Sri Lanka Part2

 20 February, Cafe Aroma Inn, Kandy

Our First Class, air-conditioned train trip from Ella was much more relaxed than our hot, crowded, 2^nd Class trip from Colombo to Galle. This trip is highly rated among the world’s great train journeys. From Ella, the train climbed further into the central highlands through a mix of jungle and tea plantations. The smoke from recent bushfires lingered over the distant mountains, but the dense jungle coverage could still be seen. As the train began its descent, the worldwide Australian weed, the eucalyptus, dominated the more open forests and small vegetable farms clustered on terraces adjacent to the tracks.

The villages scattered through the mountain slopes were dotted with recently constructed resorts, testament to the rapidly developing tourist industry in Sri Lanka.

Our 5.00pm arrival in Kandy dropped us at the peak of the evening rush hour. Total madness! The usual press of tooting buses, minibuses, cars and the ubiquitous Tuk Tuks was magnified ten times.

Luckily for us, there were some underpasses, avoiding the 6-8 lanes of traffic going every which way and our hotel was only a few hundred metres from the station.

Today we went looking for the Sacred Tooth of Buddha. Searching out ancient body parts has always been a “thing” for us. We have seen Saint Stephen’s hand in Budapest, full skeletons of long-dead Italian nuns and more.

By chance, we arrived at the temple just in time for one of the daily public worship sessions. Shuffling along with thousands of devotees, unable to see where we were stepping, we were pushed from behind and sucked by sheer momentum up the stairs and eventually past the altar where, to our disappointment, there was no tooth to be seen.

The temple complex also contained several museums which we visited briefly before heading off to the Garrison Cemetery. Initially we confronted a locked gate but, as we retreated, a young fellow emerged from a small office and offered to unlock the gate for us. The cemetery is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and, as with the many others we have visited, it was very well maintained. It was a hidden gem. Seems like very few visitors find this tiny remnant of British colonial days. The young man who showed us around was very knowledgeable about the many souls buried here, most of them frighteningly young. His greatest pride in his long, more than twelve years on duty at this tiny outpost of Empire, was the day in 2012, when Prince Charles visited and shook his hand.

We were grateful to have seen this small part of Sri Lanka that none of the many thousands of tourists who follow umbrella-waving tour guides will ever experience.

21 February, Gabaa Resort and Spa, Habarana

We hit the road by 10am with our driver for the day, Sitham and his trusty Prius. It would be difficult to call young Sitham a poor driver. Hell I couldn’t have negotiated the crazy traffic that he drove through today. But, safe driver by our standards? Nope! Nevertheless, we made it and here we are, close to the end of our Sri Lankan adventure. Along the way today, we visited the large Sri Muthumariamman Hindu temple and a very famous Buddhist Rock Cave Temple in Dumbulla. The rock temple was by far the most impressive, featuring several enormous reclining Buddas in cave galleries. Almost as impressive as the hundreds of buddhas, were the painted ceilings. Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel is more of an artistic masterpiece, but these works were completed without the technology available in medieval Europe.

The climb to the top of the mountain where the caves were located was rather taxing on a hot, humid tropical early afternoon, but worth it.

Hiring cars with drivers is not our normal means of getting about, even in places with poorly developed transport infrastructure, like Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos. Even in South America we have stayed independent of taxi-like services, but in Sri Lanka, except for a couple of train journeys, we have used cars with drivers to get from city to city and Tuk Tuks for shorter trips.

 Rates and the quality of service can vary greatly, but with a bit of research it is easily possible to get a transfer of about 150km (2hr 30mins) for around USD50-USD60. Because our plans included a couple of train journeys, we decided not to go with hiring one driver for our whole stay. Another reason to favour the day by day model is that once a driver and car are hired, it is generally the responsibility of the hirer to pay for driver accommodation and sometimes meals along the way. Then there is the risk that you may not get along with your driver. We did have a short experience with a driver in Mongolia for a couple of days. He was a horrible human being, but we were stuck with him.

We have used the same driver and car company for two more trips to date. The company has provided us with great service, good quality and value for money – 10% - 20% below the offers on the aggregator’s site. All bookings were done through WhatsApp, which, if you don’t use it now, we suggest you do before travelling to Sri Lanka.

22 February, Habarana

We planned for at least a full morning at the Ancient Fortress of Sigiriya. Trapped in a resort-style hotel well out of town, we had a few options for the 17km trip to Sigiriya - a car for AUD75, a Jeep truck for AUD50 or a Tuk Tuk for AUD35, all outrageously overpriced.

We headed out in our chosen Tuk Tuk at 7.00am to beat the heat for the strenuous climb to the top of the Rock Fortress. More than 1200 steps awaited us. No question, the climb was taxing, but not as bad as we had anticipated. The early start was a good choice as the crowds were light. That had changed by the time we began our descent, when we had to give way on the narrow steps to large tour groups coming up. All up, our visit took about two hours. We were home before lunch and even had time for a short afternoon nap.

Cash or Card?

