We dawdled this morning and checked out around 9:30 for a drive around Kandy. The first stop was a gem store where we saw how gems are mined in Sri Lanka and then shopped in the showroom. And I mean SHOPPED!
From there it was a short hop to the Botanical Garden where we wandered a bit and visited the orchid house. Most interesting, a lovely place.
Lunch was very good at a restaurant over a silk emporium.
Then we started into the mountains and were very glad to have an expert driver, Ramesh, since it's all hair-pin turns and passing on curves.
A visit to a tea factory involved quite a climb but was very informative.
Then a very scenic stop at a hotel perched on the edge of a valley.
There was a jewelry store -- more SHOPPING!
A little further along we noticed several monks bathing in a mountain stream. It was really a very striking scene with their billiant orange robes against the water against the mountain backdrop.
Finally, after climbing into the mist and it becoming dark we reached the Grand Hotel at Nuwara Eliya. It is old and stately and very big. We enjoyed a delicious dinner, a tour of the wine cellar and early to bed.
All Photos of the Day
This morning 4 of us were up very early for a 6am departure to the Horton Plains National Park. Maria-Angelica decided to skip this hike, so got to sleep in a bit. Apparently she and Ramesh walked into town and looked around the markets. The rest of us were transported in a sturdier van by another great driver, Raja.
The road is long and rough, but we enjoyed vistas of fields and forests, even encountering a wild water buffalo along the road both coming and going. We also saw a couple of Sambas and later about 5 of them. They're quite elk-like.
The hiking trail is quite rough and we were happy to turn back after 2.5km at the Mini World's End site.
The scenery is spectacular and Nuwan and Raja pointed out flowers, birds and even a speckled trout. On the way back we met a class of grade 11 students who "mistook" Larry for a movie star and demanded to have a picture taken with him (really!).
Back at the hotel we reconnected with Maria-Angelica and enjoyed another huge lunch.
We all welcomed a bit of rest before getting dolled up to go to the Hill Club for High Tea. The club is an interesting private club with a long history. Tea was very nice -- sandwiches, cheese and crackers, cake and cookies -- but not like what we remember from the Lord Nelson in Cape Town. It was certainly enough to convince Larry, Cathy and me that we did not need dinner. All Photos of the Day
After an early night last night we were up bright and early for breakfast on the patio. There's a big golf tournament at the course right beside the hotel
, so lots of golfers at breakfast and there is a large group of Jains [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism ] at the hotel on a pilgrimage to this area. They have separate buffet that we can use as long as we don't carry other food into the room on our plates. They don't use any roots in their food, so I can happily eat there, knowing it's all garlic-free. There are about 200 of them and they were checking out at the same time as we were. [ no problem -- I was intercepted by a hotel agent and led to the side for immediate personal checkout service, leaving a trail of colourful Jains in my wake: L ]. The front area of the hotel teemed with people, busses, suitcases, porters and other staff. We lost track of our luggage for awhile, but it turned out that the porters had it carefully sequestered. From then on one of us stayed with the cart until Ramesh managed to bring the van near enough to load it.
On our way the tea-pickers were out in the fields as we passed, so we stopped and watched them for a bit and shot some pictures.
As we drove down the mountain, we passed a young man with a large bunch of flowers for sale. The road was a series of switchbacks and on each straight stretch there he was again! He was running downhill, intercepting us. Finally, we stopped and bought several and took his photo.
A little further along we stopped at a stand where Nuwan and Ramesh bought avocados for their families.
For miles along the edge of this highway narrow beds of canna lilies have been planted, and occasionally a stretch of neatly trimed hedges.
A stop for tea was welcome break from the back and forth motion of the vehicle.
The movie "Bridge on the River Kwai" was filmed in this area, and our lunch was served beside the river that stood in for the Kwai.
Most of us chose grilled sandwiches and french fries with ketchup and ice cream to follow. We had all been craving more familiar flavours I guess.
The road soon leveled out although it continued to be quite twisty.
We stopped for a few moments in Nuwan's hometown so he could drop off some things and pick up others, so we met his beautiful wife and 2 very sweet daughters.
Shortly after, we were on the straight and smooth divided highway heading straight to Galle.
We arived at the wonderful Jetwing Lighthouse Hotel just before sunset and enjoyed a welcome drink on the terrace overlooking the Indian Ocean.
Every hotel here has been different and this one is as well. Our room has a private balcony facing the ocean, a huge bathroom area, king sized bed etc etc [ and good internet despite the apologies about it from the staff ]. I could really settle in here! We will be here for 2 nights.
Last night there was entertainment in one of the bars - the winner of last year's Australia's Got Talent - so we went for a while. It was a very 'club' atmosphere so we lasted for only a couple of songs, but he is a good singer.
