People are fascinated with Rudy’s diabetes. And it turns out that a great many of them have the same condition (maybe linked to the high sugar diet and the pot bellies..?). And they’re direct – more than once, Rudy has been asked how much his blood-sugar-checking device cost and whether they can have it.
Tuk-tuk slogans
Philosophical, inspiring and sometimes downright nonsense, tuk-tuk slogans are on the up. But not every vehicle has one. Slogans include:
“Effort is the way to success”
“No means no anytime”
“Don’t break my heart”
Cuisine
Can I be honest? I’m a bit disappointed with Sri Lankan cuisine. I was expecting something similar to Indian (one of my faves). But it’s all very samey, and they consistently overcook their meat. A lot. All the beef I’ve had has taken at least a week to chew and probably the same again to digest. It’s like chewing on old rubber. And every cafe and restaurant has pretty much the same menu:
Kottu – this is a typical Sri Lankan dish, made by cooking vegetables, slices of chapati, spices and meat (or cheese) on a hot plate; large blades are used to chop and move it as it’s cooking; tasty and filling
Devilled meat: Similar to a Chinese dish with baked pieces of meat and vegetables in a thick spicy sauce; this is one of my favourites (if only they’d not cremate the meat first)
Fried rice with meat/veg: a pile of fried rice with, you guessed it, meat and/or veg
Rice and curry: served with lots of little side dishes, but always a variation on a theme (dessicated coconut with spices, dhaal, aubergine (this is the best), potato curry)
However, my faith was restored when we ate at our homestay – whilst it was the same stuff, it was much better quality, and the meat wasn’t so overcooked.
Coffee and milk
When you order coffee, sometimes you get coffee. Other times, you get black tea. I think something’s been lost in translation. Good job I’m easy. Oh, and milk is always served hot. But that’s fine, too 🙂
Wood apple
I tried to order it to find out what it was, but they were out of stock (this happens quite a lot, especially in local places – the menu is extensive, but they’ve only got three things. It reminds me of the that famous Henry Ford quote: “You can have any colour, as long as it’s black.”). Eventually, it dawned on me – “wood apple” is “apple”, in contrast to “pineapple”. All makes sense now.
Buses
In Dabulla we saw the “bus wash”, and got close enough to notice the tyres had absolutely no tread on them. Oh dear. Just don’t think about it…
You may have noticed a theme developing… I’m not feeling great. I think I caught a cold coming back from our day tour in Kandy – it was actually quite cold and it gets rather blustery in the back of a tuk-tuk. Since I arrived, I’ve kept saying “I need a day off”, but there’s always been so much to see and do, and most of the places aren’t ones I’d like to hang around in. Except Ella. It’s lovely here. In the mountains the temperatures are much more pleasant, there’s plenty of cafes and restaurants in town and stuff to do from here. Not that I’ve done any of it yet. Oh, and Sumana’s a wonderful hostess. Sitting on her balcony overlooking the beautiful garden is a wonderful way to while away a morning:
Mongoose reappeared, but was too quick again. They’re camera-shy creatures. I can relate to this 🙂
Popped into town, just for something to do. Bars seem to have a general trend in their naming conventions – Ice Cube, Reincarnation, Dream. Ended up at “Chill” which is a living demonstration of how important interior decor is – none of these are really my kind of places, but it looked like a nice environment to hang out for a few drinks:
Another wonderful dinner courtesy of Sumana (decided home-cooking by an elderly native Sri Lankan was always going to beat a restaurant, and wasn’t wrong):
Chillaxed day, but feeling much better and now itching to get doing stuff again.
Heading into town, caught the locals out for a game of cricket:
When we returned, they were still going, but with a different group of people, like a single game but with slowly rotating teams 🙂
It never ceases to surprise me how often you bump into the same people. Walking from the train station to the homestay yesterday, we saw the group of Flemish women we’d met at Polonnaruwa. And today, we met two or three groups we’ve seen before, including D&T from Poland. They travel a lot, often hiring a motorbike to explore independently.
