On the drive into hill country I found myself thinking thoughts like “wouldn’t a toot toot be in order here?” while we passed corners our driver didn’t deem treacherous enough to warrant to heads up honk. The roads here are paved wide enough for one vehicle, and wrap around steep hills where passing, though a necessity, feels like an adventure sport that my basic insurance shouldn’t cover. This driver was far more aggressive than Siril had been, which was great in that it took 3 hours to get to our hotel at Adam’s Peak (despite some serious traffic exiting the city of Kandy), versus Siril’s promised 6. It was, however, a bit of a harrowing experience and definitely white knuckle at points. This is not to say it wasn’t beautiful. You drive through lush hills and quickly become surrounded by green – green tea plantations covering the hills – green trees covering the mountains – even a green bus or two. You even spot the occasional monkey chilling on the power lines.

It’s much cooler in hill country, to the extent that our hotel even provided us with a cover sheet AND a thin blanket! Our hotel was great, it had a wonderful view of Adam’s Peak (including from our own private balcony!), and for $50 a night we were also provided a delicious dinner and a feast of a breakfast post-hike. I was weirdly super nervous for the hike, especially looking at the peak from our window and wondering how is it possible we make it up there in time for sunrise. I think part of it was that it’s very difficult to get information on just how steep and difficult the climb is. It’s primarily steps (concrete and stone, at various points) and we’d heard ranges from 4800 of those steps to “10 or 15 thousand.” The latter guy was clearly quite off. Even 4800 sounds like a lot in retrospect, but who knows, it is a LOT of stairs. Likewise with respect to time, we’d heard it would take a range of 2 hours to closer to 5 hours to complete it. Those who know me are aware of my intense fear of being late, so intent to not miss that sunrise after climbing 4800 stairs and with sunrise supposedly coming at 5:50am we left at 2:15 in the morning. Well, it took about 2 and a quarter hours to get up there, which meant that we sat at the top freezing our tuckusses off for over an hour. While it gets fairly warm during the day, in the dark and on top of a 7400-foot windy mountain while you’re dripping with sweat, it gets COLD.

We sat up there with the slowly growing crowd of international tourists waiting for that famed sunrise and it was interesting to listen to the varying accents and conversations of those among us. Of course, the first Americans we’d seen on our trip were having a 15-minute conversation about farts while they waited for the sunrise. Go Amurica.

While it was quite crowded at the top, it was never difficult to pass on the trail itself. I presume this is because we hiked in the off season, and that it would be much more crowded had we waited the three or so days for the December full moon which kicks off their peak season. I was sad to not get the full experience, passing locals on their pilgrimage and seeing all the teahouses open and running as we made our way up, but I think the trade-off for a non-crowded hike was likely worth it. And it was still a phenomenal experience. The trail is lit, though not all the lights are on during the off-season, and so we traveled with headlamps and our guide carried a flashlight.  While the teahouses were mostly empty there were still a handful open and serving tea and sodas and snacks. The highlight for me (big surprise) was that the dogs follow you up the whole way. I think this was the only thing keeping me going, that a pup would run by every now and then and I could reach down to pet him for moral support. They hang out at the top with you too, mostly begging for snacks, but I liked to pet them and let them help keep me warm.

::tea house::

::trying to keep warm::

The temple up top doesn’t even open until 6am, so we basically just waited around, hung out with dogs, and snuggled each other for warmth. Then, we watched the magic happen. It was a glorious sunrise, where suddenly the mysterious terrain around us illuminated and into view came a stunning lush and hilly landscape. Our guide hooked us up too with a great vantage point we’d otherwise have missed out on. By the way, we did hire a guide which was entirely unnecessary though I think worth it. It cost about $15 and it took out any fear of not being able to find our way from the hotel to the path (about a 10 minute walk and mind you it’s pitch black out while you do this), and even coming back afterwards (you’ve walked it already but nothing looks familiar on the way down because, again, it was pitch black when you climbed it). After soaking up this view and snapping a few (hundred) photos, we went into the temple. Like most temples, we had to remove our shoes, which is much less pleasant when you’re cold and wearing hiking boots, but ah well. Part of the experience, as they say. There is supposedly Buddha’s footprint up at the top, but it’s closed during the off-season.

