Mellowing Out in the Maldives

Oct. 24-27, 2018:

On Tuesday, the 23^rd, with our tour of Sri Lanka officially over, Jim and I flew to the Maldives for some R & R before our tour of India and Nepal begins. Pictures of the Maldives always seem to show up on Pinterest under categories like “most romantic” or “best ocean view bungalow”.  However, Jim and I got interested in visiting here when we saw photos of the great diving. The trouble is, this tiny island nation is basically in the middle of nowhere in the Indian Ocean. To get there from home on a stand alone trip would be ridiculous. However, the capital, Malé, is only an hours’ flight south from Colombo, Sri Lanka.  Since our tour ended in Colombo; it was an easy decision to book a few days in the Maldives.

The tiny airport at Kadhdhoo

The Maldives consist of over 150 individual islands created out of former coral atolls, with a total population of about 250,000 people.  The vast majority of the population is Muslim, but apparently, not in a super fanatical way.  This does lead to some interesting “only in the Maldives” type experiences, though … like the Muslim call to prayer on the Maldivian airline before the rest of the safety announcements, and the fact that it is a crime to import alcohol into the Maldives, punishable by life in prison.  Fortunately, that last fact doesn’t apply to the resorts, who pay for a license to be able to serve alcohol.

However, the way of life here is extremely endangered by rising waters caused by climate change. In fact, the government is in serious long-term negotiations with several other countries looking for a permanent home where he can move the entire population.

Jim and I arranged to stay at a resort (the Six Senses Laamu resort) on an island in one of the southernmost atolls.  We had picked this resort because they have a dedicated scuba operation onsite, which had earned the coveted PADI 5 Star dive operator ranking.  It didn’t hurt that the resort also had overwater bungalows, where we could jump off our private dock and swim with the resident turtles.

The resort arranged both our inter-island flight (about 45 minutes), and our transfer from that second airport to the island.  Thus, we didn’t get in to the resort until about 8 the first night.

Nonetheless, we got up Wednesday morning and went to check out the dive shop after a great breakfast overlooking the lagoon. 

The front deck of our bungalow

The walkways connecting the bungalows to the main “village”

Our shower

The lagoon in front of our bungalow. The turtles graze in the dark seagrass patches.

 We were able to book a dive in the afternoon, which left from a dock right behind the all the public buildings of the resort.  The water was a gorgeous turquoise blue!  Since the water temperature was 82 degrees at the surface, and about 80 degrees at depth, we didn’t need wetsuits, although the dive shop has them for guests who wish.  All the equipment was new and in great shape, and the dive boats are covered with plenty of deck space to get ready.  The dive team lived up to their excellent reputation, and Jim and I enjoyed a wonderful dive on the outer side of the island.  In fact, we enjoyed it so much that we signed up for a two tank dive Thursday morning.

Clown anemone fish

Lionfish

Spiny oyster

Coral cod

Anemone

Blue Parrotfish (in back)

Berthomier Jack?

Parrotfish

Then we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the island amenities. We even caught a great sunset as we enjoyed our “sundowner” cocktails overlooking the bay.

The dives Thursday morning were really great, in large parts because it was a very rainy morning right up to the time we got in the water.  The upshot of this is that the turtles and the sharks were still snoozing on the bottom when we dove down to check them out. This allowed me to get some great close up photos, as well as seeing a different side of the marine environment here.  Needless to say, we both really enjoyed our dives here.  

Raccoon Butterflyfish

Napping Turtle

Butterflyfish

Pink basslets?

Picasso Triggerfish

Another napping turtle

Royal Angelfish?

Grouper

Cod

Lobster

Anemonefish

Parrotfish and 4 Spot Butterflyfish

Parrotfish

Grey-striped triggerfish?

Emperor Angelfish

Cod or bass

Surgeonfish

Surgeonfish (various kinds)

We would have liked to plan a dive for tomorrow, but in order not to get decompression sickness, you are not allowed to dive within 24 hours of diving. Since we have an early morning flight planned for Saturday morning, we just spent the day Friday lazing around the resort.  It also made us feel a little more comfortable about planning a wine tasting dinner in the glass-walled wine cellar here, centered on the wines of the Champagne region.

