Part Two Begins

Soon after arriving, I realised 10 days in Sri Lanka was definitely not long enough, and only a few days in I made a vow to myself to return one day to explore more of this beautiful island. But the time I did have available for this trip was well spent and extremely enjoyable. It was also rather different to my recent travelling experiences - this time was travelling with my sister, brother-in-law and my 21 month-old niece Rose, who came out to join me in Negombo on the west coast, a couple of days after I arrived.

Temple in Colombo

On a boat trip near Negombo lagoon

From Negombo we went inland to explore some of the Cultural Triangle area, basing ourselves near Sigiriya for a couple of days to visit the spectacular ancient citadel perched on top of a huge rock (formed from a volcanic plug in case anyone’s interested), and also go to Dambulla where there are fascinating Buddhist cave temples. It was at our guest house in Sigiriya that we met Manju, who would be another travelling companion for the next week, in the form of our driver and guide.

Dambulla Cave Temples

The next stop was Kandy in the Hill Country. Besides the usual, but well worthwhile, touristy trail activity of visiting Pinewalla Elephant Orphanage (a big hit with Rose more for the apparently amusing abundance of elephant poo, as opposed to large numbers of pachyderms), we were treated to dinner at the house of Manju’s parents, who live in Kandy. It was incredibly kind of Manju and his family to invite us into their home and feed us a superb meal of string hoppers (Manju had picked up on one of our conversations in the car that we had wanted to eat more of them and put in the request to his mum!), and a wonderful insight for us into a Sri Lankan home and family life.

From Kandy we made the long journey through the hills to Ella, its length mainly due to the windiness of the roads rather than large distances. During the day we, got some incredible views, stopped off at a tea factory, and saw more tea growing than even I will ever drink in my lifetime. We stopped on the way in Nuwara Eliya, interesting to Marnie and me for a family connection as our great grandfather used to be a teacher there. However my neglect of the necessary research in advance meant we didn't trace the school, but enjoyed seeing the town nonetheless.

We decided to visit Ella to have a relaxing couple of days enjoying the hills, the tea plantations and eat good food, and it didn't disappoint. In the morning we walked from our guest house up Little Adam’s Peak – a much smaller undertaking than its bigger brother of a peak, but a lovely walk with the reward of fantastic 360 degree views from the top of mountains, forest and tea. 

On the way back we detoured to see a green tea factory, where we got an interesting tour, and then a bonus of bumping into the director of the factory and learning a lot about the company and Sri Lankan tea production as he sat and chatted with us over a brew. We then walked a short distance to a hotel on a neighbouring tea plantation, where we had a delicious lunch and sampled some wonderful tea from their estate. I had a cup of Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe Fanning’s Special (don’t think I’ll be able to get that particular variety in Sainsbury’s).

Drinking tea surrounded by tea

More culinary delights followed in the evening, where we had a huge meal of Sri Lankan curries including a local speciality of garlic curry, using whole garlic cloves. Delicious. The next morning was an early start to begin a very, very long journey, the first leg of which was a train ride from Ella to Colombo so I could get to the airport to catch an evening flight. This meant I had to say goodbye to Marnie, Peter and Rose who still had another week to enjoy the island. I’ve been so fortunate not only to be on this journey, but to have my closest family members visiting me at different points – first my parents in Kerala, and then my sister and family in Sri Lanka. Seeing the people I love most in the world when I have been so far away from home has been very special and has made my trip all the more unforgettable.
From Colombo airport I got the first of three flights to get me to Cape Town. The first flight to Mumbai was quite dramatic, involving a passenger being escorted off by the police before we could disembark, after he had drunkenly assaulted a cabin crew member mid-flight and spent a large part of the journey shouting. Thankfully the next two flights were more relaxing and got me to my destination without any problems, for my South African adventure to begin...