Our trip to the island country of Sri Lanka

( co-authored by Debanjana Maitra )

Planning the trip — the 5 towns

• Sri Lanka is known for its beaches, the colonial architecture, the Eurasian population and the Buddhist relics. We chose 2 beach towns — Hikkaduwa and Unawatuna, one fort of the colonial era— The Galle fort, one hill station with Buddhist relics — Kandy and one big city to unwind at the end of the trip — Colombo.
• One needs to fill an online form with ticket details — which makes one eligible for a visa-on-arrival.
• We had planned an itinerary of 10 days — Round-trip tickets were about 10,000 INR per person.
• We followed our usual thumb-rule, if the commute to a town takes more than 6 hours, then we stay there for at least for two nights.
• It’s easy to book inter-city transport while in Sri Lanka.

Touchdown — Bangalore to Colombo

Mobile & Internet connectivity

Before leaving India we had read up that Mobitel is a good and reliable service , so we went for it. We bought a 1-month validity plan with 8GB of 4G data and Rs 300 talk time, right after immigration near the exit. The service turned out to very reliable with an amazing data speed and signal reception everywhere including the tunnels on the way to Kandy

The town of Hikkaduwa, Southern Province

We took a privately-run air-conditioned bus from Colombo Airport to the city and hopped on to another intercity government-run bus which drove us along the coastline, to Hikkaduwa, in about 3 hours.

Stay

Our AirBnB was situated close to the main bus station of Hikkaduwa and right beside the beach. We were in constant touch with our host to ensure we got off at the right bus stop in this land we were gradually getting accustomed to.

The Coral Reef

The main reef itself is a typical fringing coral reef with a shallow crest and in a sheltered lagoon with an average depth of less than 2m. The reef begins close to the fishing harbour and extends south around 4km.

Historically, the reef was famous for its colourful branching and table corals until 1998, when a rise in seawater temperature during an El Niño event resulted in a massive damage to the corals at Hikkaduwa and throughout the Indian Ocean.

The giant sea turles

Hikkaduwa is famous for the giant sea turtles that show up at the near the reef in the morning and evening — they are very sociable as people feed them with sea weeds ;)

The reef Sharks

This non-aggressive species seems to be quite accepting of humans in the water — especially with me trying hard to catch its movements underwater.

Food — The Sri Lankan Roti & Sambol

Apart from the typical South Asian food, we were introduced to the special Roti made out of grated coconut.

The Dutch Galle Fort, the Bay of Galle

We took a “tuk-tuk” to our AirBnB which was ‘inside’ Galle Fort.

Initially built in 1588 by the Portugese, extensive fortification was done by the Dutch East Indian Company in the 1600s.

This could have been the seat of power for Sri Lanka today, had the British not developed Colombo as the capital.

Our stay inside the Galle Fort

We were hosted by a family of 4, who had colorfully decorated their house, for a night. Interestingly, a lot of shops, art galleries, restaurants and hotels inside the Galle Fort are co-owned by Europeans and the Sri Lankans who are committed to keeping the colorful multi-cultural ecosystem thriving.

UNESCO World Heritage Site

The site has been inscribed as a cultural heritage UNESCO World Heritage Site under criteria iv, for its unique exposition of “an urban ensemble which illustrates the interaction of European architecture and South Asian traditions from the 16th to the 19th centuries.

We stayed in Galle Fort for only a night. To make the most, we rented bicycles to go around the fort.

The Historical Mansion Museum

The Historical Mansion Museum in Galle is located within the Galle Fort. It is s privately owned by Abdul Gaffer who established it in a classic colonial Dutch house.

Entry is free, and the residents who work there to maintain the museum double up as guides, on request.

The museum also houses a gem shop where visitors can witness live embroidery presentations as well as the process of cutting and polishing sapphires.

The central courtyard is the highlight of the museum, where visitors can see various stone sculptures, Chinese porcelain items and several other objects from the colonial past.Given the smooth amalgamation of eras inside the fort, we stumbled upon the Contemporary Gall Fort Art Gallery.

The lighthouse and the clocktower

The oldest light-station of Sri Lanka is located inside the fort and provides a clear view of all ships entering the Galle Harbour.

Burghers, are a small Eurasian ethnic group in Sri Lanka descended from Portuguese, Dutch, British and other European men who settled in Sri Lanka and developed relationships with native Sri Lankan women.

The clock-tower was built in the memory of a Burgher doctor who had made significant contributions in the preservation of the fort during the British rule.

“This tower erected by public subscription to the perpetual memory of Peter Daniel Anthonisz (born in Galle) in testimony of his skill and benevolence in relieving human suffering. MDCCCLXXXIII”.

