Sri Lanka January 2006

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
It's been awhile, I know, but other than a weekend fishing trip I took in early mid December, the time since the last entry has only been filled with work responsibilities, besides a visit from Shawna's mother over Christmas. However, January 2nd finally arrived, and we ventured out into the world on an experience of our lifetime--Sri Lanka!

I'm going to try to save as much of the commentary as I can, but this trip was much more than words or pictures could ever offer; Sri Lanka is a must see for everyone! It's an absolutely incredible land of mountains, tea plantations, temples, wildlife, and beautiful beaches, although it suffers from poverty and extreme political strife, as well as the devastating effects of the tsumani, which have left many deep and, unfortunately, permanent scars on the land and its people. I hope this entry both attracts you to the island, and persuades you to take a more active interest in the plight of others in the world.

January 3rd, 2006

We arrived into Colombo to begin our journey in the fabled Land of Sri lanka. Our driver, Ravi, picked us up at 5:15 a.m., and we headed straight to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage outside of Kandy, in the heart of Sri Lanka, and in the middle of the Hill Country. The orphanage was originally established to care for orphaned juvenile elephants found in the jungles, but has become a sanctuary and breeding ground for them, as well as a huge tourist attraction.


We arrived in the morning just in time for feeding and the morning bath!


I honestly cannot tell you how many elephants there were, I can only estimate 60 or so. It was incredible! Kai got to pet and feed a couple of them.

















After a couple of hours watching the marvelous and majestic sight of elephants up close and personal, we ventured on into Kandy. Once there, we settled into our guest house, had some lunch, and headed to the Kandy Botanical Gardens. The Kandy Botanical Gardens are some of the oldest established gardens in the world--officially dated as early as 1371, but were royal gardens before that! There are over 60 kilometers of trails to stroll, and over 4000 species of plants, not to mention the abundance of wildlife.
We saw a monitor lizard, innumerous species of birds, and toque macaque monkeys. It was one of the highlights of the trip, and it was only our first day!!

















That night, we attended a traditional Sri lankan dance at the Kandy Arts and Culture Center. It was yet another amazing sight to see.


January 4th 2006
We headed north to the ancient templed city of Sigirya, and made a stop in Dumbulla, where Ravi, our driver, treated us to a visit of one of the largest Hindu temples in Sri lanka. We were fortunate to catch a prayer ceremony at the time. I cannot put into words the feeling of the experience. We entered the temple and there was chanting, drums, and horns all in syncopation as a pyre of sandalwood and herbs burned while Hindu priests bathed the sacred statues of Shiva and Vishnu with a concoction of coconut milk, honey, and spices. The inside of the temple was lined with shrines of gold, and various people were offering incense and fruits to their gods. We spent an hour there in what felt like only minutes.

We left, and on advice of Ravi, decided against climbing the long haul to the top of Sigirya mountain, though it would have been amazing to see the fortress on the top. Instead, we went up the road a bit and took the kids on an elephant ride!
It was a total blast for the first 20 minutes of the ride, then Kai and Emma both hit the "tired of this!" point at the same time, and we cut the trip through the jungle about 20 minutes short... Oh well.

As the kids napped in the car, we did go to Sigirya and drive around the base of the mountain. Impressive indeed! The fortress is on the very top, with different frescos lining the cliffsides on the trail up.


January 5th
We headed out of Kandy, directing ourselves south, toward Nuwara Eliya, land of tea plantations and Horton's Plains (the highest point in Sri Lanka). We wanted to experience cool weather, rain, mist, and the End of the World, and we found EVERYTHING we were looking for! On the way there, we stopped at one of many waterfalls on the side of the road, this one being Rainbow falls:


















As we progressed up the mountain (Nuwara Eliya is at an elevation of over 9000 ft.), the weather drastic changed from the hot, sunny, tropical climate of Kandy, to around 50F and heavy clouds. It was a long drive from Kandy, but Ravi again shared with us an insight into Sri Lankan culture, though not a pretty reality. While visiting the tea plantations, we not only had the chance to see the processing of tea















and savor the delictable results,


















we also visited with different families of tea pickers, all Tamil, and all pretty much enslaved in a very harsh life of poverty and oppression.

