Africa & India 2006: 16 - Cochin, India - Sri Lanka

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Last night after arrival at the Abad Airport Hotel we had a swim & I got an email away. Neither the food nor the service had improved in our absence, but our room had air conditioning that worked so we spent a not bad night.

There was no water in the shower again this morning, but this time I didn't fight it, just skipped the shower. When there is demand for water on the main or first floors the water just doesn't make it to the second floor.

We transferred to the airport, checked in and went through the most rigorous security routine I have ever experienced! Checked baggage was X-rayed, then our hand baggage was X-rayed. Every item had to come out of cabin baggage to go into plastic trays for inspection. People went through the metal detector, then were manually checked whether it beeped or not. After immigration the bags were again emptied for a manual check, and finally at the ramp to board the aircraft the procedure was repeated and everyone got another going over with a wand metal detector. Every one of the pockets of my vest was searched. I guess that is to be expected when leaving a country where people are blowing up public places regularly for a country where a civil war has been going on for years!

Entry into Sri Lanka was quick and painless, no visa required. Before reaching baggage claim it is necessary to pass a large shopping mall of duty free shops selling major appliances and electronics. I don't know how the prices were on those, but the booze prices were sure cheap!

Raz, our driver/guide who had been arranged by Travelmasti, was waiting for us even though the Air Sri Lanka flight was half an hour early. We were soon on our way inland, stopping first at the Elephant Orphanage. We arrived just as 70 of the animals, varying from a 1-½ month old baby to a huge, blind, old tusker in his 80s, strolled down a dirt street lined with shops heading for the river.

Raz knew the routine well, so escorted us to a riverside hotel restaurant built out over the river where the elephants were. Once again it was proven that the best animal viewing is done with a beer in hand! While downing a very welcome, ice cold Lion beer we were able to sit back and watch an unbelievable performance, as the elephants rolled in the river, sprayed themselves, played with bottles, sticks and logs, and the young ones frolicked around like puppies. I can understand why they love being in the water - it is well up in the 30 degree C temperature range.

It was too good a show not to record, so Raz and I headed back to the car to get my video camera. Marilynn was long gone, down on the rocky river bank right by the elephants. The only surprise was that she didn't immerse herself in the river where handlers were washing the great beasts! At any rate, I not only enjoyed an excellent cold beer, but also got some absolutely amazing video footage while Marilynn took over 300 photos.

The countryside is beautiful. There are no expressways, just narrow roads with rough pavement and tall trees on each side providing shade. Raz is an excellent driver and knowledgeable guide. He even drove slow enough for Marilynn!

We arrived at the Sigiriyn Village Hotel around 6:30 PM after many stops for photos, and were shown to our bungalow. The hotel is one story, with duplex type cabins located in the forest. A warning to keep the door closed to prevent the monkeys, who are everywhere, from becoming roommates is prominently displayed.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Yesterday, after a good breakfast, we drove to Polonnaruwa, taking our time to sightsee and for Marilynn to take photos. The treed countryside is green and beautiful, and the lakes and ponds have lotus flowers in bloom. There are three varieties of lotus flowers in Sri Lanka - white, red and a royal blue/purple one that is the national flower. The lakes are man made, some from up to 1,700 years ago, when farsighted kings created water reservoirs. As a result the area is never without water, and a fishing industry exists in the larger lakes.

Marilynn noticed stuffed life-like people on the top of buildings under construction. These effigies are to ward off the "evil eye" and the "evil mouth". Should it be suspected that a curse from either is on the building it will be abandoned, as they building will be considered bad luck. The figure on the top prevents this problem.

As we travelled North East the concentration of manned pillboxes, military roadblocks and big military bases increased. The North East of the country is controlled by the Tamil Tigers, the rebel group who have been fighting a civil war for independence.

Polonnaruwa was the capital of the Indian Cholas, who were more intent on looting than ruling. A Sinhala King from the south of the island took the capital from them in 1055. The extensive ruins include some large Buddhist stupas and temples, and the ruins of palaces, meeting rooms, guard quarters and other auxiliary buildings. The city was sacked and burned so many of the ruins are only a shadow of what they were, but restoration work is bringing some back to life. The ruins are located on the shores of a large lake created in the 11th or 12th century.