The clock was gifted by one of his grateful patients.

The Galle Cricket Club

We caught a glimpse of the reconstructed Galle Cricket Stadium from the walls of the fort.

During the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, this ground was converted into a helipad and was the temporary shelter forthousands. The ground, which itself had been severely damaged because of the tsunami, was renovated in 2006–2007.

The Sri Lankan curries and exotic fruits

We had dinner at the “Lucky Fort Restaurant” which is famous for its 10-curry meals. Breakfast, the following day was a mix of exotic fruits and the roti sambol.

The town of Unawatuna, Southern Province

A seashore dotted with thousands of trees, coconuts, and palms dominating, strings of houses and hermitages along the coastline, human beings and superior beings such as Gandharvas, Siddhas, and ascetics, living in them and countless bejewelled celestial nymphs thronging the shore, the coast intermittently visited by heavenly beings, Gods and demons. ~ The Ramayana

In 2004, Unawatuna was rated among the world’s top 10 beaches and the village was crammed with foreign tourists celebrating Christmas and locals celebrating their poya (full moon) day when the Tsunami struck at 9.26 am

Our Stay on Unawatuna Beach

Dalawela beach

A beach with large rocks and rope swings which hang off the palm trees 2 km away from the main Unawatuna beach.

The food

We binged on the Sri Lankan prawn curry and the Brazilian passion fruit.

The city of Kandy, Central Province

The last capital of the Sri Lankan Kings

From Unawatunta we took a tuk-tuk to the Galle Fort railways station and bought a ticket to Colombo Fort.

We had had reserved train tickets from Colombo to Kandy which we had bought two days prior to our trip at the counter.

In short, we took a train from Galle to Colombo, had lunch at the Ministry of Crab — a signature Sri Lankan restaurant opened by the cricketer Kumar Sangakkara, and then took the connecting train to Kandy!

The train ride from Galle to Colombo was picturesque with the Indian ocean on the left.

The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic

The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, a Buddhist temple in the city of Kandy, Sri Lanka, is located in the royal palace complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy.

The temple houses the relic of the tooth of the Buddha.

For the belief had taken root among the royalty and the people that whoever possesses the sacred Tooth had the legitimate right to rule the land.

The highlight of our visit to Kandy was the annual Buddhist festival of Perahera.

The empty streets, early closure of business hours and shutdown of schools was the build-up to the evening processions which is attended by Buddhists and tourists all of the world.

Every year the festival is held in July and August to pay homage to the Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha.

The Perahera, a gathering of Buddhists from around the world, consists of a procession of fire-dances, whip-dances and many Kandyan dances.
The elephants are adorned with lavish garments, one of which carries the auspicious relic casket.

Ceylon Tea Museum, Hanthana

Hanthana was one of the first successful areas to cultivate tea following the failure of coffee production on the island.

Colombo, Western Province — the capital city

Having reached Colombo at 7.30 in the evening, we tried out the local app aggregator service called “PickMe” to get to our hotel.

Interestingly, the experience of booking the cab was as smooth as Uber, and some of the locals claimed that it is cheaper than Uber.

The hotel was an old-styled house with a courtyard in the middle. Our room had a bathroom with a tropical look, semi-open roof and a Jacuzzi !

Interestingly, Colombo has a vibrant night life — with the Eurasian population having a great taste in contemporary as well as classical western music.

We spent about 24 hours in Colombo before catching a flight at 1 in the night. Our host was kind enough to pack complimentary dinner for us.

Transportation

Autorickshaws / Tuk-tuks

Sri Lankan Railways

Trains, which are clean, usually run with an offset of 10 minutes. Reservation has to be done at the counter a couple of days prior to the journey. Reserved second class or first class tickets are inexpensive and easily available. Interestingly, a lot of stations have the colonial infrastructure devoid of the typical computerization but surprisingly they have been functioning perfectly.

Buses

Sri Lanka has an excellent connectivity of bus routes — though mostly belong to the non-premium range. For someone used to the crowded buses in India, it was refreshing to see most buses having a ‘no-standing’ policy. The 154 km journey to Hikkaduwa, along the coastline, on the first day cost the two of us, 150 INR.

In conclusion

A beach-friendly ‘underwater’ camera coupled with extensive planning of the route to the 5 cities ensured that we could make the most of our 10-day trip stress-free.

We had underestimated how our experience in Sri Lanka would be. None of the locals tried to fleece us by charging more — they were nicer when they heard we were from India ;) Having used the public transport, we got a chance to converse with Sri Lankan families as well as European travelers who were visiting distant relatives in Sri Lanka.