Southeast Asia - Week of April 30: Sri Lanka

Welcome to Week 2 (April 30 - May 6) in Sri Lanka

Week is starting in Galle. Sunday morning I walked to Fort Galle from my hotel (about 2 km) after a great Sri Lankan breakfast. My intention was completing the visit and be back to the hotel by 11 am. So very hot after 11 am to be walking about. I declined the hotel's kind offer of free tuk tuk ride to the Fort. Walking gives me a better chance of witnessing the place I am visiting along with getting my exercise in. I walked on the Fort walls, visited the famous lighthouse/clock tower and saw where couples found personal space in the openings along the wall. I saw what I wanted by 10:30 am, however I still needed to change my sweat drenched T-shirt before I left the Fort for the return walk. Early afternoon involved a dip in the pool and hand washing some clothes.

Fort Galle lighthouse

Fort Galle walls and clock tower

Quick note about daily meals. I learned that two meals was now sufficient for the day. Since having a good breakfast was obligatory, I arranged my hotel stays to include breakfast. I've chosen to have a Sri Lankan breakfast option - live like the locals. I now skip the midday meal altogether deferring to having something light to snack on like peanuts, coffee/tea and some biscuits. Dinner is second sit down event with the focus on finding a good Sri Lankan menu option. Now back to the main storyline...

I confirmed with Mahi, my taxi driver friend, that he would pick me at 4 pm. We drove for about 20 minutes from my hotel to what seemed to be a progressive remote location. We turned off the main road, winding our ways through what seemed like a maze of narrow roads. As we were driving, the thought did cross my mind that if I was involved in a nefarious scheme no one was going to find me at the final destination. Oh, the inadvertent adventures I get myself into.

My visit was amazing. Mahi lived in his mother's home, with his wife and their almost four year old daughter and along with his younger brother (23). I:

was treated to Sri Lankan tea,
was served both regular hoppers and egg hoppers,
watched the art of making egg hoppers as performed by Mahi's wife,
ate freshly made coconut 'pancakes' (shredded coconut with sugar wrapped in a coconut pancake/crepe),
drank water from a king coconut,
tasted raw cinnamon from a cinnamon tree and
toured their yard which was full of interesting plants, trees and wildlife (including water snakes)
Treated to his daughter singing a number of English nursery school songs like Row, Row Your Boat. What a gift!

Witnessing the art of making egg hoppers

Coconut roti and pancakes - divine!

Tea, hoppers, egg hoppers and a dish of chilis

Mahi (extreme right) and his family

The added honour I had was being told I was the first foreigner to be a guest in their home. I also learned that Mahi's mother had worked in Milan as a housekeeper, sending money home to build the two homes they now own plus the small roadside store she runs. The mother also spoke a few Italian words to bring to life her time working in Milan. She had to return to Sri Lanka from Milan when her husband had suffered heart issues. I was given a king coconut as a parting gift to be opened for my Monday morning breakfast.

Mahi is an aspiring entrepreneur. He purchased a car in pursuit of being successful as a taxi driver. I made the commitment to share his contact info with people I come into contact with to promote his business. I am organizing the final part of my Sri Lankan journey so he can drive me from Galle to Colombo as my way to support his taxi business.

Monday's travel plan was to reach Dambulla - located in the country's upper interior. I had to take the train to from Galle to Colombo, experience a five hour layover in the Colombo Fort train station, then board a second train at 3 pm to Habarana train station. I had arranged with the hotel staff for a car ride (A/C) from train station to the Green Edge Villa in Dambulla. The tourist sights in this area included the Cave Temples and Golden Buddha in Dambulla, Sigiriya (Lion's Rock) and Polonnaruwa (ancient Buddhist city).

Train to Colombo

I boarded the 7 am train to Colombo. Lesson learned - booking the train trip earlier may have meant taking the 10:30 am train. The owner's husband was kind enough to drop me off at the train station. I was provided with a great packed breakfast from the Deltora Villa staff. Prior to leaving the hotel, the hotel staff presented the opened coconut that I received as a gift, with a straw, for my drinking pleasure.

My King Coconut gift for breakfast

Noticed I could get to Richmond Hill
from the Galle train station!

On the train, I sat across from a young mother, her daughter and from time to time, her two sons who between the three of them provided for an entertaining ride to Colombo.

