A five hour journey in two trains, the first uncomfortably standing throughout, brought us to Waikkal. Here, for our last two Lanka nights, we’re staying in a jungle chalets complex, right by the Gin (pronounced yin) Oya river. On the station platform at Hikkaduwa, we bumped into Anne Browne (Plantag), travelling with her friend Linda around the island.

Our chalet has a bathroom open to the skies & insects of all manner & sizes –  cockroaches, beetles, frogs & mantis. We’re in the jungle, yet within earshot of trains & airplanes landing / taking off from the island’s Bandaranaika International Airport. A small chunk of jungle, then.

The complex has two cows plus one junior, a ‘rescue’ called Elodi; they are friendly and roam wherever, incl. to your table in the restaurant, yet no sign of steaming cow pats. Domesticated or what!

Went to the beach & loved the not-so-high waves. Very few people there but many in the series of resort complexes just inland of the beach. On our return, both the manager & the chef warned us of the dangerous sea along Kammala beach; only last month three people drowned, with two trying to rescue the one that was dragged out by a wave. Kaff doesn’t want to go there today (our last in Sri Lanka).

This safari-styled hotel was sold last December. The manager & chef were brought in by the new owners, all the other staff being retained. Have had long conversations with two former and a brief one with the new owner, who appeared yesterday. He informed us he has bought a hotel for each of his two children – they’re 15 & 10. We explained it might not work out quite like that!

Some final thoughts:-

Fire – Lankans like making fire, little fires, border fires, bush fires, brush fires, even a fire in a frying pan. Any excuse, they’ll light up.

Tea – we was misinformed, tea leaves are picked every 7 to 10 days, not years! Agh! The tea pickers are nearly all Tamils, who were imported by Thomas Lipton & other plantation owners from India because the locals didn’t want such hard jobs. Remind you of more recent immigration in western Europe? The picking is eight hours a day for, we were informed, pitifully low wages. The workers mostly live just outside the plantations in what can best be described as shacks. Meanwhile, both the manager & the deputy manager are given houses inside the plantations. No further comment.

We’re due to fly out at 02.55 tomorrow morning. After a three and a half hour stopover in Kuwait airport, we should land at Heathrow at about 13.45. That’s a long day already. The time differential is five and a half hours.

Our generously spaced single-bedroomed flat is on the far side of the road to the long beach, of which parts are coral reefed immediately next to it, parts with becalmed seas (Kaff’s fave) & parts with good old big, surfy waves (my fave).

This town is a tourism honeypot & busy. Visitors from all over the world, & Russians continue to be the most populous, by some margin. Apparently, pre-coronavirus, Chinese were numerous, too. None now to be seen, of course.

Saturday was Poya, the monthly full moon holiday, ‘though no obvious signs of it (other than the moon).

We bussed back to Galle & spent four hours wandering around this part Portuguese (16th century), Dutch (18th) & British (19th) former main port & citadel. We also walked most of the ramparts (for Pop). Some fabulous buildings here.

Back in Hikkaduwa, we watched half of Wales v Ireland in Sam’s Bar, the nearest we’ve been in a pub since the beginning of our holiday.

Sunday we visited the Tsunami Education Centre & Museum. Harrowing.

Went for lunch in The Kala Bongo Lake Hotel, as suggested in Lonely Planet. So remote, even the tuk-tuk driver had to ask the way, three times! Stunning location overlooking Lake Hikkaduwa. Felt a bit trapped. And the bass thump from the neighbour’s music drives a chariot through the tranquility. Time to go …

To The Jungle

We left Mirissa harbour at 6.45am, a double-decker whale-watching boat with about 50 visitors from all over the world. After a 90 mins journey, south then east, we stopped alongside a small boat. Just the two boats. Then a plume of water, three times, & the two boats were chasing hard. The second series of sea fountains told the skipper our whale was taking 11 mins. between surfacings – he informs us the gap is anything between 10 & 15 – & off we charge in what is believed to be the right direction. Except this blue whale seems to be playing with its audience & continues to defy the experts.

And there are increasing numbers of experts gathered; at its peak, nine whale watching craft plus four others form a veritable flotilla. And don’t forget the small aeroplane flying round & round. It has turned into a game more akin to whale hunting, except the prize is being closest, with the best photos.

