Palm-tree studded beaches, rolling misty mountains, endless tea plantations, fragrant spicy cuisine, ancient ruins, wandering elephants, scenic train rides, and a tropical climate – Sri Lanka packs a mighty punch for a small island.
Whilst I was still recovering from the awful food poisoning that the delightful Rickshaw Run BBQ had bestowed upon me, the others were lucky enough to stumble upon newly hatched baby turtles making their way to the ocean whilst they were walking back from a night out. I wasn’t jealous at all.
We said a sad goodbye to Hugh, James, and Aran, our friends from home who had come out to meet us for The Rickshaw Run. But we kept travelling with Bron and James, the fun and friendly couple from East London who we had met on The Run as they had another week in Sri Lanka as well.
The Rickshaw Run was officially over but we were desperately missing the freedom and flexibility that comes with having a tuk tuk. So we searched around and decided to hire one from tuktukrental.com for our final week in Sri Lanka. The independence, fun, and freedom is next to nothing. The company was brilliant and the process was super easy, we cannot recommend them enough.
….and of course we still got lost and into some difficult situations with our new ‘shaws. No changes there then.
…and breakdowns were still common. So we were regular visitors at the local garages.
The Train Ride
It wouldn’t have been a trip to Sri Lanka without enjoying the famous train ride; we road it from Demodara to Kandy. Often considered the most scenic train journey in the world, it is also an incredibly affordable way of seeing the sights of this stunning country, costing us only 320 LKR (£0.70 GBP) each for second class.
Like the locals, we hung out the open doors and windows feeling the hot and humid breeze whilst the long soft grass whipped at our legs. We chatted, drank delicious hot sweet chai, played games, and rubbed shoulders with the Sri Lankans whilst enjoying the sights of this beautiful 7 hour train ride journey through endless lush green rolling mountains and tea plantations.
Temple Hopping and Sight Seeing
Whale and Dolphin Watching (Mirissa)
Sri Lanka is one of the best places in the world to see endangered blue whales. So we headed to Mirissa to enjoy the whale and dolphin watching with Raja and the Whales. We were lucky enough to see the blue whales, along with countless bottlenose dolphins and spinner dolphins. It was such a lovely experience, though poor Bron was vomiting off the back of the boat from sea sickness.
The best part about Raja and the Whales was that they had a photographer taking professional photos which were then later e-mailed out to everybody. So everybody could relax and not worry about trying to get their own snaps.
Turtle Point (Rekawa Beach)
Down in the south on Rekawa Beach lies a special beach protected by the turtle conservation group; Turtle Watch. As the name implies, they carefully manage and protect the turtles here in their natural habitat.
We came to watch these huge, beautiful creatures on the beach at night time. We were lucky to see the full process of a mother turtle digging her chamber, laying her eggs, and then burying them; under infrared torch light to not disturb her. You can also see baby turtles hatching and making their way to the ocean here, though we missed out on this. Damn… Hopefully my day will come.
James’ Birthday – Tea Plantations
On the 2nd April it was James’ birthday. Continuing in the spirit of The Adventurists, he was provided with the HOI (hat of inconvenience); a hilarious and awkwardly large party hat to wear for the duration of his special day. He was also provided with the most amusing birthday card myself and Leon could find, something about life being like a boomerang. Funny translations are the best.
As a true Brit, James decided he’d like to drink tea for his birthday and visit the tea plantations. So that is what we did. What’s better than one tea plantation? Two! We visited both Damro and Blue Fields.
We toured the plantations and filled up on their delicious different black tea grades (I still prefer mine with milk). Bron was searching for ideas for James’ evening birthday meal that evening, and checked what was on offer at Sri Lanka’s Grand Hotel (a famous luxury colonial-inspired hotel, often visited by VIPs). We sipped our tea and mocked the hotel’s online list of “exclusive dining experiences”. There were options to fine dine in some of their, lets say, unusual rooms…
One of which was hilariously the boiler room, and one being the laundry room. Seems like they are really milking it. Hilarious, but also, intriguing. Their photo of the candle lit washing machines caught my attention. “That could be… cool?” Fast forward a few hours and we were surrounded by fluffy freshly laundered towels lit up under purple neon lights, huge shining chrome washing machines full of candles. The best smell of fresh laundry filling our noses.
There was a small table with four seats in the middle of the room, it looked very romantic – oh wait, we are the only ones in here?! Wow, a fancy private dining experience with our own staff. It was a real treat!
We enjoyed the excellent, top-notch food and drinks whilst surrounded by the very washing machines that have washed the undergarments of dignitaries for over hundreds of years. Richard Nixon, Ghandi, and Prince Philip to name a few of the many well-known past guests.
Needless to say, James had a great and memorable birthday.
A Final Word
Sri Lanka is not in a good place right now: there is an economical crisis. Perhaps you heard about it on the news. Their Government has run out of foreign money to pay for essentials (e.g. medication, fuel, gas), and prices are rocketing. Daily powercuts were put in place to limit the spending; affecting the lives of all but those lucky enough to afford generators.
We had witnessed the struggle first hand – like when the kind man in the iPhone Lab was desperate to fix my phone before the daily power cut hit. Apologetic owners of cafes and restaurants who couldn’t serve us food which needed heating or any use of electricity. And the hotel owners who were very sorry about the lack of power during our stays.
It really began to kick off during this last week in Sri Lanka, after The Rickshaw Run. Huge protests in cities started taking place. The Government put in a nation wide curfew and the banning of social media took place for 24 hours in order to curb this. I couldn’t imagine such draconian and controlling measures would help to appease people and dampen any anger felt. And of course, it didn’t.
Sri Lanka was totally locked down for 24 hours. Our kind hotel owner went door-to-door asking his customers if they had enough food for the day. “Do you have food and water? I can get you some string hoppers if you need something to eat”.
During the curfew, tourists were able to travel freely. We drove our ‘shaws from Nuwara Eiliya to Ella, and drove through empty towns without a soul in sight. It was very, very strange. Dozens of abandoned trucks lined the sides of the streets outside the petrol stations; there wasn’t a drop of diesel in sight.
We witnessed hundreds of people queuing up with their gas canisters in the hot mid day sun. Gas to cook a hot meal to feed their family: a basic necessity. My heart went out to them. That very day, I later read that five elderly people had died whilst in these queues, and I felt my heart break.
Of course, the 24 hour lockdown only fuelled the fire even more and even bigger protests only went and took place afterwards. We walked around Kandy city centre which was full of people with “Go Home Gota” scribbled on signs, sounds of shouting, and ear-piercing fire crackers being set off. People were angry and wanted change.
Despite the loud noise it didn’t feel threatening, people just wanted their voice to be heard. Over that final week, we had countless protestors come over to us and to tell us what was happening. “Our government is corrupt and pocketing our money”. They were glad we were here, and they wanted us to know and witness what was happening in their country.
We had experienced an amazing three weeks in this beautiful country and were saddened by the events which took place in our final week. We really hope that things will get better for the people of Sri Lanka.
Leon and Amy’s Big Adventures 