What goes up must come down, and it is a LONG way down. I thought it would never end. Thank god you do the uphill when you’re half delirious from sleep deprivation. That said, I think it took less than an hour and a half to fly back down all those stairs. And I did get to meet this little guy, Vindu, on way down:

::me and Vindu::

::so many stairs::

Having been up since 1:45am and eaten only a handful of nuts basically before 9am we feasted on the hotel breakfast, and then got in a car for the long drive (6 bumpy, windy hours!) down to the beach in Mirissa. The drive was beautiful. It took a while to get out of hill country, during which we passed many tea gardens and watched the women picking tea leaves in the fields with baskets hanging on their backs and secured by their foreheads. The landscape was primarily green, but there also lots of these gorgeous May trees that look like they’re full of bouquets of red flowers. The landscape eventually becomes forested and covered in eucalyptus trees.

::collecting tea leaves::

::on the drive to Mirissa, passing through a more Muslim area::

We found our hotel in Mirissa, which is on the main road that is busy and noisy like most roads in Sri Lanka. Then, we walked through the door and stepped out the other side into paradise. Suddenly the noise and chaos of the city is gone, and it’s peaceful beach time where you hear (almost) nothing but the waves crashing into the shore. It’s incredible, and hard to believe once you’ve spent a minute on the “other side” that the craziness you just left behind lies just a few meters away from this luxurious little spot.

::view from hotel::

::to the left of the hotel::

::our hotel is in the back to the right slightly::

::to the right of the hotel::

Our hotel (Palm Villa) was amazing. Not perfect of course (minor things like lots of mosquitos and an ant infested bathroom), but we love love loved it. Our room was a few yards from the ocean, and we could listen to the waves as we fell asleep. There are hammocks and beach chairs laid out for lounging. Kids playing cricket on the beach, and lots of Sri Lankans swimming in the ocean. Great food (and insane portions). Highlights being the spectacular string hoppers for breakfast (along with massive plates of fresh tropical fruits), the cuttlefish curry and the banana juice. I may or may not have ordered a banana juice or lassi with every single meal. And you eat your meals at the tables that are set out on the beach. All this for about $60 a night, including breakfast. We walked the bay (which I think is all of Mirissa beach), and I think we picked the very best spot. That said, a big reason I wanted this hotel was because I saw pictures on the reviews of the white bunnies that hop around the property. When we arrived though, there were no bunnies to be found. When I inquired I discovered that the dogs ate them! Oh well, the house cat and dog (stray, but they are always there) are super sweet and adorable. While I was trying to pet the cat he  jumped onto Alan’s lap. I got a kick out of this (he’s allergic and none too fond of our feline friends).

::ahhh, relaxation::

::cricket on the beach::

::breakfast, not even all of it!::

::massively impressive man who climbs up the palms to trim them::

I was very sad to leave Mirissa, but we did enjoy the conversation with our driver on the way to the airport. He told us how he works two jobs, normally at a tire repair shop, but also as a driver on holidays (our last day was a holiday as it was a full moon), in order to make money to send his kids to classes. He was distraught by the high cost of living, which has been going up in the recent years. He also lost his home in the 2004 tsunami and told us the terrifying story of how he and his wife ran, holding their children’s hands as the tsunami hit, having never even heard of a tsunami before. “It’s my life,” he kept saying as he shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t mind.”

Random Thoughts on Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans

I will never get used to people shaking their heads yes. I remember this also from India.

There is no drinking or smoking in public, and as such we rarely saw people smoke. In fact, I think I only saw tourists smoking and it was only at the beach resorts. We also drank very little in Sri Lanka.

“Five minutes” = 1 hour.

Here I am tall. Also, I ever realized how annoying umbrellas are for tall people. I have a newfound respect for tall Americans on rainy days. (Note also that many Sri Lankans carry umbrellas to block the sun).

