Sri Lanka: Arrival, September 29 - 30

Outstanding flight from Doha, Qatar to  Bandaranaike Airport in Colombo, Sri Lanka.  Note in the flight path below how the flight had to take a detour over Saudi Arabia because we were flying on Qatar Airlines which is unable to fly over the airspace of several neighboring countries.  

Flight path to Colombo.

We sat in row two. Our seats reclined fully to flat. Ahh. Across the aisle was a Sheik in the traditional expertly pressed white dress shirt which goes to the ankles. He wore the black band to hold his red and white scarf on his head. The true give away was the greeter at the bottom of the jet stairs. His sign read, "Sheik" something or other.

Our good seats included being first off the plane. We exited down a portable stairway and on to the tarmac. That's where the "Sheik" sign was. From there, it was pretty quick passing through immigration, etc.

In the terminal we heard, "taxi", "taxi", "taxi" coming from all directions.  Wes knew just where to go. The taxi ride was a bit over an hour.  The traffic was Keystone Cops.  Chaotic. The "tuk tuk"s (3-wheel, tiny taxis) weaved in an out of traffic. It was like a video game, things popping out of nowhere. We are surprised to see the "england" style, steering wheel on the right.

It is raining here. It is also humid and very warm, more than balmy.  It is extremely green. Plumeria and palms.

Mount Lavinia Hotel is our destination. Once upon a time in a land called Ceylon there was a Scottish man, Sir Thomas Maitland. He was the second person to serve as "His Majesty's Governor. He arrived in 1805, could not find a house to his liking and built a grand scale mansion. It is at the waterfront. Colombo's tall buildings are visible to the north

Later Sunday night ...

Dinner buffet at Mount Lavinia Hotel. It is a huge spread! Western food, Sri Lankan food. I am guessing there were maybe forty different things on offer. The problem with buffets. What if you have not any self control. What if you feel compelled to try every new thing.  As we stuffed our faces. Plateful after plateful.

There were a trio of dancers and one solo dancer. The costumes were interesting. It was very nice. I was happy to see so many vegetables. Okra seems a popular one here. It was served several ways. Not a one was slimy. Here, they are good with okra. I also had chick pea dishes and an egg hopper made in a small bowl shaped pan (mini-wok) like part crepe and part fried egg. You eat it with "sambal", a onion relish sort of carmelized sort of pickled. Looking forward to a good sleep. We left Athens early the day before and flew two flights, albeit thoroughly in comfort, both after midnight. Good night ....




The next day ... Monday morning ...

Colombo in the background

Our room was on the ground floor. It opened directly to a mid size lawn which ended in palm trees and boulders then the crashing waves of the Indian Ocean. We woke at 6:30 AM. Opened the curtains. Saw the grass, the sea and one dozen chinese women with curly brown hair.  They were dressed in flowing colorful fabrics and photographing each other and tossing silk scarves into the air.  They remained oblivious to the racket they made, which reminded me of the honking and squawking racket made by geese when we visited a convent on the Greek island, Aegina, last week. But mostly I was amused by the curly brown hair and I thought, boy, that does not look like the Chairman Mao communism we were told was so bad.  Locals tell of recent deals where the Chinese government has loaned huge amounts of money to Sri Lanka. At terms which are entirely not in Sri Lanka's best interest.  So, they say, there are a lot of affluent Chinese roaming around.

Later, Monday mid-day ...

We are on the road now.  It is difficult to describe. So much is different. Not really different because it is all still people and streets and buildings and food, but the look (so green), the people (different shades of brown), the buildings (small scale, concrete shelled, open air), the vegetation (palms, plumeria, banana, pineapple, cashews), the vehicles (tuk tuks in red green and blue), the earth (red). Dense. Everything abuts everything. Heavy, chaotic traffic. Din of horns and acceleration. Inside our van, it is cool. Outside, the air squeezes the moisture out of you. Rice paddies. A man knee deep. I am not sure what he is doing. He is dark, skinny, old, shirtless. His clothes are a fabric wrap around his waist. Last night, it poured for our arrival. This morning, it stopped. Our drive to Sigiriya will take four to six hours. It is only 11:41 AM. There is a lot more to absorb today. It is nice to have a van and driver. And extra special to be with a friend from Paris, a Sri Lanka native. Last night, she showed us her sprawling childhood home.

We just stopped at another shirtless, skinny man. This one sells pineapples. The longest ones I've ever seen. He just cut one up, put it in a bag, and gave us chili salt. Back in the van. Ahh, relief from the crushing heat.

We just passed a field of buffalo. Last night, I had buffalo milk curd (tastes like creme fraiche, but richer) with fruit syrup for dessert while watching traditional Sri Lankan dancers. Now, driving through cashew plantations. Here, it is 11:54 in the morning. The time difference is odd; it is however many hours ahead plus a half-hour.

There was a wedding this morning at the hotel. It had seriously interesting dance costumes.  Very beautiful. Actually, there were two weddings. They were both making photographs. We got a few snapshots, too. At one point, the same gang of Chinese ladies invaded the wedding photo shoot. Each individual insisted on a selfie with the bridal party. The brides were princess like. The men wore fascinating traditional coats. Ornate like toreador jackets, but with a wild contoured body.

Still driving. So many things passing by that are new to my eyes. Just passed an assortment of long legged wading birds (herons?) in a rice paddy.

I think in an hour we will visit an elephant and have lunch.

An hour later ....

We went to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. The government owns and operates it. We saw about 27 elephants. The best part was when they walked from their park to the river for a mud bath and a good swim. It must have felt good. We, bystanders, might as well have been in a sauna. It is hot and humid, it cannot be overstated. But it was a beautiful day.

We sat in a cafe. The elephants, below us, in full view. Across the river, the banks were dense with palms. The water was pretty swift and strewn with boulders.  The rain last night was probably still coursing through it.

Now, at 5:23, it is again raining, heavily. Most people in the small towns we pass are wearing flat leather sandals. That looks like a good idea for the off and on rainfalls. Traditional shoes don't stand a chance.

We are headed for the village of Sigiriya. It has a climbable rock of the same name. In the morning, we will climb it. Very early, before it rains and before the sun is too intense. Pouring! Here, right now, on the road, pouring. Not flooded, but over-generously wet.

In Sigiriya we will occupy a two story suite with a private pool.

Arrival at the Water Garden Sigiriya ....

A dirt road leads to the hotel. Rice paddies on both sides are filled with peacocks. Filled!

Wow! We have arrived at the gate. It looks very luxurious, understated. More peacocks block the road. Acres and acres. Far spaced large bungalows blend in. A narrow lane of red earth traverses the extra large campus of dwellings that are separated by what might have been rice paddies, but now are shallow pools of bamboo, waterlilies and frogs. The frogs utterances are more sophisticated then our common frogs.  Not a single "ribbet".

Our suite is in fact a two story house. Beautiful, modern, beautiful materials, elegant, comfortable. The dining hall is down the road. So is a two story lounge bar with covered outdoor space. This is a special destination.

Tomorrow morning, we will meet our driver at 6:30. He will take us on the thirty minute drive to the Sigiriya ascent. They say it is a two hour round trip. Up and up and up a narrow flight of stairs to the former site of a king's palace.