Spent a lovely, chilled few hours drinking fruit juice (alcohol wasn’t served because it’s a public holiday – this is another stark contrast between here and home!), lunching and watching the afternoon rain. Rain in Asia is so heavy you often can’t see the individual drops, like it’s from a bucket not a cloud. And then the steam rises from the hot roads.
Second-class train travel has two distinct advantages over first-class: it’s much emptier (although maybe that was because it’s a less popular route), and you can hang out the windows:
Most tourists get off at Ella. Big mistake – the final part to Badulla is maybe even better:
Oh, and the return (2h) journey cost 40p. South Western Railway, please take note.
Mind you, it meant hanging round in Badulla for an hour, which wasn’t a very pleasant experience. I hesitate to criticise a place because everywhere is someone’s home (in this case, many people) and it’s quite likely many don’t have a choice. So let’s just say it’s functional. And dirty, noisy and polluted. On the positive side, the temple looked nice.
And we didn’t get scammed (another sign the tourists don’t come here) – an egg sandwich, two muffins and a scone cost a total of 45p. Beat that.
After a tour round the old-fashioned control room (Dad, you would have loved it), a very old locomotive returned us to Ella:
And a delicious, meal at Sumana’s place – the best I’ve had so far, and the only time the meat hasn’t been cremated:
Two contenders for BOTD today – a giant wasp scouting the dried fish stall in Badulla, and two fireflies on the walk back to the homestay. Didn’t get a picture of either, I’m afraid, so you’ll have to imagine them in all their glory and decide which one wins 🙂
The train ride from Nuwara Eliya to Ella is widely considered one of the best in Sri Lanka. It didn’t disappoint. Today, I’m gonna let the pictures do the talking. This one’s for you, Dad 🙂
Random stuff from today:
At the local market. Machete, anyone?
Lunch at a cafe for locals where the curry and rice came pre-packed, like a Sri Lankan Maccie D’s, but much nicer (£1):
More tuk-tuk slogans:
Took a while to find me some shower gel that wasn’t “skin whitening”:
Standing in the queue at the supermarket, the woman behind me obviously thought that the closer she got to the till, the quicker she’d get served. She stood so close I could feel her breasts pressed into the back of my arm. A discreet, but highly noxious, guff soon gave me back my personal space 😀
Ingenious icon holder (but er, don’t you need that mirror for something?):
Today I was groped… by a Buddhist monk. I know, un-f*cking-believable. He’d asked for a photo of us. Nothing unusual there. Then took a close up of me. Slightly unnerving, but again not unusual given Asians’ fascination with white people. Then he wanted Rudy to take a photo of him and me. Fine. And that was when I felt him grab the back of my thigh. Hard. Errrr, what’s this about? That’s rather odd. When he signalled he wanted another photo, I was on red alert. So when his left tentacle started to stroke my butt, I pulled away fast: “NO, NO, NO, NO”. I marched off before he could react.
We’d set off early for Horton’s Plain from where you can walk to the spectacular views of World’s End. When we arrived, it was utter chaos (you’re noticing a trend about tourism in Sri Lanka, right? The industry is growing much faster than the infrastructure and organisations can adapt) – cars and vans pulled up all over the road as their foreign occupants (mostly Chinese) walked to the ticket office: one counter with queues at least 100m long. It took an hour to buy a ticket (60 LKR for locals, 2,251 LKR for foreigners – again, they haven’t got the pricing quite right, which is why SL isn’t as popular a destination as much of SE Asia).
Finally, we set off. First stop was “Little World’s End” (we decided to gradually build up to the main event, but even the mini version had spectacular views):
Then “World’s End” (does that mean the valley is “World’s Beginning?”):
And plenty of wildlife to slow me down (few other walkers seemed to notice the wonders between the start and their destination – their loss):
By this time, it was just us and the locals, who obviously knew the tourists piled in during the morning (as there’s more chance you’ll see the view before the mist rises), but also knew on days like this, a good view was to be had all day.
