Sri Lanka

‘WOW’ what hard work this tiny teardrop island paradise in the Indian Ocean was for us!  After coming from the easy-going time we just had in spiritual lush Nepal we were a bit shocked by the madness of it all.

After some research, we decided the best way to get around was to get a driver.  We had read about the risks and many regulations involved in self-driving.  Dodging the suicidal dogs that cross the roads, the crazed bus drivers and the erratic everyday life on the road… we thought the challenge was not for us!  Then there was the over-crowding and unreliable option of public transport, so the decision was made. 

We were met by Hasanta, the owner of our chosen driver company, at the airport and he introduced us to our driver for the next 7 days.  Hasanta seemed like a great man, very friendly and smiley and answering to all our ideas and needs for the itinerary we had planned, even stating we had so much flexibility and that we could change it at any time whilst on the road. This all sounded great!  Our late arrival took us to the close town of Negombo for a night’s rest and a small introduction to the costal towns of Sri Lanka, which would later learn to love when we became beach bums at the end of our stay here.

We woke up bright and early with the intention to have a swim before we got on the road, only to discover a dirty and filthy beach!  By the look of the litter hanging around and the colour of the water we decided we did not want to be infested with the possibility of growing a third arm or second head.  On returning to the hotel, we were surprised to find that our driver was there with a new driver, saying he could no longer assist us as he now realised it was his daughter’s wedding whilst we were to be away!  We felt a something a little bit fishy going on here, but we decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and go along and enjoy the ride. After all, how hard could it be to drive and take us to where we wanted to go?  So we met our new driver who said he spoke fluent English, only to learn halfway down the road that he spoke German, French, Spanish and that this was his first driving tour in English! The level of trust started to go down one.  We were upfront and said we were on our honeymoon and not at all interested in being taken to the touristy shops along the way and that we were not at into seeing any kind of animals in captivity that seem to drag hordes of tourists to the country.  He nodded his head in agreement and off we went dodging tuk tuks, overtaking the myriad of locals on the side of the road.

Our first requested stop was Arankele.  This was an oddity to our driver as it was not a destination that anyone had ever requested before and we assured him it was a detour of only 24km off the main road and it was something of interest to us.  After some negotiating he agreed to take us.  Down winding green jungle roads, so quiet and serene, this was our first relaxing moment and true feeling of being in some kind of paradise.  Hidden away on a forested hillside we came to Arankele which housed the remains of a 6^th century Buddhist temple.  Amazingly, a community of incredibly devout monks live there still to this day who have devoted themselves to a reclusive meditative life.  Seldom visited by any tourist this was definitely a feeling of being “off the beaten track”.

Upon exiting the ruins we checked the map and had found a road that would hook up onto the highway, thus avoiding the slight backtrack.  The driver, who I think had never read a map in his life, was disputing this and upon us requesting him to ask the local tuk tuk drivers we have now decided he just asked them in his native language “How are you today” and then told us that they had said this road was closed due to flooding. Hard to believe on a sunny 40 degree day!  At the time though, we decided he was the driver and he must know best, so we headed back down the same path and we finally got back to the next destination – the Dambulla Cave Temples. 

The temples are a little masterpiece of ancient Sinhalese Buddhist art.  The five magical, dimly lit grottos seemed to glow with the rich reds and golds of the carved rock statues that filled almost every space inside.  The roofs were artistically embellished with ancient drawings and we learnt that these masterpieces date back to around 89-103BC, but most of what we see today was commissioned by the reigning kings from the 20^th century.  This was so awe-inspiring and well worth the 20-minute steep climb to the top. 

We chose to stay in the neighbouring town of Sigiriya as we had heard of a quaint guesthouse with good home-cooking. Just what we had craved in Sri Lanka, and which we had not yet experienced. Actually we had been a bit disappointed in all the meals to date at local restaurants, and I found very bizarre for the ‘spice island’.  So we asked our driver if he could take us to the guesthouse, but he instead stopped at the turnoff to the town and took us to a hotel run by own of his friends. It looked like death and was super expensive!  We suggested this was not for us and that we would check out our option before seeing anything else.  After being urged to look at the guidebook and for him to call and check availability before driving some 200 meters down the road he hung up the phone from speaking Sri Lankan and said the guesthouse was full and that we should go back to the hotel of death that he had suggested!  We were cottoning on to how dodgy this whole scenario was and just to check that our suspicions were correct, we asked to be taken to another place that was across the road from our first option.  We told the driver he could stay in the car and that we check the place out on our own.  But he didn’t like the sound of that, and instead preceded with us, only to cut in and speak to the owner in his native tongue and we were then told they were full.  The blood was starting to boil and I was seeing the same process beginning to form here and we put our foot down and said “stay here we will be back”.  Naomi found the guesthouse that we had been interested in in the first place and discovered that there was availability BUT this family run guest house did not supply accommodation for drivers and therefore they would have to pay from their own pocket, not us paying for them without us noticing when they include the cost in the price of their mate’s options!  We cottoned on and upon booking and exiting our sweet little room, we had our first of many confrontations with our driver.  He was totally busted and was making up many lies to us and finally agreed to find his own room and be back to pick us in the morning.  Slightly relieved he had left we became acquainted with our lovely host who asked us if we wanted a curry for dinner and am I glad we agreed to this! 


