Galati Travels: Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka was a place I had never much fantasized about, but I can certainly say it exceeded my expectations by a great degree. How I ended up going there was owing to my Pakistani passport, which restricted my chances to go for a weekend anywhere, with a week's notice! I applied for a Sri Lankan visa on a Wednesday online, got it Friday morning in mail.

Sri Lanka is one of few places in Asia where you can see elephants in the wild, and boy, did Kaudalla National Park deliver. Similar to Addo National Park in South Africa, this is just home to so many elephants.

One of my favorite place however was Bentota and Beruwala. We wanted to spend the last days in a beach and Bentota seemed to be the obvious choice. From Colombo, its a bus ride away, and I would suggest buses over any other form of transport. The two beach strips of Bentota and Beruwala are 15 minutes apart by Tuk Tuk. Beruwala is also a seaside town and after wandering around the town, we found there is a Kande Viharaya Temple, with its rather impressive Big Buddha. We didn't have time to do it, but I certainly suggest the readers to check it out.

We stayed at The Palm, and it was amazing. On the face of it, the resort seemed tiny, but once we went in, we discovered it had beautiful hallways and some excellent interiors. The hotel is located at the Beruwala beach which is less crowded, very clean and has lots of water sports. There, we ended up doing some rounds of jet-skiing for $80 but it is totally worth it.

The sky is beautiful and fresh juices are everywhere. That's one of the best things about Sri Lanka is the juice variety. I tried coconut, passion fruit and jack fruit juice while there.

What struck me again and again was how much Sri Lanka felt less like South Asia and more like Southeast Asia — In fact, I may like it more than Thailand or Malaysia, because it has greater ecology, better food and a sense of familiarity. There are discounts for Pakistanis too, AND English is widely spoken, which made it easy to have conversations with people. And if not conversations, everyone was quick with a smile.

The beaches are pristine, not at all touristy and I'd suggest this place over many beaches in the US, or Australia.

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From Kandy, you can take a day trip to Sigirya or the Lion Rock, which I highly recommend. It is northeast of a place called Dambulla, in the Matale District. Sigiriya is basically an ancient rock fortress, which according to some legends, was selected as the site by King Kasyapa back in 477 – 495 CE for his new capital.

It takes you around 2 hours to get to Sigirya from Kandy so plan accordingly. If you go by tuk tuk, it might be longer. The cost via taxi is around $50 round trip. Another option is to take the cheap and easy local bus to Habanara, which is an excellent base to visit Sigiriya and Minneriya National Park. What is special about Sigirya is that at 200 meters, it stands out as a huge outcrop of gneiss rock that towers the entire flat countryside.

Tickets for Sigirya are somewhat expensive; for foreigners, they are $40 per person and for South Asians a tad bit cheaper at $20. Regardless, it is still worth it. You may choose to go first to the museum. It is not much actually, but has some information. I would suggest go afterwards.

Once you enter the main gate, you will see the stone path that leads you to the top of the rock. It will take you perhaps 3-4 hours to get to the top and back down. The inscriptions in the caves at the base of the rock indicate that Sigiriya served as a place of religious retreat as far back as the third century BC, when Buddhist monks established refuges here.

What's really amazing is that the area around the rock is flat so this rock just sticks out The walk up to the rock makes for great exercise and good views. You will also climb over metal staircases and see original rock paintings. There is also another platform you will reach with two huge carved lion feet. This was built by the king as the gateway in the form of an enormous lion. The name of this place is derived from this structure —Sīhāgiri, the Lion Rock. It also makes for a great photo opp.

Another interesting thing is that it reminds you somewhat of Mughal architecture because of the terraced gardens. These terrace gardens have been created by the construction of brick walls, and are located in a roughly concentric plan around the rock. The path through the terraced gardens is formed by a limestone staircase. From this staircase, there is a covered path on the side of the rock, leading to the uppermost terrace where the lion staircase is situated.

Once at the top, you will be sweaty and tired so make sure to take lots of water, or better yet some fruit and drinks. You will also see some ruins at the top, which are suspected to be remains of a monastery or temple. It is believed that this was the palace of the kind, and it also consists of a number of colourful frescoes. At the top, you can get an excellent view of the country side below.

Our taxi driver was waiting at the exit and from there we decided to visit Minneriya National Park in the afternoon. The entire jeep safari cost us about $80 for two people but it was worth it. We went in October, and there were lots and lots of elephants we saw hiding everywhere. We went quite close to them. We also went through a thorny jungle and saw iguanas and lizards and different kinds of birds - However this was the best place to see elephants.

The jeep safari is long and takes up atleast 2 hours. Thus, with Sigiriya and Minneriya National Park on one day, we were certainly fulfilled. I think that makes for a great full itinerary and you should certainly do this.

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Kandy is perhaps the pit stop you need to make to conduct your one-day trips everywhere. It is located at the center of Sri Lanka and is generally recognized as the island nation's cultural capital. It is to Sri Lanka what Lahore is to Pakistan while Karachi is Colombo. It is the second largest city and is in a mountainous region, with a cooler climate. Being a large city, it has done a great job to remain green and clean, and is surrounded by a beautiful tropical rain forest.

The downtown area is crowded but alive, and has some great food and juices. I loved Sri Lanka for simply the amount of tropical juices there were.

To get to Kandy, you can take a tax from the airport (cost us 10,000 rupees) or you could even take two buses. There is a free shuttle bus to the bus terminal, where the friendly locals will direct you to the bus to Kandy which is about a hundred rupees

One in Kandy, you can use tuk tuk or the local bus, or even walk. Tuk Tuks are cheap and the person usually tells you a bit about the places.

The Temple of the Tooth, is the main temple next to the lake and is open only in the morning till dusk. It houses a tooth relic of the Lord Buddha, and is consequently considered one of Sri Lanka's most holy shrines. Although you may not view the actual tooth itself, the casket within which it is said to be is displayed twice a day. The best time to view this ornate casket is around 6.30PM. Also for ladies, you must cover up below the knees with pants and everything on the shoulders. There are plenty of people at the entrance that will hire you a shoal to cover for 150 to 200 LKR.

The main lake in Kandy is the Bogambara lake and you cant miss it. You can walk all the way around the Bogambara lake, right next to the temple of tooth relic.

There is also a nearby Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage , which I would not recommend as the elephants are in captivity. A better idea is to go to a national park where you will find the elephants in the wild. There is also the Millenium Elephant Foundation right next to Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage. There, you can ride and wash elephants in the river. Entrance: LKR1,000

You can also see Kandyan dancing you can see this traditional form of dancing in the "Kandyan Cultural Center" near the Kandy lake.

Kandy is essentially the stopover place so from here, head onwards to Sigiriya and the Minneriya National Park.

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