After lunch we had a choice of a ride on an elephant or a jeep tour of a national park - we chose the later, as the elephant rides seemed very commercial. Raz suggested we go to Kaudaulla Park, rather than the normal, smaller Minneriya National park, even though it is further from the jeep rental place. It was a good choice, as it is a beautiful area of lakes and forest.

At the entrance to the park was a small outdoor museum with various snakes (including cobras) pickled in jars of formaldehyde. There was also a perfectly formed, miniature baby elephant preserved upright in a glass aquarium. A train had killed its mother when the foetus was 18 months into its 22-month gestation period. There is now a huge sign on the tracks limiting train speed to 20 kph through the park.

After picking up a tracker (a jeep driver and tracker are required - Raz got to play tourist) we set off down mud roads, grinding through one water filled hole after another in four wheel drive. The lakes are high, and there is a lot of standing water in the forest, which greatly reduces the chances of seeing animals. When it is dry animals are forced to the lakes or water holes to drink.

In the end the only animals we saw were endemic macaque monkeys, but we did see a lot of birds. There are 432 bird species in Sri Lanka, of which 28 are endemic. The scenery was great, and the open top jeep allowed us to ride standing up while hanging onto a roll bar. Towards dusk we dropped off our tracker, who stays at the park, and started the 19 km drive back to the jeep rental place.

We hadn't gone far when Raz spotted a wild elephant. After some photos he spotted another. At a third spotting we turned off the highway onto a mud track that took us into an area of tall grass where there was a whole herd of wild elephants, including several babies. They walked to a small pool of water where they were drinking and spraying themselves. They ignored us even though we moved quite close to them, and then sat and watched for a long while.

There used to be over 10,000 wild elephants in Sri Lanka, but the number is down to about 4,500 now. They destroy crops, so the farmers kill them if they are in their fields. We were delighted with our good luck in getting close to them, so celebrated with a good feed of jumbo prawns and a bottle of wine back at the hotel.

This morning Raz and I started at 7 AM for the Sigiriya Rock Fortress. Marilynn wisely declined after looking at the sheer granite cliffs towering over the landscape. Buddhists used the caves of this massive rock outcropping from the first or second century AD. There was a temple and palace complex at the bottom, with bathing pools, gardens and the king's summer palace, then we started up the 1,200 steps that would take us to the top.

The steps wound through gaps in the granite until they came out on a walkway suspended from the rock face a few hundred feet above the gardens. A steel spiral staircase jutted from the granite cliff face, taking us upwards until we reached a cave filled with beautifully preserved murals. This turned out to be a side trip - we had to return the way we came, a route that made it very difficult not to notice the dizzying drop below.

We next worked our way along the cliff face until we came to a level area, well above the surrounding countryside. The remains of a giant carved lion showed where the original entrance went between its paws. The same entrance now leads to hundreds of steel stairs climbing vertically up another sheer granite cliff. Keeping my eyes on the step ahead I willed my feet to keep moving step by step until we came to a flight of about 60 concrete stairs that at last took us to the top.

The area on top covered a lot more area than seemed possible from below. The foundation of the castle remains, plus the king's swimming pool, a large rectangular pond carved out of rock, which is now full of fish. The 360-degree view was amazing.

The castle originates from the 5th century, when Prince Kasyapa, son of a king's concubine, murdered his father and caused his stepbrother, the real heir to the throne, to flee. He moved his capital from Anuradhapura to the rock fort, completing the construction in a short 6 years. He reined for another 13 years before his stepbrother returned from India with an army of mercenaries. The king led his army to meet his stepbrother's forces, but through mistaken signals his army retreated while he continued alone. On meeting his half brother he is credited with saying, "I will not die by your sword", whereupon he drove his own sword through his throat. His half brother then moved the capital back to Anuradhapura and the magnificent rock fortress fell into decay.

After clambering back down the 1,200 steps we returned to the hotel, picked up Marilynn and drove to Dambulla where King Valagamba of the first century BC hid in the caves after fleeing Anuradhapura when it was invaded from the south. Buddhist monks had used the caves since about 100 BC. After 14 years in hiding the king recaptured Anuradhapura, and as a reward for hiding him, he converted the caves into temples and gave them to the Buddhist monks. It was improved and expanded by subsequent rulers and today has an impressive array of statues, including three giant reclining Buddhas in different caves. Climbing some 350 steps gives access to the caves.

