Negombo

Tangalle spoiled me. Almost a week I did doing nothing except eating fresh sea food and rice with different curries, riding the bike along the coast and inland, reading, swimming and chatting with the manager, his family, the cook, the cook's brother and all the other lovely Sri Lankans who probaly because of some great karma in their past lives are living in this place now.

I visited Galle with its old Dutch fort, at night tried to spot turtles which supposedly come to lay eggs on full moon (not this time though) and explored some more beaches, caves and temples in the villages nearby.

Tangalle was so quiet and peaceful, it couldn't get any better than this. The way along the coast was pretty nice though. It was raining, but not heavily. There were those so-called "stilt fishermen" near Kogalla, sitting like sea birds on their sticks coming out of the water, then in Hikkaduwa there was a good Italian restaurant with capuccino and tagliatelle with prawns, and then as I was coming near the capital, I decided to skip the visit there, mainly because its suburbs started 20 kms before the city and looked like an infinite line of shops from two sides of the road congested with heavy traffic. It reminded me of Delhi, sort of, just smaller and cleaner. I didn't like it there. Shopping amidst exhaust fumes isn't for me. So I got back to this nice beach town, Negombo, spending my last few days here. Today I rented here a nice 250 cc bike and went north along the west coast, all the way to Puttalam and back. There weren't many attractions, it started raining heavily several times, but overall, it was a pleasant experience. There wasn't much traffic, the road was in great condition, so I drove from one coconut plantation to another (there is even something called "Coconut Research Institute"), stopped to pay respect to Shiva & Parvati in a beautiful Hindu temple and took a turn to some forgotten little Muslim village where the kids were pretty surprised to see me.

Sunday is work... ?

Tangalle

After leaving Kandy on a rented bike, I got to Dambulla, which is a site of Sri Lanka's historic heritage. It has 5 caves with many Buddha's statues and wall paintings. Although not as much impressive as Ajanta caves in India, it's a nice place. The rituals are alive, people come to put flowers in front of the sculpture of the Enlightened One and pray silently. Then I got to Sigirya, a Mazada-style royal palace on top of 200m rock. There are some beautiful frescoes on the wall, whose character suggest that the place was more for enjoyment rather than a military stronghold.

The bike had problems, and after returning it to Kandy, I got another one in Sigirya. I continued northeast, to Trincomalee, along a virtually empty road running through jungle-covered plains. There supposedly are some wild elephants and Tamil Tigers in the jungle, but I haven't seen neither of them. The soldiers stopped me a couple of times, probably wanted to practice English. Most of the times they just smiled as I went by. Trinco is a Tamil-dominated town, on the north of east coast. There are many South-India style Hindu temples, some Catholic churches. The people have view on the conflict from a different side. The military presence is quite heavy - there are many blockposts, some parts of the beach are off bounds, access to 1676 Dutch Fort is permitted only without camera. There are nice beaches north of town - Nilaveli and Uppaveli. Since the tsunami, the tourism hasn't recovered yet, so there are kilometers of sand in coconut with practically no one around. What a getaway. I liked it there. It struck me that this is the first time I see the sun actually appears from the sea... well, Dead Sea doesn't count.

The monsoon on the northeast coast was about to start, it was easy to notice the weather changed: afternoons became gloomy, with strong wind. I went south to Batticaloa, which involved a 200 km detour, because the coastal area is controlled by the Tigers. Then, south again along the coast, to Arugam Bay, known for its great surfing waves. It's actually another quiet fishing Muslim village that became one of these touristic spots, packed with guest houses and restaurants. The rainy season started all right, it poured and poured, and I'm not much of a surfer, so I got myself on the bike and got to the South Coast, finally, where the sky is still blue. I stayed in a town named Tangalle, right near the beach. Gonna get me another of those rice & curry... they're so good, and never taste the same.

Kandy

After Nuwara Elia I went by bus to Haputale, which is a lovely village south east. It's located on a ridge and has beautiful views from both its sides. The place is a mix of Christians, Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists, which is typical to Sri Lanka. They seem to get together just fine, although according to history, sometimes violence erupts. Haputale is in a short distance from some nice places to visit. There are waterfalls, tea factories, a Benedictine monastery, a national park called Horton Plains which is much over-praised in the guidebook, although it's still nice. It's easy to spot some deers, monkeys, lizards and birds. A nice 35 km trip with motorbike, the road goes up the mountain through tea plantations and beautiful forest. The people along the way are extremely friendly, smiling and greeting, not annoying at all. An hour by bus from Haputale is Ella, another little village, and the views there are indeed amazing. Ella Rock, a 1.5 hour climb from the village, feels like the top of the world. A cool breeze compensates for the steep walk up. Yep, back in Kandy now. By bus, although it's supposed to be a great train journey. The trains are striking today. Bummer...

Nuwara Elia

It's been a while, but better late than never, right? So here I am, in a beautiful little town named Nuwara Elia, in the hill region of Sri Lanka. I've been in the country for five days. Arrived by a direct flight from Jordan, spent one day in a beach town of Negombo, close to the airport, to get the taste of the place, the people and a little bit of the Indian Ocean. Then I continued by bus to the hills, a town named Kandy, which is second in size in Sri Lanka, but is not that big really. There is a nice lake in the middle of the city, with many fish (fishing is prohibited though), water birds and some strange lizards. Facing the lake, there is a big Buddhist temple, which supposedly preserves the tooth of Buddha. The Tamil Tigers tried to blast the temple several years ago. The second city's attraction is the traditional dancing show. I decided to pass them both. There are really nice botanical gardens a few kilometers from the the city, close to the Peradeniya university, with many types of tropical trees, some of them planted by celebrities like Moraji Desai, Lord Mountbatten and even the first Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin. In the middle of the park there is a huge fig tree which sprawls across 1600 sq. m, according to the guidebook. Also, there are collections of palms from all over the world, giant bamboo, cactii, fruit trees, few herbal gardens, and a beautiful orchid house, with some amazingly colored flowers. I never knew some of the trees actually exist, like a cannon ball tree, for example.

An hour ride from the town, there is an elephant orphanage, which became a really big attraction both for locals and for foreigners. There are dozens of elephants there, big and small. Their daily routine consists of feeding, bathing in the river and posing to the photographs. It's not really like a zoo, they are pretty much free to go wherever they want in a huge area. Very cute.

After Kandy, I went to Nuwara Elia, a former British hill station, elevated 1900 m above sea level. It's like a tea land around, plantations everywhere, the air is very clean and pleasant. The temperature is cooler than below. The weather is great, especially in morning, when the views from the hills are amazing. In afternoon, the hills get misty, but it doesn't become cold, at least not this time of year. The town still has an atmosphere of British presence, with wooden mansions, golf course and Victoria park. The president is supposed to visit the town next month, so the school children make repetitions for a welcome ceremony, including drums, flutes and marching.

My impression of the people is very good so far. They are very hospitable, kind and polite. They're not pushy, even if they're dependant on the tourists' money. Always smiling and greeting. Pretty much like India, but not spoiled yet, maybe because they don't see much tourism because of the war. The roads are in excellent condition, so it's comfortable to travel by bus, although they're still Tata and sometimes they get very crowded.