While the roads here are often crazy and people pass with reckless abandon (often causing the person they are passing to have to slam on the brakes in order to avoid a three-way collision), there is absolutely no road rage. I am hoping that by osmosis the Sri Lankans will impart the zen-like driving attitude to me. We even saw a guy run his motor bike into the parked van of a shop owner just across the street. There was no fight, the owner just calmly came out to deal with it while people walked by and smiled at the clumsy biker.

The roads are wide enough at times for a van and 2 tuk-tuks. Other places one vehicle will have to back up because the road is only wide enough for one. The quality of the roads varies – some make you feel like you’ve been put through the washing machine, others are quite smooth. Either way, they take a long time to travel on given the quality and the traffic. Sri Lanka built their first highway about a year ago, and they are now working on another. I suspect this will change tourists’ experiences here drastically, for better and worse. The roads can definitely be unpleasant at times – all that jostling around and waiting for a convenient area to pass other vehicles – but it’s part of the experience, and the surface streets allow you to drive through and experience the towns and cities along the way.

There are tons of public buses. It would have been nice to try to use them, but it looked near impossible with our bags as the buses are crammed with people and barely stop. I’ve even seen people jump off moving buses rather than waiting for them to stop.

I am amazed the dogs are not killed my cars/buses/tuk-tuks more often. We didn’t see any road kill while here. Dogs are to Sri Lankan roads as cows are to India’s. Except dogs move quicker, and stupidly run out in front of moving vehicles, so they’re probably a bit more dangerous.

It’s nice to see that so many religions can live in harmony here. The country is predominantly Buddhist, but there are also substantial populations of Hindus, Christians and Muslims.

It’s very easy to get by with English here. Almost everyone we met spoke English quite well, and the signs are almost all in three languages, Sinhalese, Tamil and English.

Overall, I feel that Sri Lanka is a country of much beauty and also much potential. The people are kind and happy (except at the elephant orphanage), there is beautiful scenery, wildlife, nature, history, a collection of religions (now) living in harmony, but the tourist infrastructure has room for improvement. It’s expensive to see the sites, yet there is no information provided unless you hire one of the many people hawking their services as your guide (whom you may or may not be able to trust). Being less than five years removed from war and less than ten from a devastating tsunami, I would imagine Sri Lanka to be a rapidly evolving tourist destination.

And lastly, they have very graphic anti-drunk driving ads. Viewer discretion advised:

It takes a bit to adjust to a new (especially developing) country. For me, it took about a 15-minute drive and my first taste of an egg curry bun. And I was settled. Which is not to say it was all smooth sailing from here, but I was certainly filled with excitement for all this island nation had to offer. Sri Lanka is a beautiful country. It’s lush and green nearly throughout the entire island, but especially so in the hill country. The beaches are tropical and serene, tucked away quietly from the hubbub of the bustling streets, the cities vibrant, and the whole country full of color and happy people (except at the elephant orphanage. There will be no fun had at the elephant orphanage. More on that later).

We flew into Colombo, arriving very early in the morning, and our driver, Siril, picked us up at the airport, dropping us at our $25 a night hotel in Negombo at about 2am. It was here I realized that Sri Lankan hotels aren’t big on sheets and/or blankets. The first place had nothing but a sheet to cover the mattress and two pillows. There was no A/C, but a strong fan, and I wound up sleeping with a towel and a jacket over me. This was probably the cheapest hotel I’d stayed at yet in my life. I was a little bit unsure what to expect, but it was perfectly reasonable. Sure, the little luxuries you come to expect in fancier hotels are missing (a blanket, shampoo and other toiletries, the occasional wall or curtain separating your shower from your toilet, a television or phone) but it’s really all we need, and we “splurged” at most places for the rooms with private bathrooms. Always a good decision in my opinion.

After waking up on HK time and getting ready for what I thought was 9am, I sadly discovered it was only 7:30am local time. Grumpy and exhausted, we hit the road with Siril. We’d hired Siril to drive us everywhere, as we were staying in 5 hotels our first 5 nights (you read that right… oi, what were we thinking??), and did not want to waste time arranging transportation on our quick jaunt through (what we thought were) the highlights of Sri Lanka. I’ll spoil the surprise for you and let you know that Siril got fired before we made it to hotel number 5, but more on that later too.