A few hours later we were presented with around 12 different vegetable curries, ranging from mild to super spicy.  I was in some kind of food heaven.  These were some of the most fragrant, flavoursome curries I had ever experienced.  Retreating to bed with a very satisfied full belly, I was glad how the evening had turned out and slightly furious we may not have been able to have that amazing experience if we had listened and bought all the driver’s lies.  We talked about it and decided not to get all worked up with this and just show him who is boss and not let him be in charge and ruin our fun. 

Glad to have dragged our driver out of bed so early (6AM) and get the satisfaction of only using him to take us less than a five minute walk down the road to the tiny towns one and only natural attraction the Sigirya rock.  This spectacular rock rising some 200 meters above the dry desolate countryside is an ancient rock fortress and is now just in ruin.  The amazing view from atop gave a bird’s eye view of this arid land.  We were glad to see the bus loads of tourists arrive just as we were leaving and glad we made the decision to come at the crack of dawn and have the serene land to ourselves. 

Back on the road we asked if we could spend the night in the small town of Ella, high in the hill country.  Looking at the map and taking into account that we would be driving through hills we found it completely absurd that the driver would say that this was going to take us over 12 hours!  I think you could drive around the whole island in 12 hours! We showed him the proof that the guidebook said taking a bus that would be stopping along the way took 6 hours!  We found a better and less mountainous route than the tourist highway he wanted to take us, and when we suggested to him that we take this highway, all hell broke loose!  All of a sudden we were in the midst of a screaming session where we demanded we speak to Hasanta, the boss of the company and demand we be taken where we wanted and not some tourist-ridden town halfway that he wanted us to stay at.  After speaking to Hasanta and listening to an array of excuses that I did not buy at all “Oh the road you want is closed” and “It is more miles for you” etc etc we decided we needed to opt out of this arrangement as it was not working for anyone, and I think this was our holiday not their’s!  We agreed for him to take us to the hill country and we would work out what to do from there.  The whole 4 hours… YES 12 hours turned into 4, we made it to the beautiful town of Ella, we instructed the driver to wait in the car, and NO we were not looking at anything he had to offer, and NO we would not let him call to check availability and NO he was not coming looking with us.  We found a cute little family run guest (We have decided if you want good food in Sri Lanka it must come from the home cooked Mumma!).  We had a really good feeling about this sleepy little town and decided it was the time…  as we approached the car and got our bags out, we asked the driver to get out and speak to us.  He pretended not to understand us and said “I’ll see you tomorrow”.  We insisted he get out and speak to us, then we did it… we broke up with our driver!  At first it was hard to get the words out. “I just don’t think this is working out” … but then the bittersweet feeling of dumping him felt so damn good!  There was not one ounce of regret and as harsh at it was, it needed to be done.  We were very surprised in his only response “So does this mean I can go back to Colombo tonight?”  That is it, no remorse, no forgiveness, but still there was a weight lifted off our shoulders and we were free to explore and do as we wanted when we wanted, and not forced any more touristy garbage. 

The hill country was so beautiful.  We climbed small mountains for stunning views over the surrounding countryside and hill slopes covered in tea plantations, visited a working tea factory and just did a whole lot of relaxing and making remarks and jokes about the driver we’d just gotten a divorce from! 

It was very interesting visiting the tea factory, where we learnt that the big name brands like Dilma and Lipton don’t actually have their own factories.  The tea factories are privately owned and all the tea gets bagged up and taken to the tea markets in Colombo where the tea is auctioned off and that is where it is purchased by these companies and packaged up with their own brand. 

Upon leaving the hill country we were faced with the Sri Lankan bus experience.  We decided to get up and take the early one hoping that it wouldn’t be full.  This turned out to be a hopeful mindset, as we scrambled onto the bus that was laden with what felt like 100 other Sri Lankan passengers, along with all their children and baggage.  I spent 5 whole hours standing up and playing corners with a bus packed in like sardines.  They could not have possibly gotten another person on it was so jam-packed! Still the whole time I was thinking… I would much rather be doing this than leaving my life in the hands of our recent driver. 

                              

                            

We arrived on the coast mid-afternoon and there was the feeling in the air, the laid back beach lifestyle that we were to fall in love with.  We found yet another family run guesthouse, got changed into our togs and spent the rest of our time travelling the south coast of a country which we now appreciated a whole lot more!