In the town of Matale a Hindu festival was being held in front of the ornate temple. Unfortunately it spilled out onto the highway, and we sat in baking sun for 45 minutes before traffic could move. On reaching the City of Kandy, population 250,000, we got Marilynn to a jeweller where she ordered a ring to be made, and then did a brief tour of town before enjoying a very professional cultural show. One of the highlights was fire walking and fire eating.

After the show we were driven up a steep road in bad condition to the Amaya Hills Hotel, which is perched high above Kandy city. We headed for bed right after a great dinner. The late hour and approximately 2,000 steps up and down today finished me off!

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

This morning was misty. From our position high on the hillside we looked down on a fantasyland of mist in the valley, and in the distance, rows of cloud shrouded hills. We had a good breakfast at an outdoor table on the patio overlooking the valley.

After Raz picked us up we visited the Temple of the Tooth Relic. This is the most important religious item in this Buddhist country, and was reputedly acquired after the cremation of Buddha. In Polonnaruwa we saw two temples built to house this relic under different rulers. Each time the capital of Sri Lanka was moved, the Tooth Relic was also moved, and a new temple constructed to house it. The current temple is quite impressive.

After picking up Marilynn's new ring, with which she is thrilled, we headed for Colombo, stopping to photograph trees full of giant bats along the way. Lunch was at a tour bus restaurant where the service was so slow that we left without eating. I did get a beer, though!

After a city tour of Colombo we checked into the Galadari Hotel, which is just across the road from the ocean. A thoughtful gift was waiting for us from Don Voyage, the agent of Travelmasti who arranged this part of the trip. Colombo has a disproportionate number of high buildings for a city with a population of only 350,000 people. It seems much larger. There is a major army presence in town, and since the assassination of the foreign minister in August 2005, a state of emergency has been in effect.

There was one more bit of shopping to be done, so we hired a tuk tuk (called a three wheeler here) and went to a shop where Marilynn could buy another suitcase for her purchases. We chose to have a light dinner in the hotel pub, along with a few drinks, and headed to bed. We ordered a wake up call for 4 AM, so Raz could get us to the airport in time for our flight to Chennai.

The Sinhalese from the north of India originally settled Sri Lanka in the sixth century BC. Buddhism arrived in the third century BC. Anuradhapura was the capital of a kingdom from 200 BC until 1,000 AD, when the Polonnaruwa civilization took over. A Tamil kingdom in the north was formed after an attack by a south Indian dynasty. The island was occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century, the Dutch in the 17th century then it was ceded to Britain in 1796, becoming the crown colony of Ceylon in 1802. It became independent in 1948 and the name became Sri Lanka in 1972. The civil war between Tamil separatists and the Sinhalese majority began in 1983. A cease-fire was agreed to in 2002.

Sri Lanka covers an area of 65,610 sq. km, slightly smaller than Ireland. Its population of 20,056,000 are 74% Sinhalese, 7% Sri Lankan Moors, 5% Indian Tamils and 4% Sri Lankan Tamils. The life expectance is 73 years, and the literacy rate for those over 15 years old is 95% for males and 90% for females. Education is free through university, and unlike Costa Rica includes uniforms and books. Teaching was in English until a change in government in 1956, when teaching was in Singhalese with Tamil as a second language. When the government changed courses were once again taught in English.

There are far fewer beggars and hawkers than we encountered in India, and hawkers are less persistent. Car horns are also used a lot less, making road travel a more tranquil experience.

There are a lot of days off in Sri Lanka. All major Christian, Hindu and Buddhist holy days are national holidays, as is the day of the full moon each month. 69% of Sri Lankans are Buddhist, followed by Muslim at 8%, Hindu with 7% and Christian at 6%. There does not appear to be any friction between religious groups, and often their places of worship are located next to each other. There is no child labour in Sri Lanka, the penalties for employing children as severe. The minimum wage is around $100 per month.

Elephants are in use for a number of domestic purposes. Every time we pass them being hauled from one location to another on the back of a flat deck truck we are amazed. They tower over the cab, giving them a good view of the road ahead. One truck we passed had two elephants on the deck!

Tomorrow we will be back in India, in the City of Channai.