Negombo, Sigiriya,

Kandalama, Polonnaruwa,

Minneriya National Park

It’s on! Ruthie and I have booked a Sri Lankan trip with my 2 daughters, Amy and Paige. I am beyond happy to be spending leisure time with my girls. It’s been too long and we’re sure to make lasting memories along the way. 

Ruthie, Paige and I met up and travelled to Melbourne Airport uneventfully. Amy was flying from Qld to meet us and get on the same flight. Her day didn’t start so well. Before she left home her dog had bitten somebody. She was using her staff travel concession to get to Melbourne but didn’t get on her preferred flight. The next flight took her for a stop in Sydney who were having bad storms so there was no guarantee her flight to Melbourne would leave on time.

On arrival in Melbourne, she was on standby for an international flight, again not guaranteed a seat. It was an emotional reunion but phew! The fluttering of the eyelids worked and we were finally all on the same flight. Aside from Paige leaving her card in the ATM at the airport and us going to the wrong hotel, we finally ended up tucked in just after midnight Sri Lankan time. It felt like we hadn’t slept for 24 hours which wasn’t far off the mark.

Day 1 Sri Lanka

Our hotel was the Jetwing Sea Hotel in Negombo. Our group slept like babies and it wasn’t until Ruthie pulled up the blinds in the morning that we realised the hotel was right on the beach and I mean right on the beach! Opening our sliding door, we walked straight onto sand followed by water.  It was beautiful.

Amy was still coming back to earth after her whirlwind trip to get here but the superb breakfast buffet helped get us all back on track. Followed by a swim and suddenly it felt we really were on holidays.

It was time to meet the tour group and they seem like a fun group. Our tour guide leader is Karnal and there was a lot of information to absorb as we left on our first short bus trip. 

The first stop was the dried fish market, a tradition spanning centuries. Not everyone enjoyed the odour of large areas of many breeds of fish drying in the sun. The fish are treated with salt and apparently one advantage of this is the birds and dogs don’t eat the sprawled drying fish. Only 20% of the 22 million Sri Lankan population have refrigerators. Hence, the dried fish solution allows them a longer holding period which they mainly use in fish curries. The fishing industry have also branched out into the importation of illegal drugs but to date we haven’t seen any evidence of this. Like everywhere in the world, drugs are now a problem in Sri Lanka and this is the reason for most crime. Sri Lankan people are very friendly, always smiling.

The city centre tour of Negombo was nothing special but we did find a great little family restaurant on the beachfront named Barracuda. No, we didn’t order the fish curry.

Another night at the Jetwing Sea Hotel before we move on.

Day 2 Sri Lanka

Paige said Kim Kardashian was onto something as we had a piano playing in the background of our buffet breakfast while watching the wind manoeuvre the sails on the fishing “oruwa” boats out on the ocean. Not to mention the best French Toast with butterscotch sauce we have ever had. We won’t mention how many times we went back for more!!! It was a great way to ease us into the day.

Time to get on the bus for a 3 hour drive. Our tour leader Karnal, shortened the journey by enlightening us with Sri Lankan facts.

• Did you know the youngest child is expected to care for their elderly parents. Did you hear that Paigey? 
• Teachers are paid more than doctors. 
• The retirement pension is only paid to government workers. 
• There are 3 main languages but interestingly Southern India and Northern Sri Lanka developed Tamil as a common language used in trading with each other in days gone by. 
• There are many half finished houses due to the custom the Sri Lankan male needs to provide a house to his prospective bride. (It’s taken Karnal 15 years and his house is still not finished.) 
• Sri Lankans get a public holiday every full moon (and get upset if it falls on a Sunday!) 
• There is evidence Sri Lanka has the oldest homosapian skeleton in Asia from 38,000 years ago. 
• The King used to bathe in the river on Tuesday and Friday, therefore no bodies were allowed to be placed in the river on these days. Even though traditional burials and cremations take place today funerals are still not held on Tuesdays and Fridays. 
• Watch Huts are dotted through the countryside in tree branches. The farmers use these to sleep in at night to protect their crops from wild elephant’s.  
• Mother’s often breastfeed children until they are 12 years old. 
• A Sri Lankan remedy to confirm pregnancy is to put wheat and barley seeds into a bowl and add the urine sample. Leave it for 2 days. If seeds germinate you are pregnant. If seeds do not germinate you are not pregnant.

