White Sand Beaches....Marisa & Unawatuna

(Blue text Becky: black, Stretch)
Sri Lanka is known for it's white sand beaches, swaying palm trees & mangoes. Since we hadn't experienced that yet(and we were sick of all the rain), we took off for what was (recommended as) a quiet beach on the southern coast. After a long day of standing on the bus from Elle we arrived in Marisa to a fairly busy beach, but room for two more. The 2 weeks after Christmas have to be the most crowded anywhere in the world, but here we were. The sun was out and the beverages were cold.

The local fishers usually are perched on a stout pole in the
surf fishing and collecting money from camera pointing
tourists....This guy was still looking cool but too tired to
take my money...

 The surf was perfect for body-surfing and after
several great rides, a bigger set of waves came in
and pile-driving me into the beach, with sand embedded
 in my forehead and a very sore neck, it was back to
the beach for quieter activities. 

Though we'd hit the beach, we didn't leave the rain behind. Our clothes were all damp, even those we weren't wearing. With the continuous rain shirts, pants, socks were now beginning to sprout mold! Yuck!

I think this is some of the most intense rain we had. Might as well have been 
swimming with the fish!

Maybe the promise of this rainbow was a day
without rain..........not.

We hiked over a headland away from the crowds through this lovely terrain.

From there we watched the fishing boats preparing to head out for the night.

We shifted to another beach community called Unawatuna (way fun to say) and found that the guide books failed to mention that the Tsunami in 2008 took most of the beach so high water is right at the buildings. Beautiful bay  but not much for beach life.....

Tea Country - Nuwara Eliya & Ella

(black text is Stretch, blue Becky)

Two long bus rides from rainy Polonnaruwa and we arrived in Nuwara Eliya to broken clouds and a chance of sun......The town is an old English Hill Station surrounded by Tea Estates......Green, Green and more Green.

The simple homes of the local people spread over the valleys and hills.

Almost every home had a large garden, with many introduced
 European vegetables. Much of what they grow is for their
 consumption, but there were also many roadside 
stands brimming with bright fresh veggies.

Tea bushes cut like hedges with rubber
trees intermixed for a manicured countryside.

Traditional ways seem preferred. Ladies carry their baskets
 much as they must have when tea was first produced.

Every 2 hours the Tea-picker ladies (on the left) bring in their
leaves  to be weigh and sent to start the drying process.
Only 12 hour days.

more manicured countryside...

There is always someone who can't read the signs....(In Victoria
Botanical Gardens)

Ah - Poinsettias growing in the garden for Christmas.

Our Guest House neighbors (Gyladis & Denis) from Polonnaruwa
ended up at the same guest house here for an
exciting fireworks and sparklers Christmas evening.

An incredible Christmas Curry dinner with Chilean Wine (Sri Lankan Wine Shop), Foie Gras (brought from France by Gyladis & Denis) & Fruit Cake (brought by Becky from an English grocery) for dessert. An eclectic international meal for sure..
There was an English grocery store called Cargills and I was longing for some kind of traditional Christmas food. I found a pretty nice fruit cake - which I'm not that fond of at home really - but this helped me feel it was more like Christmas.
We ended up buying 2 fruitcakes, after we bought the first one, we saw a much better one. So while Becky went back to buy the nicer one, I waited on a park bench for her. A beggar came by and asked for money for food, I wish I had taken a picture of his face as he walked away with a fruitcake....Puzzled would be the best description.

The day after Christmas we climb aboard the incredibly" scenic
train to Ella. "A must do" for all Sri Lanka travelers. We're
all excited to see even more scenic country while leaving a
beautiful area.

Standing Room Only!!! on the train.     View?
Where are the windows?

A quick glimpse out the door. Of course the rain is back with
plenty of clouds.....

It did have it's moments of intense green and good ole
clickety -clack of the old rail-cars.. A well spent 6 hrs of standing 

Arrival in Ella to blue sky and Ella rock from out our deck and
world famous Mojitos a the Chill Out Bar....

One of the funky paintings on the wall of the Chill Out.

So the Chill Out had up a Christmas dinner menu from the previous
 night, and at the bottom was the dessert: Christmas Pudding.
 I asked if there was any chance they had any left, and much
to my pleasure they did. I enjoyed every bite.

Ancient City "Polonnaruwa"

 This day, traveling by tuk-tuk hit it's zenith. Looking back on it now we laugh, but we weren't always. 

 Leaving Sigiriya we needed to take a tuk-tuk 9 km back to the main road to continue by bus on to Polonnaruwa. After my skillful bartering (cough cough) we had arrangements made. Off we went down dirt back roads for 4 km until the engine sputtered, died, and wouldn't restart. We were out of gas! After a bit of amazement that our driver attempted to get us there on empty, and some head scratching on his part a rented car and driver showed up.  We explained the situation and were fortunately invited to hop in and share the ride. Much to our tuk-tuk driver's displeasure and demands, he only received 2/3's pay.

Is this a joke?

