18 To Colombo and home.

Helen writes,
We arrived in Colombo very quickly really. The road from Bentota to the capital is a fast one, at least when compared to the rest of the island. The buses are driven furiously and much less likely to give way or make space for the swarms of little tuk-tuks that we'd grown used to elsewhere.

En route to the hotel we stopped at various shops to collect our souvenirs to take home. In one, Malcolm was able to find some underpants in what he thought were his size but back at the hotel he soon discovered they were more pouch than pant!.
Our favourite shop was once again, the famous “Barefoot”. This was in the same place as it was 20 years ago when we first visited Sri Lanka but has considerably grown over the years since our last visit. Then we had bought a few toys for the babies, to give them an echo of their original home as they were growing up. Now the vibrant colours of the soft toys were the same as we remembered but the range of toys for sale had changed and expanded a lot.

May bought a selection for herself and her friends. She also bought some beautiful sarongs after much concentrated trying on and mirror checking.
Malcolm, Roshan and Neil did a little bit of desultory shopping but soon sidled off to the adjoining café for a spot of tiffin.

 Meanwhile, May and I shopped on!

We arrived at the Galle Face Hotel at lunch time but to our complete dismay our rooms weren’t ready!

 Neil stayed with us while the manager busied the staff to find us somewhere. In the event they only had one pre booked room allocated for us so May and I were upgraded into a super deluxe room - YES!

The hotel is a really interesting place. In many ways it is redolent of the old colonial days of Ceylon.

The Galle Face Hotel circa 1890

It is as different from a modern chain hotel as it is possible to get. It is definitely idiosyncratic and sometimes requires a bit of tolerance on the part of the guest but its authenticity more than makes up for that. We could easily have spent much more time there.

The Galle Face's legendary doorman K.Chattu

It is a popular venue for weddings and in the three days we were there we saw six separate wedding parties. They were very varied, some were traditional Sri Lankan affairs whilst others were considerably more westernised, even to the extent of loud discos.

We ate our dinner each evening under the night sky in the hotel’s Sea Spray restaurant where the sea lapped inches from our feet and the local fish was delicious.

 

We liked the cocktails too and often we would like them again ... and again.

In our short stay in the capital May and I somehow managed to hire the most hopeless Tutut driver in the city, who managed to get completely lost in his home city, or so he said. Luckily I had my guide book so I could tell him where we needed to go. He was very cheeky and after finally arriving where we wanted to go, tried to charge us double fare. I gave him the previously agreed amount but he shouted at us as we got out of the cab and we hastily sped away down the street.
We visited the Natural History museum and National Art Gallery. This was quite disappointing as the exhibits weren’t labeled and so we didn’t really know whose work we were looking at.
After all that excitement we needed to relax and we went to the hotel spa and had a fantastic massage then we had a swim in the hotel's sea water pool.

We felt that we’d have liked to stay much longer in the capital as it is such an enthralling place and we’d not even scratched the surface but early on Monday morning we had to head off with Neil to the airport. We felt quite sad having to say goodbye to Neil. He’d been a good guide and a reliable source of information. He’d helped tremendously in the search for the children’s birth families and we’ll never forget all that he did for us.

Our delayed flight home was a nuisance to say the least. May felt ill and needed to lie down and take it easy. Luckily Malcolm’s business class ticket allowed him into the business class lounge and he decided to ‘buy’ the rest of us into that haven of luxury.
So we spent the five hour delay quite comfortably in the comfy chairs and had a surfeit of complimentary food and drink to keep us going.
May was able to lie down on a special chair cum bed in a darkened little cabin and Roshan had a free ayurvedic foot massage, both of which helped pass the long wait for the flight.

At last we boarded the plane home. It was crammed full with every seat taken.
In economy we were cramped and uncomfortable. We tried to sleep but it was impossible.
Roshan asked, ‘how much longer?’ at least twice an hour during the ten hour flight!
Malcolm was once again pampered and cosseted in entirely undeserved comfort and lapped it all up as if born to it.

