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Besides the pool, we also visited the famous Temple of the Tooth, where lots of Buddhist pilgrims were lining up to get a peek at a container in the inner chamber, supposedly housing one of the Buddha's teeth. There was also some Kandyan style drumming and fluting going on. And of course there were a couple of elephants outside for good luck pictures.
Another day we visited the marvelous botanical gardens where we had a chance to see all kinds of tropical trees and flowers (orchids). The most amazing were a cannon ball tree, or the very
rare double coconut palm with each nut weighing up to 20 kg. (!!). In one area all the tall trees were full of large fruit bats (or flying foxes) making a lot of noise. We had lunch overlooking a huge lawn with a giant Javan fig tree in its centre. The rest of our time in Kandy was spent wandering around town and eating at different restaurants (we tried chicken Biryani at the local KFC: not great...). Eventhough it was one of the biggest holidays
of the year, there wasn't much going on for us to witness, but instead very much a family celebration. |
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Then came the time for us to move on again. Papa made a couple of calls to some Colombo-based embassies and found out that it was considered safe to travel up north. You see, although there's a peace agreement in place, things haven't been completely back to normal just yet. And a few years ago the northern part of Sri Lanka was completely off limits. We had heard that Nilaveli, just north of Trincomalee on the east coast, was supposed to be a great beach resort: perfect for us to relax some time before heading to India. So it took us a few busses on New Year's Day (only Muslims and Christians seemed to be traveling that day), but we made it to
Nilaveli Beach Hotel early afternoon. We only had a couple of military check points on the way (checking for arms and bombs, I guess), but you could see that the road to "Trinco" used to have many more (8!) and the vegetation along the road is still cleared for a few hundred yards (to prevent ambushes). The last bus ride was worth mentioning: small, super old and rusty, overfull and way too hot! Papa even had to hang off the side (only to squeeze in when passing a police check point). A good thing SARS had not (yet) reached the island... |
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The hotel said that they were full but with a little insisting they gave us a standard room at the back. And with a little negotiation Papa got us a great deal: US$ 25/day including breakfast and dinner buffets! Of course we headed straight for the pool and beach. It was absolutely gorgeous! The pool was very large and clean (including a kids slide), with direct views of the beach and sea. And there were nice trees providing the much needed shade and housing a large family of pretty tame, long tailed langur monkeys (there were also a lot of crows). The beach was pretty wide and very long, with clean, white sand. The waves were medium strength, just perfect for me (Papa taught me to bodysurf a bit), and the water was super warm. Although the hotel was full, there was hardly anybody on the beach (too hot maybe?). |
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The truth was that most of the other guests were well-off Sri Lankans from Colombo. We found that they were much more westernized than the locals we were familiar with and, surprisingly, most were speaking English among each other. Most had come with kids so the pool was often full of potential playmates. We bumped into the Norwegian family we had met in Unawatuna (who also had the idea to stay here a short week), so I got to play with their daughter, mostly in the sand, building huge castles with our fathers. We stayed a full seven days and really had a very nice time. The food was pretty good with always a large selection of local and western dishes. For dinner we would often sit outside around the pool and there was always a band playing music. Some
nights there was even a sitar player from India, but that music was harder to digest (...). Our other activities were centered around the ocean.
The first day Papa went out with a French journalist (the same fellow we met in Ella), on a boat to Coral Island for some snorkeling. Just some rocky outcrops 1/2 hour away, but some of the best coral he had seen in many years, all pretty intact. And as a bonus, as soon as he got into the water, he saw a large sea turtle gently swimming away! There were many other aquarium type fish, as well like the larger parrotfish. Another day the folks went on another scuba trip (while a French family looked after me). They didn't need to go far (or deep) to see lots of rays, clown fish, and many others. |
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