Eventually, the boats peel off for the home journey. Ours, Raja & The Whales, stays to the end even though we last witnessed, other than its plumes, the single blue whale at least 30 mins ago.

On the way home, we suddenly veer westwards – another plume spotted. But this time we are the only boat, so the whale is, apparently, more relaxed. It takes 13 mins. between surfacings & is travelling in a single direction. The whale we are now uniquely watching is, the expert says, about 22 metres long and considerably older than the first one. And, as per photo, treats us to a full tail-up dive. Spectacular.

As we disembark, the skipper hands out free coconuts to drink. Some clever marketing person behind this company. Of all its rivals in the town, this one has the highest environmental approval. And resilience: we have been asea for seven hours.

After another great dinner of fish – red mullet this time – in a beach shack & a good night’s sleep, well for me because Kaff has come down with reactive bowels, we bus’d to Hikkaduwa. 90 mins watching a never-ending belly dancing mit modern Sri Lanka pop music (probably should be t’other way round) & we were there! Kaff has booked a flat for three nights.

Hikkaduwa

Tangalla (or Tangalle) is the destination as we are taxi’d down from the mountains to the flat, south coast. At the bottom of the first hill, we stopped to admire the Ravana waterfall, a three tier cascade which was pretty impressive but supposedly nothing like after it’s been raining.  Before then we came though substantial roadworks, shoring up the mountain side over the road – just the slippage after the latest rains – a reminder of the things we take for granted in the UK.

Tangalle’s beaches go on & on, a huge curve of jungle-backed yellow sand, with beach shack cafes spread along its length, the nearer the town centre the greater their density. There are further, individual beaches the other side of the fishing harbour. We both love this place, which is remarkably quiet, for the two previously mentioned reasons.

We’ve been staying in a new hotel on Tangalle seafront, for not a lot of money. The hotel is seriously not busy & has staff who don’t seem to know what they should be doing. But we’re better for some resting time.

On, then, to Mirissa, a more commercialised beach which we still think is fab; especially after a lunch of prawns with wasabi mayo & tuna seared sesame sushi. We’re here to go blue whale watching early tomorrow morning. The town is certainly tourism busier than others but still insufficient to match the extensive array of restaurants.

And tonight it rained, only for about two hours, but enough water for everything to stay green. This island seems to have loads of water, hence its lusciousness.

Whale Hunt

After this morning’s walks up a mountain – Little Adam at 1,114 metres with superb views back to Ella – & to see a train – crossing the Nine Arches curved Viaduct, complete with huge crowd turnout – the time has come to consider the holiday so far. We’re halfway through.

Employment – like in India, huge numbers of people are employed within strictly hierarchical structures. This means no-one goes beyond their remit, eg each till has a cashier unable to do anything else, regardless of queues. Employment is seemingly politically more important than productivity. This also means employee empowerment is non-existent which bodes badly for the island’s future economic sustainability. However, as per previous blog, peace and stability seem to be the top priority. And who can fault that?

Bites – as in India 12 months ago, I am more attractive than Kaff. To mosquitoes, anyway. Her hair still has magic, crowd pulling qualities for children.

Weather – in the mountains it has been quite cold at night – 15 to 17 degrees – but daytime blue skies almost everyday, regardless of location. And always in high 20s or low 30s. I know, you didn’t want to hear that.

Dogs – wild dogs are everywhere, in huge numbers, but only their howlingn through the night is a nuisance. The locals don’t seem to hear them – under flight path mentality, I suppose. The photos are .of the common type, as in 85%+, so one dog had amazing genes!

Sauntering – locals do not move, aside or any other way, when occupying paths, pavements, etc. Just a thang.

Order enforcement – Police, Army, Navy, Air Force are everywhere & in numbers. Partly a show of law & order, partly security, partly employment, as above?

Development – everywhere is a building site or next to one. From an investor perspective it might seem impressive, especially the massive Chinese input, but they seem to exercise little, if any, controls. The Tourism Golden egg is in danger. Towns like Ella have changed big time & there is no going back, but this is so not a new phenomenon, viz Mediterranean tourism impact over the last 40 years. This does not make it easier to watch, nor to be a happy local.

