Finally I travelled to Sri Lanka. While working on the PhD I met several Srilankans, and promised them to visit Sri Lanka. In the meantime it's three years ago since Athula and I received the PhD, and two years ago Chandana did the same. For various reasons it has taken a long time before I came to Sri Lanka, but in December 2002 it was the time to go!
Arrival (11 Dec.)
Usually people arrive in Sri Lanka at the Bandaranaike International Airport, and I was no exception to this rule. The airport is approached over the sea, for a long time the landing procedure seems to end in the sea, only changing at the last moment. Then it looks as if the jungle is the place of landing. A great entry to the country, it is immediately obvious that you arrive in a different environment. That feeling increases upon leaving the airplane, when I felt the heat and the humidity I realized myself that in 16 hours I arrived from a terribly cold (-7 centigrade) and windy Holland in a tropical climate.
Athula picked me up at the Airport and gave me the first introduction in Sri Lanka, starting with the chaotic traffic. Everybody has to use the same road: trucks, buses, cars, threewheelers, motor bikes, push bikes, bullock carts, pedestrians, and not to forget cows and dogs that wander at the most inconvenient places. After this modern version of wildlife he showed me the area around his home town (Gampaha), which has much more natural wildlife, with lots of monkeys, coconut and mango trees, just to mention the most obvious elements in the landscape. Completely uncomparable to the environment in the West of the Netherlands.
Upcountry (13/14/15 Dec.)
After a day to recover from the journey (from Amsterdam via Frankfurt and Dubai to Colombo) and from the first experiences I had a relaxed day at Chandana's place, which would be the home base for the next four weeks. the major activity of the day is that we discussed the plans and tours for the weeks in Sri Lanka. The first tour already started the next day. Chandana had organised a van + driver for my first tour in Sri Lanka. Early in the morning of the 13rd the van-driver picked me up at Chandana's place. He would be driver and guide during this three-day trip through what the Sri Lankans call Upcountry, with Kandy and Nuwara Eliya as the major destinations.
The first stop was at Pinawella, where an Elephant Orphanage exists. Elephants that are expelled from the herd are brought to Pinnawela, where they receive an 'education' to prepare them for a future as a work-elephant. It is impressive to see a group of about 50 elephants, crossing the road from the water place to the field.
After Pinawella we went straight to Kandy. The major attraction of Kandy is the Temple of the Tooth Relic, where a tooth of Buddha is kept. Many temples have a relic – is what is said – but here in Kandy is the only place where the relic is shown to the public. Well, once per year, and not today. So I have to trust them that the tooth is really there. Late afternoon we drove a bit further to Matale, in particular to the Alu Vihare cave temple. Interesting to see that temples and Buddha statues are completely carved out in the rock. A special part of the temple was a series of statues exhibiting the punishments that occur after misbehaviour. Buddhism is usually considered a friendly religion, but these punishments were a bit harsh – in my opinion. Cutting slices from the legs is not a light punishment ......
In the evening we had a great view over Kandy from the balcony of the Lake View Hotel. It was clearly noticeable that we were higher above sea level, the temperature was a bit lower than in and around Colombo.
The second day a first stop was made at the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens. One of the more famous gardens of the country. A wide variety of palm trees, and other kind of trees and plants. Many of them gifts from countries and people who have friendly relations with Sri Lanka. Furthermore the Peradeniya Gardens are densely populated by young Sri Lankan love couples and by monkeys.
The next stop of the day was at Lankatilake Vihara. A Buddhist shrine of a unique architecture. Okay. But I will remember the location more because a Sri Lankan family asked me to join them for lunch. I hope I understood them correctly, because none of them could really speak English. But all together they could come up with a couple of English sentences. I doubt whether they understood me when I replied their questions. Their next destination was Kandy, while we were travelling towards Nuwara Eliya. So I was somewhat surprised to meet the same (extended) family at the next temple in Embekka.