When we finally landed at Heathrow we whizzed through customs and our car was already waiting for us on the road outside the terminal.
After a few difficult moments trying to fit our much expanded luggage into the car and then after an uneventful and speedy drive back to Brighton we were soon back in our own home and comfortably snuggled in our own welcome beds, with the adventures and pleasures of the last three weeks firmly embedded in our tired but very happy memory banks.

This has been a landmark event for our little family and one that will stay with us for the rest of our lives.

17 Bentota

Helen writes,
Our plan had been to relax at the beach after our travels and leisurely make our way up the coast to Colombo with two stops en route. The Lighthouse Hotel in Galle had been fantastic and we’d assumed the Taj Exotica at Bentota would be really good too, but it was actually a bit disappointing. Certainly in comparison to other Taj Hotels we have stayed at in India
It is in clear need of refurbishment so we felt as though we’d landed in an overpriced, “once was but now isn’t” sort of place.
The local staff were very helpful, but the mainly Indian management were officious to say the least. We constantly felt we were under scrutiny in case we made off with an illicit packet of peanuts or some such thing.
The business manager asked us our views at dinner time so we told her. She said renovations were planned but that didn’t really help us there and then!
Never mind. We’ve stayed in some marvellous places on our tour so we shouldn’t moan too much!! And it wasn’t exactly Wormwood Scrubs.
On the positive side the food was good at both breakfast and dinner.
We’ve eaten my favourite foods here at breakfast time - Masala Dosas.
The pool here is also large and very deep.
Roshan thinks it is fantastic and has done 30 lengths each day.
He and I have also gone to the gym each day. It’s well equipped and the gym teacher is helpful and vigilant and plies us with water when we look as if we are beginning to fade.
Yesterday I was tempted to try the steam room after the gym.
It was so steamy I couldn’t see anything. I had to go on all fours to try to see where the benches were! Needless to say it was so hot I couldn’t stay long and groped my way back to the door and out into clear air!
Next stop Colombo and the famous Galle Face Hotel.

16 The luxurious Lighthouse

Helen writes,

We arrived at Galle in the late morning after another long trek along narrow dusty roads.

Neil took us around the old town and we walked on the ramparts of the old Fort.

Along the route we’d seen evidence of the damage done in the Tsunami, buildings destroyed and homes washed away.

The government has prevented some shoreline rebuilding so there are areas along the beach where you can see right out to sea where previously there were trees, homes, shops and hotels.

The sea was really rough and beaches all along the coast had red flags to warn of the strong currents. 

Nevertheless we saw some people bathing. We decided to stick to the pool.

We had a drink at a lovely old hotel called the Ramparts. It reminded me of Portugal in its design. This area has been colonised by first, the Portuguese, then the Dutch and finally the British and all have left evidence of their time in power. The fort’s walls are so thick that they withstood the Tsunami so people here were safe.

We loved seeing Chuli again when she visited us at the Lighthouse hotel. 

She brought May and Roshan lovely gifts to remind them of Sri Lanka. She was able to stay for a few hours chatting and reminiscing about times now long gone, before returning to her mother’s house in Galle for the birthday celebrations. We are hoping to see her a final time in Colombo at the weekend before she heads off for her new life in Dacca, Bangladesh.

The Lighthouse hotel was fantastic. 

It was lovely to be by the sea again after all our travels inland. It is in a beautiful setting just outside Galle. Our rooms were great and we had a sea view balcony. The pools were large and one was an infinity pool so you feel like you are swimming over the edge and into the sea! Food was great too!

May and I had a cocktail on the terrace as the sun went down after a stroll on the beach - Fantastic!

The hotel staff were helpful when Malcolm was unwell and called a doctor straight away. He has had medicine, which has sorted out his illness although he felt pretty rough for a few days.

