Sri Lanka @2019
I can guarantee you that my beams are outside the measure if I must outline my experience from my first step outside the homeland. Somehow, made my mind for it at the drop of the hat besides arduous stance. We Indians are well versed with its history and the relative consequence from the Vedic ages itself. Its result is the epitome of the patience itself.
Ravana- Ego Rama- Wisdom
Sita- Peace Vibhishana- Intellect
Hanuman- Pranic Energy Lanka- One’s body
“Wisdom uses intellect with proper utilization of the pranic energy within one’s body to defeat the ego and win the peace”
Srilanka has a assorted culture and traditions. It shadows the Theravada Buddhism which was passed on from India. You see near no variances in the culture when compared to the southernmost Indian culture to that of northern most Sri Lankan (Jaffna) culture. You can witness the colonial occupation with Portuguese, Dutch, British etc. Rest of the parts are capitulated by the Sinhalese tradition. It connects to most of the southern India and Southeast Asia. This country is known for its international connect with Cricket, Distinct Cuisines and the holistic medicine practice (Ayurveda). It stands at a decent stage in exports of Tea, Cinnamon and Gemstones especially. Tourism as the main component and renders a distinct appreciation to the guests which we happen to witness at every place during our visit.
The main lures of Sri Lanka stand at its finest covering the wholeness of its landscape. Temple of the Tooth Relic at Kandy, Frescoes at Sigiriya, Religious Paintings at Dambulla, Sigiriya Fort, Dutch Colony, Galle International Cricket Stadium etc.
Am one amid the cluster of six folks & prime by the brother from another mother @Bharat Naidu. His former visit to Sri Lanka abetted us to stick to the time lines with no seepages. Rest of them are Sai (Photo Freak), Ranga (The Gajini Since 2019), Nagraj (Happy Soul), Ramakrishna (Devudu :P). The fun was unlimited from day 1 till Day 8.
We approved our empty minds with gear full rucksacks and started to Bandaranaike International Airport (it will cost you not more than 10K INR if booked in advance for to n fro) and got there by 2:30 AM on 9th March 2019 with a lay over from Chennai through Spice Jet (No good experience travelling with it). We can get the local SIM at the airport, we acquired DIALOG (Govt.) - the best mobile network operator (like BSNL in India), Airtel works too. It took five minutes for complete transaction. From there we did head to Columbo through a private bus (the last bus from airport to Columbo is before 2 AM as per the info received at the airport.
Private bus charged 200 LKR per person and supplementary 200 LKR per bag. It was 1 Rupee=2.56 LKR during our visit. We then reached Fort Railway station after a 45 mins bus journey. It was a day of railway strike and fortunately it came to an end after a wait of an hour. They are still ensuing the old school format of the tickets (you can see in the pic).
Even the tracks were unchanged since the British rule. One will like train journey but its more of like a roller coaster. It took 2:30 hours to reach Rambukkana. We refreshed at the station, dumped our baggage at the station master room to head to Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage which is 4 KMS from the railway station. We had Yummy idiyappam with veg Sambal for breakfast in the hotel opposite to the station. We headed to the Pinnawala by Tuk Tuk (Auto) and charged us 350 LKR per tuk tuk. Its an orphanage for Asian Elephants and a captive breeding ground. Pinnawala is the largest herd of the captive elephants in the world. They take care of the orphaned unweaned elephants from the Sri Lankan Forests and raise them with utter care. It is spread in 25 acres of land.
The main attraction is the Elephant shower in the Maha Oya River every day from 11 to 12 Noon. You can feed the elephants with your own hands for posing for pic etc. the agencies around will also cater the elephant rides, rendering showers etc. which may cost you additionally. Later stepped forward to Pinnawala zoo which spreads in 44 acers.
We rented a battery car to cover the zoo in 30 mins. It will cost you further 1200 LKR and the entry to the Zoo is 1000 LKR per person for SAARC countries (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation). Had pleasant outook of Maha Oya river during elephant shower. One can shop around the place for keepsakes. We did head back to the railway station and started to Kandy through train from Rambukkana. We took a tuk tuk to have lunch at Balaji Dosa hotel which is 1.2 KMS away from the Kandy station. Tuk tuk costed us 40 LKR (Pickme-like Uber). Post to that visited the Temple of the tooth relic (Sri Dalada Maliigawa). Entry ticket is 1000 LKR per person. The paintings and sculptures are master pieces and it’s a carnival for the architecture lovers.
