Sri Lanka Dec 2025: weeks 2 and 3 (end)

On 7 December, we headed inland to bustling Kandy. We had to take an alternative route due to cyclone damage. Saw plenty of rice fields being prepared. Visited a tea manufacturer. Too many steps in the process to describe. And our stay for the next couple of nights was in the beautiful old colonial Hotel Suisse, which still oozes Victorian  charm. You could “see” the couples dancing in the elegant ballroom (with balcony for watching!) and men retiring to another room for maybe a cigar or a game of billiards. 

  

December 8th took us, in the heat, to the Paradeniya Botanical Gardens, among the finest of all Asia with samples of trees from other such tropical areas of the world as Brazil, Venezuela, Australia and — of course — India. Gifted by all kinds of royalty and government officials from other countries, including Russia. Loved seeing the gardeners working barefooted. The damage on the other side of the Mahaweli River (355 kms long) was painfully visible. The lowest buildings built along the river had either been washed away or collapsed (or both). Even more sad is that the debris and force of the water has widened the river, making it probably impossible to rebuild the washed away homes.

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The next day, 9 December, we visited the Temple of the Tooth pilgrimage place (one of many Sri Lankan locations on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites). The relic   (tooth of Buddha 🤣) was stolen after his death, is believed to grant governance to the possessor and has thus  been repeatedly stolen and hidden over the centuries. It is now protected in seven nested silver chests within the holy temple.

In the evening, only Jacques, our guide and I went to see the “famed” Kandy dancers who also walked on fire. It was  worth every rupee: gorgeous costumes, wonderful choreography and lovely dancing in a semi-outdoor (cement)  auditorium. Sad that they had to collect donations after the performace. Don’t get paid enough?

 

Of course we visited a batik store with demonstration. Although I know how it works, having done it as a girl, I was still entralled by the layering of colors to create a third color and the adding of different types of wax (to keep certain colors).  
     Visited a mostly British WWll burial place with again the gardner working barefooted. Also had to think of all the Canadian soldiers buried in the Netherlands. (My Canadian uncle was actually stationed in Nijmegen during WWll and survived despite his barracks being bombed. And two of my grandpa Gainer’s brothers died in WWl — I still have the Canadian memorial crosses issued to the next of kin if anyone wants them.)
     Finally, we were taken to a large spice garden (almost jungle) and given a long talk about cinnamon, sandalwood, nutmeg, jasmine, etc. and the health-promoting effects of various creams and pills (but nothing for my cough). Got a free massage, supposedly to let trainees practice. Mine was clearly experienced and gave me almost a full massage! Maybe the massage encouraged people to buy stuff?

On 10 December, we headed further north from Kandy to Dambullo. The cultivated rice fields and beautifully decorated buses (in every color of the rainbow) never ceased to amaze me but also the damage we saw along the way.

Colorful Hindu temples began to appear as we entered the Tamil region of the country (mostly north and east but also central Sri Lanka after labor was brought over from India to work the British tea plantations). The last civil war between the majority Sinhalese and minority (conservative) Tamil populations only ended in 2009 with considerable death and destruction but nonseparation. Hard to believe as our driver and his “man Friday” (assistant) were Hindu and our guide was Christian. They communicated in Sinhala and seemed to get along just fine despite the drivers having to sleep and eat elsewhere (sometimes in drivers’ quarters or at a different hotel). Our guide stayed where we stayed but never sat with us at meals.

In a mild drizzle, we visited the ancient palace of Sigiriya, which was constructed around 500AD atop the so-called Lion Rock. It served as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century. And was rediscovered and restored by the British in the 19th century. It is one of the best preserved examples of ancient urban planning and thus another UNESCO world heritage site in Sri Lanka. Jacques and I hung out with the monkeys and dogs below while the rest of the group climbed the 1200 steps.
     Arriving late and tired at our next hotel, we treated ourselves to some room service and admired the flower decorating the next morning.

  

On December 11th, we had another day of ancient Buddhas. The Cave Rock Temple is just as the  name says: a temple carved into the side of a rock formation. The Buddhas were large and impressive; the restoration work minuscule and presumably endless.
     Next was a ride in the pouring rain (with elephants randomly crossing the road). We visited an extensive museum of ancient history, an old royal palace and a Hindu temple with depictions of Shiva in all of his incarnations, his wife and his children. At our next stop, it was large ancient Buddhas carved from rock again.
     On our way back to the hotel, we were treated to a real Sri Lankan meal (according to our guide). And I finally got a mild yellow curry (vegetarian, made with lentils). Yum.

On Friday 12 December we got up early to go to the regional fruit and vegetable auction. So colorful and pretty. And fun to see how they climb atop their wares to unload them (sometimes barefoot) The one stand is kept much tidier than the other (and probably sells better than the other as well 😊). The market was all men except for one woman doing the sweeping. 😊😊

As already said, stray elephants, dogs and cows (with or without a herder) regularly meander along the road. And traffic just stops.  
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Before we knew it, we were in the east coast city of Trincomalee (love that name, pronounced just the way it is spelled). A long (hot) walk along an originally British military complex that is still in use took us to yet another colorful Hindu temple. Lord Shiva welcomed us this time, again with his multiple arms symbolizing his ability to perform actions simultaneously and his all-encompassing nature. 
      Our resort accomodation was super with a swimming pool (as usual) and a bar (for fresh mango juice or a mango lassi!). Located right on the Indian Ocean, we could get out and walk at leisure. And let me tell you, we were ready for some leisure.

