Tuk Tuk – Wander With Stella

Arriving in Sigiriya we were very disappointed in our home stay tree house at the Thick Forest. Having friends who recently stayed in a Tree House it did not measure up. It was a ramshackle mosquito haven, dirty and a little shaky. The mosquito sleeping nets had holes and were so old they smelled musty. To add insult to injury we paid more than the usual rate for this experience. The owner begged us not to write a bad review and brought out a book in which he has customers write “complaints” and “suggestions” It was full of unhappy customers but the last time we left a warranted bad review on a booking website we were harassed. Cutting our losses we checked out a day early and went to a lovely home stay with a pool for the same price per night and had a far better breakfast and dinner, it was spotless, had a great pool and the family was delightful. Don’t go to Thick Forest….stay at Sigiriya Peacock Homestay.

Climbing Sigiriya Rock Up To The Lion Fortress

Sigiriya is a town and and ancient city located close to the town. It is awesome, it is a once in a lifetime experience to be there and to climb the great rock. It is a historical and archaeological site that is dominated by a massive column of granite about 180 meters high. As a UNESCO world heritage site is very popular with both Sri Lankans and foreigners. Would you believe that one of the ancient kings built his palace on top of this rock and decorated its sides with colourful frescoes. It is a steep 1200 step climb to the top of the rock to see the remains of the palace, but it seemed like more in the intense heat of the day.

Entrance fees for foreigners are relatively high, about $35 USD, but not begrudged because the money goes to maintaining this marvellous place. You enter the Park and the first stop is a museum that details the long line of Kingdoms that existed here and the archaeological history of various digs that have taken place since the 1800’s. It is thought that Buddhist monks occupied the rock caves and shelters from as early as the 3rd Century BC. The grounds leading up to the Rock are beautiful and full of ponds and gardens and of course monkeys.

As you start the climb you see immediate evidence of the structures that existed at the foot of the rock. The first 900 or so steps are pretty steep and several stops help make the going easier. Taking your time is essential unless you are young and fit.

About half way up there is a gateway in the form of an enormous lion. Only the claws remain but imagine when the rest of the body and head were intact, it would have been impressive indeed. All this brick work covered with plaster and painted with frescoes is hard to imagine. The Lions paw is a rest stop for sure and there is filtered water for those who have run out. The views from this level are spectacular enough but only serve to fuel the desire to reach the top another 40 meters or so.

The last bit as seen below wasn’t too bad because people moved slowly up the steep steps and as you can see there was quite a crowd. There was no pushing or shoving and for the most part the crowd was Sri Lankan.

Reaching the top was epic for me. The 360 degree views were amazing and you could see that the King who had the palace built could easily survey his Kingdom for miles in every direction. Supplying the palace with the necessities of life was carried out by servants who climbed up and down the rock but the Royals who lived on top were carried up and down in a palanquin. Across from Sigiriya is another Rock, Pindurangala Rock and people with more time and energy will climb it as well.

I couldn’t tell you how long it took to climb Sigiriya, the trek up was so engrossing that I completely lost track of time. I felt on top of the world when I got there and on the way down there was plenty of time to enjoy the views and admire the frescoes that adorned the rock walls. You haven’t been to Sri Lanka until you’ve been to Sigiriya!

Buddhist Caves

After a good night’s rest our next outing was to visit the Rangiri Dambulla Cave Temple another Unesco World Heritage Site. A pilgrimage site for 22 centuries, it is the largest and most well-preserved cave-temple in Sri Lanka. The temple is a series of five caves built into the wall of the rock mountain. The Temple has been transformed over the centuries and each of the caves or sanctuary has its own purpose and design. Altogether there are 157 statues important to the life and practice of Buddhism. It’s quite a climb to get up to the caves but nothing like Sigiriya, but like Sigiriya the rock carved stairs are uneven and sometimes very steep.

Girithale and Polonnaruwa

Staying in Girithale at the Agbo Hotel gave us quick access to Polonnaruwa another ancient city site that has undergone extensive archaeological activity.