Check out the 2-story wine cellar!

Jim and I really enjoyed our final day of down time on Friday, as we snorkeled and checked out the spa.  The day ended with the Manager’s cocktail party on the sands of the home beach. The resort laid out huge cloth bean bags that we reclined upon, and they had some local musicians and dancers come to entertain us. There was also a guy doing aerobatics with one of those jet pack things, which was pretty cool to watch in the declining rays of the sunset. We both agreed that we love it here, but will find it hard to coordinate a reason to return.

Saying Goodbye to Sri Lanka

Oct. 22, 2018:

The lovely old historical hotel where we are staying, the Galle Face Hotel, is currently hosting an international naval officers’ convention, and there are lots of activities associated with the conference. For example, this morning, there was a kilted bagpipe group of sailors entertaining the troops, and a  local dance troupe.

The main destination for the day was the home and design studio of Geoffrey Bawa at No. 11 33^rdLane (Bagatelle Rd.) in one of Colombo’s suburbs.  As an individual, Bawa was fascinating, having been born in Colombo to Justice B. W. Bawa, a lawyer of Muslim and English background, and his wife, Bertha, who was of mixed Scottish and Sinhalese ancestry. His older brother, Bevis, was a noted landscape architect. Geoffrey Bawa was initially educated at Royal College in Colombo, and later at St. Catherine’s College in Cambridge England, where he earned a law degree. He continued to live in London for a couple of years practicing as a barrister until his mother’s death in 1946. He then quit his practice and went to travel in Europe for the next couple of years. He aspired to buy a grand villa in Italy and redesign it, but that never quite happened. Instead, he returned to Sri Lanka and apprenticed himself to a local architecture firm.  Over the years, he designed mainly in the style called “tropical modernism” which is distinguished by its largely rectangular modular buildings graced with great open air expanses.

Entry door to No. 11

Bawa’s car he brought back from England

Chair designed by Bawa

One of many interior gardens

In 1958, he bought the first of 4 row homes in 33^rdLane.  10 years later, he bought the remaining three row homes attached to the original, and replaced the fourth home with a 4-story tower.  Bawa continued to practice architecture there until his death in 2003. It was this home and studio we came to visit. No photographs are allowed in his private living areas, which we found to be somewhat crowded with memorabilia. Interestingly, you can actually rent a small apartment in the tower if you wish to experience the home on a more intimate basis.

View from the rooftop showing all the homes put together

Rooftop Patio next to the tower

We then paid a visit to the Independence Memorial Hall, and a driving tour of some of the other areas of Colombo.  The Independence Hall began construction in 1949 on the first anniversary of Sri Lanka’s independence from Great Britain.  Outside the Hall is a statue of Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike.  I thought the carvings on the interior were especially lovely, and the Hall was designed as a joint project of several local architects, drawing on the cultural elements from other notable Sri Lankan buildings such as the Royal Audience Hall at the Kandean temple.

Memorial Independence Hall

This afternoon, we were guided on a private tour of the historical aspects of the Galle Face Hotel by their resident historian.  The tour mostly focuses on all the famous people who have stayed there including   Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Roger Moore, Carrie Fisher, Yuri Gregarin, Queen Alexandra of Demark, Richard Nixon, Lord Louis Mountbatten, Noel Coward, Prince Aga Khan, and then-Prince Hirohito of Japan.There’s even a small museum in the hotel which contains the first car owned by Prince Philip of Edinburgh (Queen Elizabeth’s husband). The hotel was originally built as a private residence in 1864, and expanded several times. It also was home to the longest serving person in the hospitality industry, Kottarapattu Chattu Kuttan, who served from 1942 until his death in 2014. You can read more about the Galle Face Hotel in Wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galle_Face_Hotel

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. We finished our tour of Sri Lanka with a great final meal in one of the Hotel’s restaurants. Tomorrow, we are off to discover the Maldives!