On Saturday 13 December, we visited yet another Hindu temple and the lovely old — clearly British — train station. The order of the languages on the street signs and other signs had changed from Sinhala first to Tamil first. Sinhala is not only a different language than Tamil but also separated from its sister languages of Hindi and Bengali due to the influences of, yes, Tamil and other (Dravidian) languages from southern India.  
     We later ventured out for some shopping. We were amused by the practice of removing shoes before entering shops  (even jewelery shops!) and by the little Hindu altar outside a very modern eyeglass shop. The deer eating garbage in the city was also, well, amusing.

After two days of doing absolutely nothing (just swimming and drinking fresh mango or pineapple juice in part because Jacques had gotten my cough), we were taken to see some natural spring baths. On the walk there, we passed a half vacant and not-so-clean market with one woman trying to keep at least her stand clean. 😊 
      We continued our tour with a long drive to Jaffna on the northern coast with cows, cows, and more cows along the way. Having been indoors enough (in lots of air conditioning), Jacques and I wandered out onto the hot, busy street. The little shops were very christmasy (it was December 14th) and I had a really yummy curd rice with lovely spices in it and a cream soda… for just three euros!

The start of the third week of our trip — still in the northern, coastal city of Jaffna — took us to more ruins and temples. Things were starting to get monotonous as a planned boat trip to see coral was now cancelled because the water was too rough. So we visited an ancient king’s palace, which was largely destroyed by the Portugese in 1619. We visited a large GOLDEN temple complex where men had to remove both their shoes and shirts. Fort Jaffna was next with ruins completely demolished in the recent civil war — sad. A bit of walking in hot, hectic and humid Jaffna proved too much for Jacques and me (sensory overload!), so we took a tuk-tuk back to the hotel.  
      In the evening, we had the pleasure of helping prepare a meal in a Sri Lankan home. We were warmly welcomed. The small cement house was sparse. We made cocunut sambal and fried vegies to go with tofu balls and lentil curry. All very tasty. And when we met the young woman’s grandmother who had just returned from temple, I couldn’t believe what I saw: her pure white hair and shimmerng pink sari against her dark skin lierally took my breath away. 

After a quick visit to Sri Lanka’s oldest public library on Tuesday 16 December, we had a relatively long (few hour!) trip inland to Anuradhapura. Once the capital of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) but mostly destroyed and largely deserted in 993AD, the city was revived in the 1870s (during British colonial occupation) and became a major population center. Known to be the place where Buddhism was introduced to the island in 300BC, Anuradhapura is still a beloved pilgrimage site. Not one, not two but three different climbs are part of the terrein along with a magnificent golden Buddha (also fenced in gold and maintained by a Sri Lankan…  living in Canada). 
     Highlight of the day was a monkey dashing into our bus and grabbing a red bag of candy from the pocket on the back of the driver’s chair while I was standing right there. I was worried about it choking on the plastic, but it knew how to unwrap the candy bars!

On December 17th, we visited yet another temple but now one with the “oldest still living documented planted tree in the world” — also believed to have come from the Bodhi tree in INDIA (the tree where Buddha first became enlightened). Note Jacques walking barefoot, as required, to visit the temple.
      Still in Anuradhapura, we visited more ruins, now of the ancient temple, royal palace and royal baths (among other things). Beautiful park despite pouring rain.  
      On the next day, with a long (half day 😊) trip ahead of us, we stopped for what was supposed to be a light lunch: my rice had 17 accompaniments!!!! Coconut sambal, mango chutney, jack fruit, lentil curry, you name it.

Now back on the west coast and at our final destination, namely Negombo, we visited the remains of yet another fort (this time Dutch and now serving as a prison), a gigantic fish market with a scary-looking catch (maybe illegal?) and a 150-year-old Catholic church (note the beautiful carvings). Negombo is 75% Catholic due to the conversion of the Buddhist and Hindu by the Portugese way back in the 1500s. It is therefore referred to as Little Rome at times.
    Speaking of names, Sri lanka only gained independence (from the British) in 1948, and it only changed its name from Ceylon to Sri Lanka (meaning “resplendent island”) in 1972. A variant of the name Ceylon was first used by the Portugese, then the Dutch and later the British.  
     In the opinion of our guide, Sri Lanka has declined since independence from the British. He is nevertheless optimistic about the new government. And China is now funding big construction projects
      We concluded our “official” tour with a relaxing boat ride (as Jacques described it) on the Dutch channels originally built to connect the coastal cities of Ceylon for cinnamon and other transport. Now a bit overgrown. 
      Unfortunately, the otherwise lovely hotel where we stayed until our departure on December 22nd was not central to the metropolis Negombo and had no access to the beach. Bad planning for such a long stay (three days). Luckily there was a wedding to entertain us and a Sri Lankan santa arrived by boat. We enjoyed the ginger ale (which is much stronger than what we know). And we were treated to the juice of a freshly harvested coconut (see photos of guy climbing tree with a machete). 

  

     Night flight from Colombo was delayed, which meant missing our connection for Amsterdam. We were given unlimited food in the beautiful Doha (Qatar) airport but would have preferred a quicker flight home!  
       Check out the beautiful landscaping m that we spotted when finally taking off from Qatar.