For breakfast, we picked up our egg curry buns for about 30 cents a piece, at a bakery called Calton. Shout out to Lauren! Your people are making great, cheap pastries in Sri Lanka! We also quickly stopped at the Negombo fish market, which we loved. While it’s supposedly much more lively in the early hours, there were still plenty of market goers buying from the stalls of fresh and dried fish. We even saw some baby hammerhead sharks on sale. I loved the way they lay the fish out to dry on big straw blankets on the sand.

::that’s a big fish::

::boats in Negombo::

::laying the fish out to dry::

::hammerheads!!::

Then it was onto the long, windy, bumpy road to Pinnawala. Parched from the long drive we stopped for some king coconut on the way. About a quarter each got us a large coconut of delicious water, and afterwards you could scrape out the meat from inside. Yum. Food is plentiful in this country, they grow a wide range of fruits of vegetables, spices and rice. For a relatively poor nation, I suppose this is why not many people are starving, and quite a few are actually pretty heavy.

The drives were longer than we’d anticipated, and after a lot of time in the car, we arrived at Pinnawala elephant orphanage. I had high hopes for this, because hello! Baby elephants! It was a strange experience. We were very confused as to who actually worked there, who you actually needed to pay, and who was trying to sell you (unsanctioned) stuff. We were also pretty surprised that in a country where you can buy breakfast for 30 cents, that entry to this place cost about $20 a person. Anyway, we headed in, and while the elephants were adorable and majestic, there was a sad, stern air about the place. All of the workers seemed angry. People constantly tried to get you to give them your camera so they could take your picture touching the elephants and charge you. This is not to say it stopped me from taking the opportunity to (pay extra to) feed an elephant. I hadn’t expected I’d be such a chicken shit, but when I sat down next to a creature that large, with a big ole basket full of delicious looking fruit and that honker of a tusk started wagging in the air, I got a little nervous. I kinda threw the first banana at him because I was so scared. Please enjoy the picture of me in terror below (reminds me of the photo of me from the one time I went scuba diving, that same fear in my eyes). I did manage to feed him some more fruit in a bit more civilized manner. Then I handed the basket over to Alan and let him finish off the pineapple and other fruits. P.S. elephants must have some serious digestive skills – they ate banana, watermelon, and even pineapple skins.

::check out the look on my face::

We also watched the baby elephants being fed from the bottle, which was more sad than cute, as they were chained so tightly and I felt certain that at least one of the elephants was sedated, given the way he rocked back and forth and the milky look in his eyes.

::at least the Sri Lankan kiddies look happy::

::chained baby elephant::

For lunch Siril took us over to a restaurant on the water, which we feared at first was overly touristy, but we were pleasantly surprised to see that we had a front seat view of the elephants bathing in the river while we ate. (They looked happier here, until one ventured too far and got stick prodded back). We also tried our first of many rice and curry dishes (the Sri Lankan staple). Rather than some rice and some curry, you get a heaping serving of rice, and about 6 other dishes of accompanying sauces, toppings and so on, one of which is the actual curry. One of my favorites was the mango chutney, and I also love the daal. This was our first intro to the surprisingly unspicy nature of the foods here. We’d heard prior that Sri Lanka has the spiciest food in the world, so we’re either totally bad-ass spicy eaters, or it’s not actually that hot. Somewhat interestingly, I’ve been keeping pescatarian while in Sri Lanka. For no particular reason, other than I tend to want to order the veggie or prawn options almost always. It’s so easy to keep vegetarian in this part of the world – so many delicious veggie foods! I swear, by the time we left we’d had every fathomable vegetable or fruit curried (my favorite probably being pineapple, lease being cucumber).

::so much curry::

Just before sunset, we made it to Yapahuwa, which was a highlight. We were literally the only people there aside from a handful of monks and a guy collecting entrance fees. The ruins are not terribly impressive, though there is a steep stone staircase with some carvings in it, which takes you to the beginning of a small hike to the top of a hill. Despite being provided no information or having any trail markers (not hard to follow, but confusing as I hadn’t realized we were hiking even), we continued on, and were very pleasantly surprised to share the sunset with a group of monkeys I shall refer to as the bad-toupee monkeys (see pictures below for clarification). On the way out, we also got a quick peek into the cave temple with several hundred-year-old paintings on the walls and ceilings. Not too shabby.