Convening in Colombo

Oct. 21, 2018:

This morning we had a leisurely drive from Galle to our final destination in Sri Lanka, Colombo.  For most of the time under British rule, Colombo was considered to be the administrative and financial center of  Sri Lanka. It boasts the largest deep water port in South Asia, and for that reason, was invaded countless time over the centuries. However, upon gaining its independence, the capital city of the country was moved to a nearby suburb of Colombo called Sri Jayaverdandpura Kotte.  We drove through this suburb on our way to Colombo, and admired the new parliament building here, which was designed by Geoffrey Bawa.

Along the way, our tour director took the opportunity to show us what the Sinhalese alphabet and numbering system looks like, and also gave us a rolling lesson on the recent political history of the country.  After independence from Britain, Sri Lanka united behind the Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) under the leadership of Solomon Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike as its Prime Minister from 1956 to 1959, when he was assassinated. After a brief caretaker government, his widow, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, became Prime Minister, and was the first woman Prime Minister in the world. She was elected to three terms and ruled from 1960 to 1977. From 1977 to 1994, the main opposition party, the United National Party, ruled Sri Lanka. However, in 1994, the daughter of the Bandarnaikes, Chandrika Kumaralunga, took over as leader of the SLFP, and ruled briefly before her mother again ruled briefly. More recently, the SLFP has continued to rule.  The political system was extremely fragile given the long civil war in the country waged by the Tamil Tigers from 1983 until 2008.  Even today, although 10 years have passed since active warfare, and much has been achieved to reconcile the warring sides, the political system remains fairly volatile.  In fact, the day we last traveled through Sri Lanka on our way to India (October 27, 2018), the current President attempted to dismiss the current Prime Minister and replace him with the former Prime Minister.   Fortunately, as of Dec. 15, 2018, that has all been overturned by the courts and the duly elected Prime Minister has been restored to power.

Sinhalese Numbers

Sri Lankan Flag

As we drove through Colombo on our way to the hotel, we saw many lovely colonial era buildings, and some very cutting edge new buildings financed mostly by foreign investment in Sri Lanka. 

New Parliament building, designed by Geoffrey Bawa

Nelum Pokuna (Lotus Pond) Mahindra Rajapaska Performing Arts Center

 In fact, once we settled into the hotel, the Galle Face, we embarded upon a walking tour of the old colonial parts of Colombo known as the Old Fort area, because it was there that the British maintained their barracks for the soldiers and guarded against further attempts to capture the port.  Sadly, this area was the focus of a lot of the terrorist attacks during the Civil War, but the country has converted many of its soldiers to construction workers to repair those damages and be able to continue employing the soldiers.  Many of the restored building are true gems, but much work remains to be done.

Front Portico of the Galle Face Hotel

The Parade

Old Parliament Building

The Barracks, now converted to shops and restaurants (including the Ministry of Crab)

The Clock Tower in the old Fort area

Sri Lankan license plate

The façade of the once-famous Cargill’s Emporium

Our walking tour meandered toward the historical port area, and we concluded by having a cocktail at the old Grand Oriental Hotel, which overlooks the port. Sadly, this grand old hotel, which was originally built in 1837, has fallen on hard times. Nonetheless, they still know how to make a good traditional British gin & tonic!

View of the port from the top of the Grand Oriental Hotel

The Colombo Lotus Tower for communications

Our final treat for the day was to have dinner in the most famous restaurant in Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Crab!  Anthony Bourdain ate here and featured it on his No Reservations show, so Jim and I were excited to be able to experience it for ourselves.  Basically, the waters off Sri Lanka are so clean, shellfish grows in abundance, especially their local crabs, which seem very similar to stone crabs. The idea is that you order the size of sea food you want and then pick one of several sauces in which it is prepared. We started with a couple of jumbo prawns, which, as you can tell from the photo, was no exaggeration!  Then we order three different crabs of the “Crabzilla” size, and each came in a different sauce. Our favorites were the curry sauce and the butter and garlic sauce, which reminded us of a scampi preparation.  You are also given copious amounts of bread to sop up the leftover sauce. There is even a hand-washing station for you to clean up periodically during this very messy meal, because it really can’t be eaten with a knife and fork.

