SRI LANKA

For long, we planned and pondered over a “foreign holiday” – would it be fun-filled Singapore and Malaysia or a cultural tour at Thailand or the shopping spree of Dubai? Finally the answer emerged just so easily – Srilanka, it would be! And it was thus we found ourselves in the pleasant blue interiors of Srilankan Airlines covering the distance that lay between us and the island in a short flight of only 1.30 hours from Chennai.

We arrived in Colombo, the capital city by early noon and into an almost empty airport, devoid of the crowds that usually fill an airport in India. We waited to pick up our luggage from the barren conveyor belts and very soon, we found ourselves all on our own in the airport. But having postponed travel plans for over an year since we were unable to obtain hotel reservation, we were well-aware that the empty airports notwithstanding, the country has indeed overcome the security concerns of its yesteryears; it now puts up an alluring invitation to tourists from far and wide and from far and wide, they do come.

We were met at the entrance by our able guide, who was to travel with us for the rest of our trip and act as not just our driver and our guide but also our advisor on matters culinary to bargain-hunting! Seated in his spacious Nissan mini van, we sped on the long road leading to Kandy - the first place on our itinerary was Nuwara Eliya, a picturesque tea plantation 200 kms away from Colombo. It may not be the best of plans to cover such a long distance to Nuwara Eliya on a single day but we had not got accommodation for that day at Kandy and hence, we had chosen to visit Nuwara Eliya first. We realized that we were in tea-territory when at evening, we pulled up not at a tea shop but into a very real tea factory – there was no better introduction to Srilankan tea than to sip Srilanka BOP tea in that warm room with fantastic views of tea gardens stretching on all sides, even as we watched Srilankan women leave the factory after a day’s labour producing the very tea that we held in our cups!

As evening turned to night, we were still driving amidst tea plantations and the exhaustion of that long drive was heightened by the thrill of driving through in thick fog that we were unacquainted with in Chennai. At each turn, we hoped for a glimpse of our hotel but it was only the beginning of the next plantation with the glorious name of its estate emblazoned on it. Finally at dinner time, we turned into a smaller road that led up the hill and to the aptly named Heritance Tea Factory hotel.

The chill wind adding to our discomfort, we sped into the hotel premises, only to have all that weariness washed away by the wonder that our hotel was – the Heritance Tea Factory is 19th century tea factory since modernized into a hotel for the discerning traveller. While such stories are not uncommon, the Heritance property stands apart, since it has preserved the original setting of the tea factory amidst the luxurious feel of a hotel. So much of the tea factory’s equipment still stands and is in working condition. An old-world lift with iron rails transports guests across 4 floors and a large motor that once supplied power to the machinery stands robust in the basement. The tea that was once produced on these floors, claimed the pictures on the wall, commanded a premium in the auction market of the 1800’s and today, a mini-factory produces tea for being sold at the hotel and its sister-properties in Srilanka. We were served a mini-tea – the brilliantly gentle tea allowed the more subtle tastes of its contents, - cardamom, ginger, vanilla essence instead of sugar - to assert itself and validated the ancient claim of the tea factory of the uniqueness of its tea.

The two nights and three days at this property did not seem enough and we spent a lot of time, looking at the photo exhibits from its British past and at the well-preserved artifacts that survived its utility in the tea-production processes - it was a revelation to find the photographs of the early settlers from South India who arrived here to work in tea estates of the British plantation owners and to be walking on the same precincts as a visitor looking for a “heritage” experience.