Tea pickers (almost all women) are paid 100 Rupees (about USD .85) a day IF they meet their quota of 23.4 kilos of tea. If they exceed the quota, they receive 3.25 Rupees per kilo extra, and if they do not reach the minimum, they receive nothing. It's a brutal life. And the women strap the bags or wicker baskets to their heads so as to permit the use of both hands to pick tea. They live in 1 room shacks, about 8' by 8' with cow dung floors, and these accommodations usually provide the whole family (3-6 people) living quarters.

It was saddening indeed. Much of this is circumstance of the oppression of them being Tamils, as the Singalese majority government "overlooks" certain atrocities committed against the spurned minority people of the island. The tea families, however, were very friendly and accommodating to us.

January 6th

5 a.m. wake up call. On the road by 5:40. Heavy fog and incurably fogged windows of the car on single lane, winding, un-guard railed road to the top of the plains, at the base of Adam's Peak, the highest point in Sri Lanka. Mist and rain. Upper 40's to near 50F. Driving in, a sambor (some sort of cow-sized deer) ran across the road!We really, really wanted to see the End of the World, a lookout point where, on clear days, one can see the ocean to the east. The hike was not bad, about 4 kilometers to the "Mini World's End" and about as far as we wanted to take the kids. The environment was incredibly diverse and green, with streams flowing through, a grassy veld, and dense forests. The sight at the end, though somewhat shrouded in mist, was as awesome as it could get.




After a hike back to the car we headed back to Nuwara Eliya to shower and head to the UN World Heritage Rain Forest of Sinharaja. We reached Ratnapura, a city on the cusp of the Central and South Provinces, and the northern gateway to Sinharaja, and slept for the night before looking for the elusive Sri Lankan Jaguar the next morning...

January 7th, Sinharaja World Heritage Rain Forest

After an extraordinarily grueling drive in, we reached Sinharaja, a UN World Heritage Rain Forest since 1989, and while I took the kids, Shawna went on a 3 hour jaunt through some of the most preserved rain forests remaining on Earth. Kai had not been too keen on hiking after the 8K march the day before, so Shawna had a field day with her own private guide through the forest. It was amazing, snakes and lizards and wild orchids and lush, thick jungle. She discovered, in the midst of her walk, that our camera had gone ka-putz; we were later only able to get a couple of more shots out before the focus and zoom died.

That afternoon, after the rain forest experience, we hit the coastline and reached our final destination: Ahangama Beach, Sri Lanka.

January 8-11, Ahangama

Much to our chagrin, we have only one photo of Ahangama. For all of you expecting surf shots, just know that the guest house where we stayed sits on one of the best reef point breaks in the country, and I woke up every morning and paddled out to clean, perfect, dream-like waves, 3-5 feet every day. There was no beach in front of the guest house due to the tsunami, but there was a pool for the kids. It kills us that the camera broke--there is so much more we want to show you!

On the drive down to Ahangama, we traveled about 70 kms of coastline ravaged by the tsunami. I was numbed at the sight of it. For much of the drive, there were only sparce remnants of walls or simply stripped foundations remaining where homes once stood. Larger communities like Galle and Unawatuna were still in the midst of rebuilding, and peppering the scene were UN supplied tent villages. Most people in the tents did not have jobs--they had lost their entire families, their boats (for many, the sole source of livelihood), their homes, and their will to live. They openly and readily begged. For many others though, life continues to be a building process, each day is a new one further away from 26 December 2004. People are rebuilding their lives, though they may still only be living in tents. We met and spoke to one woman, Charolette, who had been trained in making lace, and was now making lace decorations and training other young girls how to make it in order to create some sort of livelihood for themselves as well.



Sri Lanka is an incredible place, diverse and beautiful. It is unfortunate that the people must endure a corrupt government and civil unrest due to personal and religious beliefs. For us, this adventure was as wholly educational and eye-opening as it was relaxing and enjoyable; it was humbling, sobering, yet it determined within us a strong resolve. Sri Lanka is worth the world to see, and the more people who do visit should hopefully take away the sights of beauty for memories, and the turbulent emotions of human wrong and political betrayal in order to create a stronger voice of humanitarianism against social and ethical injustice. This is not the voice of a revolutionary or a bleeding heart, only a request to everyone to open their eyes a little wider every now and then in order to see a greater perspective of the world.