We ended up sharing the car all the way to Polonnuruwa, then phoned our guest house for directions. The owner said she'd send a taxi to pick us up. Meanwhile and as usual, the tuk-tuk drivers approached and began their barrage of questions: "Ride? Where are you going? What guest house you stay?" Despite telling them "We have arrangements made", "No we don't need a tuk-tuk", one driver then told us the guest house sent him, "No charge".  We were wary, as the drivers will play a game on tourists like this and end up asking the guesthouse to pay them, and then the charge gets put on your room bill. But this guy gave us the owner's name, and not knowing what sort of "taxi" she was sending, we believed him.  When we got to the guesthouse, the owner looked at us with irritation and said, "Why you not wait?"  We explained what had happened, and the driver was sent away with no pay and his tail between his legs. We were tweaked that we had been scammed, despite our self image of travelers with skills honed in India!
 To give ourselves a break, we rode bicycles to get around the next 2 days, even in the rain.
Polonnaruwa was the ancient capital of Sri Lanka from about 1070 til 1284 and is alongside a huge lake ( Parakrama Samudraya). The ruins are extensive and enjoyable to cruise around, even in the rain.

Even though it was before 6 PM, this elephant was roaming.
Still doesn't seem natural to see wild ones alongside the road.

The local fishermen were out in their outrigger boat, running
their gill-net. (scaring fish into the net with the thrown weight
 as they pass)

I love the rain....at this point anyway.

Our neighbor at the Guest house, Dennis,
models the evening wear required to get
to the Dining Room (3 steps away).

More reclining Buddhas...Only makes sense with so many
Buddhas in Sri Lanka, they can work in shifts and others
can nap.

Most of the building ruins still had their entry "moonstones"
These were the entry steps into the temples, this one had
many elephant carvings...Very Cool.

I thought this Buddha was crying, but no
the rain continued and it was me that was
crying...........

Temple built of bricks and plaster to house a huge image
of Buddha.  There were older photos showing the Buddha 
in better repair. The head was now missing.

Ancient Toilet?

The colorful umbrellas added a bit to the otherwise
dreary/rainy day.

We don't think there were ever lions in Sri Lanka, 
but there were some great statues of them. At the end of the day,
 Stretch was still hanging on to an umbrella.

Sigiriya......Palace in the Sky

After arriving at our guest house in Sigiriya, a small town on the outskirts of the ancient city by the same name, we met a couple over a wonderful home cooked, 7 dish meal. They'd also been traveling by tuk-tuk, but instead of hiring a driver for a specific point-to-point trip, they rented theirs for 10$/day. It was much easier for them to get places, not having to rely on schedules, trains and buses or bartering with the tuk-tuk drivers. We were envious to say the least, but too far into our journey to arrange.

Kate and Rob with their "pimped out" tuk-tuk". It came with music, 
speakers (Elton John sounds great with the wind whipping
 through your hair)  and cool spikes in the front axle.

Scarecrow - or he surrenders!

Sigiriya Rock rising out of the otherwise
flat jungle.....imagine a palace on top

Walking through gardens can be dangerous!

Love the Sri Lankan script, but the warning is even better....

The tan colored rock screen (1000 yrs old) was
 added as protection for the cave paintings behind. 

In the caves were these lovely beauties and more like them 
decorating the walls and ceiling.

Lion's foot at the base of the stairs that lead
 to the city palace of Sigiriya. Apparently there
 used to be a lot more of him built with brick and
 carved into the rock. 

527 steps later...looking out over the surrounding jungle.
Not much more that steps and foundations left on top
and the swimming pool (water tank)

At the very far end of the promenade, through the water
gardens, leading to the rock
was a very "large" standing Buddha........ 

Surrounded by many Monks/Buddhas of all sizes and shapes

Rented some bikes to cruise the countryside...nice quiet
roads, but...

Time to get home...it's almost 6....

Buddhas & more Buddhas

(Blue text is Becky, black Stretch.)

Just before we hit the road from Kandy to see several ancient sites, the unseasonal rains began. Roads were getting washed out from the over flowing rivers, hillsides and trees sliding down... This was just the beginning of a very wet-time-to-be in Sri Lanka. At this point we decided that the one umbrella we had purchased back in Shimla, India really wasn't keeping either of us dry as we tried to walk side by side under it, so I picked up another. We were both rather amused by being umbrella owners, since we seem to have coats for every season, and umbrellas aren't very, well...Alaskan. But one has to adapt.

We started the day by comfortable air conditioned bus but had to make an unexpected exit - (intestinal distress) in some small town. Disappointed to give up our cushy seats, but relieved... we hired a tuk tuk to get us the last 24 kilometers to Dambulla. From here on, like the weather, the transportation became eventful as well.

Tuk Tuk time

Dambulla has 5 caves with carved Buddhas inside from about 500 years ago.....Imagine our surprise when we were greeted by a very large gold Buddha, perched on top the entrance to a carnival ride, I mean museum (note the mouth for doors and the eyes above the doors). Luckily the ancient path to the caves was around to the sides and was a little less neo-kitschy

Each cave had a reclining Buddha about 15' long and each
cave was from a different king out to out-due the last with more
 Buddhas...The oldest had the best carvings, even a dented
pillow or Buddha's head....

A Buddha of every shape for every preference... 

In Nepal and India they were called "Stupas"
Here they are "Dagobas" and they use a lot
of gold....

Cave ceiling paintings

The Buddhas were pretty amazing due to the age and the detail work. Not only were there many statues in each cave, the ceiling was covered with the same paintings of Buddha. Not to offend any Buddhist out there, but it was as if the more Buddhas there were, the more sacred the place was perceived to be.  

We continued traveling by tuk-tuk that day to Sigiriya, the next ancient site on our itinerary.