And a return stop at Baker’s Waterfall – impressive, even in the dry season:
It was at this point the encounter with the monk happened. We saw him again towards the end of the walk and confronted him. “You took three photos of me. Please delete them”. He didn’t even argue, replying straight away “Yes, I will delete them.” The monk next to him looked perplexed and looked from me to Groper. Using words and gestures, I explained what had happened – I was clearly upset and angry. Groper didn’t even try to put up a defence and after a few minutes just walked off. The other monk listened, made sure he understood, and then said he’d ensure the photos were deleted. “I promise.” I also hoped that he’d reprimand the Groper for disrespecting me, and should have made that point, too. Don’t you hate it when that happens – after the event you work out what you should have done, but by then it’s too late?
Is it good karma to get groped by a monk? For the sake of my own peace, I decided it was great karma for me, but terrible for him. But, ultimately for him, Buddha will decide…
Bug of the day is shown above, but I’ll include it here again because it’s fab (it even did a twirl as I was snapping it):
No road signs today – too bumpy to take photos.
Club cricket match on the way home:
I’m farting like a trooper. I think it might have been the omelette sandwich provided by the hotel as a takeaway breakfast, but I’m potent.
Buddha’s left tooth was rescued from his funeral pyre, and sent to Anuradhapura where a temple was built so it could be honoured by the people. When the capital moved to Polonnaruwa, the tooth went with it (and another temple was built). It moved several other times (and was stolen once), and it ended up in the hands of the “Britishers” who returned it to the Sri Lankan’s in 1843 AD:
It’s now housed in the “Temple of the Tooth Relic” in Kandy:
Definitely a good decision to bail out last night – this morning it was busy:
… but calm and organised.
We all waited:
And at exactly 10:20am, the room housing the tooth was opened, and people filed past, offering their gifts… and their newborns – maybe it’s the equivalent of a christening:
… but it wasn’t as interesting as this mobile phone game, obviously (#facepalm):
Buddha’s tooth relic is kept in a series of caskets, like Russian dolls. Nobody ever sees it, they just open the room in which it’s housed, and devotees pass their gifts through the door to a monk. Apparently, it’s to keep the tooth safe. But maybe, just maybe, it’s because the tooth doesn’t actually exist anymore? I pondered this (I had plenty of waiting time), and decided that it didn’t really matter either way – the value of faith is not held in relics and proof.
Another reminder of the British involvement in this country (see the flag he’s holding?):
Via Kandy Lake:
… to the Big Buddha:
Good views:
Although round the back wasn’t so impressive:
And I think the centre one is supposed to be a lion…?
Then via the local pharmacy, where products were about a third of the price of “The Spice Garden” (no wonder Dr Herbal was so pushy):
And the end of an amazing day and a half with our wonderful guide, Anas (“an-ass”):
Takeaway lunch and off on the bus to Nuwara Eliya and its tea plantations:
Despite being a “luxury bus”, it was hot, uncomfortable and crowded. On arrival, we were accosted by Yellow T-shirt who offered to take us to see some hotels, including his own. We chose his, and were about to arrange a tour for the following morning, when we got talking to two women in reception who were wanting to do the same tour. They were just waiting for a message from their friends. But no message came through. Eventually, we gave up, and they left. We met them the next day and discovered that, upon hearing we were planning to hook up, the hotel had switched off the WiFi. Which is why they never received their friends’ message. Underhand is an understatement. See the lengths to which they’ll go to scam tourists? This is a new one on me, though. Unbelievable.
