As we plan our next getaway, I glance at the photobook we created of our time spent in Sri Lanka last year. Since my husband's family is from Sri Lanka, we thought it would be a wonderful time to introduce my son to the other half of his heritage - and boy, did the country not disappoint! So join me, wont you with a cuppa?
Since the end of the civil war, the country has cleaned up its act and serves as a lovely, cost effective island oasis for tourists from around the world. We started off visiting RamBodha - which legend has it was where Hanuman, the monkey God, first saw Sita, imprisoned in Ravana's kingdom. There is a beautiful temple situated on a hill top to mark the spot. The image below shows the temple in the far off distance with its white dome peeking through the forest of trees.
On our way from RamBodha, we spotted a waterfall which would have been more a raging fall given the right conditions - but was happy to frolicking tourists ;)
After we spent some time at the temple, we visited a working tea estate/farm - where they grow and package the tea. The tea was flavorful as it can only be when something is so close to source. Depending on the type of tea, there is various kinds of processing that they go through. Here are some open samples - and more that I brought home! The silver tips or white tea are the hardest to process - hence the most expensive.
This particular tea was harvested from the Glenloch tea estate - I only recently opened the package since I wanted to time it right! White tea is considered to have the most antioxidant properties of all the teas. The process by which the plant buds/stems are dried and processed is much more natural than the normal tea. White tea has a milder taste - try it, you won't be disappointed!
Our long day ended in Kandy - the town that hosts the
sacred temple of Buddha. We stayed at the hotel Mahawali on the banks of the Mahawali river - and the architecture and grounds of the hotel will leave you spell bound! Majestic colonial architecture with the beauty of the island. The service was beyond compare!
A handful of temple flowers strewn about the hotel grounds! Mesmerizing fragrance!
The streets leading upto the entrance of the temple were lined with flower stalls selling lotus stems in the most gorgeous hues!
Buddhist prayer flags inside the Tooth Temple
An offering to the Gods
Our next stop after Kandy was the town of Dambulla, a mid sized town in the central part of the country. This place is known for the Golden Temple of Dambulla - a UNESCO World Heritage site. Besides the Golden Temple which also serves as the gateway to the Dambulla caves, Dambulla is well known for its wild life and reserve. We stayed at the
Heritance Kandalama - just outside of Dambulla. This hotel is within sight of the ancient city of Sigirya, Kandalama was architected by the famous architect, Geoffrey Bawa - and remains true to its origins. It has been carved into a wall of a mountainous rock, the corridors are built around the rock facing walls. This hotel is truly at harmony with nature with the monkeys playfully sitting on your window ledge outside your bathroom and being sneaky and stealing food from you if they think you are not paying attention! What mesmerized me the most was the lone flute player sitting amongst the rocks surrounding the pool and playing his flute when the sun sets - the sound of the music bouncing off the mountains was out of this world!
Row upon row of buddhas inside the Dambulla caves
Breakfast companions
Images at Sigiriya. From the top: frescoe paintings, the reflecting pool, and the Cobra Headed exit
After scrambling around UNESCO world heritage sites, it was time for some serious R&R. To achieve that we drove to the beach town of Passekudaha and stayed at the gorgeous, award wining Maalu Maalu resort. The hotel is designed as self contained chalets modelled after a traditional Sri Lankan fishing village - but the amenities are modern! The sand is soft, the sounds from the ocean lull you to sleep, and the massages are heavenly!
Softer sand is yet to be found!
Our final stop in this beautiful country was back in Colombo - which reminded me of Amchi Mumbai to a large extent. Same bustling city, same backdrop, maybe with a slightly more colonial backdrop. We spent some time tasting some more lovely tea! The setting was a converted hospital that used to be run by the Dutch. A lot of the original architectural elements were still maintained - the window shutters are still from when the place was used as a hospital.
The old Dutch hospital in Colombo
That wrapped up our short visit to this island country - I think this should be a definite add on to your bucket list!
