THE LAST POST FROM SRI LANKA

Unfortunately the rains came and for the last 4 days it has only rained.  This is an unusual weather pattern as it is not yet Monsoon season.We have been lucky that we were still able to see all of the sights and and the only thing that was disrupted was our seaplane flight from tea country to the coast.  Instead we drove for 6 hours.  It gave us a chance to see the rural nature of most of the island and how the people live.

Now we are in beautiful Cape Weligama right on the sea.

What's amazing is that if you drive for about 20 minutes you are back in  low tea country
which looks like a jungle with the tea plants and the coconut trees as well as cinnamon plants.

After seeing the country side we then had the opportunity to tour Galle Fort and learn about how the country started and the many countries who have influenced the development of Sri Lanka.  Here is a glimpse of the Fort.  But also it is interesting to see the old
buildings which were influenced by the Dutch and Portuguese.


                                                






And the best was saved for last when we were able to visit a turtle conservancy.  We saw where the eggs were laid, then hatched and after three days were were able to help the little ones go back to the sea!    

A CULTURAL FAREWELL AND A WELCOME TO TEA COUNTRY

The last night in Kandy we were able to see an incredible performance of typical Kandyan dancers.

 

Their costumes were bright Sri Lankan colors and they had great juggling, gymnastics and fun as well as fire eating and walking.  It was quite a spectacle!

Then on to the serene hills of tea country. We had the fun of taking the train from Kandy to Hadden which provides a spectacular look at the country side.  Here is the train.

 It is beautiful and so wonderful to see the tea fields that stretch for miles as well as the locals picking tea and then bringing their bags to be weighed.

It is a hard life as the pickers must climb up and down the
hills filling their bags.  They have to be incredibly
careful that they take only the tops and the buds of the
leaves making sure that enough is left so that the plants will
be able to put out new leaves as soon as possible.

The tea process is also labor intensive as we saw when
visiting one of the many tea factories.  There are no mammoth
machines but rather old fashioned machines that first wither the leaves or dry them out. Then they are pliable.  This allows the leaves to be rolled to break up the cells of the leaves before they can be fermented, fired, sifted and graded.

 Here is an example of how precisely the work must be conducted
as the factory worker carefully spreads the tea for fermentation
which takes about 2 hours before it is removed to the next step.

The food in Sri Lanka is flavorful and healthy.  We are staying at Tea Trails which is a hotel made up of converter bungalows that originally belonged to overseers of the plantations.  Each one is different with no more than 6 rooms and beautiful gardens which have the stamp of the colonial planters.

How much fun--the first night we got to help prepare the dinner!

 
This gives an idea of the number of ingredients
in any one dish and the beauty of the
finished product.

THE SPICES OF SRI LANKA

Certainly the food and spices of Sri Lanka are some of the outstanding traits od the country.  We were able to visit a spice garden where they all grow.  There is nothing like
the fresh taste of spices from the garden.  Vanilla here has an incredible

true taste as we learn that it is so pure here when what we
are used to is synthetic.   The man to the left is demonstrating
how cinnamon is made by scraping the plant and then putting the inner pieces together to dry.  Then they will resemble what we know as cinnamon.




Later we were able to visit a local batik factory and see how these
lovely fabrics are made by hand.  This is one of the typical handicrafts of Sri Lanka.

To conclude our time in the beautiful hillside town of Kandy we also visited the hill caves and above you see the statue of the last king of Kandy.  Finally we went to the holy Temple of the Tooth where Buddha's tooth can be found.  This is a sight revered and visited by all.

The Adventure Continues

There are still so many more archaeological wonders to discover.  First we visited the Unesco World heritage site of Plolonnaruwa.  This was the capital of the country between the 10th and 12th centuries AD.  Many have said that it resembles Angor Wat and the question is how they are connected as that hasn't been determined.

And what I love is that the morning can be
filled with historical sites and temples
and in the afternoon we can go on an elephant safari.  We saw
34 elephants!!

We also learned about the production of rice.
We visited a rice mill to learn how paddy is processed,
cleaned, packed and transported to different parts of the
country.  This one rice mill processes 10 tons an hour
and operates 24 hours daily.  This is still not enough rice
for the country!




Everything has been great but the true highlight was being
able to wash an elephant and seeing a local fisherman taking pride in his catch.