Train to Habarana

I arrived Colombo Fort station around 10:30 am. Settled in for my five hour wait in the train station. I was approached by a station employee who asked about my destination. He was kind enough to check and confirm the train track (#4) I was to board at 3 pm. As I was sitting just outside the station operations centre I was also approached by a woman, who happened to be one of the station announcers, who wanted to confirm I knew where I needed to be for my train. She also asked me if I would sponsor her to come to Canada. I politely deflected the question. The woman sitting next to me started to chat with me. She was a school principal on her way, with her family, to the city of Anuradhapura to celebrate Buddha's birthday (Vesak) on May 5. The city has the first Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka - very much a sacred destination to celebrate his birthday. She was kind enough to write down a number of important sights that I should see when I on my journey in the Dambulla region. I've kept her handwritten note as a trip memento.

The train journey offered me another chance to make a new friend - Asela. My new friend is a major in the Sri Lankan Army on his way to an army camp/exercises just outside Batticaloa. Being a person that now has a new found scepticism about what my new 'friends' profess I initially took what he said with a grain of salt. As it turned out, he received a number of calls while on the train and snoopy me saw the calls were originating from other army officers or army locations. I also learned he was retiring from the army, at the age of 44, in the next few months with a desire for international assignments. In his army tenure, he did spend time with the UN in Haiti (as he had learned French earlier in his life). He had a daughter and son. Asela shared three gifts with me:

Baked/salted lentil treats he purchased on the train - a tad spicy and delicious
Ensuring I got off at the right station. Thank goodness! I had a misguided fantasy that my station was going to be a major station stop. Was like a whistle stop. I would have missed the stop entirely if he hadn't spoken to the conductor!
Information about the beaches in the Batticaloa area. I revised my travel plans based on his recommendation. I'd only truly appreciate this gift after my beach stay (stay tuned)

Asela is a WhatsApp contact.

Dambulla - The Green Edge

I had the most extraordinary time in Dambulla courtesy of The Green Edge staff. Sri Kantha picked me from the train station - was 9 pm and pouring rain. Sure glad I suppressed the idea of finding transportation when I got to the Dambulla train station.

I would be the only guest in the four room 'hotel' for my three days which was located about 20 minutes outside Dambulla in its own somewhat isolated location. The staff became good friends over my stay. Isuru volunteered to do the laundry I had for free. He also insisted on ironing my clothes - including my t-shirts. Sri Kantha introduced to the best and cheapest place to buy my meals in town on Tuesday after picking me up from the Golden Buddha (see below). They then took the food I bought, put it in dishes, and served the meal to me. Someone always ensured incense was burning when I was outside along with the mosquito coils. Incredible attention to detail - the little flowers sitting in water at the entrance were replaced daily. Staying at The Green Edge was like living in an oasis of bliss and happiness.

The Edge had a Japanese theme to its decorations. The local owner had married a Japanese woman and was now living in Japan. There were Japanese inspired paintings, Japanese tea/coffee packages and the strong Buddhist practices.

Cave Temples/Golden Buddha

Tuesday's focus was visiting the sacred Cave Temples and the Golden Buddha. I discovered that dropping me off at these two sites, which are within walking distance, was part of staying at the Edge. The caves are breathtaking. Hopefully the photos will provide some sense of what was created within the caves along with all the painting that covers all parts of each of the five caves. The Golden Buddha is the tallest statue of Buddha in this specific pose.

All statutes were carved from the existing rock

Every cave was fully painted on walls & ceiling

View towards caves; they are on the right

World largest Buddha Statue - Dhamma Chakka Posture

Sigiriya (aka Lion's Rock)

Wednesday's focus was visiting Sigiriya and Polonnaruwa. I hired Sri Kantha as my taxi driver and as I would learn, my Polonnaruwa tour guide. Please click this link for more details: Learn more about Sigiriya

We left at about 8 am to get an earlier start on climbing Sigiriya which is about 30 minutes from my location. Yes, someone determined that so many years ago that they should build a city on top of a rock. The early start meant avoiding the hottest part of the day while climbing up and down. With the 5,500 steps of Sri Pada from the previous Thursday fresh in my mind (and my recovering thighs/calves), I was off to climb Lion's Rock (what Sigiriya means). I was relieved this climb was much shorter and far fewer steps. As you can see from the photos, there was an elaborate city site build on this rock. Researchers are uncertain how all this building was accomplished. Shades of Machu Picchu - just on a much smaller scale.