The rules (“Articles”) on the reverse side of the menu at the Ministry of Crab

Truly “jumbo” prawns

The main event

Crabzilla

Happy and replete, we walked back to the hotel and enjoyed a lovely sunset on the way. Sadly, tomorrow marks our last day in this enchanting country, so we’ll try to do as much as possible to capture a braod range of it before we have to leave.

Ceylon Is All About Cinnamon

Oct. 20, 2018:

Here in the southern part of Sri Lanka, (or Ceylon, as it was once known), we are in the prime cinnamon growing region. Cinnamon is plentiful here, but almost nonexistent in the rest of the world. It may surprise you to learn that most of what we consume in the western world as “cinnamon” is in reality, cassia bark, which lacks the healthful benefits of true cinnamon. This is why the real stuff costs so much back home.  If you want to buy the real stuff, it is usually labeled as Ceylon Cinnamon or Sri Lankan cinnamon. Our prime objective today is to visit a cinnamon plantation, so off we go.

Starting out from the hotel, we stop at a couple of key locations within the fort. The most notable is the sally port gate. Once outside, we also visited the fish market to see the incredible diversity of sea life, which is eaten almost daily.

Our excursion takes us along the coast south east of Galle. We got to stop to talk to and some pictures of the quaint stilt fisherman. While this used to be a major method of fishing here; these days the fishermen exist mainly on tips they make from tourists.

Stilt Fishermen

The plantation we are visiting is operated today mainly as a luxury boutique hotel, Villa Mayurana.  However, they also produce cinnamon. It is about 10 minutes inland from the coast, and very removed from the ordinary hustle and bustle of this area.  The resort is located on a hilltop with views overlooking a nearby lake. The cinnamon trees dot the property. While the resort has some nice amenities like a great infinity edge pool and exercise room, the primary draw would be for someone who loves quiet and seclusion.

Villa Mayurana

After walking around the resort, we walked down into the cinnamon grove, where we met one of the plantation workers.  He showed us how to cut the cinnamon branches, and harvest the cinnamon bark from those branches. The bark is then sold in bulk as bundles of dried bark to spice merchants who package it and may grind it into powder.  Here in Sri Lanka, it is sold primarily in stick form, because it has almost unlimited shelf life. For comparison purposes, I paid about $2 for a package of sticks that I would pay Penzey’s spice shop about $8 in the U.S.

The Cinnamon Experience

Following the demonstration, we all happily enjoyed a lunch where each course featured cinnamon.  My favorite was a piece of chicken grilled with Sri Lankan spices and topped with a cinnamon sauce. Here is an approximation of the recipe:

Cinnamon sauce for pork or chicken

Ginger

Garlic

Onion Sautéed

Tomato sauce

Brown sugar

Small amount of jaggery

Low fire to thicken 4/5 minutes

Cinnamon

Note: jaggery is a coarse brown sugar made from fishtail palm sap. Turbinado or regular brown sugar should work as a substitute.

Finally, this afternoon, we visited the Maritime Museum within the Galle Fort. The museum is a mishmash of sea history, natural history and archeology, and colonial history. There was a great video about the discovery and excavation of a Dutch galleon. Sadly, just as the excavation was deemed complete, the 2004 Tsunami hit, and most of the artifacts recovered were lost back to the sea.

At the Maritime Museum

From the museum, we wandered back through the colonial area, and gawked at some of the beautifully restored buildings.

In the churchyard

The Anglican Church

The customs house in the city fortifications

The Amangalle Hotel

Gazing On Galle

Oct. 19, 2018:

 

This morning, we set off on a leisurely drive through to countryside towards the southern coast. Again, the rice paddies were full of waterfowl, and we stopped a few times for photos. We even got to see a big water monitor lizard cross the road, but it disappeared quickly into a drainage culvert when we stopped.