A Little Bit of Everything

Today was an extraordinary day.  It began with a bird walk  

and ended with an incredible buffet by the lake
with dream lanterns.  I was so excited to discover two baby birds
in a nest just waiting for their Mom to bring them
breakfast.


Later in the morning we traveled on to visit a lovely village school.
In Sri Lanka children learn three languages: Senegalese,
Tamil and English.  The children performed in all three
languages.  They also had created leis for each of us from the

local flowers and peovided a typical snack cooked in leaves..  The were absolutely so cute and full of promise.

Following this special look into the lives of the of Sri Lanka people we traveled back in time to see how it was in the 5th Century. By the way Sri Lanka means Resplendent Island and this name change from Ceylon was the first Constitutional Amendment.  We visited the World Heritage Sigiriya which was a bastion and place of King Kasyapa during the 5th Century.  It is impressive as the complex includes geometrically
laid water gardens, complex brick formations and ancient rock art.  It is an amazing testimony of what can be accomplished without modern technology

 This is Sigiriya and Cobra Cave.

It was a long and wonderful day and at the end the welcome to the hotel reminded you of the culture as well as the nature that makes up this Island Paradise.

. 

The Cultural Triangle

The area near Anuradhapura and where we will travel tomorrow is considered the Cultural Triangle. That being said it is really so much more.  There is a plethora of  animals and beautiful flowers everywhere.  In the morning we had the opportunity to kayak on an ancient tank.  For the naked eye it looks like a lake but it is where in the past the kings were clever enough to build man made dams that could be used to store water.

And on land we saw monitor lizards
and so many monkeys.










Leaving the nature behind we began our tour of the many holy spots as this is where Buddhism came to Sri Lanka.  My favorite
was when we arrived at the stupa and a village was presenting
cloth for the monks to make their robes
.

And just so you have an idea of the usuall Temple appearance here is an example of what they look like.  From this picture you can see the typical bell shape and also notice the
granite columns since in ancient times these structures were covered
with a wooden roof.

.

SRI LANKA IS A COUNTRY OF CONTRASTS

Today we left Colombo and flew to the East.  The Monsoon season is approaching the West coast and we have been entertained with huge displays of heat lightening in the evening. These have been amazing.  The monsoon starts in the west travels north around the country until it is in the east.  As we flew to Trincomalee we flew over the many rice fields waiting for the monsoon to start to grow the crop that is a staple of every meal in this country.

Trincomalee has one of the deepest harbors in Asia and it is a stunning location on the Indian Ocean.  




The major site is Fort Fredrick which was built in 1624 from the debris of an ancient Hindu Temple.  




Today a colorful Hindu Temple is thriving on the location. 

We were fortunate enough to see a lovely family bring an offering. Then we
watched the"cracking a coconut' in order to pardon their sins.








We also saw them make an offering to pray for more
children.  You will see below both the husband and wife
praying after the offering has been hung.  The picture to the
right gives you a great idea about the colorful offerings of fruit
and the coconuts used in the "breaking ceremony".
Oil is also plays an important part in temple
ceremonies as lanterns are lighted to shine in the night.  This are is home to the beautiful spotted dear so I would like to leave you with one picture of the cute animals.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF COLOMBO

Colombo is not a beautiful city even though the Indian Ocean's blue water surrounds it and there are lakes and canals throughout.  30 year of civil unrest have taken their toll.  There are buildings which are partially destroyed and boarded up.  But then you see many beautiful new structures. The building of these new buildings is helping the economy. For example the new Parliament is set on a gorgeous lake and looks like it could actually be in Japan and not Sri Lanka.

The signs that Buddhism plays a major role in the country is confirmed by amazing golden statues that decorate many city blocks.  Other large religious statutes can also be found.












Although unemployment is high at 30% people seem happy and there is a prosperous open air market where families come daily to secure provisions from the colorful vegetables and spices.

It is great to experience the variation of pasta and
snacks waiting to be fried.  They are as vibrant as all
of Sri Lanka.  Bright colors are the things you see in the
market and they are brought to life in the textiles
and other crafts that we have only had a sneak peak
of so far.  I do love the food here as it features
my favorite things--chilies of every type and color.

Another unexpected pop of color is found in the facade of the mosque.  Here an amazing red and white building surprises you as you look down a lively street which has a Sunday market.