The Agbo Hotel was one of our favourite stays and our rooms had great views of a lake and the surrounding forest and hills. It also had a large band of monkeys that frequented the property and we were asked to keep our balcony doors closed in the morning and when we were out for the day. However we decided to take our morning tea on the balcony as there was no evidence of monkeys in the vicinity. Enjoying the peaceful view we were startled to realise that some of the red faced nasty mean type macaques (remember they were entertaining in previous blogs) had snuck up on us and one of them leapt up onto our table and attacked our sugar bowl before we could even move. Greedily shovelling the sugar into his mouth with both hands and in between defending his right to it by baring his sharp pointy teeth and hissing at us, completely ignoring our attempts to shoo him away. We were forced to retreat inside but every time we moved he lunged at us, but with some sideways sidling and a chair as a means of defence we both made it safely back inside slamming the sliding door behind us. The monkey then took over the table and made short work of the sugar and the milk with the milk jug being the collateral damage in his rampage.

Mean Monkey

Polonnaruwa

We hired a Tuk Tuk through our hotel and had another great ride through the jungle and the towns on the way to Polnnuarwa.

Another UNESCO World Heritage Site, Polonnaruwa is a a huge ruin dating back to the 11th Century and was the capital city until the 13th Century. The area of the city is huge and it was much easier to see the different sections by Tuk Tuk and one ticket is all you need to get into each section. With hundreds of ancient structures, tombs, temples, statues and stupas it is well worth a visit.

A prosperous city, well situated for trade and defence it was known as a garden-city and irrigation was used extensively in the ancient city. The city was eventually abandoned and overtaken by jungle after a series of civil wars and invasions.

The main event seems to be the Quadrangle as it is known, a huge collection of buildings in a small area, it is considered a holy site and proper dress (no bare knees or shoulders) is required for entry.

Cooking Lesson – A Definite Highlight

We loved our cooking lesson at Jaga Food Restaurant in Polonnaruwa. We Tuk Tukked it back to the restaurant with our now regular driver, Janaka Sudam. Our excellent teacher, Angelee, spoke English and her youngest two children were being sent to an English school so they had a pretty good grasp of what we were saying. It was a family affair with the two older sons and husband all in attendance. The second oldest son is studying Japanese and was doing his homework atone of the restaurant tables.

The clay pots that are used on the wood-fired ovens are seen all an over Sri Lanka. Roadside stands will have hundreds of pots of all sizes on display.

Our Cooker – Temperature Control with Positioning of Wood

Anjalee Wickramasinghe of Jaga Food Restaurant

Master Coconut Grinder- Only the Freshest Ingredients

Of course when all was said and done we sat down to twelve dishes, Anjalee added rice and custard with treacle for dessert and we implored our driver to join us to help out, there were so many dishes. Another one of my favourite things to do in Sri Lanaka. Thank you Anjalee and family, we so enjoyed our time with you.

Leaving Tissamaharama and Yala National Park we headed towards Nuwara Eliyah via Ella, two very popular destinations in Sri Lanka. This area is the hill country in central Sri Lanka and with cooler temperatures it is known for tea, spice and vegetable plantations. Most of the population in Sri Lanka is still Agrarian but in recent years there has been an increase in migration to the larger cities. In the countryside between Tissamaharama and Nuwara Eliya, the plantations stretch as far as a the eye can see and anywhere a flat piece of land or a piece of land that can be made flat is given over to crops.

Such a beautiful green, rice fields yield two crops a year in Sri Lanka and is a staple at every meal. Generally we have been served huge platters of rice often cooked in coconut milk along with small bowls of curry and sambols (spicy relishes prepared from onions, tomatoes, lime and chilli’s).

There of plenty of spice farms to visit along the way and it’s interesting to hear about the growing of the various spices but since the farms cater to the tourist market, the spices themselves are often more pricey than you will find in local markets. Sri Lanka’s spice exports have grown to amount to over 50% agricultural exports. There are twelve major herbs and spices in Sri Lankan cuisine, including; cinnamon, pepper, curry leaves, pandan leaves (nutty aroma), lemongrass, cloves, cardamom, chilli, cumin, coriander, nutmeg, mace and ginger. Much the same as other South Asian countries but distinctive in their use and resulting flavors.

Along the route we followed to Nuwara Eliyah we passed lots of little food stands and tourist spots and we were not the only people on the road that’s for sure. On our long-haul 3 to 4 hour trips, we would hire a car and driver and it averaged around 50 USD per trip which shared two ways was very reasonable. Generally comfortable with very safe drivers who value their cars, we had A/C and all the stops we wanted and were treated nicely and felt protected. Every time we stopped somewhere the drivers would come with us as we walked, photographed, shopped etc they would hover and help out if need be. Basic English was generally what they spoke but they understood much more and if we couldn’t get ourselves understood they would assist. Not tour guides per se but they would often point out places of interest and each one of our drivers showed a great deal of pride in their country.