Sigiriya - today's climbing adventure

Entrance to the serious climb. Notice the three
toes on each side. Note: there were about 300 - 400 steps up to get to this point in the climb!

Steer staircase for easy climbing

Tank (water reservoir) on top

Top of Lion's Rock

Polonnaruwa

Next stop - Polonnaruwa. Here's a link for more details: Must See Things - Polonnaruwa After driving about 90 minutes we arrived at our location. It's now about 11:30, in the midst of the day's heat. This is where Sri Kantha stepped up to act as my guide through this expansive ancient city. Getting around to the different points of interest required some form of transportation - rent a bike, tuk tuk or like me, ride around in an a/c car. So much to see. Sri Kantha ensured I saw the highlights. He also insisted, in his polite way, that I keep going for the last few sights when I was starting to whine about being tired and hot. I'm very appreciative of his firm guidance. I would have missed two key sights.

Gal Vihara - Standing Buddha

Forgot what this was - sorry!

Audience Hall

Audience Hall - Lion close-up

Ruins - Ancient Palace

The Vatadage

Rankot Vihara

Gal Vihara - Reclining Buddha

Gal Vihara - Standing Buddha

Gal Vihara - Sitting Buddha

Lankatilaka

Wild Sri Lankan elephant having a bath

On our way back to the Edge we saw an elephant in the water by the roadside. My first Sri Lankan elephant sighting.

Thursday was important for a couple reasons. One reason was it was time to say good bye. The second reason was I asked for Sri Kantha's help to seek medical assistance for the abrasion on my knee. I was concerned about how slowly it was healing. He very kindly found a clinic where the pharmacist examined and treated my wound. He also provided three days of antibiotics to prevent infection. I was relieved that the wound was still clean and uninfected.

Saying good bye remains a very sad moment in the trip. We had become good friends as my photos reveal. Staying at the Edge was another one of those life's moments that just seem to happen. Very grateful to have this type of blessing in my life. And - new WhatsApp contacts who I stay in touch with.

The Green Edge staff

Flower petals changed daily

Isuru

Sri Kantha

Anuradhapura

So I am guilty of taking the easy way out to travel to Anuradhapura which was about 90 minutes drive. I was mentally unprepared for using local buses which were potentially crowded and hot. My local hosts certainly reinforced the discomfort I may experience by using the local buses. Accordingly, I succumbed to my personal comfort and arranged for Sri Kantha to drive me in air conditioned comfort.

Sacred City Tourist Resort

Sacred City Resort was my first disappointment in organizing accommodation through Booking.com. What made my disappointment more stark was the contrast between my stay at The Green Edge and what my new location offered. I was going from a beautiful pastoral setting to a hotel was located off the street, down this short dark lane and opening up into this dark courtyard. My new home appeared to have seen its better days. Another opportunity to embrace my situation, suspend my initial judgement and let my stay unfold. Fortunately the room and bathroom were clean and functioning. Missed the mini fridge for keeping my water cold and a kettle for tea and coffee. This stay was to become more of personal learning about my expectations and living comfort zone and a remarkable education I did receive. The owners were thoughtful and accommodating. I also learned the word 'resort' was used to describe a broad range of rental accommodations.

Celebrating Vesak - May 5

I'm glad I suspended judgement with my room as I had the most extraordinary experience on Friday, May 5 - Vesak festival; commemorates the birth, enlightenment and final passing of Buddha. On this day, groups will get together to host a dansal - a table(s) where they will give away free food or drink in honour of Buddha's birthday. The hotel owner, Kalum, invited me to join him and his neighbours in preparing the drink that they would be sharing for free.

First things first though. Kalum wanted to treat me to a community dansal offering free ice cream - at 9 am. A man with common interests as me!

Free ice cream - I love this special day!

Preparation for the drink (trying to confirm the name) that Kalum's community would be sharing started around 8 am. Note that all the ingredients were donated and/or purchased with donations. They had 150 coconuts we needed to remove the fibrous outer covering. The coconuts were cut in half, the coconut water drained for use in the drink. We also peeled an endless amount of garlic. Part of my reward was being served the best cup of tea ever and offered a tea bun (now a personal favorite I seek out at local bake shops). All these ingredients plus water, sugar and numerous other ingredients were mixed and stirred over a flame for several hours. The group started a second fire to get two vats going. The objective was to prepare about 14 of these vats of drink by 2 pm. All of this preparation was being done in someone's yard about 100 metres from my hotel. The community also placed flags and banners along the road to direct people to their dansal.