We spent the next day, sight-seeking in Nuwara Eliya. The Gregory Lake is a large lake and a 2 Hour boat-ride helped us see it in all its vastness. Also for the spiritually inclined, Nuwara Eliya has an unassuming temple in an unassuming village. Nothing but the name – Sita Eliya – gives out that this temple is believed to be the exact spot in Ashoka Vanam, where Sita was kept captive by Ravanan after her abduction. The temple is believed to the very location at which Hanuman met Sita as a messenger and returned to Rama, with her ring in evidence of their meeting and her well-being. On our last day in Nuwara Eliya, we rose early and left for a long nature walk with the hotel guide, among the high slopes of the tea plantation. We passed fields of cabbages, carrots, greens and into tea slopes of varying shares of green. We passed several women with a cloth-bag on her back and a long stick to sort out the bushes, silently carrying on the tea-plucking. Each woman would work 9 hours, gathering 20 kgs of the tender tea-leaves, all of which would be measured by her manager watching over the activity and sent away in sacks to the tea-factory for processing. The routine and relentless work was pursued by most families in Nuwara Eliya and while women worked in the tea-gathering, men were employed in more rigorous functions in the factory. Finally after having bought several packets of the famed Heritance Tea Factory tea, we went on our way to Kandy. If it was not just the first place on our list, with a hope to see prettier sights on the remainder of our trip, we would have been sad to leave Nuwara Eliya.

On our way to Kandy, we stopped at another tea-factory to see how the tea leaves yield the tea that once brought the Westerners to this island and is now exported by Srilanka across the world. The Blue Fields tea factory was manned almost totally by women and one of them led us through each and every process; it seemed simple enough – the piling of the leaves before a fan that dried them all day, feeding them into a machine that segregated the curled –up leaves from the twigs and the grinder that crushed them coarsely. While the process remained same, it was the leaves that led to their varied identities – Orange Pekoe, Silver Buds and green tea.

Kandy is also situated above mean sea level at an altitude but it is the feeling of being in a large city that dominates in Kandy, more than the hill-top atmosphere. Situated in Kandy are the royal botanical gardens of Peradeniya and places of Buddhist importance, foremost of which is the Temple of the Tooth Relic. We visited both these places on the same morning. The royal botanical gardens is filled with varied plants, avenues of towering trees, stretches of brilliantly coloured flowers of every imaginable shade and shape, not to mention a garden dedicated for orchids. But it is not all plant life - the perpetual screeching noises from a large cluster of tall trees led us to discover the home of hundreds of bats that lived under it. The picturesque location presents ample opportunities for a photo-enthusiast and we did see some newly married couples arrive here in all their wedding finery, their wedding photographer in tow, to pose amidst the blooms for the perfect wedding album.


The Temple of the Tooth Relic is a venerated place to the Buddhist for it houses the sacred tooth of the Buddha and the pictures on the wall recorded the movement of the tooth relic from India to Srilanka and how the relic triumphed over many efforts to capture and seize it.

Later that day, we went to see a batik factory that was the recipient of many government awards and honours for best artisanship in batik and their splendorous work spoke as much. We had earlier seen how several hours of selective dye-application and drying imparted various hues of a colour to an image and then as we walked past the batik handicrafts and clothes displayed in their show-room, we could only marvel at the intricacy of the art and the rich tapestry born of the artisan’s imagination. A surprise treat that evening was to visit a Kandy Cultural Arts centre that performed Kandy’s ancient dance forms. We ended the day shopping for gems – all our preparatory internet research had stressed on the need to buy at only an authenticated shop and we found the gems of our liking at the Gem Museum, where we also watched their movie on the gem mining industry of Srilanka.

Next morning saw us get up with huge amounts of excitement for “huge” was what we had signed up for. We packed our bags, bid goodbye to Kandy and proceeded to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, home to over 100 pachyderms. If one got there early enough, one could feed a baby elephant but it is a matter of chance too, since the centre only issued 10 tickets in a day. Our prayers were answered and we managed to get a chance to feed a baby-elephant, all of 4 years, a tall bottle of milk. After happily obliging the eager tourists who awaited their turn to feed him, the baby-elephant was then marched to the outer field where the adult-elephants swayed in the mud and the little ones scampered delightfully and played, between them. The giant forms of the elephants filled the landscape and it seemed unbelievable to be only a few feet away from those towering and enormous animals and their frolicking young. But my ultimate memory of the Orphanage is when a few hours later, the elephants marched down the street lined with shops selling souvenirs and all things touristy, to the river for their daily bath. The busy street suddenly emptied out, all of us crowding inside the shops, leaving the roads barren. For a few minutes, there was no sign of movement and then in frightening contrast, the first of the elephants came into view, all else paling into insignificance and he rode ahead, like a noble who is only too aware of his power and strength! The herd followed, each of them larger than the one before and rising into the sky. The procession was both intimidating and inspiring and we shrunk deeper into the sideline. Even though tamed and obedient to the summons of a mahout, the indomitable strength of the elephants was on show. Finally, the elephants descended into the water and tossed about in the river while we found a safe distance to watch them and capture pictures of their everyday ritual.

