Why you should travel to Sri Lanka - now!

Its been quite some time since I last posted - 3 months according to my stats. And it's not because of lack of content, in fact I have so much I should have been posting about, it was more trying to find the time to knuckle down and type out some words.

So for my first post this year I want to try and inspire you with a little travel piece. I spent my Christmas break in Sri Lanka, Mr J is half from there so we went not just to see family but to also visit some other parts of the island we couldn't quite fit in on our last trip 2 years ago.

For those of you who don't know, Sri Lanka (or formerly Ceylon) is located just south of India, and is a very diverse and multicultural country. You might also not know it was under European rule for nearly 450 years, between the Portuguese, Dutch and the British. And for the most part you might not have been aware that the country was struggling through a civil war for about 40 years since the 70s. But don't let that put your off, as the conflict has now subsided and it is a very safe and welcoming country to visit for tourists.

I want to try and make this more of a visual post, rather than describing every thing we did, but instead sharing with you some highlights of my trip. In return, I hope these will inspire you to travel to "The Pearl of the Indian Ocean."

1. Transportation
Don't even think about driving in Sri Lanka - especially Colombo. You might have travelled to a few places and thought that the way they drive there is insane, but you will only truly know what that is when you are here. So, to avoid risking your life and that of others its best to either higher a driver (very reasonable prices) especially if you want to travel around the country. Or for short distances then take a 3 wheeler -tuk tuk. In Colombo these are now metered, but in the rest of the country you should agree a price with the driver before you get in. Once you have hopped in, close your eyes, and try to enjoy the ride.  If nothing else, make sure to watch out for some hilaroud slogans which they use to decorate them.


2. Nuawara Eliya and the Tea Plantations
This is a beautiful part of the country, up in what they call the Hill Country, where some of Sri Lanka's best and most well known tea plantations are located (though they also grow tea close to the coast). My recommendation here would be to make a day trip to Nuwara Eliya, which has a very English feel to it, in fact often referred to as "Little England", you would swear you were somewhere in the middle of England as most of the buildings follow  the colonial style (Edwardian/Elizabethan not sure which). We spent two nights there at a small guesthouse, however didn't get to see much of the town as it was enveloped in a blanket of fog for the most part, and non-stop rain (just like England). And I should also mention, the temperature does drop when you're here, so make sure to bring a jumper with you if you're there for the day, and waterproofs wouldn't go a miss either.

But what you really come here for is a quick visit to the tea plantations - and don't be shy to take pictures of the tea pickers - they know that you are here to take their picture. So don't be surprised if you are asked for a small contribution (usually 100 Rupees per picker). We visited Pedro Tea Estate where they were more than happy to pose and have a chat while we took they're pictures.



3. Ella
Sadly I don't have many photos from Ella, but I would highly recommend coming here. You can make this your base and travel up to Nuwara Eliya, passing by Sri Baktha Hanuman Temple, visit Ravan waterfalls, Horton Plains and World's End,  the Ella Gap and the Botanical Garden at Hakgala where you will find the Cinchona Tree, which if you are a Gin & Tonic enthusiast is quite interesting as this is where quinine comes from - a main ingredient in tonic water and handily also used to cure malaria (bonus!).  But getting back to Ella, this is a great small but vibrant town, with lots of Eco Lodges of which we visited Ella Eco Lodge, which is owned by the driver we had. There are only about 3-4 rooms, but they are nicely decorated and a little bit up from the town so you really feel like you are in the middle of the rain forest. And if you want some good Rice and Curry head down to Ella Gap Hotel, where they do a mean lunch buffet for only Rps. 400 ( GBP 2/ USD 3.50)

4. South Coast - Kirinda and Yala 
After Nuwara Eliya, we headed down South (through Ella) to Kirinda to spend New Year's and visit Yala National Park. Yala is probably one of the most visited national parks in Sri Lanka as its renowned to be *THE* place to go if you want to encounter the ever so elusive leopard. There are usually two drives per day, and I believe it is open every day of the week. A word of warning though, you need to arrange your own Jeep and drivers to gain entry into the park, and be ware that you could be sharing your drive with about 400 other jeeps at the same time. That's about 900 vehicles inside the national park a day. So you can understand if you don't actually come across a leopard during your 4 hour drive... but they tried. Technically we did "see" one, and I say that as I later saw the poor creature in the very enhanced photo Mr J took, but I wouldn't admit to have seen him with my naked eye. However, there are many other animals in the park to observe like Elephants (though I would recommend Minneriya National Park for Elephants), peacocks (Sri Lanka is full of them), crocodiles, countless birds, deer, water buffalo and warthog. Though if you're not too bothered about the leopard you are bound to run across most of these animals right outside your hotel if you are staying at one of the resorts in Kirinda, like Cinnamon Wild Yala. This hotel has beautiful accommodations, with few rooms built on stilts which provide a Sea View (Indian Ocean), however you are not allowed to swim on this beach. This spot was hit by the tsunami back in 2004, so this area had to be built up from scratch and the current here is very strong. 