::did you say something about my hair?::

::monkey snuggles::

Our second night in Sri Lanka was spent in Anuradhapura. We got another uber-cheap room, which was passable, though we could have done without the rock hard mangoes falling dangerously close around us as we ate dinner at the restaurant. We figured switching tables sounded like a better idea than to risk finding out what Sri Lankan hospitals are like. The dinner was again barely spicy, but the waiter saw me blowing my nose (still sick, wahhh) and asked if it was too spicy for us. They must think us tourists are bona fide pansies. The trend of no blankets continued as we made our may through Sri Lanka, though our last 5 hotels were at least generous in providing a sheet.

In the morning we again grabbed cheap pastries, this time trying sami seemi, which had a nice little heat to it, and an egg rotti, which is basically a crepe with egg very thinly cooked into its folds. Then it was off to begin the famed cultural triangle… Anaradhapura at least was a little womp-womp. The sites were underwhelming at best. This is not to say that if you are terribly interested in history or religion (and Buddhism in particular) that they might be interesting (and definitely more so if you hired a guide I’m sure), but they are not nearly as beautiful or impressive as the ruins you find in Cambodia or India. In addition, they cost a ridiculous sum to get into (think $30 a person in places, in a country where I can get a nice hotel for $25 a night), and you are provided with no information. There are no placards with history, no maps or brochures handed out. In fact, we went to one of the most famous sites – the Sri Bada Bodi tree (I think maybe the oldest tree in the world or something?!), and didn’t even realize what it was until after we’d left!

::alan getting blessed? by siril::

::breakkie::

::listening to the buddhist priest::

In light of this experience, we decided to skip Polonnaruwa, another collection of temple ruins and dagobas in the cultural triangle. Instead, we decided to enjoy our splurge (still reasonably priced by American standards) hotel in Sigiriya. Except that I was feeling super sick again and wound up sleeping from 4:30 in the afternoon until the next morning. Womp womp again. That said, we did manage to squeeze in some fresh mango from a roadside stand (delicious, and very different from the mangos we eat in the states), and Alan got in some pool time while I snoozed. We also asked to stop for lunch on the way at a local’s restaurant for rice and curry that’s for real spicy. The curry was still not too spicy, but I did enjoy watching Alan eat with his hands. When in Rome.

::mango lady::

::getting ready for my local’s curry::

The cultural site of Sigiriya at least, piqued our interests more than Anuradhapura. We walked from our hotel over to the temple in the morning, paid the again exorbitant fee, and attacked the little hike to the top of the rock. The views are great, but the highlight for me (as per usual) was the animal life. There were monkeys galore, and puppies. Oh my god, the puppies. I found the scraggliest, crustiest little pup on our walk over, and stopped to pet him and get lots of puppy kisses (crusty pups need love too), saw a whole pack of baby pups near the top of the rock, and another little cluster of adoreableness again at the bottom. I was in heaven. Dogs are everywhere in Sri Lanka, and this brings me immense pleasure. I stop to pet them constantly. We also saw a strange raccoon-like animal being fed by a tourist (shame on them), and some slithery snakes up top. Don’t worry, I protected Alan (when I wasn’t having panic attacks from the heights on those rickety and steep metal staircases – which reminds me! there are guys who try to “help” you up the steep staircase for a tip. I flipped out at one guy with maybe five PLEASE DON’T TOUCH ME’s. Last thing I need is someone touching me when I’m having a fear of heights induced panic on a rusty staircase suspended off the edge of a giant rock).

