Tea and Trains

People suggest that Nuwara Eliya, in the heart of Sri Lanka's tea country, is like a little England. We're not completely sure we get that comparison, but we definitely got a Disney vibe walking around Nuwara Eliya's lovely Gregory Lake. 

Click here to see photos from our visits to Nurawa Eliya and Ella, which included visiting a tea plantation, a couple of lovely hikes and a scenic, open-air/open-door train ride. 

Click here for a few beach photos from Hiriketiya. This little cove was our first stop once we reached Sri Lanka's south coast. It's an up and coming surf and tourist destination for good reason. 

Pera Hera

Our most recent visit to Kandy coincided with the 5th night (of 10) of the city's famous PeraHera Festival. It was an amazing thing to see. The procession of fire dancers, whip-crackers, flag bearers, drummers and elephants seemed almost endless. We found a great viewing spot near the Temple of the Tooth to take in the spectacle. Click here for photos. 

One of the elephants was being boarded in someone's front yard, just a few doors down from Anna Shantha Villas, where we were staying, so we got to see him throughout the day - during his bath time, dinner and costuming. 

People have a lot of mixed feelings over the impact of Pera Hera on the elephants - the use of chains, the stress they experience from the noise and commotion, etc.  We most definitely thought about all that while watching the parade, though we witnessed good care and attention by the elephant handlers. The crowd was reverent, the chaos was well organized, and the parade was most definitely a highlight of our time in Sri Lanka.

Elephant Safari

While in Sigiriya, we visited Minneriya National Park, which "hosts" a large gathering of wild elephants each August because of the water sources within the park. Click here for photos. 

In and around Minneriya, elephants roam freely. It's not unusual to see them along the roadsides; or to see small platforms - similar to deer blinds - where farmers keep watch over their fields at night in an effort to keep the elephants away. Noise and/or small fires are usually enough to deter them, though some farmers resort to more extreme measures.  One afternoon, we stopped to watch some locals who were trying to keep an injured elephant occupied while they awaited the arrival of a veterinarian. It had a bullet logged in its trunk. In the photos linked above, you can see the bump of the bullet. 

As for our safari, we got to see a couple of dozen elephants gathered, including the two below who spent much of the afternoon wrestling each other. 

Exploring Sri Lanka's Ancient Cities

We visited two of Sri Lanka's ancient cities this past week - Sigiriya and Polonnaruwa - as well as the Dambulla cave temples.  Click here for photos.  

Our time in Sigiriya include two great hikes - one to the top of Lion's Rock, picture above, and one to the top of nearby Pidurangala Rock, which offers great views of Lion's Rock. 

At Polonnaruwa, we explored some very well preserved ancient ruins and had the unexpected opportunity to witness a Buddhist religious event. The crowds were a bit overwhelming, but it was fascinating none-the-less. People were gathering all day for a ceremony that began just before sunset and would continue through sunrise the following day.  

In addition to seeing a lot of monks at Polonnaruwa, there were monkeys everywhere. The kids are worried I'm going to be featured in a monkey-attacks-human YouTube video soon. They have a lot of curiosity when it comes to cameras, and I often have snacks in my purse. 

Surf Lessons

We're posting photos from the last portion of our recent 8-day trip around Sri Lanka first.  Click here for surf photos from Weligama, home of great surfing and Sri Lanka's first "fish taco". 

We always stay at Neo Bay when we visit Sri Lanka's south coast, and the managers have just opened a restaurant. At Pat's suggestion, they now serve fish tacos. Pat had to make a trip to the US this past week, so he wasn't with us for the taste testing, but we think he'll like them. The kids definitely liked surfing.

Our trip to Weligama - and lovely nearby Mirissa Beach - ended on a Poya Day (full moon = holiday) and was a great way to cap-off our inland travels around Sri Lanka's Hill Country. 

Sigiriya and South... preview

We have been traveling around this past week, without a computer or consistent WiFi access, but LOTS of photos are coming soon. The one above was taken after a great hike to the top of Punduragala Rock near Sirigirya. The one below captures a beautiful sunset we saw in Ella. We’ll post more from our trip in a few days when we are back in Colombo. For now... click here. 

Trincomalee... continued & updated

Click here for mostly in-and-underwater photos from our long weekend in Trincomalee. And also here. 

Sightings included a couple of turtles, lots of eels, a lion fish, puffer fish and more. Look closely at the jellies, and you'll see small starfish inside them.  


Shortly after her final check-out dive, Emily told us she would prefer to live underwater. She doesn't get sunburned down there, and she loves hanging out with sea life. For Pat, this comment advanced her significantly in the always evolving favorite child standings. 

On the way back to Colombo, we passed the tusker pictured below. He is walking from Colombo to Kandy for next week's Perahera festival and was definitely attracting attention, not to mention complicating the traffic flow. The walk is a sacred and longstanding tradition. It takes about 4 days in all, with lots of rest stops along the way at various Buddhist temples. 

We're expecting to be in Kandy next week on the 5th night (out of 10) of Perahera, so we'll share more about the festival then. Each night includes a parade, with each successive parade becoming more elaborate with costumes, lighting and elephant participation. 40-50 elephants take part in the final parade night. 

Mixed with this album are a few shots from around Colombo, too. 

Diving in Trincomalee

Click here for above-the-water photos from our long weekend in Trincomalee, on Sri Lanka's beautiful eastern coast. The twins got certified to dive during our visit, and Pat took lots of underwater photos (coming soon in another web album).  Jake's friend Emily is visiting us for a few weeks, so we now have two Emilys - a Canadian one and an American one. 

Trincomalee, Uppuveli and Nilaveli are adjacent towns with beautiful beaches along the upper east coast of Sri Lanka. The area is still fairly undeveloped, but tourism is definitely on the rise due to good diving, snorkeling and the great beaches. 

Locals are mostly Hindu and Muslim, so calls to prayer are frequent, with chants broadcast over loudspeakers from various temples. Mixed-in with the prayer music, fresh bread delivery tuks and ice-cream vendors drive around all day playing Beethoven’s Für Elise. Tourists are mostly European, Chinese and Indian. August is high season, but most of the "traffic" we experienced during our 5 day stay in Trinco was four-legged in nature. Cows roam around everywhere, along with deer and beach dogs. 

Trinco's most famous religious sight is Koneswaram Temple, a shrine to the Hindu Lord Shiva to whom expecting mothers pray for health pregnancies. The Temple sits on a bluff with amazing views of the area. Fencing along the cliff edges is covered with handmade offerings - small wooden "cribs" tied with colorful ribbons. 

Our days in Trinco were very simple: 

• An early breakfast of tea, fruit, eggs and toast, which is always included as part of a stay at local villas like the placed we stayed in Nilaveli, Sea Zone. 
• Morning diving with Jez and Cinzia at AquaCreed. 
• Lunch at Rice & Curry, a small restaurant we fell in love with in Uppuveli with excellent kottu and dal. 
• An afternoon rest during the heat of the day. 
• A little puppy time, with the five, 6-month old puppies being cared for by the dive shop near our villa. One is pictured below. 
• Playing in the practically perfect waves at Nilaveli Beach until sunset (around 6:30pm here). 
• Repeat, with minimal variation. 

On our last morning, we snorkeled at Pigeon Island National Park. We got there early to avoid the crowds and with the hope of seeing reef sharks, but the visibility was less than ideal for spotting them. There were plenty of fish and some nice coral. Fish photos coming as soon as we download Pat's underwater camera.