The management of payments has changed a lot, from the early days of our travels when travellers cheques, letters of credit to foreign banks and cash were the only way to go. Now we use tap and go payments with our phones.

However, even in this modern era, the management of payments while travelling can be challenging. In western economies, Australia, NZ, UK, US, Canada and the EU, card payments are fairly universal, but there are still some circumstances where cash is needed as a fall-back position. In community markets, at small shops in rural areas, or where merchants have purchase minimums governing the use of card payments, cash is king. The picture is even more unclear in some developed countries like China, Japan and Korea, where it is always smart to have some cash on hand.

In Sri Lanka, we have been surprised by the demand for cash. Most hotels we have stayed in accept only cash. Most entry fees to attractions are by cash only and some of these fees are substantial. We have found the Bank of Ceylon best for cash withdrawals, with zero ATM charges. Knowing how much cash to take out can be a bit of a challenge because outside Sri Lanka, the rupee is unexchangeable.

23 February, Lily’s Resort, Habarana.

Back in Habarana again tonight after a long day at the ruins of the ancient city of Polonnaruwa. We had learned of the city while we were planning our trip, but thought we wouldn’t have enough time to fit in a visit. Luckily, we ended up with a day up our sleeves and with a little reshuffling of hotel and transfer bookings, we managed it. What an eye opener! Constructed at various times between the 10^th and 14^th centuries, the extensive complex rivals Angkor Wat. Adding to our experience was a guide who was extremely knowledgeable and a very pleasant companion. We normally wave off guides who tout at the entrances of ancient monuments, but this young woman was organised for us by the car/driver company we have been using and yet again they came through for us.

Once again, the numbers of tourists at the site made it difficult to get about and to make matters worse, Sundays must be days for school tours, because large groups of early teens added to the throng. We guess that we are just going to have to find some more out of the way places to explore to stay ahead of the mounting tourist wave.

Sri Lanka in Review.

Tomorrow is our last day. All we have on our agenda is a trip back to our starting point in Negombo where the International Airport is located, so it’s a good time to gather some thoughts on Sri Lanka.

We came to Sri Lanka with fairly high expectations. Most of the people we talked to and the reviews and blogs we read as part of our preparation spoke very highly of Sri Lanka as a travel destination. The country is “hot property” in all the travel magazines and many pages are devoted to feature articles, advertising tours that paint a very rosy picture.

So did Sri Lanka live up to all the hype for us? Not exactly. Don’t get us wrong. Read on.

Let’s start with Colombo, the capital. In our view, with the exception of the Dutch and National Museums and the Red Mosque from the outside, give it a miss, unless you are fans of crowded, dirty, crazy busy cities with touts and rip-off merchants lurking on every corner. Instead, head off from Negombo where the airport is. It may be that the day and a half we spent there took the gloss of the country from the very start.

Don’t put a big cross through this little island, though. By the way it is a little island, smaller even than Tasmania, but with a population of 23 Million.

 The climate is monsoon tropical, so always hot and humid, so we are here in the hot, humid dry season. There is some relief, however, in the higher elevations around Ella, where the temperature is only in the mid to high 20s during the day and pleasantly cool in the evenings. Except for a few days where we engaged in some strenuous climbs, we managed the heat fairly well, but then we live in semi-tropical Brisbane.

Getting about was probably a big hit for us. We had a couple of long train trips and several car and driver experiences, all of which fitted in with our slightly adventurous style of travel. The use of technology for managing these movements was largely done through WhatsApp. Don’t leave home without it!

Travel writers and bloggers rave about the people and here we, mostly, agree again. Most people we came in contact with were happy, smiling, extremely kind and helpful souls. But don’t swallow all the hype. As in any country you will meet people who don’t fit this mould. And we met a few.

Sri Lanka is an extremely diverse country. Tamal Indian influence, Moors (Muslims,) Buddhist and even a significant Christian population make up the major groupings. There have been tensions, and even a civil war among these groups, but all is peaceful now.

Costs are not as low as other southeast Asian countries, and as tourist numbers climb, so will costs. Food is good quality and extremely cheap. Alcohol is insanely cheap. Accommodation is reasonable by western standards, but the quality is variable and if value for money is what you seek, be careful in your choices. Getting around  on public transport is cheap. For example, a 2^nd class train ticket for a journey for 100km of so can be as little as a couple of dollars. Mind you, you will probably have to stand up most of the way, but that can be part of the fun.

 Many people come to Sri Lanka for the beaches. We can’t comment on those. The so-called “cultural route,” combined with a wildlife safari is what we did. It is a very common path that takes about 10 to 14 days. We definitely can’t complain about the scenery, the wildlife or the ancient ruins and the history we explored. These were the highlights of our trip.

So at the end of the day, not everybody travels as we do and not everybody has the same level of tolerance for some of the challenges that confront those who choose to do their own thing. So fit our views into your own context.

Bottom line for us. Sri Lanka was a great experience, but not the spectacular one we had been conditioned into expecting.

Would we come again? 50/50. But mind you, we said the same thing about Japan after our first visit and we have been back more than a dozen times.