Sri Lanka

It would be a fair assessment to say that none of us would have told you that we would spend this Christmas in Sri Lanka if you had asked us a year ago where would be celebrating the holidays. However that is where we were and it was an amazing experience. For those readers who think of Sri Lanka as part of India, you would be wrong. Certainly India has had an effect on the people and culture of the Island but Sri Lankans have a culture all their own. I had always wanted to go to ‘Ceylon’ as it was known in my youth but had never really considered going there until we arrived in Saudi Arabia.




We were keen to travel in the region but have found flights to be quite expensive out of Saudi Arabia and even went to a travel agency or two to get prices on a Christmas vacation but found nothing within our budget. Some fellow teachers had taken their November holiday there and said the Island was wonderful. All we really knew was that the civil war had ended a few months before and there was not a resurgence of violence. Chris checked for flights on her own and found that we could get there as a family for half of what the travel agents were charging. Also, in our favor was that Chris knows a fellow IB trainer, Anne Evans, who had been to Sri Lanka to help train early childhood teachers and she could set us up with a person to help us get a tour. Karu Gamage is a native Sri Lankan who had worked with Anne and he made us a suggested itinerary, recommended hotels and even had a driver arranged for us. His help was invaluable to us on having such a wonderful trip and we will remain forever grateful. We were somewhat worried about the trip when a week before we arrived, Karu had a heart attack. However he kept up with us through Facebook and his daughter e-mailed us to keep us abreast of his condition and what would happen for the trip.


We boarded a Sri Lanka Airlines jet on the 23rd out of Riyadh at 11:00 pm and made the five hour flight to Colombo with little fanfare as we arrived on Christmas Eve. The flight was notable for two reasons. The alcohol was free and started flowing over Saudi Airspace and the female cabin crew was abuzz about the new secret uniforms that would be unveiled at the start of the new year.

After getting through customs, we met our driver, Gihan Mahesh. Gihan is a 27 year old Sri Lankan who has a wife and child and would be our driver and tour guide over the next week. He loaded us in a Toyota van and we headed north toward the ancient city of Kandy.

On this first day, we stopped at an elephant orphanage run by the government. There were probably 50-60 elephants and we were able to pose for pictures in front of the herd with the beautiful mountains of Sri Lanka in the background. While there, the elephants needed a bath so they were herded to a river across the road we came in on and we followed to watch the elephant’s bath in the river. The river scene was beautiful and surreal as if it were something you would watch in a National Geographic special.

We left there and went to a privately owned elephant tourist attraction where the four of us rode the elephant for 20 minutes. It was fun, but any longer would have meant the end of our vacation as Chris and I spent the next two days suffering from leg cramps from having to ride such a large animal. We didn’t realize that these elephants were the same size as African elephants and are much larger than those found in India.


We then stopped about 4 miles down the road at a spice garden. There, we were taken through a path of well swept dirt on a tour of the various types of trees, spices and plants that were grown. It was a very educational tour and of course we had to buy some of the ‘organic’ products that they offered. In the end we bought some of the lower priced goods but enough to make the time the guide took us on worthwhile.


Our next stop was quite shocking when we arrived and there was Santa Claus. We saw him dressed in full regalia at a tea plantation. He had the beard pulled all the way up below his eyes. At the plantation factory we saw how tea was processed and given sample cups of tea. There was a grading process and drying process and we saw both. We bought a great deal of this very strong tea and love it so much more than Lipton. Also interesting is the fact that the 100 year old factory is still using the same equipment that they started with. These electrical machines were built to last.


We ended the day in Kandy where we visited the Buddhist temple of the relic of the Tooth. Apparently, there is a piece of the Buddha’s tooth there with this site being considered very sacred. It was also the home of a terrorist attack several years before by the rebel faction that was just defeated by the government forces in the civil war. The temple is an interesting place but nothing of amazing grace or beauty. We checked into our hotel which was quite literally on a hillside above Kandy. This room was well appointed and quite nice. It was a new hotel and we had a wonderful room that had A/C and views of the city. This room proved to be the highlight of the trip. I won’t go into details about the other places we stayed, but 2 star hotels they were not. All of them had one issue or another from lack of A/C to the four of us sleeping on one bed, to being 50 yards from a railroad track where trains passed every 15 minutes during the day. We chose to go budget and we got budget. None of the rooms were filthy or dangerous however. Some were just less comfortable than others.


