Writing about my dad yesterday prompted me to share with you about our trip to Sri Lanka as my dad was born in Colombo in 1920 and later he moved to India and then came to Malaysia to marry my mum.
David and I were blessed to visit Sri Lanka in September 2010.....many asked us why Sri Lanka...the war has not stopped and people are snobbish , its dangerous and the such...but being the 'adventurous us' we went. And why not...we got Air Asia tickets for RM252.00 for both of us...return! And we were so glad we visited this beautiful country.
Our holiday started in Colombo where we landed at the Bandranaike International Airport and we picked up a Kia Sorento and bravely drove into the crowded city. We checked into the heritage Galle Face Hotel...and what an amazing hotel with its verandah facing the Indian Ocean. After leaving our bags in the room we just strolled into the verandah to get a glimpse of the sea...and what beautiful images of the morning...and the waiters were so kind that they served us hot coffee and tasty hot appams which they refer to as hoppers...you see we were not supposed to be served breakfast as we had just checked in. But guess what the red pottu on my face saved us as many of the waiters were Tamil like me! We also saw a wedding at the hotel with a troop of Kandyan dancers performing. What a treat it was! After which we met my cousin Kantha on my dad's side whom I had never met before and he took us around to see the city and taste the different kinds of food and also met his mum. Colombo is like any other city...crowded...and had many beautiful hotels and shopping complexes. And as evening approached the beach was filled with people and stalls. It was great meeting up with Kantha and we had to say bye as we were off to Kandy the next day.
The next morning we started our journey after a lovely buffet breakfast...the locals said it would take us half a day to drive to Kandy as road conditions were bad. The drive was not too bad. ..and we stopped along the way to have fresh coconut water for 30sen...bought some earthenware chimes....and we arrived at Kandy the town in the hills in heavy traffic after a 6 hour drive. We made our way to the Thilanka Hotel , another beautiful hotel set in the foothills of the town. This town is situated around the Kandy Lake and the weather is milder. Checked in and went for a walk into the city...the thing that striked me most was the number of pastry shops along the way....and they were lovely pastry too. We saw the ever famous Buddhist Temple of the Tooth Relic where they say that it stores the actual tooth of Buddha and every year they have a grand festival the Esala Perahara which lasts 10 days in Kandy. The streets of Kandy were busy...with many kinds of shops and markets..and arts and crafts. We went back to the hotel in a 3 wheeler...and the young man who rode it..gave us a ride of a lifetime...absorbing all the sights and sounds of Kandy....it was good fun though.
The next day after breakfast we made our way to Nuwara Elliya...nicknamed The Little England of Sri Lanka . The drive was really a pleasant one as we stopped along the way for hot tea in the many tea plantations along the way. Tea in a pot was RM1.50 for the both of us...and sipping hot tea with the cool weather around us was just heavenly. After all the stops we made we arrived at Nuwarra Eliya a small town nestled in the hills of Sri Lanka.. situated 1868 meteres above sea level. It welcomed us with cold weather and everyone was smartly dressed in sweaters and jackets...and what a beautiful sight..hence the nickname. We checked into the Windsor Hotel and went for a walk into the town...all kinds of shops and eateries..and horse mounted policemen...shops selling beautiful rice and tea of course. That night we went for dinner at The Grand Hotel Indian Restaurant...it was so cold...but the beautiful spicy food served was very good...and we met some beautiful people from India. The next morning we drove around the town and then we had to make our way back to Colombo. That drive we had was so memorable...vast tea plantations...beautiful landscape...amazing waterfalls...mist falling on to the roads...scenes that are sometimes indescribable. We stopped at St Clair Tea Castle where we learnt the finer details of tea...after spending 2 hours of tasting tea and buying all kinds of tea we made our journey through small roads to Negombo stopping on the way for our coconut drink.
We checked into The Taj Garden Airport Hotel...another beautiful 5 star hotel..living up to its Taj name. We met up with our Malaysian friends Ganesh and Syam who took us to dinner in Negombo...The Little Rome of Sri Lanka as there were so many churches with magnificent statues..a beautiful sight to behold. It was great meeting up with them and we called it a night as we had a early morning flight home. As we checked into our Air Asia flight home...we told ourselves that we will come back to this beautiful land as there was so much more to see and explore. Bye Sri Lanka..till we see you again was our goodbye words to the mystical land they once called Ceylon.
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Having coffee at Galle Face Hotel
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| Kandyan Dancers at the hotel |
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| With my cousin Kantha |
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| Yes they had durians but not as nice as the Malaysian ones. |
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| Colombo Independence Square |
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