We treaded next in the direction of Sigiriya from Kandy Bus stop it took approx. 4 hours and got us at Sigiriya bus stand. The Sigiriya Village Home Stay was 1.1 kms from Pindurangala Rock (from the bus drop point). The first look we had was at late night but was isolated and beautiful.
Had a warm welcome from the possessors. The agenda on the next day was to visit Sigiriya fort (Fort of Kashyapa) by bicycles which costed us 300 LKR per cycle per day. The path we took was serene with awesome views of the natural flora. The rock is 200 (660 Ft) meters high and it has fresco paintings in the mid of the rock.
The water gardens are all over the central area of the place and are built in three levels. Apart from which you can also see the mock lake to the west of the rock which is again interlaced with the water gardens.
We had plentiful time on the upper part of the rock with artistic photography and did head back to the home stay to pack of our things and left to Inamaluva. Had lunch at Oakray Restaurant at Inamaluva and did shop in the shop within the restaurant. The staff of the hotel were so amicable. We then took the bus to Trincomalee which took around 5 hours to reach. We stayed at Jungle Vista Beach resort, Uppuveli, Trincomalee. The night we spent well at the beach with shore walk. Next day we went to the Koneswaram kovil which is also known as Dakshinakailasha. A magnificent view of the Indian ocean beside the temple gives you gentle feeling right during the sunrise. I could record the sun rise time lapse. You can see a group of spotted Deer’s near the temple.
From the very next day the exhilarating experience started with snorkeling which costed is 4500 LKR for the diving fins, mask and curved wind pipe. We spent a good 4 hours in the shallow waters with snorkeling at the Pigeon Island National Park. The cost is high to upkeep the island by the Sri Lankan government for safeguarding Corals. Corals secrete Calcium Carbonate to form a stiff skeleton. These are marine invertebrates. It took 40 minutes to reach the Pigeon island. We had boundless amusement with Snorkel for almost 3-4 hours with in the shallow and long distances (around 300-400 Fathoms) from the shore. We saw sundry dead corals around the circular shorelines of the island. On the front side of the island there is a superior perimeter marked for the snorkeling around the corals. Here we speckled a shark and a turtle which took our friend @Bharat onto the Corals, he got miffed a little bit but was okay and could arrest the footage of the Turtle movement. Seen a assortment of corals and its cataloguing like brain corals, dragon eyed coral, coral reefs etc.
We next moved on to Hikkaduva via train. Stayed at Randhila Beach View Hotel costed us around 3500 LKR per A/C room. Here at this place again we did snorkel that complete evening (here it costed 600 LKR for the snorkel equipment) and headed to Galle which is administrative capital for the southern province. You can see the place imitates the Dutch and Portuguese culture. Have been to the Galle private museum well preserved by the owner who also trade gems to the vacationers. Here we went on a shopping spree and it was cost effective.
Next was the Scuba day, it costed us 12500 LKR through Blue Deep Diving Center. Mr. @Nick was our instructor and an experienced deep-sea diver who has a diving experience from 2001. He comforted all of us with a theory session of signs, shallow water practice and then took us to the main waters for a 10-meter depth. My experience is immeasurable and unforgettable. Nick was so patient enough to understand the queries and guided us very well and as you know experience matters a lot. Thanks a ton Mr. Nick. Trust time allows me to connect you in future.
Mirissa was the next terminus from Hikkaduwa which took two-hour journey by bus. We stayed at Mila rest garden home stay which is very head-to-head to the beach. As we touched late, part of the troop ran instantly to see the last minutes of the sun set near the shore, it followed with the beach side dinner and were back to bed by 2 AM. The very next morning visited the Parrot Rock to see the sun rise and the view of the sea. After we are back to the home stay we had delicious breakfast and then moved to Matara.
Matara is well-known for the Buddhist temple with a cable-stayed footbridge. After an hour there we did returned to Fort Railway station by bus which took around 5 hours from Matara.
We had left our stuff in a hotel room for an hour and went for the due errands at Wellawatte, a neighboring place to Columbo. Last stretch was to get hold of a private bus to drop us at Bandaranaike International Airport to head back to the pavilion.
Before we started from the Fort station, we had a chance to celebrate the birthdays of the awesome travel couple Bharat and Anusha at a hotel near station. It was a good end of the trip. The trip was planned and executed as planned by the host. It was a team of proper travelers with no regrets and fun lovers.
Keep Smiling! Stay Blessed! Keep Exploring! Bingo!