Falls in Action

Although we passed through Ella and it looked like a fun place it was very touristy and the famous train trip from Kandy to Ella is said to be some of the best scenery but it is generally packed and the main goal of some tourists is to take the iconic photo of themselves hanging out of one of the doors of the train, that’s if they are lucky enough to get near the door. We opted instead to do the opposite of what most do and he headed to the mid-way point of Nuwara Eliya, where we stayed a couple of nights and then took the train in the opposite direction of most tourists and went north to Kandy.

Generally speaking we preferred to opt for homestays, easily bookable on travel apps but be prepared pay in cash. Only the larger hotels and businesses in city centres take Visa. We discovered that The Bank Of Ceylon waives banking fees for tourists so we would make our cash withdrawals at there ATM’s as we needed. Oddly enough the withdrawals in my visa statement named Imperial College of Business Studies instead of the Bank of Ceylon.

Homestays in Sri Lanka allow you a glimpse of daily family life and a chance to meet people and make friends. Sri Lankans value family life, children and their religion a great deal. They are friendly, curious and quite keen to use whatever English they have to get to know you. Although the price in Homestays, usually only includes breakfast you can always ask to have dinner as well and as a general rule the meals were delicious and the servings were not skimpy. We tried a lot of dishes we might not otherwise have encountered and could ask questions about ingredients, names and prepartions.

Wandering the Tea Trails Around Our Home Stay

Nuwara Eliya Homestay in a Tea Plantation

The city of Nuwara Eliya was a living example of British influence. The Sri Lankans refer to it as “little England” and it is where the ex-pats would come to get away from the coastal heat during the hottest times of the year. Place names, plantation names, polo clubs, streets and hotels often have British names.

Once checked in to our home stay we would travel about the towns mainly in Tuk Tuks which are a thrill a minute. Quick turns and darting in and out and around other vehicles of all sizes is exhilarating and it’s nice to feel the cooling breeze on your face

Snippet of a Typical Tuk Tuk Ride

Seeing that we were in “Little England” we followed our guide books advice and headed to the Grand Hotel for high tea. It is quite the hotel and quite the experience having high tea in Sri Lanka with everyone trained to imitate this most practiced of British traditions.

Often a Tuk Tuk will take you from A to B but on the route of your choosing and so in Nawara Eliya we asked to take the road that circled around the Lake in the centre of town and were treated to some spectacular sunset vistas and cloud formations. The sky in Sri Lanka has some of the best cloud activity.

Our home stay host provided us with a ride to the nearest train station where we had booked first class tickets to Kandy, the second largest centre next to Colombo. The British brought in the railways mainly to help with the export of goods but today they are well used and generally quite crowded so it’s wise to book ahead which we had done.

Rules are Clearly Posted in Sinhalese, Tamil and English

We boarded the train which was delayed by little more than half an hour, which by Sri Lankan standards meant it was practically on time. We were the only foreigners in our car and as we were stowing our bags in overhead racks we were given help by a gentleman who was then razzed by some fellow passengers which made the whole car laugh and that set the tone for the rest of the trip.

Little did we know how much fun a train ride could be and yes the car was full and everyone seemed to have a seat but that didn’t mean they actually stayed in them. There was quite a bit of back and frothing and coming and going and people stood in the aisles whenever it suited them. Some men in the back of the car had brought along a Karaoke Machine which they fired up shortly after we pulled out of the station. Everyone joined in at various times and not having a good voice had no bearing on participation. Food was passed around and shared among the passengers and sellers of samosas and other snacks and drinks cruised up and down the asiles. As entertaining as our fellow passengers were the views won the show, as we passed through the brilliant green landscape of rural Sri Lanka.

Karaoke Car

Once in Kandy we secured a driver who agreed to take us to our final destination of the day…Sigiriya. It was a bit of a scramble around the train station and we tried to hire an uber but they are fiercely opposed and the driver of the vehicle had to flee the area when taxi drivers swarmed his car. We had to walk a couple of blocks to get out of the fray but once around the corner from the station we were approached by several taxi drivers offering their services and so with some negotiating to get the price down to a reasonable level we were on our way, excited for our next home stay in a Tree House. (More on that in the next post).

Tag: Tuk Tuk

Sri Lanka – Part 4 Sigiriya – Cultural and Historical Heart of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka – Part 3 – Hill Country

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