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Sri
Lankan diary by David and Jeanette Whiting Wednesday April 19. We arrive at Colombo at 6.15am. We eventually leave the airport and head inland. The heat is intense. The roads are terrible - a splash of tarmac, barely wide enough for two vehicles - and the drivers crazy! Many people are walking or cycling (predominantly barefoot) along the roads, there are numerous stray cattle and dogs, bullock-carts, tractors and three-wheelers. Sri Lanka relies heavily on tourism and exports of tea, textiles and coconuts. The average daily wage for a Sri Lankan is £1.50 or $2.25. Apart from tourist buses, most of the country's buses have been rescued from Japanese scrapyards. Trucks come from either India or Pakistan. Spare parts also come from scrapyards abroad. Sri Lankan food is similar to Indian, but if anything hotter and more spicy. Most vegetables are imported, although some are grown in the tea-growing area. Several kinds of rice are offered at meals and lots of fruit. Sometimes meat dishes are available; the slaughtering of animals is contrary to Buddhist law, but Buddhists eat meat which has been killed by Moslems. Signs in towns and villages indicating "Hotel" confusingly denote a cafe, not a place to stay. After a stop for breakfast, we arrive at our hotel at around 11 am. The Kandalama Hotel, at Kandalama, was hewn out of solid rock about 5 years ago and stands in pretty woodland overlooking a lake. The hotel is comfortable and well equipped. Our tour begins after lunch. In the 5th century, King Dhatusena built a large reservoir; he planned to build a big Buddha to overlook it, but an unusual rock formation was discovered a short distance away at Aukana (or Avukana), so a 43 feet high statue was built there. Hats and shoes must be removed before visitors may enter any religious (Buddhist or Hindu) site, and except in the shade the ground scorches our feet. Our next stop is at Dambulla. In the 1st century BC, a king driven out of Anuradhapura took refuge at Dambulla and constructed the first of five rock temples, with a total of over 150 statues of Buddha, each cave including a 15 metre long reclining Buddha. In the temple complex are several families of wild monkeys. The hotel restaurant features a great variety of international cuisine, which changes nightly. After dark each evening, a tremendous electrical thunderstorm develops; tonight there is some refreshing rain, which dries up before the morning. We discover the hotel has a resident bat flying around. There are mosquitoes too, of course, but we have malaria tablets and the hotels provide mosquito repellents. Thursday April 20. Our first stop today is at Mihintale, where Buddhism was introduced to the island. A large monastery grew up here from the 3rd century BC, of which there are numerous remains. Some of us scale a huge rock overlooking the site, but there are no steps, only dangerous toe holds, so local youths lend a helping hand (at a price!). There are wonderful panoramas from the top. Then we visit Anuradhapura, a colossal site which was the country's capital from the end of the 3rd century BC to the 10th century AD. The ruined city includes a 400ff high stupa (a domed structure containing a religious relic); the country's oldest statue of Buddha; and a museum. Friday April 21. Our first visit today is Sigiriya, a 200m high rock fortress, on which a city was founded in 473AD. A palace, pavilion, gardens, swimming pool etc were built on the top of the rock, which has mostly sheer cliffs. Access is between the paws of an immense lion and the top is reached through what was once the lion's mouth; only the paws and traces of the mane remain. The name Sigiriya means "lion's mouth". Half way up is a wall adorned with ancient paintings of topless girls, Sri Lanka's only non-religious frescoes. As access is via a very narrow spiral staircase, disabled and overweight persons would find the climb difficult, if not impossible. Visitors arrive early to avoid the midday heat, so the site becomes very crowded. So-called helpers (licensed by the government) force themselves on visitors to push and pull them. The rock is made of granite, but stone used for the paths and buildings was earned through the dense jungle below. In 1938, under the British, the steps were added and the site became a tourist attraction. After lunch we continue to Polonnaruwa, which became the island's capital after Anuradhapura was abandoned, around the 10th century. There are many Hindu temples in a good state of repair; they display influences from several places, including Cambodia and something resembling Inca architecture. Cattle roam among the ruins, and there are several termite mounds to avoid. Sunday April 23. We drive to Pinnawela, where an orphanage has been set up for young elephants found abandoned, and also for some injured or blind elephants. We see them feeding on tree bark, then they are led through the village to a nearby river to drink and be washed. We give some of the local children pens, which we had brought with us, as they are in short supply in Sri Lanka. After lunch, we visit the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kandy, also called the Perideniya Gardens. It has a collection of some 4,000 plants and trees. Lord Louis Mountbatten was stationed in the "Great Circle" in the gardens during World War II. Around the Great Circle are many trees planted by visiting heads of state and VIPs, mainly from Britain and India. The gardens are also home to a large colony of fruit bats. Then we visit the Temple of the Sacred Tooth, built during the 18th century. It still bears scaffolding following a terrorist attack in 1998, and we are subjected to three body searches. The Temple is said to contain a tooth snatched from the funeral pyre of Buddha in 543 BC. The Temple of the Sacred Tooth is the innermost in a series of temples. Women bring in (buy if necessary) lotus flowers as gifts, which are left outside the highly decorated casket containing the tooth. Outside the casket are dozens of Buddhists, seated in meditation. We feel guilty about disturbing what is, for them, a deeply religious moment. Wednesday April 26. Dawn breaks to the sound of thunder. It's not the monsoon season, but the ensuing storm shows us what it is like! Torrential rain, backed by thunder and lightning, leaves the ground thoroughly waterlogged. Gradually after breakfast the sky brightens, the sun appears and all the water has evaporated by midday. We spend a relaxing day, with a short walk in the resort, bustling with children as they finish school for the day. We return to the hotel for lunch, after which we head for the beach. The sea is too rough and the currents dangerously strong for swimming, but we paddle in the Indian Ocean then relax a while, briefly entertained by playful chipmunks, then the amazing sight of a 3ft long lizard, which is camera shy. This text was first published as part of an article on a trip from Sri Lanka, via Singapore, to the UAE, in VISA issue 38 (autumn 2000). |