Sri Lanka - South : Part 3

The second half of our trip was down south to the Beach. As it was a long drive, we decided to break the journey and head for Yala National Park, a very famous wildlife conserve for many animals including leopards!

So on Day 8, we are off in a Zeep again to a Safari..and we saw many birds, buffaloes, sleeping crocodiles, spotted deers, etc but no leopards! Maybe our choice to visit the Safari in the afternoon was not good as there were many tourist zeeps roaring away. I think we have also missed the feeding time - typically in the morning. But we witnessed a kyte eating a abondoned kill, probably left behind by the leopard.

Spotted Deers at the estuary

A Kite having his lunch - leftover from the Leopard (Sorry if it seems gruesome)

Our adventure grew when we were confronted by a tusk elephant heading towards a rubbish dump filled with empty lunch paper boxes. Apparently, he found this place and it is routine stopover at 5pm in the evening and our routes crossed! I was not very thrilled with being too closed with a charged up young male elephant. 

The infamous Tusk Elephant

I sincerely hope the Rangers closed up the dump area both for the safety of the visitors as well as for the elephants' health.

I would also like to take a moment to mention about the effect of 2004 Tsunami in the South of Sri Lanka. Site like the Southern Point of Yala has a momentum to remind all of us of the visitors and villages who were killed by the tidal wave.

On Day 9th, while coping with a disappointing beach bungalow, we went to Mirissa beach, and decided to just lazed at the beach after a sumptuous seafood lunch. The kids were more than happy building their "death hole" while I was busy scouting nearby hotels to move both families across to a more palatable surroundings. And we managed to move to a lovely one just here.

View of Mirissa Beach from a nearby small island

View from our Mirissa Hotel Room Balcony - just perfect for chilling out without the sand

The children's creation " Death Hole"

On Day 10th, we got up at 4.30 am, yes, as we set off to Mirissa beach to head off for Whale watching. The boat set off at 7.30am with very bright and cheerful group...but after 30 minutes into the sea, not rough, I must add, it started to claim 2 "causalities", followed by 3 more who decided to head down to a lower deck.

I was still enjoying the breeze but eventually had to join the rest when my head began to spin. Unfortunately, thereafter, I was just waving a no..no....most of the time whenever the boat crew pointed out interesting sightings! At the end of the day, my husband was the one and only (in our group) who "survived" the sea journey and presented us his photographs collection:

Sperm Whale taking a breadth - watched by visitors from another boat

Sea Turtle catching a breadth too in the middle of Indian Ocean

Fishermen at Work Morning and Afternoon

All I could say is for the rest of the afternoon, most of us  spent the afternoon recovering at the beach hotel while the children continued their sand adventure.

Day 11th was brighter, we went to another beach for our snorkeling adventure. NO boat ride, just by the shore, and spent our evening at Galle Fort, a UNESCO heritage venue, walking on the Walls enjoying the lovely sunset! A very lovely town set up by the Portugese, then Dutch and English and  many buildings of the colonial days were restored into either government houses, hotels or shops. Mind you, things are a tad expensive as it is a famous place.

The Fort at the Entrance

Walking on the Fort - by the beach

Soldiers lowering the National Flag at 6pm

Day 12th, we went to a River Safari and caught sight of many birds, swaps and fish farms. At a fish farm, our tour guide helped us to enquire about the famous Sri Lanka mud crab and we were in luck, got a huge one and 2 small ones for only SGD32 and our fantastic Guide hunt around a restaurant to cook for us. Slurp..

River Safari Boat ride

Our Dinner !

 Our day 11th and 12th were spent at another hotel at Unawatuna Beach. While this beach is famous, the rise of the water level eroded few kilometers of beachfront and it is no longer possible to walk along the beach anymore during high tide. It is shame.. 

Unawatuna Beach

Day 13th was our last day and we drove to Colombo to meet up with our friend's boss's wife's family. The traffic in Colombo was a stark contrast to the outskirts. Not enough traffic lights and we were literally crawling. So, I made a good decision not to visit the major city. But I also must add that along the way, we saw beautiful colonial houses, black and white style, standing majestically along the street.

Well, the warm reception and home cooked lunch was more than made up for the jam and after thanking them, we had to head to the airport right away. 

Typical Traffic Condition in city, in this instance, Colombo

We have come to the end of our Sri Lanka trip! You know, we have been back for a month and each time I talked about the country, I am always feel with so much excitement. 

Amongst the various countries we have travelled to, we just love this country. As my husband said, it is a country with so much to offer: Nature, Adventure, Food, Beach, UNESCO heritage sites and great people!