No other significant stops between Embekka and Nuwara Eliya. The ride through the mountains, full with the tea plantations, water falls, etc. is simply nice on itself. Continously climbing to about 2500 metres above sea level. People with Sri Lankan standards say it's "cold" in Nuwara Eliya, but a temperature of about 15 centigrade is not cold when three days before I had to survive in -5 centigrade.
I started the last day of this tour with a walk in the Victoria Gardens of Nuwara Eliya. Definitely not the most beautiful gardens of Sri Lanka. The visit however became unforgettable when the gardener started talking to me. Once he understood I was from the Netherlands he commenced a tour along all the flowers, mentioning their names in Dutch language! He orders the seeds in Holland, and I must - somewhat ashamed - admit that he knows more about the Dutch flowers and plants than I do. We continued the tour through the mountains, tried to visit a tea factory but the manager informed us that they were closed. It was Sunday, and even here in the Srilankan mountains Sunday seems to be the rest day. So in the end we didn't do much more than driving back towards Colombo. The landscape however made it an interesting tour.
Colombo (16/17/18 Dec.)
Colombo is the capital of Sri Lanka, and also the governmental and commercial centre. The president and the prime minister have their residences in town, and the old historical centre is now full with tall building hosting several banks and hotels. The centre is still called Fort, but remains of the old Dutch fort are hardly around. Though, when I said this to a gem shop owner, he pointed at the building at the other side of the street. It was the old Dutch prison (according to the shop owner), and in fact the building had some old Dutch inscriptions ("Geveld door geweld"). Parts of Fort are not accesible because the Presidential palace in Fort is highly protected. Also the Navy Headquarters and the Central Bank make that security in this part of town is strict. In the other parts of town however one doesn't notice anything of security areas. Several people told me that this is only a recent development and that they are glad to have the feeling of being able to walk free and safe again.
To be honest, I did not spend much time in Colombo. I stayed with Chandana near the new Parliament building, some 20-30 minutes from the centre of Colombo. Driving to the centre we often passed through the part of town known as Cinnamon Gardens, which is clearly the better part of town. The University of Colombo and the National Museum are located just out of Cinnamon Gardens. Walking around in Colombo is rather tiring due to the heat, but a good place to relax is along the Indian Ocean at the Galle Face Green, in front of the Galle Face Hotel. A good place to sit down, look out over the Ocean and let thoughts go. Often interrupted by people who wanted to chat (or wanted to sell something, or were simply begging for money).
Jaffna (19/20/21 Dec.)
A very particular experience was that I had the opportunity to travel to Jaffna. Since 1983 it has been almost impossible to travel to this part of the country, as it is the basis of the LTTE, the Tamil separatist movement fighting for an independent Tamil Eelam. Recent developments in the peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE make that travelling to Jaffna is possible again. I was lucky enough to join an tour organised by a travel agency in Colombo (Hawk Travels Ltd.). I was the only non-Sri Lankan in the group, but definitely not the only one who had never been to Jaffna.
The easiest way to travel to Jaffna is by one of the domestic air carriers. From Ratmalana, the domestic airport just south of Colombo, it's only one hour fly to Palaly. A rather primitive airport where the luggage is delivered from a truck straight into the hands of the passenger, and where you have to wait in the open air until all formalities have been done. The arrival at Palaly immediately makes clear that it's a "high security zone". Military area, only accesible with an armed soldier as a guide.
In the afternoon we visited several places that would have been worth to make pictures, but Keerimalai Pool (a hot water pool, almost in the Ocean) and Maviddapuram Kovil are in military area. We were allowed to go there, guided by an armed soldier, and photocameras and ID-cards had to be handed in before entering the area. It is very weird to travel through this area, with lots of destroyed house, factories, dead trees, mine fields etc. But sorry, I have no photos of it. The only proof is a flyer of Maviddapuram Kovil, which is in reconstruction now after having been destroyed during the war.
The morning of the 20th of we travelled to the islands Southwest of Jaffna Town. Beautiful lagoons, islands connected to each other by causeways. Destination was the island of Nagadeepa, with a large Hindu Kovil and an important Buddhist temple. Nagadeepa is a real island, only to be reached by a ferry boat. It seemed as if the boat could fall apart at any moment, but we survived and reached Nagadeepa. I never reached the Buddhist temple, due to stomach problems. Probably we ate something wrong, the evening before. Or maybe we only ate too much; the food at Palm Beach (located: downtown Jaffna) was very tasty and we couldn't stop eating.
