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.

Off to Sri Lanka.......Sacred Tooth?

Upon arrival in Columbo....we were stunned...... minimal horns blaring and the streets were pretty dang ole clean....Can a 45 min. flight make that big a difference?

Well, straight from the airport to Mt. Lavina to a hotel we booked online on the ocean or close to the ocean, there was a railway track (their busiest) and another row of restaurants and guest houses and then the ocean. As we moved along the beach to the fishing village(poor folks) it looked more like the India we just left.

We also found it very hot (90 deg & 90% hum.) So, instead of more beach time, we figured it was time for the hill country( tea plantations, hill stations & mountains) and a little cool weather (80 deg in the daytime and 75 at night).   First Stop, Kandy........

Due to horrendous traffic in Columbo, we missed the scenic train and instead took the scenic bus......  

After 2 months of "black" tuk-tuks, we saw our first red one
then green and blue and pretty much every color.

Kandy Lake is the center of Kandy with the
gold roof being the "Temple of the Sacred
Tooth" Who knew?

Welcome Indiana Jones, step on the Moonstone
and enter the "Temple of the Sacred Tooth"

Supposedly, When Buddha went on to Nirvana, he was
cremated and some sly monk pulled out one of his teeth
from the ashes. The story goes, that in order to safe guard
the tooth, a journey the length of India, with a voyage across
to Sri Lanka, the tooth found a home. Temples were built by every king in Sri Lanka, wars were fought and new temples were built. Even a king who thought it was B.S. and went to have the tooth destroyed, only to have it fly into the heavens until he came to his senses and built it a new temple. The Dutch took it (a decoy), the British took it (and gave it back) and the 30 year civil war in Sri Lanka, blew it up......It's back and it's given offerings 3 times a day for your viewing pleasure....Don't get me wrong the temple was amazing, but it's still a tooth......

While we were walking there it started to rain...heavy rain and really the first that we've felt since Sept. in Shimla. Come to find out it became a daily occurance in Sri Lanka.

Monks monitoring the viewing procession of the tooth relic.
(and to safeguard the tooth from the tooth fairy)

The tooth is enshrined behind the silver door,
 inside the gold & jeweled cone.....
only visible to those in the utmost Buddhist inner circle.

Elephants everywhere, it's time to find some more "live" ones
for Becky 

Found them..."Big ones, little ones" at an Elephant Orphanage

I (Becky) was delighted with these apple cakes we found at a bakery. Moist, rich and chocolaty.

We took a tour of a tea museum, the industry that thanks to Mr. Lipton put Sri Lanka on the map.(Becky) 

So much for tea and cake, Stretch was most excited about finding an English Pub that served a stout beer. Yea!

Varkala....Beach time!

Hearing about overcrowding and "paradise lost" in Goa, we decided to skip it and Showed up in Varkala, Kerala, India for our 1st beach time on this trip....What a pleasant surprise to find that the Varkala Beach has most most of the guest houses and shops on the North cliffs and on the South cliffs (where we stayed) was quite a bit more subdued....The cliffs had access stairs down to the beach, from the mundane to the downright scary. Where the south and north cliffs meet is a beach area with access for the village locals and also the funeral ceremony beach for the area...Culture and beach life...That"s India...

The view down from our favorite cafe...
Only open for 4 days when we arrived.

The colorful fishing boats ....Looking out the night we arrived
It looked like the sky had landed on the Arabian Ocean.
I counted over 200 lights from fishing boats working
the night away.

The cliffs were mostly red rock with the
vibrant plants and everyday blue sky.

Here's Bec at our fav. restaurant (Green Pepper), excellent coffee
seafood, lassis and everything we tried......... 

Big funeral day....the bodies are cremated elsewhere and then
a ceremony at the beach with the family for last rites...

A family pays their last respect as they scatter the ashes of the deceased. (Becky)

We would usually stroll between North and South Beaches daily.(Becky)

Simple table light: a can filled with sand,
 a glass lantern and a candle.
But Yikes! that smiling face!
I think somebody said "cheese".(Becky)

fishermen prepping their nets..in the foreground
is one of their canoes....just 2 logs tied to a big log.
Way too simple

So, now we know why they're called water buffalo.
This dude was at the beach, swimming around in a cool lagoon,
 making a lot of happy mooing noise! (Becky)

After a great stay in Varkala, we decided it was time to exit India and take an easy flight to Sri Lanka from the capital of Kerala....Thiruvananthapuram (quite the mouthful, shortened to gringo to Thrivandrum) for the holidays...We only had 2 weeks left on our Indian Visa, so we were coming close anyway....
                                                                              INDIA
It's been "Incredible" and that is their  current tourist promotion "Incredible India". Every town, village or temple on the road has been different, culturally and in it's character and beauty. For everything in India you can add the word "Incredible".....Beauty, Culture, History, Poverty, Wealth, Filth, Crowding, Frustration, Serenity and the list goes on...We're glad to have come and happy to go.....confusing yet clear.....
                                                                         Namaste India!