If you still not convince that Sri Lanka has so much to offer, check out a re-run of Peter Kuruvita " My Sri Lanka" series in Nat Geo Adventure on Saturday at 1955hrs.  The episode on King's curry which he cooked at the top of Sigiriya sealed our decision to travel there!


Question : If you have been following my blog on Sri Lanka, tell me which part do you like better, Central or South ?

Sri Lanka Central - Part 2

I had a comment that I need to write more and with more details… so, here you go..

On Day 4, we decided to take things easy. We were driven to the view point of Kandy Town – a UNESCO heritage town, took a leisure stroll on the main track in the Udawatakale National Forest  to enjoy the lovely canopy of teak trees and creepers, and sat on the longest creeper in the country! 

Viewpoint of Kandy Town

A walk in the forest amongst the Teak Trees and creepers

Longest Vine in the country

The afternoon was more of a shopping trip to a Co-operative handicraft centre. Our Guide explained that as he was sponsored by the government on the Tourism course, he has to bring us there. On that, I do appreciate his honesty and it turned out that the prices for handicraft, tea cups and souvenirs were reasonable. Our next stop was interesting. It was at a wood furniture shop and we were taken through the actual wood carving section . We found the most exquisite wood carving teak, rubber, mahogany and Ebony furniture. There were a couple of items to Singapore! Wow. 

Sample of stone & wood carving

Table sold and going to Singapore

Craftsman @ Work

 

We ended our day at Mlesna Tea Centre, this the number one selling brand in Sri Lanka, followed by Dilmah and Lipton. We sat down for a lovely cup of tea but the aroma of Celyon tea was enough to send me into the shop. 

We continued our Day 5 into the heart of the Central Sri Lanka and its tea plantation. It is acres and acres of it and also waterfalls upon waterfalls. Our lunch was at a café right next to Ramboda waterfall and faces a distant Una waterfall..Life is so serene. 

Ramboda Water on our Left

Una Waterfall in front of us

 We had the luxury of visiting Mackwoods Tea plantation at an elevation of 1900 metres  and the processing plant. This plantation was founded in 1841, auctions  the best tea in Colombo and exports mainly to the UK. And this is the estate that Prince William drop by on his round of visits to the Commonwealth nation!

 

Tea Plantation

How tea leaves are dried

Mackwood Teahouse - tea is served in teapot

Outside of the tea house - looks very English

 

Kudo to  the English for introducing tea planting to this country and for Sri Lanka to continue producing one of the finest tea in the world. But the work is done by South Indians who were brought in by the British then to undertake this painstaking work. Why, only the top tea leaves with a bud is pucked every week in all weather conditions.Today the trade has been passed down to 4^th generation and employing 2 million people.

 

Mackwoods was the start of our journey to the town Nuwara Eliya – Little Engalnd. We could see why it is called “Little England” the landscape, architecture and Gregory Lake emulate that of English lifestyle. Unfortunately, we did not stay here as I thought the cost of the accommodation was too much and decided to book our night at another town Banderawela, an hour drive away. Pics of Nuwara Eliya Town

Formerly known as Hunter's Club - now a Hotel

King's Hotel

Gregory Lake - boat peddling, canoeing activities are available here

 Day 6 : Another day of hiking (along the railway track) to the top of a waterfall, Ella Gap and Rock. We were totally exhausted when we reached the top but our handy bag of discuits and sweets were a saver at replenishing our energy.

The weather changed shortly after we completed our 6 km hike and we had to put on our raincoat and take shelter at a nearby village "Shed" and had lunch there, which produced great fried rice and noodles - err with a bit of help from our Tour Guide!

Walking along the Railway track - yes, it is safe

Friendly locals waving at us

 

Ella Gap

Ella Rock (View from the Top)

 

 

 

Our Lunch Venue - Love it!

 

 

 The drizzle continued into the 7th day and so we decided to chill out at our Bungalow at Banderawela. You see, our bungalow is an old colonial house, 70 years old, renovated and converted into a holiday bungalow and best of all has a Butler and Cook!

Some pictures of the Bungalow - Samanpaya

So, we decided to treat ourselves to a BBQ dinner that night and some of us went "marketing" at the local market in the morning. The BBQ dinner was a hit, taste wise, service by the Butler.. life was great, Men! Pics of the Market :

Our central Sri Lanka trip ended with a BBQ dinner in a big house at a town 1200 metres above sea level. The People, Scenery, Tea plantation, our Guide and of course the food and great company added to a very memorable 1st half of our trip.