FINALLY, A CHANCE TO VISIT THE INTERIORS OF SRI LANKA TO KANDY AND NUWARAELIYA

Whilst I have been able to visit Sri Lanka many times, my trips are always confined to Colombo and a few times to the coasts down south. This time, I am able to visit Kandy and Nuwaraeliya, located in the middle of the island. I was looking forward to this trip which was in early January 2011. The Christmas season has yet to end so I suppose, the holiday feeling is still there.

From the airport, our first destination was the elephant orphanage in Pinnawala. There are two such orphanages there, one private and the other government run. Our guide told us the entrance fee is the same but the private one throws in a ride in the price of the ticket.

They first bring explain to you the types of elephant as well it the history of the orphanage as well as the history of elephants in Sri Lanka. Below is the photo of a skeleton of an elephant. It was huge of course.

 

 In the nearby river, there were a few elephants bathing in the river. I suppose they are there for the benefit of visitors. Some of them join in to bath and wash the elephant. This is a good business venture to have your customers pay to do your work for you and maybe even tip your workers. Think about it!

 

I wish someone would pay me to do my work for me!

With so many elephants (there are 40 in the orphanage), there are bound to be a lot of poo around. Each elephant can really let go a huge amount. No worries, there are a few junior staff whose primary function is to scoop these up.

They were huge!!

Mind you, these poo do not go to waste. They can be converted to paper and from there various products such as note book, evelopes and other stationeries and gifts are made. These are sold on the way out.

I wonder, how much poo is produced daily? Hmm.....

Next up, we visited a herbal garden. Initially, I was sceptical to go but as we had time, I agreed. In the end, it was one of the most interesting place. The visitor garden is a just for show and has most of the herbs species planted but only a few trees or plants.

Our guide was a doctor who also studied herbal medicines. The discipline is also practised in government hospitals in Sri Lanka under Avurvedic medicine. He was most knowledgeable and his explanation was simple and clear.

We spent quite a long time there and also ended buying a lot of the stuff. They have medicine and concoctions for all types of sickness and well being.

 

 

 

It was then on to Kandy. The town is hilly and has a lot of character. It has it's own unique charm and feel. It is not as crowded as Colombo and was actually quite clean city. This is a view from the Kandy hill.

 

We then went to the Buddhist tooth relic. However, I was not able to enter as I was in shorts. You have to least cover your knees. They had  some silk sarongs for rent but it was a rip off and I did not fancy myself wrapped in a red or pink sarong, so I gave it a skip. Maybe the next time. However, this is the biggest attraction in Kandy.

 

Next we went for a cultural performance. It was packed with tourists. The show was quite interesting but I wished they had more variety as most were different types of traditional dances only.

 

 

At the end of the show, there was a fire dance and show.

 

We stayed at the Amaya Hill resort. It was a very nice resort perching on the side of a hill. In the morning, it rained lightly and we had the most thickest mist. It has really been a long long time since I saw one this thick. We hardly get any more mists in urban Malaysia. I really enjoyed this very much with much memories.

 

There was also a wedding parade in the hotel and it was quite interesting.

 

After breakfast, we journeyed on to Nurawaeliya, which is the highlands of Sri Lanka and tea country. On the way up, we stoppped at a tea factory (mandatory of course). The factory is called Glenloch and is more than 100 years old. Most places here have English and Scottish names (more Scottish in fact). However, most of the tea plantations as well as factories are now owned by Sri Lankans.

 

 

We were given a tour of the factory with a very detailed explanation of the various steps and types of tea. There were so much information to absorb and at the end of tour, I could only remember less than a quarter. The equipments were very old but still in good functioning order. Well done to the maintenance crew.

 

At the end of the tour, some tea tasting. We were served many grades of tea as well as different types of tea as you can see from the pictures.

 

That tasting of course precluded the mandatory visit to the tea shop to purchase tea. They had a wide range for sale. The view of the surrounding area was very beautiful as were the entire journey up the hills. With the whole area almost filled with tea plantations and forest (some were pine), the air was lovely and fresh and getting cooler as we climbed higher.

 

 

 

We stayed at the Jet Wing's St Andrews. It was a old British club turned into a hotel. The ambiance was lovely and quiet. It was most refreshing just to sit down in a corner and enjoyed a book or even my internet via the complimentary wifi (quiet fast too). The gardens also allowed one to enjoy a morning or afternoon cup of tea. Of course, the hotel served the traditional afternoon tea with scones and sandwiches.

 

 

The town of Nurawaeliya is not large and it has been built to really mind one of some small rural village in England or Scotland and one can't blame those who did that. It certainly would make any Englishman or Scot feel at home.

One such building was the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club. When anyone steps into the club, one will immediately be transformed into a world 70 to 100 years ago of the days of colonialism. One must still dress up for dinner. The club has rooms for guests and while there is a sign that only members and their guests are allowed, they actually do accept outside guests, signs of creeping commercialism, I suppose.

 

Another such building nearby is the Grand Hotel, supposedly the best hotel in Nurawa Eliya. We went in and can understand why. The lobby and gardens were magnificent as well as other reading or waiting rooms on the ground floor. As Christmas was not over, the crib scene was most beautiful and very large sized too.

 

 

 

Just lovely for tea. See the large tree too.