Our second day was primarily a transit day where we went from Kandy to the southern coast. We could have gone on a wild elephant safari but had already spent 6 hours in the car, would have done another three hours on the safari and then another few hours on the road to the hotel. We decided to skip that and just go ahead to the beach.

Along the way we drove through villages and larger towns, rubber plantations, tea plantations, and rice paddies framed by beautiful soaring mountains and the ubiquitous King coconut tree.


The king coconut is an yellow/orange coconut that is sold for various prices around the island depending on what the seller thinks he can gouge the tourist for. We paid anywhere from 50 rupees to 20 rupees (.46-.16 cents US) for a coconut. The seller would then take out his knife, and chop off the top and then chop down making a hole in the coconut for you to then drink out the fresh coconut juice. We have never seen Alex so happy as when he got that first coconut and started drinking. The juice is clear and sweet and oh so coconutty. Chris and I agreed that it was absolutely the most refreshing drink we had on the trip. It can then be split and the Jello textured flesh can be scraped out and eaten. It is even used to make soups with and we found out to how good effect that was on our fourth night when we went to a beachside restaurant next to our hotel. Chris had seafood soup that was a cream based soup that had a decided coconut juice flavor.


We spent two good days on the beach. The sand was amazingly soft and the waves from the Indian Ocean came in hard and fast. There were large rocks in the ocean and surrounding the beach, there were coral reefs that could be seen just off of the shore and the beach was littered with pieces of coral. The people we met on the beach were particularly fascinated by Alex and Emma. There would be times where each kid could be surrounded by as many as 10 people talking to them, asking, “What is your country? What is your age? Your name is?” We were a little nervous with this at first but the people were always polite with the children and the kids never felt uncomfortable. Alex must have had his head rubbed about 1200 times. For the most part we feel that this curiosity was based in the fact we weren’t in the ‘tourist’ areas. We were where Sri Lankan tourists would go on vacation and that is who we saw. Many had likely seen Anglo people before but not with small children. Sir Lanka is full of German and American backpackers, surfers and hippies. But family vacations are a new cottage industry there.


Perhaps the greatest concern I had on the trip was food. I am not a curry eater and I saw myself eating a great deal of the amazing fruit they have such as bananas (which are about 2 inches long), pineapple, mango and papaya. To my surprise, I rather liked the curry. The Sri Lankan version and that of India is far different. The Sri Lankan version is very hot but does not have that curry taste that I don’t care for. We ate a great deal of seafood and there was a lot of tourist inspired dishes. I very much like calamari and had that dish in various forms three times on the trip. The kids ate well except eating curry at breakfast was a little too much to ask of them. They generally stuck to juice, tea and toast.

We also spent an afternoon snorkeling. Chris and Emma took to it like ducks to water. They swam and snorkeled and we saw lots of coral and fish. It was really very good and an activity we hope to do soon in the Red Sea where the snorkeling is said to be spectacular. Alex couldn’t muster his courage to do this activity. It’s a big ocean and he is a little man and just couldn’t conquer his desire to stay in the boat. On the way in we saw an olive sea turtle and followed it around as it came up for air. This was a sneak preview of the next day’s trip to the sea turtle hatchery. Sea turtles have had a rough go of it but locals have been persuaded to find eggs and bring them to a hatchery where they are born, kept three days and then sent off to the ocean. Most will still die before age one but are given a huge leg up just to get a little time on their sides before they set of on their sea journeys. The hatchery we went to allowed us to pick up one and two day old turtles as well as some as old as three that they keep for demonstration purposes. We even saw two turtles that would have died in the wild because they were brought with their front flippers amputated due to damage they suffered in the Tsunami of five years ago.