5. Kataragama
This is a place in Sri Lanka most tourists don't venture out to, but mention it to any Sri Lankan and they will tell you this is where you go if you are about to close a deal, bought a new car/house, having a baby, anything! This is a place of pilgrimage for both Buddhist and Hindu and really comes alive during puja - I was lucky enough to be able to witness the evening puja. I want to share with you the description provided in Rough Guides to give you a better picture of what happens:

Kataragama’s Sacred Precinct springs to life at puja times. Flocks of pilgrims appear bearing the fruit platters as offerings to Kataragama, and many smash coconuts in front of his shrine. As the puja begins, a long queue of pilgrims line up to present their offerings, while a priest makes a drawn-out sequence of obeisances in front of the curtained shrine and a huge ringing of bells fills the temple. Musicians playing oboe-like horanavas, trumpets and drums perambulate around the complex, followed by groups of pilgrims performing the kavadi, or peacock dance, spinning around like dervishes while carrying kavadis, the semicircular hoops studded with peacock feathers after which the dance is named. The music is strangely jazzy, and the dancers spin with such fervour that it’s not unusual to see one or two of the more enthusiastic collapsing in a dead faint on the ground. Eventually the main Kataragama shrine is opened to the waiting pilgrims, who enter to deposit their offerings and pay homage to the god, while others pray at the adjacent Buddha shrine or bo trees.

What they fail to mention is the ringing of the bells. There is a bit of a bum fight when it comes to ringing the bells. No one was really able to explain what the bell ringing does, but I understood that the purpose what to make as much noise as possible so that the gods pay attention and hear your prayers. There is then the holy water, ashes and sweet sticky rice that take place as part of the ceremony. If you can, I encourage you to visit, and make sure you are respectful and follow suit. Or wait outside and observe as others who have made the pilgrimage light up coconuts while praying, and then proceed to smash the living daylights out of them. If you decided to give this a try, make sure you really give it a good go, as if your coconut doesn't smash then your payer or wish won't become true.


 
6. The South Coast
Of course I recommend you visit Galle, we spent a day here on our last trip and I will try and post the pics another time (not in 9 months I promise!). But if you are looking for somewhere to just lay about on the beach and just live the "beach life" in December/January, then the southern coast is made for you. Beautiful places like Tangalle, Unuwatuna, Mirissa (great base for whale watching trips) and also Hikkaduwa where we stayed at the very cool Hikka Tranz. I'm not normally one that would go for half/full board but here it certainly is well worth it. Though there are lots of places to choose from in Hikka, the majority of the places are catering for tourists and will offer the same stuff. So as far as foodie heaven, don't expect Hikka to be top of the list. However, it has a great beach, awesome for surfing and some kite boarding if you are experience. It has a very laid back, hippie vibe, but also has some great parties... so I've been told :)


 
 
 

7. The Food 

You can't hide away from the staple which is "Rice & Curry" and there is a reason why its in that order, you get more rice than curry - though that's not entirely true. You will normally have the choice of about 2-3 different curries to go along with your mountain of rice, along with your dhal (yum!) and maybe the odd poppadom, chutney/pickles, etc. Here are some examples of a few other bits and pieces we had while on the road:

Homemade Pol Roti with Seeni Sambol: Essentially this is a coconut tortilla or coconut english muffin - not as fluffy but in the sense that its coconut batter cooked on a griddle. We had this at breakfast, slathered in butter, and then topped with Seeni Sambol, a caramelized onion confit. I could have eaten this all day!











Dosai at Chutneys (Cinnamond Grand Colombo):  This restaurant actually serves South Indian food with a vast choice of curries from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andra Pradesh. Make sure to ask for help as it can be slightly overwhelming and you might be missing out on something delicious for not knowing. I also highly recommend the Tamarind and Ginger juice which was refreshing after the heat from some of the curries. All Dosai come with a variety of chutneys - and make sure not to fill up on the Poppadoms!





Buffalo Curd:  The best way I can describe this is full fat buffalo milk greek yoghurt. Normally eaten as a dessert along with Palm Honey. Though widely available, this is mainly produced on the souther coast and you can buy these lay pots roadside to take back to Colombo with you as a gift, or enjoy on the spot.