We've just spent nine days on a relaxing holiday in Sri Lanka. This tropical island has it all - elephants, ancient cities, temples, beaches, tea plantations, spice gardens, friendly people, and beautiful scenery.
We had heard so much about Sri Lanka (Ceylon) from Jay and Fiona and other people we've met along our travels. Everyone had raved about it and for good reasons. It is truly a perfect spot for an all-in-one holiday.
We had booked a driver and hotel package through a company we found over the Internet called Exotic Tours. They promoted luxury vacations at budget prices, so we had assumed that we would have a driver and stay at guesthouses like we did in India. We were so wrong. They had booked us into beautiful hotels, all with pools in great locations in Sri Lanka. We were completely shocked when we arrived at the Ceylon Continental Hotel in Colombo on our first night, we were practically jumping on the bed. It was like staying at the Westin Hotel, which is a big step up for backpackers like us. All of a sudden we felt like our tour of Sri Lanka changed from budget travellers to honeymooners.
They had organized our tour in in four sections - city sights in Colombo, ancient cities, hill country, and then the beaches. We spent some time in Colombo checking out the city, enjoying the hotel pool, and shopping. Anyone who has been to Colombo will probably mention Odel's since it's a famous spot for westerners to do great shopping at local prices. They also had a gelato shop, which was heavenly for us since we hadn't had any delicious ice cream in months.
After a day in the city, we were dying to get going to see the interior areas, which really interested us most. Our first day out of the city, we went to Sigirya Rock, which is a massive rock fortress rising out of the flat land. We climbed it to check out the ruined royal palace on top that was built in the 5th century. At one point, there were over 500 paintings of women (frescos) all over the rock, which were supposed to be of the king's harem. Now there are only eight left for visitors to look at.
That night we stayed at a hotel that overlooked lake Giritale, which they called a tank, meaning that it was man made. From the balcony of the hotel, we watched the sunset as herds of elephants walked along the far lake shore. We could hardly believe what we were seeing - it was incredible!
The next day we went to a place called Polonnaruwa, which was an ancient city built in the 11th century. At that time it was the capital of Sri Lanka. We spent a few hours with a guide exploring the ruins of palaces, temples, universities, and other ruined buildings. Our favourite sight there was a huge stone reclining buddha.
After the ancient city tour, we made our way towards Kandy, which is a very popular area in Sri Lanka. On our way there we stopped in the morning at a place called the Dambulla Rock Cave Temple. We climbed many stairs to find a long narrow white temple built into the side of a huge rock. When we went inside, there were about five different caves gently lit up so we could see many buddha statues and colourful paintings all over the walls. This temple dated back to the 2nd century.
We carried on making our way through the scenic and lush countryside towards Kandy. We had one more stop along the way and it was at a spice garden. They took us around their garden of spices and then gave us an herbal face, back and neck massage all to entice us to buy their products. The massage was wonderful, especially after the Indian massage experience. I now get a little bit nervous when hear or see the word "massage". I think I'm over that now!
When we got to Kandy, our driver took us to the main temple in town, which was in the royal palace. In Sri Lanka about 76% of people are buddhist, 10% are hindu, 7% catholic, and 7% are muslim. We would often see the temples, churches, and mosques all in the same block of town, as was the case at this palace. There was a bit of an eerie feeling as we went in because in 1998 they had a suicide bomber attack there, killing 25 people. We had to go through two security checks before getting in.
While in Kandy, we also went to the elephant orphanage in Pinawella, where we watched about 50 elephants roaming around, then being fed. We later headed down to the river to watch them all come running down the road to get into the water to get cooled off. Watching them play around in the water was one of the highlights of our trip.
Our driver also took us to the botanical gardens, which was obviously "the" place to go to make out. We couldn't believe it, every tree stump, pathway, or somewhat hidden spot was taken by a couple cuddling or kissing. There must have been at least 200 couples there all making out on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Our last sight in Kandy was to see the cultural dance show, which was a mixture of dancing, drums, flips, and then fire walking.
From there, we headed up further into the hills towards Nuwara Eliya. The entire drive up was winding hills in tea plantation country. Green shrubs of tea plants everywhere you looked - a beautiful sight. We did stop along the way to see how tea is processed and had a hot cup before carrying on.
Our last few days were spent on the coast at Hikkaduwa beach. It was nice to relax on the palm tree lined beach and to swim in the Indian Ocean, but we both agreed that we much preferred the lush land and sights of the interor.
The exciting news from our time in Sri Lanka was something that happened at home. Paul and Becky had a little baby girl, Emma Lucy Morin, on March 23rd. We were so thrilled to hear this great news. We've seen many pictures of her and she is truly precious. We will be looking forward to meeting her when we head home on May 25th.
We are now in Kathmandu, Nepal. It's a wonderful spot. Many travellers are busy scurring around to get gear and permits to start trekking. The streets are filled with shops, internet cafes, bars, and restaurants. We had a good dose of western food cravings fulfilled here, which is always a treat. We had an amazing view of the himalayas as we flew in; however, the landing was a bit too bumpy for my liking. With all of the turbulence and wind coming off the mountain range it felt like the whole plane was totally out of control. I'm not looking forward to the flight out.
We're heading off tomorrow to start trekking the Annapurna circuit. It should take somewhere between 16-20 days. We won't be online until we're done. We'll be sure to email home when we get back.
Until then,
Jill