Wednesday 5^th July

Finally I have something a bit more interesting than the oddities of life in a foreign country to write about.  The last two weekends I have done some traveling and got to see a few of the more picturesque and culturally significant locations that Sri Lanka has to offer.  First we headed to Unawatuna on the south coast just a few minutes past the city of Galle (we being myself and Sam who dropped by on her way home from Europe – not talking about myself in the third person or making up imaginary friends – not yet anyway).  Unawatuna is a beach resort that during the tourist season is packed with backpackers and surfers but at the moment is relatively quiet.  It is a small bay crowded with restaurants and bars on the beach and home to many small hotels and guest houses.  There looked to be a half decent wave off the point (next to the Buddhist temple) but I didn’t take the board down so didn’t get to check it out for myself – will have to go back sometime soon – a room at one of the little hotels on the beach can be had for about $15 US at this time of year so it’s a good option for a weekender.  We spent most of our time here relaxing and took a walk around the Galle fort on Sunday before heading back to Colombo on Sunday afternoon.

The fort is pretty cool and I think was first constructed by the Dutch around the 1500’s and then later added to when the British took over.  It sits immediately adjacent to the Galle Cricket Ground which is well known to cricket fans as where Warnie took his 500^th test wicket.  You can see a large section of the fort walls in the background on TV when international matches are played at the ground.  Inside the fort the old town is still thriving and the mix of Dutch and English buildings still present gives the place a nice feel.  The fort is well known as a tourist destination – we saw several busses of people driving around with some bloke at the front with a microphone pointing out places of historical interest. This however brings its own hazards, such as the constant barrage of locals trying to sell you souvenirs, be your guide or just bail you up for cash.  Almost as soon as we stepped out of the car we were offered “rare” Dutch coins at a bargain price.   By the time we had walked a quarter of the way round the fort walls we realized that the coins were neither rare nor a bargain – apparently the Dutch were not too fussed about taking their currency with them when they left town.  Out of curiosity Sam (other Sam – not me) made the fatal mistake of asking the price of a dress one lady was trying to flog us.  Evidently this gives the seller free reign to hassle you incessantly no matter how much you tell them you don’t want it.  The woman followed us for 200 or 300m in spite of our polite requests to leave us alone before I had to firmly explain that she had to go away now.  Her response was that “Madame”  had asked the price and therefore wanted to buy the dress  (I’ve always said being polite gets you nowhere).  We were hearing “Madame” quite frequently (much to Sam’s frustration) as a tall white girl seems to attract plenty of attention here – am now more comfortable with the level of hassling that I endure – it could be lot worse. 

            A less historical but equally apparent feature of the fort is the amount of couples “canoodling” under a virtual sea of umbrellas along any and every corner, rampart, crack, rocky outcrop, and structure on the fort walls. This is quite frustrating when you’re trying to find a place to look out at the view – I nearly tripped over several people tucked behind walls when looking for a good spot to take a picture. Why couples choose to do this under an umbrella rather than at their home where they may have some actual privacy is a mystery to me.  PDA’s (public display’s of affection) seem to be actually illegal here – I have heard that police hassle people – hence the umbrella’s but still it would seem more logical to go somewhere less public.  Perhaps Sri Lankan parents are particularly strict about having girls in your room (no wonder there is civil unrest) but most of the people we saw looked well beyond their teens.  Just another unexplained cultural quirk I suppose.

            Back in Colombo we moved into the Cinnamon Grand for a few days (my house being located well away from any places of interest and my kitchen ill equipped to prepare a decent meal) which is a fantastic hotel – If anyone ever comes to Colombo you should definitely stay here.  From here I went back to work during the week and Sam found Odels – the Sri Lankan equivalent of Myers except that just about everything is under $10 in our currency – and shopped up a storm.  On Monday night we headed to the Australian embassy to watch the socceroo’s get absolutely robbed by the Spanish referee who I believe has since been sent home from the world cup and I suspect is now relaxing in a nice little villa somewhere in Tuscany.  Apart from the result a pretty good night.  I am almost as sad about no more embassy bbq’s for a while as I am about us being knocked out of the cup.