Water monitor disappearing into a drain culvert

Ibis feeding on rice

Lesser adjutant stork

Southern Sri Lankan coast

Enroute, we paused for lunch inn the coastal town of Tangalle, at the Amanwella Resort.  This hotel was designed by one of the students of Geoffrey Bawa, the most famous Sri Lankan architect. Bawa’s architectural style featured open floor plans with sort of a Mid-century modern approach, but we’ll learn more about him when we visit his studio/home in Colombo.

At the Amanwella Resort

Prawn Curry

The Amanwella is a beautiful resort, but seems a little sterile to me. However, our traditional prawn curry lunch was to die for. After lunch, we walked along the adjacent beach, where it appears scuba diving is available.

On the way, we made a brief stop at a temple to ensure our safe onward journey.

As we approached Galle, we could see the first of the stilt fisherman for which this area is known.

Finally, we reached the old colonial city of Galle, and checked into our hotel, the Amangalla.  This hotel is located in a colonial era building built inside the walled fort of Galle in the 17th century. Once we checked in, we headed off for a walking tour of the fort area.    Although the Portuguese were first to colonize this area in the 16th century, most of the buildings we see today, and especially the fort, were built or expanded substantially by the Dutch after they captured the area in 1648.

Although rain was threatening, we walked down to the ramparts of the fort where we could watch the sunset. This is a charge restored colonial city, and very popular with tourists.  We then walked past several houses of worship of a variety of faiths, and then enjoyed a sundowner cocktail from the third floor of the hotel, where we could look out over the ramparts, and enjoy the onset of dusk.

Yippee! More Yala!

October 18, 2018:

This morning, we left our room before five so we could be back at Yala National Park when it opens at 6:00 a.m. The sun was just coming up as we entered the park, and the light was beautiful. We’re basically going to be following the same path, but going further into the park.  Almost right away we saw a huge herd of spotted deer gorgeously backlit by the rising sun.  The lake was dead still, and the waterbirds were hunting.

 

Juvenile Brahmin Kite

 

Painted stork and water buffalo

Sri Lankan Parakeet

Peacock in a tree

Land Monitor

We went further to a dammed river where a giant power plant operates.  Not only could we see crocodiles, but we were also fortunate to spot a bunch of hornbills eating fruit in the nearby trees.  We drove past the place where the leopard had been hiding yesterday, but the carcass was gone, and so was she.  After a couple of hours, the guys found a nice parking spot by a river, and set up a picnic breakfast for us. Our activities attracted a troop of macaques monkeys, and they climbed ever closer to our food while we ate.  Fortunately, we had locked everything up in the jeep cab while we ate, because soon after we parked, they were landing on the open air back of the jeep.

Remains of an ancient temple

Malabar Pied Hornbills

Breakfast spot

Curious Macaques

We drove on for a couple of hours,  but never managed to see another leopard. However, along the way, we saw some gorgeous birds, a very intricate wasps’ nest, a hare, and a golden jackal.  All in all, it was a magnificent game drive!

Peacock mating dance

Golden Jackal

Finally, as we were nearly our resort, we made a stop at the watering hole of a neighboring property. There we saw  some spectacular water birds, and also two huge crocodiles and some wild boars.  Then Jim and I loafed around the rest of the afternoon, and enjoyed the resort’s amenities. Tomorrow, we drive to the seaside town of Galle on the south coast. Galle was a fabled trading port, and became the focus of colonial conquest starting in the 16^thCentury.

Crocodiles at the pond near our resort

Wild Boars

The beach outside China Huts Resort

You’ll Never Believe Our Day at Yala

Oct. 17, 2018:

 

Today was a very long but fulfilling day!  Our morning started off with a helicopter ride of about an hour from the hills of Kandy to the rocky eastern coast of Sri Lanka; a trip which regularly takes 6-7 hours by car.  The purpose for our visit here is to do some game drives in the Yala National Park, which holds the largest concentration of leopards in the world.  There are also many other types of wildlife to see, and great birding opportunities.