We also went to a moonstone mine. Shafts are dug vertically up to 70 feet down and then sideways up to 300 yards. Water is constantly seeping into the hole and has to be pumped out and men are in there with candle light as they dig out sand and gravel which has to be hand cranked to the top and then panned like gold to get the gravel where moonstones and other precious stones are taken out. The working conditions are inhumane and would never pass any semblance of safety in our country. We saw the other workers polish stones and make jewelry. We bought Chris a beautiful moonstone necklace and Emma a moonstone ring. It was a very humbling experience and one that Chris will forever remember…That necklace literally is the result of back breaking hard work!


On the trip we also went to tour Colombo, Galle and its Portuguese fort with all of the small antique shops and gem stores. We went to a mask factory, and viewed Tsunami devastation along the way. But what we will really remember is the generosity and caring of the people.

Ladies Only!

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far far away lived gorgeous ladies, all clad in black from head to toe. When in the confines of their house, they would loose their so-called Abaya and wear designer clothes, all in the latest fashionable colors and cuts. However, as soon as they left their houses, they had to cover with their black Abaya, in order to follow the Kindgom's laws and regulations.

Life under that Abaya is not all the time that sweet. Imagine going up and down escalators, not only having to watch your step, but making sure your Abaya does not get caught in the moving stairs. Walking down stairs can oftentimes be tricky too. It really bring s on a new meaning to the often heard expression "Watch your step"! At the mall, you will see groups after groups of the ladies in their Abayas. As a child, how would you recognize your mom as ALL the other moms are dressed the same? I figured that before leaving for the store, the moms make sure to point out the shoes they are wearing and the handbag they will be carrying that day. After a hard day of shopping, A great coffee seems well incicated: imagine having to sip your delectable hot beverage through a straw in order to not let strangers peak at your face ... Forget about eye contact when having a conversation, if the lady is wearing the full burka ... Sometimes, you will be able to view her beautifully made-up eyes through a slit of black fabric. Another huge caveat of the Abaya is its color, in the hot Arabian Summer Sun ... Black as we all remember from our science classes absorbs the heat ... so imagine yourself wearing a synthetic fabric abaya in 50 degrees F heat!

Now, what about some of the advantages of being a woman in Saudi Arabia ... For one, you don't drive so no need to worry about knowing the way to get somewhere ... you just tell the driver where you want to go and you chat with your gal pals all the way there. Also, you never have to worry about finding a parking place. Your shoes will not get damaged from hitting the floor when pushing on the pedals ... At the restaurant, you go to the Ladies / family section, away from the stares of single guys and you can enjoy your time alone / with the family / with the girlfriends without worrying about being harassed / accosted or addressed by strangers .... One of the newest malls here has a LADIES ONLY level, where ladies can uncover and enjoy coffee, shopping and pampering all among ladies. Even wait staff and store workers are ladies .. none of them wearing the Abaya. Some malls also have ladies only stores where the staff is not covered and where you are more than welcomed to take the Abaya off when browsing.

I've discovered a ladies only Spa, Salon and Boutique Hotel ... Haven't had a chance to get pampered there yet, but I will before I leave the city ... The staff is so welcoming and the atmosphere is just relaxing. Again, that will be an adventure to be shared with several girlfriends and we'll make it a day trip ... in the middle of town geographically but miles away from the sometimes gender-biased atmosphere.

But my favorite so-far is going to a specific bank and its ladies section. I've visited that branch twice, to cash my paycheck and get brand new Abdullaziz .... Again today, upon entering the branch, I was greeted with smiles and truly felt welcomed. The entire bank staff is female and none of them are wearing the Abaya. I was seated at a desk, handed my check to the teller. Meanwhile, while the teller is entering the millions of numbers and codes needed to cash a check, I was served a delicious perfectly sugared and milked coffee, with a tall glass of water AND a scrumptious chocolate. I'd go to that bank daily if I could ... but gosh, I have to work to earn the paycheck so that I can go cash at my favorite bank at the end of the month!!! Oh, and the best of all, my dear driver (Worth not to name him) was patiently waiting in the car, under the hot sun, listening to Arabic radio station, without a sip of water in sight while I was having my Ladies Only banking adventure. There is some justice in this world!