            On Thursday I knocked off work early and we caught the train up to Kandy, the capitol of the hill country, where we were staying for a night before heading further north.  The train ride was spectacular, the track winding up the side of steep, rocky mountains and the landscape changing dramatically from the Palm and Banana trees at low altitude to the far more diverse rainforest in the hills.  On the train itself we were seated in the “1^st Class” observation carriage which is at the back of the train and all the seats face a large window which in theory looks out over the tracks and the fantastic scenery behind the train.  Sri Lanka being Sri Lanka though the railways staff had attached the carriage the wrong way so the full height window gave us all a great view of the back of the carriage in front.  Still, the view from the side windows was pretty good.  Also with a more relaxed approach to pubic safety all the doors to the carriage at the rear of our compartment were wide open and you could stand on the step and hang out the side of the train which is pretty good for taking pictures (you have to watch out for tunnels though – the walls can be pretty close sometimes).  The toilet in first class (I suspect the provision of a toilet is pretty much the only thing that sets 1^st and 2^nd class apart)  consisted of a pan which led directly to a hole in the floor so anything deposited down there would end up straight on the tracks which can’t be too pleasant for the hundreds of people who use the railway line as a walking track and thoroughfare and who had to press themselves against rocky walls or wade into chest high grass when the train comes past.  Also worth mentioning is that we were traveling on the “intercity express” – the “fast” train which covers the 120km in around 2 ½ to 3 hours which probably makes it comparable with Melbourne’s public transport system (only there’s probably more chance of the Kandy train stopping at east Richmond and less blokes in Collingwood jumpers)

Friday morning we headed out to the Pinnewella Elephant Orphanage – 25km and AN HOUR AND A HALFS DRIVE!! From Kandy (roads here are shit – and that’s a generous assessment).  The orphanage though is amazing, being skeptical I arrived expecting to see maybe a dozen but when we reached the river (it was elephant bath time) we saw a heard of about 50 playing in the water.  Because they are used to people you can go right up and stand next to them, pat them on the head or side depending on their size and walk in amongst them when they are out of the water.  The younger ones are quite playful and if you stick your arm out they will wrap their trunk around it.  They will also grab onto you with their nostrils which are quite dexterous and almost like a hand.  Sam’s arms were covered in mud from the river after one of them took a liking to her.  For their size they are quite nimble – they all stepped up out of the water and made their way up the steep banks with ease (apart from some of the younger ones) when bathing time was over.  As soon as they were back on land most would pick up loose dirt with the end of their trunks and throw it on their backs  - I imagine this helps them keep cool but perhaps they are just like giant dogs and hate being clean.

  The Elephant orphanage takes in elephants who are found injured or whose parents have been killed or taken away to be used as working elephants.  They have a total of about 70 elephants and since it began in the 80’s they have had several births in the orphanage.  We were lucky enough to be there about 3 weeks after one such birth and got to see the baby who was about the size of a large dog or maybe a particularly fat 12 year old on all fours.  The sense of family the elephants have was clearly evident as the newborn was always surrounded by at least 3 or 4 fully grown elephants who kept a constant watch – I would not like to try and get close with those guys protecting it.   Consequently I wasted plenty of shots trying to get a clear photo of it through all the legs and trunks – thank god for digital cameras.

After an hour and a half at the orphanage we realized we had little chance of making it back to the hotel before our already extended check out time of 2pm (it was about 1.30) so we found our driver and got back in the van to make our way back to Kandy.  We had organized the driver through the taxi service we had gotten from the train station the night before – primarily because he was about $30 cheaper than the car the hotel could provide.   Things looked promising initially – we were making good time and it looked like we might be back not too long after 2 when the driver pulled over and stopped halfway up the mountain.  When asked for an explanation we were told we would be waiting half an hour then heading back. The language barrier proving to be difficult to overcome, we persisted for several minutes to find out why we had stopped, as it turned out that the driver had been drinking Arrack (a local alcoholic beverage made from coconuts – very potent) and was either worried about police so wanted to wait a while or was too drunk to drive and wanted to sober up.  Once we had extracted this information the driver put his head on the wheel and promptly went to sleep.  Feeling that the level of service was somewhat lower than we had hoped we abandoned the van minus the $10 we had paid in advance (we never paid the other $15 for the total we were quoted so it wasn’t all bad) and flagged down a tuk tuk on it’s way up the hill.  The tuk tuk (pretty much a lawn mower – maybe not that powerful – with seats) struggled a bit up the hills with the two (relatively) large white people in the back.  Still the view was probably a bit better from the more open 3 wheeler and as people keep telling me – travel ling’s about the experience.  When we finally reached the hotel we hurriedly packed our things and checked out – receiving some not so friendly looks from the staff – and waited for our next driver (also from the same company as our friend sleeping halfway down the hill) who was to take us to Dambulla, our next destination.  Thankfully he arrived and this trip was made without incident – 70kms in a tuk tuk would have taken the whole weekend. 