The local health inspectors (four) showed up in the morning to ensure everything was up to health standards. All was compliant, however the inspectors required that everyone must wear a mask. Someone was sent to purchase masks for all!

I was invited to join the group for lunch the traditional way. A person walks around to each person presenting a tray with a glass of water on it. Touching the tray with your hands was accepting the lunch invitation as I belatedly learned. I initially thought I was being offered a glass of water to drink. Thankfully Kalum cleared up my confusion. Eating, the traditional way, is done with your fingers (no utensils). So I chose to eat my lunch of rice and curries with my hands. 'When in Rome..." My eating approach did get my hosts' attention and smiles.

The drink the group prepared was delicious. I had a few cups myself. As the photos show, there was a non-stop stream of people for the drink. Some people had flasks and water bottles that they wanted filled in addition to the cup they were offered. The group had this large supply of plastic cups with handles that they washed and reused after each use.

I was also invited to join the group for dinner. Just prior to dinner, Kalum invited to join him to tour around the city by the resort in his vehicle to see what other dansals were set up and see the Vesak decorations. Many dansals had wrapped up for the day and Kalum noted that there were far fewer decorations displayed.

The group had a meeting to update the community on the day's activities including finances. Overall feeling - the dansal was a great success! And I was now better prepared to accept the invitation to eat when the tray and glass of water was presented to me. I had the additional honour of being asked to be the first person to help myself to the amazing choices of food. What an incredible experience!

Prepping coconut - for coconut water and meat
Kalum is on the right with baseball cap

Shredding coconut - industrial approach

Cleaning garlic

About 14 of these kettles were made

Enjoying the fruits of our labor

Community table to share the free hot drink

The people just kept coming!

Vesak Decorations

Vesak lanterns

The owner's 17 year old daughter made two lanterns to celebrate Vesak that the family proudly hung in the upper eating area/stairwell.

Imagine this display fully light at night!

Anuradhapura - Visiting the Ancient City

On Saturday morning, with Kalum's help, I rented a tuk tuk and driver for four hours to tour the ancient city. Please click on this link if you want to know more: Anuradhapura - Detailed info. I achieved my objective to see the key sights in the four hour period. I also had the benefit of a knowledgeable driver who navigated us quickly to the important sights.

Ruwanweliseya Maha Saeya -
Sacred Buddhist site inSri Lanka.
Where Buddhism was first introduced.

Jetavana Dagaba

Samadhi Buddha

Moonstone

Mahathupa – Ruwanweli Dagaba

Ruwanweliseya

Sri Maha Bodhi

Sri Lankan Food/Satisfying My Sweet Tooth

String hopper pancake
filled with shredded coconut and sugar!!

And I was treated to some fabulous home cooked meals (breakfast and dinner) and sweets by Nadika - Kalum's wife. Yes, I did share my passion for sweets - albeit Nadika did remind me of the dietary implications of too many sweets.

Breakfast

Banking Update

Three key highlights in my ongoing pursuit to replace my BNS business debit card:

Branch small business advisor advised that due to bank policy he would require me to come to the branch to replace the debit card. Interesting. Looks like I have trouble. He did suggest going through the paper work to set up my business account through Scotia Connect. That would only take another three weeks or so.
Sent email to 'Escalated Concerns' email address to seek their assistance as returning to Canada for a debit card was kind of crazy. This is the next step in the ScotiaBank complaints process. I decided to forgo escalating to the branch manager given my situation.
I received a call, subsequent to Escalated Concerns email, from someone in Private Banking who was going to order my new debit card and have it shipped to me.

Progress - but wait there is much more to come in the next couple weeks.

So the week has come to an end. Visited the sights in three different cities. Learned more about the practice of holding judgement on the situation until the full story is revealed. A common thread in my travels to date is the kindness, generosity and thoughtfulness of the people I've met. Amazing the experience that awaits you if you embrace the world with an open heart and seek to find the best of each situation. You do need to temper this embracing with the practicalities of life to ensure one's personal safety. An important filter...

Excited for next week - off to Wilpattu National Park for a safari. Also traveling to Jaffna and Trincomalee (to start my east coast beach discovery part of my trip).

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David's Great Adventure - 2023