It wasn’t long before we saw it. Sigiriya rock, about 200 metres high. This is what we’re meant to climb! A fortress was built on the top in the 5th century but now only ruins remain. 1200 steps lay ahead and some of the open air staircase looked pretty daunting.

Amy powered ahead and Ruthie with her walking poles amazed me. When Paige said she was turning back, I nearly joined her. She has inherited my fear of heights but somehow I found the courage to climb on. Once I reached the top my legs felt like jelly and my hands were shaking. The views were amazing but my pics were a bit shaky. I found going down easier but was glad to get my bum back on the bus. Luckily the monkeys only pursued Amy and not me. I was proud of the whole team, quite an effort.

Our hotel for the night was the unique Heritance Hotel Kandalama. Wow! Set into a cliff face amongst dense tropical forests flanked by the Dambulla rock temple and Sigiriya Rock Fortress overlooking Kandalama lake. It was spectacular. After a big day, we swam in the infinity pool hoping to see elephants coming down to the expansive reservoir waters edge for a drink at dusk. Alas, there were no elephants but we did see other wildlife and a magnificent sunset all while listening to a flautist playing on the clifftop. What a setting and what a day!! We commenced the day with a pianist at breakfast and finished with the flute at sunset. Wow!

Day 3 Sri Lanka

A couple of Tiger beers (the girls having cocktails) ensured a good nights sleep. The only problem being our body clocks haven’t adjusted and we were up just after 4am.

On the bus and we were off to the ancient ruins of Polonnaruwa, a former capital of Sri Lanka. On the way we passed locals bathing and brushing their teeth in the river. We passed through many small villages where half the road was covered in rice to dry in the sun. Courtesy prevailed as all the drivers crossed to the opposite side of the road. It was Sunday but all the students were dressed in their crisp white school uniforms as Sunday school is compulsory. 

The Polonnaruwa King came from a farming background. He built a huge reservoir and the excavated dirt, made bricks etc and built his kingdom which included a septic system and water reticulation. This was 1100AD but the Indians burned it down 200 years later and so all we see today are ancient ruins.  

Termite mounds surrounded us and apparently the King Cobra snake gets in and eats the termites. We steered well clear of these.

A short visit was paid to a Buddhist temple where we witnessed a very young monk chanting, flanked by 2 dogs. It was a peaceful experience. 

Food was needed before tackling our next adventure. Have I told you how good the food is in Sri Lanka? The group stopped for an amazing experience of some traditional Sri Lankan fare.

Time for our rumble in the jungle in Minneriya National Park. Apparently it has the largest gathering of elephants in the world. We had been driving for about 15 minutes and all we had seen was some birdlife.

Suddenly Amy, Paige and Ruth squealed. Yes, we came upon 2 elephants. That was just the beginning. Paige had started counting them but had to give up there were so many. There were bull elephants, mother elephants and so many young ones. Our guide told us one of the babies was just 1 month old. Very cute. We also saw Wooly necked stork, Green bee eater, 1 month old baby elephant in with the 150 other elephants, Water Buffalo, White spotted deer, Eagle’s, Adjudant stork, Red wattled lap wing bird, Peacocks/pea fowl, Purple faced langur (black face monkey), Squirrel, Grey heron.

What made me really happy was to see the joy the safari had brought to everybody. Elephants, who knew!!! The bus crowd even got excited when we saw another  elephant on the side of the road on the way back to our hotel.  Another amazing day.