::not a bad view::

::ancient paintings::

::ancient paintings::

::terrifying staircases::

::view at top::

::mmm bananas::

::i lost the staring contest::

::crusty puppies need love too::

::elephant traffic::

::love!!!::

::this is pure happiness::

The climb up was scary at times, but not terribly difficult and quite quick. It helped that we were fueled by a most delicious breakfast spread. While not as spicy as I’d anticipated, I am very quickly falling in love with Sri Lankan cuisine. The bananas here are ridiculously amazing. I also enjoy the curry, and especially the coconut sambol that you sprinkle on top (shredded coconut, red pepper and red onion… it has a bit of a kick to it, sweet and spicy). I’m also loving the string hoppers, which are little noodley pancake things that you pour curry or other delicious mystery saucy stuff on top of, and of course more coconut sambol. After Sigiriya we enjoyed the pool and some fantastic fresh papaya, watermelon and pineapple fruit juice.

On our way out of town we checked out a wholesale produce market that had an impressive array of, well, bulk produce. People are so friendly, they want to know where you’re from and practice their English by talking to you. The skeptic in me assumes they’re also interested in tips and/or pickpocketing, but who knows.

Next stop was a spice garden tour where our guide rubbed some ayurvedic cream on my nose and forehead to try and help clear up my cold. When that didn’t help he also gave me a couple syrupy substance and a few herby drinks to try. While it was interesting to hear about the natural treatments, we didn’t buy anything, and my sampling of the treatments did not provide much in the way of relief from this now irritatingly stubborn cold.

We arrived that afternoon in Kandy with plenty of time to enjoy the main attraction – traditional Kandyan dancing. Only thing is, our driver told us he would pick us up at 6 for the show. Well, the shows started at 5 and we missed them all. So we missed our chance to see the dancing on our one night in Kandy. This was pretty much the last straw for Siril. We’d been questioning our choice with him for a while, given the fact that he never knew where he was going (including one stint where he drove 45 minutes in the wrong direction before asking for directions), fought with a hotel manager because he was offering us tips on what to do in the area (presumably because the spots he recommends will not provide kick-backs to Siril), spoke worse English than most other people we met in the country, and so on. We realize we’re not in a modern city and service will not be perfect, but Siril totally sucked. So, Siril was fired. We ended up paying a bit more for car service as we had to arrange the rest of our drives one at a time (and they were long ones!), but all in all we felt it worth the extra cost and headache.

By the way, every source we found had a different time listed for the start of the dance, and all were wrong, including Lonely Planet. Still getting used to this third world planning ish. Guess it’d make a lot more sense to NOT stay only one night each place (which we hopefully never do again) where you can’t count on reliability.

Dinner at our Kandy hotel was spicier than most. We had some delicious deviled prawns. I still can’t quite figure out what “deviled” means here, but it’s a sauce they cook things with that is similar to sweet and sour sauce. After seeing us handle the spice like champs the waiter brought over something he called “cobra sauce” for us to try. It was spicy, but still not that bad. I maintain that food is spicier in India. The hotel manager and owner and their family here was so nice though. I thought I’d lost my bracelet here, and the owner offered to call my old hotel and ask them to look for it for me. Seeing me coughing, he made me an ayurvedic drink that he promised would make me feel better in the morning. The large mug was filled with what looked pretty much like dirty toilet water. It tasted not much better. I managed to choke down about half of the drink, and I did feel slightly better the next morning. Perhaps had I drank the whole glass I would have been cured.

::villages we drove through::

::buses everywhere::

For our quick morning in Kandy we checked out the local market and wandered around the fish, meat, veggie and fruit stalls. Again, the Sri Lankans were super friendly. They all want their picture taken, to speak English with us. We went next to the Temple of the Tooth. Wow is it crowded. The personal space bubble here is non-existent. Expect lots of uninvited touching. That said, it’s a neat experience to see these locals who push and shove and wait in line for just a few seconds to pray at this sacred site. The grounds are quite large too, and you can walk around and explore this temple, which is far more interesting than much of what we’d seen in Anuradhapura.

::lines at temple of the tooth (no pictures at the top)::

Before leaving Kandy we ate a great curry lunch at a restaurant called Devon. My whole meal was a buck! I get irrationally excited when my meals cost a dollar (best meal in Cambodia was $1 beef noodles from a street cart). We then accidentally attended a wedding procession while stopping in another hotel to try to arrange a driver.

On the road again, we head out to Adam’s Peak with a new driver. The trip picked up from here, as the latter half (hill country and the beach) was definitely the best. I’ll cover that in my next post.