The jungle into which we are headed

Yala National Park

Eastern coast of Sri Lanka

We arrived at our great wildlife lodge (Chena Huts by Uga Resorts) about 12:30, and had lunch. Each room is a separate “villa” with its own plunge pool, and there is also a lovely general pool area with a waterfall.  The resort is right on the eastern rocky coast of Sri Lanka, and very beautiful. Then about 2:30, we got into the open- sided safari vehicle, and drove towards the park. Sadly, for a couple months of the year, while the leopards are mating, the main (and closest) block of the park (Block One) is closed for two months to give the leopards some privacy.  The upshot of this is that instead of only driving about 45 minutes to get into the park, we have to drive and hour and a half each way to do our game drive.

Nonetheless, it’s a beautiful afternoon for our drive. Before we even enter the park, we saw several elephants just grazing by the side of the road. Shortly thereafter, we saw a herd of spotted deer grazing. Then we drove by a large lake where several waterfowl were grazing and some water buffalo were cooling themselves off. Then we headed through the grasslands and into the forest/jungle.

Game watching in Sri Lanka is very different from the game drives we’ve done in Africa, where most of the game viewing areas are fairly open. Instead, most of the game areas here are in deeply forested areas mostly sal and ironwood trees) with thick underbrush. Needless to say, this makes spotting the animals, much less photographing them extremely challenging.  However, we have a young naturalist with us, Janish (?), who is an employee of the resort, and he is very passionate about his profession.  This morning, before we arrived, a leopard had killed a deer, and the remains of the carcass were in the bush.  Janish took us back to the place where the carcass had been spotted, and we stopped the jeep, and sat quietly to see if the leopard would return. Many other safari vehicles passed the same spot noisily, but finally they all drove off.  We waiting another 10 minutes, and finally, there was a huge rustling in the bushes and the leopard dragged the carcass further into the bush.  We never had an unobstructed view of the leopard, but we were able to make out its outline.  Needless to say, there is no photographic proof of this sighting!

Bee eater

 

Spot where the leopard was hiding in the bush

By this time, we were in danger of not getting out of the park in time, so we raced back through the tortuous roads to get out. We made it, but we were the last ones leaving that night.

Tomorrow, we will return to see what other of Yala’s wild creatures we can see.

A Sweet Tooth for Kandy

Oct. 16, 2018:

Lake Kandy

Kandy is a charming town located in the central foothills of Sri Lanka. In addition to all the spices, it is a suitable climate for growing coffee and cacao, and is also home to the biggest part of Sri Lanka’s sapphire mining operations.  In fact, our first visit this morning was to a lapidary shop, where we learned about how sapphires and other precious stones are mined.  Interestingly, here in Sri Lanka, there is an established tradition that the miners actually have a direct share of the profits of the stones they mine (typically, two shares to the landowner, one to the miners). In addition to the cornflower blue sapphire for which it is globally famous, Sri Lanka also mines pink sapphires, rubies, garnets, amethysts and moonstones.  Naturally, the visit also ended with a tour through the shop!

Then we made a brief stop at the Kandy War Cemetery, which is notable for the number of foreign service people who died protecting its shores. Most of these date from WWII, when Sri Lanka was an important base for the British, and am important beached for the Allies.

The War Cemetery of Kandy

Then, it was on to the Royal Botanical Gardens of Peradeniya, where we had a tour scheduled with the resident botanist. The gardens themselves were built over 600 years ago by the then king of Sri Lanka (King Wickramabahu) for his wife, and were then called the Royal Pleasure Gardens. When the British ruled the country, they expanded the gardens and brought in the chief botanist from Kew Gardens in London to oversee the upgrades. Over the centuries, numerous heads of state and other famous people have visited here and planted trees. One of the more obscure (at least to us) was the Soviet astronaut, Yuri Gregorin, who was the first man in space.

The resident botanist, Mr. N.B. Palipana

The “Drunken Avenue” of Cook’s Pines

Yuri Gregorin’s Tree

One of the fun juxtapositions was to see these stately gardens with their extremely British avenues of trees planted in straight lines, while those same trees are completely overrun with macaques monkeys!  While I liked all the tropical plants in the park, I really loved the orchid house with numerous varieties I had never seen before.

“Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil”,

The Sal Tree (Buddha was born under a sal tree, and they are native to Nepal, India and Sri Lanka)

Avenue of royal palms, the national tree of Cuba

Glory Lily-most poisonous plant in Sri Lanka

Our director, Nuwan, holding true to form, managed to get the rain to hold off until we were done viewing the gardens, so off we went to lunch.  Then we had a visit to a really cool artisan collective to see the art of batik being made step by step.

Steps in the batik process

Batik artwork-takes 3 months to finish a work like this

After a little down time back at Kandy House, we went back into the heart of Kandy to see the fabled Sacred Temple of the Tooth.  This temple complex was constructed to hold the revered relic of Buddha’s tooth. Following Buddha’s death in approximately 500 BC, the relic was safeguarded for a while in India, but then smuggled out of the country so it could be safely stored in Sri Lanka.  Over the years, the rulers of Sri Lanka have claimed that the royal right to rule is granted by the tooth. Over time, a large temple complex was built to house the relic. It is somewhat ironic because Buddha himself said that he did not want to be worshipped because the true path to enlightenment comes from inside of each of us.  Nonetheless, pilgrims have come to Kandy for centuries to worship the relic. Every night, there is a formal ceremony called the Tevavato make offerings to the relic. Naturally, when the British invaded, one of the first things they was to take possession of the tooth; not returning it until they ceded control back to the Sri Lankans in 1949.

Elephant parking brake

We have timed our visit this evening in order to see the Tevava. Pilgrims dress in their temple best attire and arrive to the temple complex carrying flowers and offerings of sweets and curries in gaily decorated bowls.  The temple drummers drum you into the complex and then everyone pushes forward to see the place where the golden cask protecting the tooth is stored. Finally, the golden door to the vault opens, and you can catch a glimpse of the cask inside. Once a year, there is a procession where the cask is taken out of the vault and toured around town on the back of the biggest elephant in Sri Lanka. This elephant is so big, and has such a fear of enclosed spaces that he has to be walked from Colombo to Kandy; a round trip which takes four months!

Parking Space for the royal elephant

Entrance to the Temple

Door of the vault holding the sacred tooth

The opening of the vault

The urn holding the sacred tooth relic

Pilgrims waiting for the opportunity tp place their offerings

Candles lit outside the temple

We enjoyed a lovely view of Kandy at night as we drove back to our hotel. There, we enjoyed a great traditional meal of various Sri Lankan dishes (mostly curries and vegetables), and prepared to leave for our journey to the Yala National Park of Sri Lanka tomorrow.

Digging Dambulla

Oct. 15, 2018:

This morning we left our cozy abode at Uga Walawwa, and headed to the south east to Dambulla; home of the Golden Cave Temple of Dambulla.  Along the way, we drove through some more lovely paddy fields, which were full of water birds.

Dambulla is located in the center of the country at the crossroads of two major highways; the Colombo to Trincomalee road and the Kandy to Anuradhapura road.  This cultural site dates back to the first century, B.C., when King Valagambahu sought refuge here after being driven off his throne. When he finally got the throne back a few years later, he converted the caves into rock temples in gratitude to the monks who sheltered him.  It’s another hike up to the entrance to the cave temples, which are another holy site (meaning no bare shoulders, knees or shoes). There are macaques monkeys running all over the rock, leading to many fun photos.

Once inside the temple complex, there are actually five temples. We had to wait briefly for the conclusion of a religious ceremony, but it was worth the wait. The interiors of these caves are amazing. Not only are there tons Buddha statues carved directly into the rocks, but there are also cave paintings, which are beautiful to this day!  One cave has a reclining Buddha, which is 46 feet long, and in another, the cave paintings on the ceiling literally cover every square inch.

 

As you walk down the hill, you can exit through the front gate where the giant gold Buddha of the Golden Temple Buddha Museum is located.