At Dambulla we were going to visit Sigiriya a palace/fortress constructed on top of huge rock in the 5^th century BC and the caves at the Buddhist temple in town.  Our hotel here was one of the most spectacular I have seen.  Designed by Sri Lanka’s most famous architect, Geoffrey Bawa, it is set against a mountainside and covered in vegetation so as to blend in with its surroundings.  The interior is very minimalist with black tiled floors and white walls broken up with natural rock protruding in from various directions – definitely a place for architecture buffs.  Our room had amazing views over the nearby lake and the from the hotel dining room you could see the rock at sigiriya in the distance.  In the trees around the hotel there were families of monkeys playing and fighting.  They would also get up on the ledges outside the hotel windows where the vines and creepers grew.  All guests are instructed to keep their windows closed when not in their rooms because the little buggars get in and steal everything.  One time when I was in the pool (which is perched on the side of a cliff and overlooks the lake)  a group of monkeys crept up behind the pool ledge on the cliff side and would jump up and stick their heads over the side to drink then quickly dart away again.  The pool, which has no edge above the waterline on the lake side so it blends into the horizon, was one of the best things at Kandalama (there are 2 other pools but one had a leak and was not in operation – the other was good but not a patch on the main one – ckeck the photo’s in the Sri Lanka Album) in the evening when it was just starting to get dark the hotel had some guy dressed in white wonder up on to a nearby rock and play the flute while the sun set.  A bit over the top for me but it did create a tranquil atmosphere.

On Saturday we headed out early (7.15 – that is early for me these days) to Sigiriya about 45 minutes drive away.  Once you get past the “guides” at the entrance and manage to persuade them that you don’t want to pay $50 US for them to point to things for you it’s a pretty interesting place.  There are 2 moats – an inner and outer, separated by an earth wall.  I am told that there are small crocodiles in there but unfortunately didn’t see them – there was plenty of fish though and a few monkeys nearby which would have made a good meal if they do still exist.  To get to the rock itself you walk through the remains of the water gardens which are in pretty good shape for something built 1500 years ago.  These are made up of many pits and small lakes that would have once been full and small winding streams all constructed from bricks through which water would have flown.  You then pass through the rock gardens which is a series of terraces dotted with huge boulders. On the top of some of these flat surfaces, seats and altar like structures have been carved.  There are also small holes everywhere where timber posts once fitted that supported buildings above.  Once you’ve made your way up several steep brick and stone staircases you get to the rock itself, an enormous boulder, probably 3 or 400m high.  There are narrow iron stairs and walkways that have been placed there more recently but you can see ledges carved into the rock which once formed the stairs or places where timber structures literally hung off the side.  The wind up there was really strong so I’m glad I didn’t have to make the climb on some rickety timber thing. 

 Part way up there is a wall which protects a path carved into the stone.  The wall looks oddly out of place as it is rendered and looks like it should be around someone’s house in Brighton.  At the time of it’s construction it had a mirror like glaze finish on the inside which of course everyone vandalised and scratched writing into – not that you can read it, it’s in Singhalese  - but some of it is over 1000 years old.  When you finally reach the top it is obvious why  this place made a good fortress, you can see for miles in all directions so if any invading army where approaching you would be well prepared by the time they got there.  Or at least you would think so.  Back a thousand years or so there was a king (the bastard son of the former ruler)  who, instead of staying put in his impenetrable palace, rode out in front of his army on an elephant to meet the opposing force (his half brother, the legitimate son of the former king).  He subsequently got stuck in a marsh, his army abandoned him and the palace was retaken by the rightful heir.  Just remember that next time you are facing an army and you have an impenetrable fortress at your disposal – stay in it! 

On the way back from sigiriya we stopped at the Dambulla cave temples – built by Buddhists sometime in history – I was historied out by this stage.  The caves were slightly disappointing after sigiriya, they look spectacular from the outside, a collection of white doorways and terraces that lead directly into the rock.  Once inside however they almost look a bit tacky and overdone, 20 golden Buddha’s in a room and the ceiling covered with the same painting of Buddha over and over was not particularly awe inspiring. 

            The rest of our weekend was spent relaxing by the pool back at the hotel and making the most of probably the only time I will ever stay at a truly 5 star hotel.  Ordering drinks from by the pool, room service in our suite, breakfast at the dining room with one of the best views in the world (I’m kind of rubbing it in now).  Generally a pretty relaxing weekend.   The trip back to Colombo was fairly uneventful except that I hadn’t booked tickets on the train back from Kandy and it was full so we ended up on the bus.  After that it was back to work on Monday, Sam headed home Monday night and I’m back to life as normal in Sri Lanka.  I’m heading over to the east cast next week to a place called Ampara, which is in Tamil Tiger controlled territory so should have some interesting stories to tell after that.  Well done to anyone who has actually bothered to read this whole thing – if I can get the photo’s uploaded you can actually see some of what I am talking about too and it won’t be quite so boring.