However, I read from some reviews that whilst the lobby and public areas are very nice, the rooms are quite old and not updated. I can't comment on that until I stay there, hopefully, the next time.

Some pictures of the outskirts of Nurawa Eliya. There were a number of holiday homes too. Some were old from the colonial days but many are newly built too. Locals too like to escape the heat and come here.

 

 

 On the way down back to Colombo, this is  a tea factory that resembles a castle.

 

There were a number of waterfalls too. They all have English names but I can't remember the names. This is one of them. Very beautiful.

 

The scenes on the way down was also equally beautiful but the roads were very windy.

We passed a number of small towns and it was nice to see the way they lived.

Back in Colombo, I had some work to do and I told my friends that I wanted to "kottu roti" as I saw this in Anthony Bourdain's trip here. I have been here many times but always ended up eating more of Sinhalese hoppers and Tamil food most of the time. This time, I got my wish. At the Ramada Hotel (formerly Holiday Inn), we had our "kottu roti". This dish is very popular locally. We ordered to share and had one with chicken and the other with prawns. The one with prawns are divine.

It is actually roti pratha (or roti canai) cut up and cooked with meat/seafood in curry with some vegetables. Very simple and delicious. Later I found out from a friend that this dish can be found in Brickfields at the Indian shop and in Malaysia, it is called "roti goreng". I'll try  to look for this soon.

Until the next time , cheers.

SECOND TIME ROUND TO SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA AND ANGKOR WAT

In early April 2011, I went on a weekend visit to Siem Reap with a group of friends. This was my second trip there. I enjoyed my first trip there and was also looking forward this time.

I was impressed with the airport the first time round and after a few years, it is still very well maintained. In fact, I think it looks better now. It has a resort feel to it. I managed to take some photos of the airport..............

For this trip, we stayed at the Raffles Grand Hotel. It is an old hotel renovated and now managed by the Singapore Raffles Hotel. Based on reviews on the internet, it was very highly rated. I must say it was as rated, the level of service and attentiveness was immaculate. The food in the hotel was also very good and one night, we had french food and it was fabulous and great service.

One of the best thing was the cold wet towel which they gave out each time you get into the hotel. With the heat, it was most welcoming.

The lounge area was very inviting and very good for a cocktail or tea.

The swimming pool was really nice and deserted too.

I like this frangipani garden very much

An exhibition of Buddha statues and painting.

After checking into the hotel, we went on our way to Tonle Sap. The lake is also a World Heritage Site and it is very interesting to see how the people live there. During the rainy season the lake will grow 4 times it size during the dry season and occupy a very large portion of the country. It is also the primary source of fresh water fish for the whole country.

"wan dorrar, wan dorrarr"

However, one bad thing, is that it is becoming too touristy and too many children begging for money. They are aggressive too!!! A lot of construction are ongoing to build more infrastructure for the  growing number of tourists. I was told by our guide that soon there will also a cruise between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh via the Tonle Sap and river connecting to the capital.

They keep calling out "One Dollar" at all the tourists.

At a stop for drinks and souvenirs, the floating shop also keeps crocodile.

We also visited Hotel de la Paix for lunch and this hotel is also very highly rated in its review. The food was also of very high standards and the hotel also looks very nice. They also won some awards from Conde Nest travellers magazine. Maybe the next time I will stay there.

The picture of the lobby area and food which I took did not give them their due. Trust me the food was good, both western and local dishes. Bread was also freshly baked.

I had the local set lunch but the portion could have fed 3 persons.



Of course, the main attraction to Siem Reap is the Angkor Wat and other temples and buildings. However, as we had a short time, we only visited Ta Phrom, the overgrown temple where they shot the movie, Tomb Raiders. So, its one of the more popular temples.

There also seem to have a lot of restoration going on, compared to the earlier visit. The country received quite a lot of aid to restore these temples. However, it is funny to see tower cranes with the temple sites. One must also take note to plan the visits to the temples properly as all visitors need to pay to visit the temples. The cost is US$20 for a 1 day pass and there are also 3 days and 1 week passes.

Both times, I have visited during the low seasons which is good as I was informed that during high seasons, it may be quite chaotic and prices for hotels, food and others also increased quite drastically during this time. With the low season, one can get 5 star hotels for as low as US$40 per night.

We also visited a handicraft centre opened by a charitable foundation. They also manage about 7 factories producing handicrafts and souvenirs made from stone, silk, wood, lacquers and paintings. They have trained many locals, even those handicapped and those who are hearing and speech impaired. The quality of work is commendable and kudos to them.





We also visited a temple with a small "killing field". The temple is located near a field (which is now a few blocks of new buildings). Bones collected have been housed outside the temple.

When we were there, the temple was hosting a ceremony and the Deputy Governor of the Province was giving a speech.




Apart from those who are on a tour group, most others just hire a tour guide and van and they charge by the day. Prices are generally fixed and can be easily checked on the net . However, all food, entrance tickets,etc are additional.

Siem Reap is a nice place to go for a short holiday or weekend even if you have been there before. There actually have many many temples to explore. Of course, for those who love history and old things, this is the place to be. However, the people, food and atmosphere are also other factors that will attract you to the place. Hopefully, they will not turn this place into a tourist trap and in the process, lose the charm and historical values of why it became popular.

As it was my second time there, I did not take many pictures. Sorry about it.

Until the next time, cheers.