The South Coast

As we left the Queen’s Hotel on Friday morning, another wedding! And more staff wearing facemasks. We asked why: Coronavirus. Supposedly, with so much capital structural investment in the island, eg new trains & buildings, China’s rapidly evolving tourism was making significant inroads; it has all shuddered to a halt. Everywhere, we are told the numbers of tourists are down on recent years, partly also due to the no small deterrent of the bombs around the island last Easter, with over 250 being killed by an Islamist terrorist group.

Yesterday’s train ride from Kandy to Ella really was sensational, winding it’s gentle way into the mountains. It took six hours to do the 42 miles. But even by road the journey would have been 2.5 hours. Ella, where we stay for three days, is the opposite. Tourism run amok, indeed running amok, with so many new buildings throughout the town, & yoof bars & restaurants prevailing.

Today we took part of the train journey again, going back for an hour to Haputale & then by tuk-tuk to the Lipton tea plantation at Dambatenne. We bought some Silver Tips tea  on the advice of our tuk-tuk driver as it is unavailable anywhere else in Sri Lanka, but we were unimpressed with the official Lipton’s tour – failed to go into any depth about tea or its cultivation. The tuk-tuk driver told us the tea crop (yep, leaves) is taken every seven or twelve years. Not surprising, then, that so much of these mountains are given over to tea plantations.

All due to one Thomas Lipton, who found a market in UK, then invested in the cultivation in Sri Lanka at the end of the 1890s; he is still much venerated here. We were also driven to Lipton’s Seat, on a ridge between two valleys, at one of the highest points. Stunning views were slightly marred by heat mists. Amazing tuk-tuk adventure, though, with about two hours of three-wheel travel. We decided today’s driver was the best we’ve ever experienced; he even demonstrated anticipation & patience. And he smiled for almost the whole journey, up & down the mountains.

Tomorrow marks the half-time in our holiday, although it feels we’ve done so much; time for time-out, so we’ve booked a swish (we hope) hotel for two nights in Tangalle on the south coast, to which we are due to be driven by taxi on Monday morning. A two and a half hours journey down from the mountains  is going to cost us 8,000 rupees, about £34 – negotiated down from 10,000 rupees by the Guest House owner where we are staying for three nights. That is the only positive comment we can make about this accommodation.

Half-Time

Today started off with a wedding party, in very full regalia, arriving at the hotel at 7am. Keen!

After our breakfast, with the party still posing for the photographer, we went to the Kandy Botanic Gardens. By bus. That was fun. Everyone warned about having to stand, but initially we were the only ones on board & 20 minutes later, when we got off, there were still only about 10 other passengers. The trip cost approx. 10p each.

The gardens are mighty fine, with great trees from all over the world & special displays of ferns, cacti, flowers, all OK, a suspension bridge (a bit hairy), a fantastic display of over 300 orchids & serenity from the bustling, over-trafficed city. I think orchids are always fantasy. And a colony of 1,000 Flying Foxes, aka fruit bats, hanging  upside-down, of course, in the trees. The return journey was also in a bus, this one with shrine cockpit, complete with Buddhas, pictures, ribbons & a tv screen. Most of the buses are ancient & made by Lanka Leyland – that tells a story in itself.

And as walked into the hotel, the sounds of the wedding DJ emanated throughout, ie party! But all quiet by 6pm: pretty typical of Sri Lanka, not a lively night place. Maybe that’s why sleep eludes me; after the 12 hour Colombo session, last night was the first uninterrupted proper sleep for me, perhaps aided by two glasses of excellent, ridiculously underpriced Burgundy I discovered on the wine list. Three more glasses in the bottle for tonight ….. except my snorer companion will probably claim one.

Tomorrow we travel up-mountain, again, this time to Ella. Our train is due to leave at 11.10 & take about six hours, in one of the most famous train journeys in the world – check out the Michael Portillo episode. You could almost walk it quicker.

Tea Anyone?

So, on Monday, I had curry breakfast, lunch & dinner. Henceforth, Monday = curry day. But then Kaff had the same trilogy on Tuesday! Where do we go from here?