Random stuff from today:
Local school children filing into the temple:
Buddha in the “preaching” posture – the fingers of his hands unite to denote the turning of the “wheel of law”:
Toilets are often for “foreigners only”. At first I thought that it was because they charged for their use, but it’s because they’re throne, rather than squat, toilets. With loo roll. Other places have simply provided both within the same block. Not entirely sure why they separate them here, but it makes me a little uncomfortable:
Road sign of the day (shame most people ignored it):
Today was Sri Lanka’s annual “Children’s Day”. It was also the day we decided to go to the Royal Park botanic gardens, so instead of a nice relaxing walk among the specimens, it was a heaving mass of families having a great time:
One stage had a long queue of children waiting to get up, announce themselves and sing for about 30 seconds – nobody clapped and the children showed no stage fright at all (Asians definitely aren’t shy):
Another area had children doing crosswords… in Sinhalese:
In between the mayhem, we managed to spot a few interesting exhibits, including:
Java fig tree:
Cannonball tree:
Avenue of royal palms:
Bamboo (good to see you again):
A turtle basking in the sun:
Mombassa cycad:
Getting out of the park proved difficult. We’d been refused at the main entrance, so had gone to the back then crossed a suspension bridge to get into the park:
Except now we wanted to go back, there was a massive crowd trying to access the bridge to take photos. At the same time, people were still coming in. A warden was trying regulate the number of people on the bridge at any one time, but it was impossible, because he didn’t know who was entering. It was absolute chaos. A nice orderly queue had been gatecrashed, causing a massive bottleneck. Squashed, unorganised and hot, it was a very unpleasant experience. Rudy finally managed to get onto the bridge, but I didn’t. He turned came back, grabbed my arm and made it quite clear to the warden that he wasn’t going without me. When he saw the distressed look on my face, the warden let me through. Absolute chaos, totally unorganised, please sort it out.
Sri Lanka is the second biggest exporter of tea in the world (after China): 97% goes abroad (Russia and England are two of the biggest lucky recipients). Ceylon Tea Factory has a rather fine mini-factory showing tourists how it’s produced.
Four main types of tea: black, green, silver and gold. Black and green are from the same plant – only the production method differs. Silver and gold come from the buds of two different plants.
Black and green tea
Five stages of production (after picking)
Withering – leaves (with a bit of stem) are dried for 20 hours by warm air to remove half the moisture
Rolling – for twenty mins without any pressure, then the leaves and stems are sorted; those that haven’t broken down are rolled again using more pressure, and then re-sorted; the leftover hard bits are rolled again under even more pressure and the resulting powder (the lowest quality) used in tea bags
Fermentation/steaming – black tea is fermented (whereas green tea is steamed)
Drying – twenty mins in the drier at 120 Celcius after which a conveyor belt and magnets are used to separate the leaves from the stems (which are magnetic, and used for fertiliser); the furnace of the drier used rubber wood, which burns slowly and gives flavour to the leaves
Sorting – sorted by size first (big pieces are medium strength, small are stronger), and then by weight, and then an amazing Japanese-built machine uses light to sort it by colour
Silver and gold
Withering – leaves are dried in the sun (this makes them much healthier than black/green tea as it retains the natural nutrients); gold and silver tea is often used as medicine
Silver and gold tea is much, much more expensive. It takes longer to pick and longer to produce. Ceylon Tea Factory produces about 1000 kg of black tea per day, but only 25 – 30 kg of silver/gold tea per month. This is reflected in the price: 100g of black tea is about £1, but 100g of silver or gold will set you back about £40.