Anyway, with a little medication I could join for the afternoon programme, another bus tour on the Jaffna peninsula. A first stop at Chanikarai, with the ruins of a Portuguese church (1614), destroyed by bombs during the recent war. The next stop was made a Kantarodai, where about 100 miniature dagobas can be found in a very small area. It is said that they are erected about 2000 years ago, in honor of a group of Buddhist monks.
The last day of the Jaffna tour brought us to the Northern coast of the peninsula. There it is clearly visible that the peninsula consists of limestone. At the Northern coast one finds limestone caves which have entrances right on the sea shore. During the war they have been used as a storage place for weapons smuggled into the country. The caves are near to Valvedditurai, the place of birth of the LTTE-leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran. His (destroyed) house is now a tourist attraction, and was included in the tour as well!
A little further towards the East we stopped at Point Pedro, the most Northern part of Sri Lanka, marked with a lighthouse. For most Srilankans however this place has been unreachable for the last 20 years (and the lighthouse is still protected with barbed wire). On the way back towards Jaffna we halted at a large cemetry of LTTE-soldiers. Late afternoon, already on the way back towards Palaly Airport, we had a final stop at the railway station of Jaffna. The station is out of service for years already, during the war the rails have been removed and the jungle has taken over the station.
Down South, the East (22/23/24/25 Dec.)
Early in the morning of the 22nd of December I woke up to start the tour Down South and to the East of the country. I suffered a bit from a sore ankle, but that was a minor problem because we expected to spend a lot of time in the car. Athula, a colleague of him, and their respective families just fitted in the two cars. We set out for a long tour, in which Athula's main goal seemed to be to show me wild elephants. The first stop however was at the Buddhist temple in Kalutara. The temple area is separated in two parts by the Galle Road. Many car drivers stop here to donate a few rupees and pray for a safe ride (and then continue driving like crazy). We also went further South, had a very short stop at the Dutch Fort of Galle, just to make sure that I wouldn't miss it. A longer visit was expected later during the four weeks. A longer stop was made at Giragala, where we had a swim in the Ocean, next to what is called Parrots Rock. Driving further along the Ocean we passed through the Buntala Bird Sanctuary (e.g. wild peacocks) before we left the coast and headed towards Kataragama. When we arrived there, the main gates of the sacred area were closed already so we decided to return the day after.
The next day we woke up early, again, in order to be in the Yala Wildlife Park as early as possible. It rained a bit, and the whole morning it didn't stop raining. The rain made that the safari in Yala was somewhat disappointing, the most for Athula because the elephants couldn't be spotted. We could only see the back of an elephant, hiding between the trees. Which probably proves that they are real wild elephants; they search protection when it rains and are clever enough to hide under the trees, without thinking about the tourists who pay to see them. Luckily there's more than elephants in Yala. Lots of deers, buffalo, wild pigs, various birds, ranging from cranes to more colourful species like the toucan. After the visit to Yala we went back to Kataragama to visit the temple complex sacred for Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims (though each with their own temples). It was rather late already before we departed from Kataragama and headed towards the East Coast. Due to the bad weather and the bad quality of the roads we didn't reach Addalachchanai. We decided for some improvisatio, we ate something in Ampara and managed to find the (probably) last hotel rooms in town. Not of a very good quality, but better than sleeping outside in the rain.
The day after we learned that it was a good decision not to go further, the roads were too bad (and too wet) for driving at night. The plans were adjusted, Batticaloa had to be cancelled, that would be too ambitious. The decision was to stay in Addalachchanai for the next night (instead of the previous night). We left Ampara and halted in Deegawapi. One of the major temple areas of Sri Lanka, though the stupa is not much more than a ruin, and the shrine is currently being rebuild. After the visit to Deegawapi we tried a shortcut towards Addalachchanai. Maybe it was a shortcut in the distance, but definitely not in time. At parts the road hardly deserved that name. Which made that it became a heroic tour. Later, in the town of Addalachchanai, the roads had asphalt but due to the rain it made hardly a difference with the shortcut road.
The last day of the tour promised to include a lot of driving, as it is quite a long way from the East Coast back to Colombo. Luckily it had stopped raining, so driving was easier and nicer than in the previous days. The longest stop was made near Dambana. First to have a bath in a small river and a picnic lunch on the rocks in the river. In Dambana one can also find the Weddas, the original inhabitants of the island. Now only few thousand of them remain. It seems to me that their traditional weapons (arrow and bow, a small axe) are now mainly used when there are tourists around. Not far from Dambana is Mahiyangana, another important Buddhist temple. Then we had to hurry to pass the gates of a large power station in the Mahaweli River before they would close (around sunset). We were in time and could continue our way to Colombo, via Kandy. Only late in the evening, upon arrival in Colombo near the parliament, I was reminded that it was Christmas Day. In the East, in Kandy: nowhere one got the idea that it was Christmas.
Sigiriya (26/27/28 Dec.)
The tour to Sigiriya followed a bit quick after the other two tirings tours. In the morning of the 26th Chandana, Kaushalya, two friends of her, and I left for Sigiriya. They had arranged the same van-driver as in my Kandy/Nuwara Eliya tour. I used the ride of several hours mainly to relax. The others did the conversation, in a mix of Sinhala and English, while I was happy to have some time to recover from the previous trips. The recovery was continued in the Sigiriya Village, a luxury tourist resort near the famous Sigiriya rock. A perfect place to rest and relax!
The next day we visited the historical locations of Dambulla and Sigiriya. Dambulla is famous for its cave temples. It is true, it is very impressive to see the huge amount of statues of Buddha and other gods, goddesses etc. The immense golden statue of Buddha that can be seen from the main road is much less impressive than the ancient cave temple.
Then it was time to return to Sigiriya and climb its rock. A rock of about 180 metres high, surrounded mainly by land covered with jungle. A perfect place to build a royal palace, because nobody will be able to capture the rock. Potential opponents can be seen from kilometres distance, is what an king Kasyapa thought. Nowadays the rock and the area near to it contains the ruins of the old palace, and its water gardens. Climbing the rock from the water gardens leads along the lion platform, where you find the immense paws of a lion. It is said that the whole rock used to be carved as a lion, but nowadays there are only the paws. Halfway the lion paws and the palace on top one finds the Virgins of Sigiriya. Ancient erotic paintings on the rock. It is said that there were much more, but only a few survived the centuries. The last part of climb to the top leads over very narrow stairs, but once at the top the view over the area is great.
Dambulla and the Sigiriya rock were the only 'cultural' events in this three day tour. After leaving the Sigiriya Village Hotel on the 28th we made a longer stop at the Culture Club Resort, which would have been a good alternative to stay, if we had booked a bit earlier. Now we enjoyed the location on the Kandalama Wewa to spend a relaxed afternoon before heading back towards Colombo.
Cultural Triangle (30/31 Dec., 1/2 Jan.)
After one day of rest I left again from the home base for the trip to the Cultural Triangle. This time I travelled alone, by intercity-bus to Anuradhapura, about 4h30 from Colombo. The buses are called 'luxury' but that's only in comparison to the standard buses. For long-legged tourists it's not really a luxury, but it is a convenient way to travel through the country. The bus driver let me out at the hotel that was arranged for me, in a good-quality resthouse at the shore of the Nuwara Wewa.
The next two days, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, were spent travelling through the major sites of the Cultural Triangle. The hotel arranged a threewheeler + driver who showed me around the ancient sites and served as a guide as well. Both Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa have been the capital of ancient Kingdoms on the island. Nowadays both places have a 'new town' where the population lives and an 'old town' where the excavations of the historical capitals can be found. The old towns now show lots of ruins of palaces, temples, dagobas, and everything that was necessary in the historical cities. 
Anuradhapura also has the oldest Bo-tree of Sri Lanka. A very important location for all Buddhists in the country, the tree is said to be 2300 years old and a 'baby' of the tree under which Buddha received enlightment. In the neighbourhood of the Bo-tree one finds three important dagobas. Ruwaneliseya is not the largest one, but thanks to its (traditional) white colour it seems larger than Jetawanarama Dagoba. That one is more ruined and misses the traditional sacred white look. A much smaller one is Thuparamaya, which is surrounded by a bunch of pillars that once have carried a roof of the dagoba. I won't mention and show all the historical sites in Anuradhapura, but there is much more to see, such as the cave temple of Isurumuniya, at the shore of the Tissa Wewa, et cetera.
In the evening we visited Mihintale, a Buddhist sacred centre not far from Anuradhapura. The sacred area is located in the hills, only to be reached by long stairs. Once you climb the stairs you again find a dagoba, a shrine, a buddha statue: all the ingredients of a Buddhist temple. Here at Mihintale Buddhism became the favoured religion in Sri Lanka, when King Devanampiyatissa converted to Buddhism after a meeting with an Indian prince (247 BC).
Then it became time to join the New Year's celebrations. Not a big event in Sri Lanka, in April they celebrate their own (Buddhist) New Year. That's the more important event, but the hotel where I stayed had organised a party for "our" New Year. I must say, it is strange, celebrating New Year in the garden of a hotel, at the swimming pool, in a very nice temperature of about 25 centrigrade. For me New Year's Eve is linked with cold weather: now it didn't feel "real". Also because I realised that all the people I care about had still several hours to go, up to 12 hours!, before they would start the year 2003.
In the morning of the 1st January the threewheel-driver picked me up to go to Polonnaruwa. In fact a bit too far from Anuradhapura, but it's an interesting experience to do this distance by threewheeler. It gave the opportunity to stop and watch the wild elephants at Minneriya. Athula can be satisfied: I have seen wild elephants! The major ruins of Polonnaruwa are found on a relatively small area with a high density of historical buildings. Some are still impressive, e.g. the Thuparamaya Image House, and the building in the area of the Dalada Maluwa such as the circular Vatadage. In this area a lot of tourists walk around, and a lot of souvenir sellers. A little bit to the North many more ruins can be found without any tourist, which makes that one can feel the history of the site in a much better way. I won't mention everything here, but what cannot be left out is Gal Vihara. A large rock with three immense Buddha statues carved in the rock. A standing Buddha, a sitting meditating Buddha and a statue in sleeping position. These three positions can be found in many temples all over the country, but the rock carvings are more impressive than any other statue I have seen.
The 2nd January was mainly a travel day, back from Anuradhapura to Colombo. A very impatient bus driver who managed to arrive in Colombo after about 4h40, even though the traffic did not allow that – in my opinion. Any normal driver would need much more time! The next day was scheduled as a rest day, but it was also one of the last chances for me to buy some presents. Therefore I spent most of the day in the souvenir shops and shopping malls of Colombo, near or on the Galle Road. The differences between the luxury in the malls and the poor people in the streets is sometimes striking.
Southern Coast (4/5/6 Jan.)
The last trip has Galle as its major destination. During the Kataragama tour we halted in the Galle Fort for about five minutes – there wasn't more time – but Galle deserves more time. In the morning of the 4th January I took a bus from Colombo. Then it's basically "follow the road" and you arrive in Galle. I got off from the bus in Hikkaduwa, nowadays a village with lots of beach resorts, like many places on the Coast between Colombo and Galle. After checking in at the hotel Chandana's friend picked me up and showed me the more interesting places in Galle.