Alappuzha (Alleppey)-Backwaters in a Houseboat

The helm of our houseboat, and Stretch wasn't the captain!

(I loved all the electronics...none...just the wheel, shift & throttle....SGD)

Isn't she a beauty. Our boat was really simpler than many, with fans and mosquito netting, not glass windows with air conditioning. Still we felt quite regal as we had the whole boat to ourselves  with a staff of 3 waiting on us.

This was our cook, Bennie. The food he made was superb. I had been hearing about how Kerala food used more spices rather than sauces in their dishes and was delighted with it all. Bennie was amused with how I raved about the cabbage dish, but offered to teach me how to make it the next morning.  Really simple actually - you just have to have the right fresh ingredients!

House boats parked everywhere along the backwater channels
Peaceful cruising .....SGD

Despite what Stretch is always saying...I can kick back and relax.
(it only lasts for about 3 minutes-SGD)

Off to work in the rice paddies....all the canals are higher than
the rice paddies for good irrigation and potential big time flooding. SGD

hard paddling in the salad SGD

Duck farming was a lucrative business to be in among the backwaters. It was such a surprise to both of us that the ducks weren't flying away to avoid these huge tight flocks. The only explanation we got was this breed wasn't much for flying. They were herded into the rice paddies to eat the stubble after harvest, and fertilize the ground for future rice planting.  

The umbrella hat was standard issue with the canoe ride, although Stretch  didn't  don his . But it was all the style in the rice paddies, so I fit right in. (naturally my head was too fat ..SGD)

Kochi Kerala.. Spice Port & Green faced Demons

What a difference a flight makes (or 2).....We left Udaipur (5 th of Dec) and flew to Bombay for the night and then on to Kochi (Fort Cochin) a former Portuguese colony. A major port for the supply of Indian spices to the world.

Still the spice trade goes on with the addition of container ships, z-drive assist tugs and commercial fishing boats... 

These Chinese fishing nets have been around for a couple hundred
 years. This one is out of the water to collect the fish that happen
to be swimming by when the net is below them.

This guy is working on his gill-nets, but behind him
is the Chinese net. They are impressive looking
contraptions, but it looked like the only money
they were making were from tourist dollars from fotos.

All the 200 hundred year old warehouses still
line the waterfront. Here the ginger is being dried
before it get bagged and shipped

Went to see the Kathakali dancers and watched an hour worth of make-up and demonstrations of face & eye usage to tell a story.....Very cool with the green faced guy being the prince and trying to have his way with the maid...In the end the maid tells her husband, who comes and does away with the green faced bad guy. Pretty entertaining...........Watch the eye movements during the video.......

Classic Kathakali dancers of Kerula

Udaipur..land of floating palaces and James Bond

Sadly, we never saw Roger Moore while we were in Udaipur, but then we didn't go to any casinos either...The James Bond movie Octopussy opened with a scene of the Lake Palace and eventually with some mayhem involved....The best you can do is watch the movie (every restaurant in Udaipur had a showing at 7 pm, just in case you missed it).

Lake Palace (from the City Palace)

The Queen's hanging chair, very opulent chambers.
We thought is was called the City Palace because
it was in the city.....but no. The Palace is a city,
18 Palaces, each Maharajah added on and built
his own. The current guy is trying to figure out
 how to pay for it all without wars & slaves.   

Constantly Indian families are asking for photos of us with them
(look at us with the white people), this time only the Indian Tourists
were captured ...

Ganesh (carved in stone on a temple), also known as Ganapati,
 the elephant-headed god, is thegod of wisdom and learning
 and looks a bit like a party guy on the beach with the sun glasses

City Palace from the water..oldest on the left and newest on
the right (also a hotel to make ends meet).

City camel..ready to impress...

These three boys were hanging out fishing, although I never saw them catch anything.  They looked as if the fish might   be their next meal.   (bg)

Becky hanging in the cupola on the roof of the hotel.
Nice spot, if you can stay out of the sun.....

Either not enough of Rajasthan or too much...it was time to make a break for it. If it's going to be this hot, we should be by an ocean.........Off to the Province of Kerala and some Portuguese influence.........