Some other interesting tea-related info:
Tea is picked by hand all year round
Each picker (usually female) picks 25 – 30 kg per day
Pickers get paid by weight (35 LKR (about 17p) per kg, adjusted for the more time-consuming gold and silver tea)
There are about 1,200 tea factories in Sri Lanka
Black tea is usually drunk with a lump of palm sugar (made from the plants’ flowers); you don’t put it in the tea, but nibble it as you drink:
British brought tea to Sri Lanka (for which they seem very grateful as it’s massively helped their economy)
Flavours, if any, are added after processing:
Flavoured tea can be used three times
An absolutely fascinating tour of the world of tea 🙂
The Spice Garden is a government-run initiative. A herbal doctor (a stern, elderly man) explained what each plant was good for:
Aloe vera (skin and hair)
Pepper (veins)
Pineapple (weight loss)
Saffron (smooth, hairless skin)
Thotiela (ezcema, psoriasis)
Cinnamon bark (cooking)
Cinnamon oil (teeth cleaning, removing ear wax)
“Don’t touch me” (snoring)
Asparagus (migraine, headache)
Nutmeg (gastritis)
Sandalwood (acne, dark circles, pimples – and it’s also used for religious icons as it has a pleasant smell)
On a handout, I was to circle all those I wanted to know more about – he went through each and I was to write down as he dictated the dose and frequency. We were treated to a face massage with sandalwood, and he removed a small section of leg hair from Rudy. I got a lovely foot massage from “one of his students”.
And then we went to see the pharmacy… where the hard sell started.
In two minds: I really wanted to believe some of the stuff he’d said and I know that natural remedies can be very effective. But I also know some of it is utter tosh. And the products in the pharmacy were expensive, even by western standards. He almost got aggressive, but I stood my ground and offered a donation for the treatments we’d received. Back at the tuk-tuk, Anas was really worried we’d bought something (“sorry – I forgot to say”). Later, we popped into a local pharmacy, stacked high with the same products, but at local prices – thanks, Anas 🙂
A quick stop at a tea plantation:
Then off to see some Kandyan dancing.
Packed with tourists, we saw performances from male and female performers. It was nothing particularly amazing, but a pleasant way to spend an hour (and, to be honest, it was nice to sit down!). But they’d saved the best until last – we filed outside to witness fire-walking. Except they didn’t really walk over fire, just the ashes, which was still impressive, but not quite as much:
And then they started working the tourists – offering photos, and then wanting tips (we’d paid a reasonable entry fee already). You can’t blame them, but it does get very wearing, not to mention rather expensive – it’s the little, unplanned additions that are making this trip quite costly.
Puja is the offering to Buddha. It takes place three times a day at the Temple of the Tooth Relic. It was absolutely heaving:
But we were made to feel very welcome, being offered tea on arrival (with lumps of palm sugar :). And everyone wanted a picture with us!
Shoes were discarded once again. In SE Asia, you took your shoes off outside the temple itself but here, you have to remove them to even get into the complex, much of which is outside. So you’re wandering around on sand, stones and paving slabs in your bare feet. Baby feet – we can’t cope so well with the stones and the heat.
Inside the main temple, it was a frenzy. Drummers and a piper were signalling the start of puja and the places was crammed as people queued for the main event at 7:20pm when they open the tooth relic. In fact, nobody sees the actual relic, just it’s casket, but that didn’t seem to effect the fervour with which people paid their respects.
With an increasingly secular society back home, it was incredible to see how their “religion” (Buddhism is a philosophy, rather than a religion) defines their lives, and how widespread it is – male and female, young and old.
But it was all getting a bit too much, so we decided to back out, and come back tomorrow. To calm down, we went to sit in an adjacent temple – much more peaceful and with time to think and reflect.
An absolutely packed day. And, thanks to Anas, a very enjoyable one. He looked after us from beginning to end, and it really felt like he was “on our side”. Can’t wait to finish the tour tomorrow.
There was only one bug today, but I’m sure you’ll agree it’s a very worthy winner:
Road sign of the day (this was no contest, either):
And other random stuff:
Traffic in Kandy is appalling. Not just the overcrowding, but the diesel vehicles pump out clouds of black, dirty smoke. And when you’re in a tuk-tuk, you’re open to the world. Not a city I’d want to hang around in for long.
Slogans moved from t-shirts (SE Asia) to back of tuk-tuks and buses:
This chap’s haircut reminds me of someone’s, but I can’t quite place it – can you?:
