little way up the street that was lit by floodlights while other revelers ignited fireworks to announce his arrival!

It seemed apparent that it was customary to pin money to the groom as his suit jacket was covered in cash! It was great to note that a couple of energetic tourists had joined in to dance with the party and were embraced wholeheartedly by the rest of the group.

We cheered and wished the Groom good luck as he rode towards his awaiting bride.

It is pretty cool to witness a wedding in India as they are so different to what the western world collectively do. Satisfied that we had once again experienced another great day, we headed home convinced that Udaipur had lived up to our high expectations.

Our trip through Rajasthan was coming to a close as we are bound for Delhi tomorrow, where we prepare for our flight for Colombo, Sri Lanka, the next exciting chapter of our journey!!!

 

The Amazing Jains!

The last few days have been busy with some great sights and quite a few klms under our belts since Jodhpur. We travelled onto Ranakpur, about half way between Jodhpur and Udaipur.

We remembered from previous travels that this area of Rajasthan was home to many Jains. An interesting and very different religious group of people.

Therefore Ranakpur is home to one of India’s most spectacular and important Jain temple complexes.

While driving along we chanced upon a group of Jain monks walking along the street. Clad in simple white fabric and with their mouths covered with something that resembled a surgical mask, they swept the street in front of them to ensure that they did not crush any small insects while walking and their masks protected flying insects from being inhaled!

Jainism was founded around 500 BC by Mahariva, the last Jain pathfinder.
Jains are strict vegetarians and believe in protecting all life including insects.  All leather goods are strictly off limits in the temple along with shoes, cigarettes and foodstuffs.

The temple is situated in the rugged Aravalli Hills and the drive from Jodhpur is really scenic. The main temple, constructed in solid marble was  built in the 15^th century and took an unbelievable 50 years to complete! They were a patient people back then that’s for sure! The temple design includes 80 amazing domes that are all held aloft by 1444 individually carved marble columns. The detail is mind boggling and both Gool’s and I felt an amazing calmness while walking around the site. It was quite hard to leave as there was just so much to see.

To learn more about these incredibly interesting people, check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism when you have finished reading this post! Its well worth the read to learn about their beliefs.

As the journey continued we stopped overnight in a village called Ghanerao. This traditional village was a nice place to break the journey and we spent the night in the old Ghanerao Castle. It is now open to tourists as it has been converted to a hotel. It is not well known yet, and it was lovely but a bit weird as we were the only guests for the night. The manager and staff were great and of course we were very well looked after!

We set off the next day bound for Udaipur.

While driving we learned that we would be passing close by another impressive monument called Kumbhalgargh Fort (yes, there are lots of them). It was a bit of a coin toss to see if we would go for a look. Thommo called heads and won.

We had read in the guidebook that the wall surrounding the fort was 36 klms long and that in places it was wide enough to ride 8 horses abreast!

It sounded like ‘The Great Wall of India’ to us so seeing as though we had the time we dropped in for a look.

 

No doubt it was impressive but to be honest the highlight of the visit was our lucky timing that coincided with an Islamic festival that neither of us had ever heard of..

We sat back and watched 100’s of people walking with a gold coloured, multi storied ‘litter’ adorned with hundreds of Indian rupee notes with incense billowing from its innards. As the contraption slowly made its way up the path towards the fort, carried by a number of men, another 6 men and boys, drummed at a furious and hypnotic pace. It sounded amazing and was extremely colourful as the women and a number of other men and kids followed the procession.

As it disappeared off into the distance we wondered what exactly we had just witnessed?

Sometimes it does not matter, just being there was brilliant!

We walked back to the car and was greeted by our driver an ever smiling Mr Ishu and continued on towards our next stop, Udaipur, our Venice of India!