From Dambulla, we drove to a larger central town named Matale. There we enjoyed a traditional rice and curry lunch like the rice field workers would enjoy at a local spice farm. Matale has many such Spice Gardens, which are centers of Ayurvedic medicine. After lunch, we toured the spice garden, and learned many uses for healing plants. For example, turmeric is an anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory. You can make a balm out of beeswax, cardamom, ginger, lemongrass, cinnamon, eucalyptus, which is good for chest congestion and stuffy nose. Pepper opens arteries. We also just learned some other things about spices and herbs. This really is the center of the spice world because so many different spices and herbs grow here. The most famous is probably cinnamon, which is the real stuff; not the cassia bark we get sold as cinnamon in the U.S. It is good for improving circulation and reducing plaques in your heart. Sri Lanka is also famous for its pepper; 75% of it is black pepper. However, just a few of the other spices and herbs grown here are nutmeg, curry, turmeric, vanilla, cardamom, cloves, aloe, cacao, ginger, citrus, fennel and sandalwood.

Then we headed on to the town of Kandy, where we will be staying the next two nights. Kandy is a very important cultural and religious center. The kingdom of Sri Lankan was centered here for centuries, and it is home to the Sacred Temple of the Tooth, which houses the actual relic of Buddha’s incisor.  When the kingdom was located here, it became quite a center of high culture, with specialized dances and drumming developed here that are still known as Kandean dances.  Tonight, our hotel (Kandy House; yes, really!) arranged to have a presentation of these arts for us on their grounds, and they were really beautiful.

Sizing Up Sigiriya

Oct. 14, 2018:

 

This morning, we dressed for a hike. Specifically, we are going to visit the ancient Lion Rock citadel/palace built upon a giant gneiss rock rising 656 feet above the surrounding jungle.  Legend has it that the citadel was built to be an impregnable fort by King Kasyapa, who ascended the throne by murdering his father, King Dhatusena, in 477 A.D. Apparently, King Kaysapa feared retribution from his half -brother, but this dynasty went on to rule for centuries. British archeologists discovered the ruins overtaken by the jungle in the twentieth century.

The lotus ponds

The crocodile

The moat

Palace Gardens

Most of what we saw dates back to the time of King Kasyapa’s reign, and includes beautiful gardens, lakes and fountains (along with a crocodile-filled moat), and the remains of some lovely cave paintings high up on the rock.  At one time, there was also a “mirror wall” created on the rock face of the fortress by painting the rocks with a mixture of lime, egg white, beeswax, and honey.  Pilgrims to the site scratched graffiti on it between the 7th and 12^thcenturies A.D.

After walking through the gardens to the base of the rock, you climb up first to the area where the remains of the cave paintings can be viewed. There are a total of 1002 steps to climb up the very top. I don’t know how many steps it took to get us this far in the heat and humidity, but it felt like about 2,000!  Then we climbed up further to the platform area about halfway up the rock. When it was originally built, King Kasyapa used the original rock and combined it with bricks  to outline the shape of a lion, and hence this platform is called the Lion Platform, which guards the entrance the final approach to the citadel.  As I looked up the rock, all I could see was a winding line of visitors snaking their way up with no breathing space between them. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I bailed out on the rest of the climb. However, Jim and one of our fellow travelers, Mary Ann, gallantly made the climb to the top!

Path leading up to the cave paintings area

The second part of the ascent. See the lion’s paws flanking the climb?

View from the first plateau at the lion platform

Jim and Mary Ann climbing down from the top

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped for lunch at a lovely resort located on a rice paddy, the Jetwing Resort at Vil Uyana. The grounds were beautifully landscaped, and we enjoyed a hearty curry and rice lunch after our exertions.

Jetwing Resort

On the way home, we saw our first elephant lounging around in a field.

First Elephant Sighting

We also got to see a large herd of water buffalo cooling themselves off in a rice paddy as they were herded home.

Happy water buffalos

Our hotel prepared a great BBQ dinner for us, which they served poolside. We really enjoyed ourselves even though it decided to rain. We’ll be sad to leave this little slice of paradise, but the rest of Sri Lanka is calling.