This morning we all sort of groaned at the idea of another tea plantation, but what a surprise we had! This was the home of a white tea that has taken the world by storm (who knew? ). We met the owner, Herman Gunaratne who told us his story:
Three generations ago this was a prosperous 2200 acre plantation of tea, rubber and cinnamon. The government nationalized much of the tea production and seized 1000 acres. Then his grandfather lost another 1000 acres gambling. With this much-reduced plantation Herman was looking for a way to improve his fortune. Through a series of events he figured out how to grow and process a very high quality of white tea, which was discovered by the prestigious Mariage Frieres in Paris and the rest is history.
He's a great story teller and he served us tea at his home,
then took us to the store, where we sampled about 30 or 40 types of tea.
Larry and I both liked Sapphire Bolong and others liked other flavours.
The white tea is very expensive and none of us bought it.
We also picked up a copy of his latest book: The Suicide Club and had them autographed.
On the way to the main road, we passed a shrine where Buddhist Sunday School was just letting out. The children, of whom their priest must have been at least 100, were dressed in white, as were most of the adults. this tradition started to counter British Christian Sunday School in colonial times.
The next stop was a large museum of local artifacts showing Sri Lankan history back several thousand years. The grounds also house the home of Martin Wickramasinghe, a famous author whose ideas still inform discussion here, nearly 40 years after his death.
After a stop at a wine shop, we came back to the hotel for a "hall party" lunch. Cathy and Sally-Jo headed to the spa and the rest of us to the pool; then we all relaxed until dinner.
Maria-Angelica is the latest victim of the cold that Nuwan, Cathy and Larry had earlier. For them it lasted only a day or two, so we hope it's the same for her.
All Photos of the Day
Happy Birthday Sally-Jo!! Thanks for including us in your celebration.
We enjoyed the amenities and ambiance of the hotel for the morning and at lunch. Sally-Jo was presented with a birthday cake and Nuwan gave her one of the books by the author whose home and museum we had visited. When we got into the van, we found that Ramesh had written "Happy B'day Sally" on the back of one seat and Nuwan made sure that Sal sat facing it. Ramesh gave her one of the little note books made from recycled elephant dung. Now we all want them!
On the way through Galle we drove through the fort and climbed onto the ramparts for photos.
Cathy had an amusing encounter with a persistent vendor woman and struck an excellent bargain.
We took the expressway north and then made our way into and through Colombo at rush hour. It's a city of 800,000 with 1 million people commuting into the city each day to work.
The hotel is much bigger than the others we have stayed in and has more security. The rooms are smaller but are very well planned and comfortable.
Nuwan and Ramesh were home with their families for the night, so the five of us dined alone. I was very well cared for with custom-made garlic-free hamburger and fries. The others all envied me, though the buffet was excellent.
Maria-Angelica still has "the cold" so she went to bed early, but the rest of us were not far behind.
All Photos of the Day
We were privileged this morning to visit the home of architect Geoffrey Bawa. It was beautiful and fascinating, and is a museum to his work. He designed many wonderful buildings including the Jetwing Lighthouse hotel we stayed in for a couple of nights in Galle and loved.
Our next stop was a park area near the Parliament buildings where Sally-Jo played with some kids and some of us ate ice cream. We enjoyed watching the tropical fish in a grand circular outdoor aquarium and the people enjoying the place.
Our last stop for the day was the Girl Guide Headquarters. where we met several wonderful Guiders and Commissioners. They were gathering for the enrollment of their very first butterflies. ( the equivalent of our Sparks ). I felt right at home chattering with them and we all enjoyed meeting them and seeing the first little girls arriving for the ceremony.
Back at the hotel we had a "hall party" lunch [ fueled by a strategic grocery/wine stop ] that lasted until very late in the afternoon.
Then dinner and farewells to Sally-Jo who was leaving at 11 for her trip back to Toronto. The rest of us are up at 5:30am for our few days in Dubai.
The hotel forgot our wake-up calls but luckily Cathy was awake and called the rest of us. Then Nuwan arrived and asked if we'd been called so eventually we were called and picked up breakfast bags in the lobby.
The trip to the airport through early morning streets was quick and easy. Then it was time to say good bye to Nuwan and Romesh. Nuwan hopes to come to visit us in Canada next spring. That would be great.
We saw lots of security around the airport, including soldiers with large guns. Once inside, it was clean and fairly peaceful until we got to the departure lounge where really irritating TV was playing with no-one watching.
The famous arab hospitality is certainly not in evidence at the Dubai Airport! We were met with disdain and indifference. Larry and I stood in line at immigration for about 45 minutes because the official processing that line was too busy gossiping with his buddy in the next booth to bother paying any attention to his clients. Meanwhile Cathy had been misdirected as well. Eventually we all got through and got our luggage and managed to connect with the driver for the transfer to the hotel.
The city is certainly interesting. Our hotel is beyond the city at the sea shore and is very nice. The reception staff wanted to deal with Larry, not any of the women--awkward, since Cathy had the documents.
It was a "hall party" supper, and then Larry and I walked around the grounds. We so tired we ended up falling asleep around 8:30. All Photos of the Day