Galle has the best preserved Dutch Fort in Sri Lanka. One of the oldest remaining Dutch houses in the Fort (in the Leyn Baan Street) is now fully restored and hosts a museum, full with a private collection of almost everything. The owner collects not only objects related to the Dutch period but also from modern history (like typewriters), and all periods in between. Funny to observe that labels in the exhibition are often also in Dutch, and funny to notice that the guide knows so much about the Dutch history. He has written more letters to Queen Beatrix then I will ever do. The old Dutch Reformed Church (the Groote Kerk) in Galle is currently hidden behind scaffolds, due to renovation works. Strange to be able to read the grave stones, thousands of kilometres away from home but in a Dutch environment. In the church I spoke with relatives of Pieter Anthonisz, one of the founding fathers of the church. They are what Sri Lankans call Dutch Burghers, descendants of the Dutch (and Portuguese) invaders. Nowadays fully integrated in the society, basically it's only the colour of the skin that shows their European descendence. Of course we also had a walk over the ramparts and through the streets of the Fort. Strange idea that my ancestors were walking around here some 200-300 years ago, even when there are many buildings from more recent periods.
In the evening we had a dinner at Miltons Hotel, at Unawatuna Bay. He offered us a free dinner (the owner is a friend of my guide) with the request to make some propaganda for tourism to Sri Lankan in general and to his hotel in particular. From the dinner table we had a great view over the Indian Ocean (on the other side is Africa, to the South there's no land until you reach Antarctica….). The sunset at such a location is just great. For the propaganda on tourism to Sri Lanka in general, read all the text above. I covered almost the whole country; only information on the beaches is not mentioned yet.
Many tourists are more interested in sun, sea, and beach, and do not mind much about the cultural history of a country. Also for this kind of tourists Sri Lanka is a beautiful location. Many people spend two or three weeks in the beach resorts at the Southern coast. I spend only two days at the beach of Hikkaduwa, where my hotel was located. Very clear water, colourful fish, coral reefs near the beach, at some places even on the beach. A great place for snorkelling, diving, swimming, sunbathing, relaxing, and what else one can do on the beach. But Sri Lanka has much more to offer than its beaches!
Believe it or not, my last day at the beach it was raining all the time. A good reason to take the bus back to Colombo a bit earlier than was the original idea. Back in Colombo I could do some last shoppings. The next day, the 7th January was mainly spend on packing the bags and saying goodbye to Chandana and Athula, promising that I'll come again to Sri Lanka. Because there are some places I haven't seen yet. Trincomalee and Batticaloa (on the Eastern coast), Ratnapura, Adam's Peak, World's End, et cetera! Early morning of the 8th January I woke up to commence the journey back to (an again very cold) Amsterdam.
Concluding remarks
The size and the diversity of Sri Lanka make it an attractive destination for tourists. From North to South its about 500 km, East-West about 200 km, thus all parts of the country can be reached within a couple of hours. Travelling over the island shows a large variety of landscapes and environments, from the busy city life in Colombo to the hills Upcountry, from rainforests to open plains, paddy fields, and beaches.The people are very open, interested to talk to foreigners. Many people in Sri Lanka speak English, so communication does not require knowledge of the national languages Sinhala and Tamil, and the alphabets used for these languages.
Several national and international travel agencies offer tours through the country. Many operators offer a Round Trip Tour of Sri Lanka, which comprises almost everything I did in a one-week Tour. It excludes the Eastern coast, and also Jaffna is not included in the round trips. Not yet. The advantage of travelling with a local agency is that it is easier to get in touch with the country's population. However in my opinion it is better to use more than seven days to visit all the places mentioned. A longer period gives the opportunity to stay at the different places somewhat longer and spend more time on talking with the people. Running around the touristical highlights of Sri Lanka is good to do, but staying a bit longer and travel by all differents means of transport gives the opportunity to get to know the country in a much deeper sense.
Follow-up
Eight years older and smarter, Mexicanized, we (married!) travelled to Sri Lanka (again). Only 17 days, effectively (between Dec 29, 2010 and Jan 14, 2011), which is definitely not enough to see all. We focused on Colombo, the area of Galle, and the extended cultural triangle, everything between Anuradhapura and Kandy. Although we largely travelled areas I travelled before, I've seen many things that I didn't see before. Travelling from Mexico to Sri Lanka implies flying to the opposite end of the globe (11h30 time difference, a minimum travel time of 27 hours), but it was worth the effort.
Later more text and/or photos, maybe....