A reminder, we’re on tour. Next stop Polonnaruwa, with huge relics of a 12th century citadel. Many miles, thank Evans for Anura (our driver) + car, & temples & Buddhas. Around the stupa, biggest in blaadi bla, are “image houses”, in which individual momentoes are positioned, incl. dolls, jewellery, incense, paintings. Yeah, the first cinemas?

Then Anuradhapura, another citadel, this time from the 4th century BC. The location includes a Bodhi tree, at 2,000 years the oldest tree (in the world, queue Queen). The ancient architecture is grand, pointless?, well the stupas are filled with earth, so only purpose is mine’s bigger than yours, yet some of the artistry is now more than 800 years old ….. longevity? By way of explanation, a stupa is the same as a dagoba, close to a pagoda, too.

Due to no shoes in temples rules, combined with the sun’s impact upon stone walkways, we both now have blistered soles (possibly souls, too). Walking is now more considered. Not looking for any sympathy here!

On the way back to Kandy, we visit Aukuna, a lesser known full height Buddha location. A visitor village is being built around this sacred site ….

And then time to visit the mighty Dambulla. A series of caves aside a mountain, full of upright & lying Buddhas, of all sizes but not of varieties. And the busiest tourism honeypot we’ve witnessed so far.

The final stop on our three day tour is the Silver Temple of Ridi Vahara. A monk leaving as we entered asked how we knew about the temple; they have only recently advertised in guide books. Ahhhh. Kaff & I agreed this was our favourite, as it appeared to be almost ‘off piste’ (for you Max), nobody there & stunning relics, incl. my favourite doorway (not pictured here).

Climbing higher

Sunday was given to The Museum of The Tooth, wherein we didn’t find the sacred tooth, allegedly left as one of the eight parts of Buddha post-cremation. We’d allegedly seen another, his (tuft of) hair, in that temple in Colombo. The tooth is allegedly inside a cask which, Russian doll-like, is inside several casks, but even the outer cask was locked away when we visited. That didn’t seem to deter the queues & offerings of so many worshippers. I felt like an intruder, a common feeling on my visits to religious places.

For lunch we had a dhosa & another one at another place for dinner. Think Crepe Suzette, but not the yucchy sweet coz it’s savoury, sometimes with a curry filling, accompanied by pickles, dhal & other ‘dips’. Fine fare & silly cheap, maybe £2 or £3 per meal. We also went looking for another of Bryony’s recommended eating holes, The Imperial Hotel. The telephone number wasn’t valid & the hotel seems to have disappeared! We did find one all shut down & sad, so maybe that used to be it. Hence a second Dhosa. Had to work for that, didn’t I!

Kandy Lake is full of fish & maintains a large supply of ducks, egrets, cormorants & we even caught site of a baby kingfisher? Life is sweet for the fish catchers. End of. Continue reading “Sunday And Let The Tour Commence” →

Not exactly a propitious start to an holiday: after an easy two stop flight via Kuwait, we arrived at the exit point of Colombo airport minus my bank card, though I didn’t make that discovery until two hours later. Left it in the hole in the wall, didn’t I. Had to spend two hours ‘phoning bank to cancel  card, in between organising more credit for my phone.

Then we were guided by a stranger, who captured Kath, to & all around a temple & ended up paying double rate for tuk-tuk driver & 2k rupees for ‘guide’. Could have been worse – 235 rupees = £1. Our start reminded us it’s not good being a tourist in a new place when you’ve not slept for 24 hours. We have now had requisite sleep.

Colombo is …… a mess. Interspersed with a few Victorian & pre-18 century Dutch & Portuguese buildings, the majority are of unspecial concrete & brick designs. The part of the city known as Slave Island is a huge building site of tower blocks to be flats, hotels, restaurants etc., funded by the Chinese. Presumably, on completion it will be renamed.

Tomorrow we train up & into the centre of the island, to the old cultural capital Kandy, surrounded by tea plantations & from where we are due to visit Buddhas (some giant size) & other relics & natural phenomena from gentler centuries. Been reading the guide books. Though late 20th century activity had its meaner side on this island.

Food so far has been delightful and so inexpensive. And Kath has bought some gorgeous material, so she’s happy.

To The Mountains