15 Searching for crocodiles!

Helen writes,
Very early - 4.45 am - we woke up to go to the Uda Welewa Game reserve. It had been raining hard all night in this very rural area and we wondered what the roads would be like that we’d travelled down the day before. Then everything had been so dry and dusty.
On our way to the Centaurus Tourist Hotel on the edge of the Game Reserve and on the banks of the lake, we had stopped to feed wild elephants with pieces of fruit along the road. Fortunately, there had been an electrified fence between us or we might not have been so brave.

Going along the pre dawn, darkened roads we saw the early morning activities of the locals; people taking food to market on little tractors pulling trailers or by bike or tuk-tuk.
Few homes had electric light so the roads were very dark. Gradually, though, it started to get light and we transferred from our car to a 4 wheel drive jeep. It really did feel now as though we were on Safari!

We picked up a warden from the game reserve en route and he chatted to us about what we would be able to see.
I explained that Roshan was getting a bit desperate to see a crocodile. He was uncertain about our chances as apparently they are very shy creatures. Not an adjective I’d previously ascribed to a croc!
We entered the game reserve and picked up our guide. He was very knowledgeable but had problems explaining all he knew in decipherable English.
He had really sharp eyes and pointed out lots of beautiful birds; eagles, kingfishers, Indian rollers and storks.

There were lots of elephants wandering around in herds and smaller groups. They weren’t shy and came quite close to the jeep. They were all busy chomping away at the long grass and throwing dust onto their back to keep cool and deter insects.

We headed towards the large lake and slowed down.
The moment of truth approached. Would the shy and retiring crocs make an appearance?
Yes! In the distance sitting in the mud were 2 crocodiles; one large, one small. They lay unmoving, like logs in the sun.
Roshan was so pleased to see them. He’d begun to think that stories of croc infested rivers were untrue.
We are always amazed that local people swim in the lakes but I suppose they know where these fearsome creatures are likely to be and keep well away.

We visited the elephant orphanage where the babies are prepared for release into the reserve.

In truth, after a good 2 hours of hard safari-ing we were ready to go back to the comforts of the hotel. We’d seen lots of wildlife and we’re not really huge fans of the great outdoors at the best of times, and especially not when the going gets arduous.
The hotel pool and all its enticements beckoned!

14 To the Hills!

Helen writes,
Very early in the morning we left Kandy and headed into the hill country on our way south.
The roads are very winding and the scenery breathtaking.

Unfortunately, the road-building programme in this part of Sri Lanka has only just begun, so much of our route was unmade and bumpy.
There is an enormous project underway with sections of highway being hewn from rock.
As usual our careful driver, Neil, negotiated the dogs, cows, monkeys and other road users very skilfully. He isn’t phased by anything.
People here are not aggressive drivers so despite potentially lethal bends we felt safe overtaking on hairpins!!
On the way Neil spotted a very young puppy dog being harassed by a small group of very aggressive brown monkeys. He stopped the car close by but this didn’t deter the little gang of bullies one bit. The puppy was eventually saved when a local passerby shooed them off and carried the puppy to safety. It wasn’t at all grateful and squealed and squawked all through its timely rescue.

We arrived in the ‘Tea Factory’ hotel mid afternoon.

This is an old tea factory building that has been transformed by an architect into a beautiful hotel. The original features of the factory are still there so it was a unique place to stay.
The weather was really cool, like an English summer (a good one, that is) and many local buildings are styled like cottages you can see every day on the Isle of Wight.
A footprint of the Empire from over a 100 years ago.

Everywhere on the hills were closely packed clumps of tea bushes and women busy picking the succulent top leaves – the tips, each with a huge sack on their backs.

We visited a working factory which was very labour intensive.
As usual at the end of the visit there is the gift shop.
We did buy a few things but there really are only so many things you can stuff tea into!