Later, we also stopped at a spice garden – several such farms dot the neighbourhood. At the one we stopped at, the guide took us through the various spices and medicinal plants that are native to Srilanka and explained the products that are prepared from them. Each of these have a specific purpose and to Asians, it comes as no surprise that most of them are stated to cure everything from a common cold to a modern day ailment like stress. But do be aware that all these farms aim to sell to the European tourists and suggesting so may help bring down the prices!
And so from elephants and medicinal farms, we moved on to a virgin rainforest – the Sinharaja Rain Forest. We had opted to stay at Rainforest Edge, a forest-style accommodation at the edge of the rainforest that promised to provide a “setting of untamed beauty and serenity”. A very long drive ending in very narrow alleys finally led us up to the Rainforest Edge. It was pitch dark when we entered the property and a frail candle-light lit up the path to our rooms. It was then that we discovered that our rooms with its mud walls, wooden furniture, a shower open to the sky, a wide verandah beside a gentle stream of water were designed to provide a rudimentary sense of comfort in the midst of a jungle and the minimalist décor was to reinforce the feel of the rich ecology that surrounded the place. After an unbelievably delicious dinner, we went to sleep but only giving in to the temptation of a bath by the moon-light! In the morning, we set-out to the rainforest – the highlight of our trip.


The Sinharaja Rainforest is a world heritage site and a bio-diversity hotspot. Escorted by a guide, we pulled up our socks (for the real fear of leeches) and trekked into the rainforest. Soon the sparse bushes gave way to thick vegetation and the seasoned guide helped us see amidst all that wilderness, pitcher-plants with its carnivorous jars, different types of chameleon, snakes and an amazing variety of butterflies. We were particularly excited to see the snakes and stopped to gaze at a green viper that changed colour to match its surroundings. One could have gone longer and deeper into the rainforest but it began to rain and we had just heard from the guide that true to its name, it received continuous rains for most of the year. We decided to return to the safety of our jeep and leave the rest of the rainforest to be explored in another trip. The Sinharaja Rainforest may not have the excitement of a game reserve or a wildlife park but it is for a nature-lover, an amazing opportunity to see the fauna and flora of an untouched rainforest in its natural setting. The Rainforest Edge is also a place that one longs to return to and the alluring simplicity of its theme, its proximity to the rainforest and the wonderful services of its staff (including the cook who impresses with the cuisine) are compelling reasons to re-visit.


Finally on our list was Bentota, the beach-town that lay 3 hours from Sinharaja forest reserve. We checked into a beach-side hotel and lost no further time in joining all the other tourists, at the beach that the hotel simply opened into. Srilankan beaches are long, clean and safe and the hours rolled by as we spent the remainder of our holiday in the frolicking waves, watching the sun set in the distance. Every morning and evening, we walked as if in a trance, to the beach but in the day, we did discover the other haunts of the city – water sports, turtle farms etc. A must-do is the boating on the Bentota lake – our boat took us close to enough to a full-grown crocodile and then, into the natural vegetation that lined the lake.

On the final day we did some sight seeing in Colombo. We drove through the Galle Sea Face road ( akin to Mumbai's Marine Drive), saw the Cricket Stadiums and many other places..

Thus ended our Srilanka holiday. In a span of 7 days, we had a nature holiday, a culture tour, a heritage experience all rolled into one, with some shopping and adventure sports thrown in for good measure. There is much more to see of Srilanka and it is possible to derive several distinct themes for your holidays, merely by varying the geography that one visits. Srilanka is a very much the “diverse holiday destination” that it holds itself out to be and there are as many places of interest to entice the vivacious beach-lover as there are for a wild-life enthusiast or the intuitive traveler with an eye on culture and heritage.