Later we visited the town Nuwara Eliya which is the main town in this area. May wanted to buy a sari and Neil took her to a friend’s shop.
There she chose some beautiful fabric and had a sari made on the spot in the Kandian style.
The tailor delivered it, impeccably finished and fitted, to the hotel within just a few hours.
She wore it to dinner at the hotel that very night. She looked stunning!

The next morning we headed off early to the south and the game reserve. We knew it would be a change of climate again as we were heading for a really dry and hot area and, with a bit of luck, to find all the animals that Roshan was looking forward to seeing so much.

13 The Kandy Perahera

Helen writes,

Our guide took May, Roshan and I to the Temple of the Tooth this morning.

This is the famous Buddhist Temple in Kandy where the tooth relic of the Buddha is kept.

Lots of people were here today as we are in a holy week.

The Temple garden was full of elephants eating great chunks of palm wood. Roshan was in seventh heaven.

We all had tickets for the great Perahera festival tonight but in the end only May and I went because the wait and parade was too long for Roshan and Malcolm.

May and I went to town with Neil our guide in a tuk-tuk at 5pm.

We climbed onto a trestle bench and waited 3 hours for the parade to start.

We were fascinated by all the salesmen who came round with a great variety of things to play with, eat and blow.

May tried various sweets; pink candy floss wrapped in newspaper which she liked and said was really sweet and a doughnut shaped dahl ball which she didn’t. She is very intrepid when it comes to trying new things.

The parade was fabulous. It lasted till 10.30.

The photos give a taste of the spectacle we saw; 30 elephants, dancers, fire spinners and cracking whips.

The tuk-tuk ride home was great too.

These little 3 wheeler taxis are fab at weaving around the traffic and potholes.

12 Mahiyangana

Helen writes,
On Tuesday morning bright and early, before 7am, May and I set off from Kandy to visit her family’s home town, Mahiyangana .
We were excited because we wanted to see where her grandparents and sister had been living when May was born and we hoped to find information about them with the help of our guide, Neil.
He had been so helpful to us in finding Roshan’s family so we hoped that his detection skills could do the trick here, too.
The road was long and winding around the great reservoirs on the Mahawhelli River. We saw many monkeys and chipmunks along the way.
The road was busy with trucks carrying sand to Colombo from the east.
Neil had said it may take us 5 hours to get there but we arrived in 3.
The town was dusty, with a large Buddhist shrine at the entrance.
We stopped at a little local café to ask for advice as to where we might start to look.
The owner told us to enquire at the surgery of an old Ayurvedic doctor, as he might know people who were inhabitants of the town a long time ago.
In fact he wasn’t able to identify the family at all because we didn’t have an address but he suggested the family name came from a specific part of the region and that we might have more luck over there.
We traveled on into areas most tourists don’t ever visit and stopped at a place inhabited by the Veddhas, the aboriginal people of Sri Lanka.
A little old man grabbed both my hands and listened attentively to Neil’s explanation of our quest. He suggested yet another possible location.
This time it was a really remote place so a young man offered to come with us to show us the way.
Off we went again along bumpy little tracks around large tranquil lakes.
By the time we reached the end of the road we still hadn’t found the family so back we came.
As we returned feeling downcast, we saw an amazing sight.
A sea eagle swooped down in front of us and caught a fish from the lake. It flew up into a tree and laid the fish across the branch. A crow flew across to try and steal it but the eagle took off with its prize before it had the chance to make a grab.
We went back to the town and looked around once more until we found an old lady and asked if she knew any details of May’s birth family.
Like everyone else we had asked she was so keen to help and directed us to the Social services office in town.
There the officials were really keen to help us track down her family.
They said that May was "one of their nation" and would get help from them even though the paperwork we had was so sketchy.
We left all the details we had got with them and said we would send more photos later to help in their searches.
A disappointing result on the day …… but you never know what the future might hold.
We came back along the same windy road and saw the same monkeys we had seen on the outward journey!
We had traveled for 10 hours and a distance of over 300 kilometres.
The scenery had been spectacular and all the people we had met, so kind.