SRI LANKA (2010)

A country still very poor in 2010 ... But lush vegetation, smiles and generosity. You can not even believe it in dreams, even after several trips to Asia.

Go to Sri Lanka, you will inevitably meet beautiful, generous people, whoever you are.
Everybody talks to everybody.

The Best of:
Take the train from Kandy to Ella (book the day before at the train station). 7h of happiness despite the discomfort. Sublime landscapes without seeing a single car;

in the train between Ella and Kandy

Mountains, hills covered with tea trees gives a deep green color and fresh impression..., rapids,waterfalls, colorful temples, and all those wonderful people you travel withl ...They certainly will share with you some of their meals, will be with you curious and will purpose you their seat on the train if you are standing up. Some of the young ones will ask for your email or facebook name to write you.
Tamils​​, from a caste considered "low" and poor, were all in the third class cars, the cheapest, where there is no seat.

In Ella, hikers find their happiness. If you do not like to walk for hours, Ella's worth staying 1 day, no more. Careful also in Ella, ayurvedic centers are quite expensive. Accommodations as well. Book in advance, such as Hill Top Guesthouse, apparentlyvery well: Hill Top

tea trees in Ella: Tamils work there. A really hard job.

A Tamil child in Ella

Cuisine: 

• The Egg Hoppers: The attempt is to adopt them. Pancake-shaped like a bowl, very special,with an egg in the middle ... They clip to dip into the crumbs, coconut with different sauces all as good as each other ... Here is a link to the recipe: Recipe for egg hoppers
• All curries
• The samosas are also sublime. They are found everywhere in the streets or in small restaurants.
• The Dhal (lentils)

Kandy: 

A relatively large city in which it will be very interesting to stay there during the summer Perahera. This is an annual Buddhist festival. It stays about ten days. The local people attach a great importance to this festival which used to ask for rain for rice cultivation.
On the agenda: the city is closed, it's hard to move, even walking down the main street... everybody reserve a seat and can wait 24 hours in one place. The Sri Lankans come from all over the country.

Every evening at night, elephants go out from the "Buddha's tooth Temple" dressed in velvet robes, wearing a gold cape. The temple is himself dressed in thousands of white lights. The masters of the temples rise in dignity, dressed in white and a turban and holding a big umbrella.

elephants of the Perahera in Kandy

Here and there, monks in orange togas.
Musicians and dancers delight even more magical moment.

A tip: The police often let enter some tourists in front of the "temple of the tooth of Buddha". From here you have the best show and the assurance of successful pictures.

Perahera Kandy

The last day, the festival is celebrated during the day.

In Kandy, visit the botanical garden; Surprenant and immense.

For lodging, we were at the Shangri-La and we loved it. If you are lucky enough to stay there when the owners are there, you will not be disappointed. Nandana and Kush speak sri lankan, french, english and  are very welcoming. The word "guesthouse" takes on its meaning.
Anoma, the employee is an unparalleled kindness and always the first to want to please.

Address: Shangri La. .. 2, Mahamaya Mawatha, Kandy, Sri Lanka
email: nandanalankan@hotmail.com

Nandana, the boss, offers incredible Ayurvedic massages, and also hikes in the mountains (despite the fog that day, we enjoyed hiking to temple Pupuressa, mini temple a top a hill: 778 steps, no tourists at all). Feeling small ... The temple is located between Kandy and Nuwara Eliya, between jungle and tea plantations. This place is simply superb. A small temple with four turrets and a golden roof. The sky smoke. Silence is golden.

For shopping in Kandy:
Not many choices or options. For small souvenirs, the best is to go to the local market (where it is necessary to bargain of course) or the national craft gallery near the local market The name of this gallery LAKSALA. (cheaper).
What is Laksala? Laksala stores at fixed prices

Weligama (South Coast): 

A genuine small town where there are not many things to do, but that is the most beautiful village/city we could see in Sri Lanka. The beaches are pretty in the corner (especially Mirissa) but beware, you may not be able to spread on the sand. (waves back often to the wall). Sri Lanka is not made for red whales on the beach  :-)

to visit the Cultural Triangle (the most cultural and historical places in Sri Lanka), we went to a good place in

Habarana: Jay's resort not expensive for what they offer, very comfortable, with a swimmingpool, which is rare in Sri Lanka. Very kind people.

Sigyria

Cultural Triangle: Have visited Sigyria, huge glowing rock planted on a plain. In the distance we see a giant Buddha, there, in the middle of the plain. Impressive.

paintings on the rock, inside

Polonnaruwa: 

Cultural relics in the country. The site seems quite austere. What worth is the Dagoba Polonnaruwa made with bricks, and also in the final visit, the Buddhas carved into the rock. Simply  wonderful and overwhelming. Buddhas of Polonnaruwa
Not worth renting a bike here. Some unscrupulous landlords will tell you that the site is enormous, which is false. Sightseeing on foot is quite feasible and ultimately practical.

Mihintale:

The site is beautiful and we were the only tourists on the site. To access the cultural wonders you must climb 1840 steps.
Above, a white Buddha sitting very beautiful, others dagobas made with bricks, probably older, a small temple whose interior is planted with colorful frescoes, a Buddhist monk (draped in orange of course) recites prayers.
This site is very pretty and you can see everything in one hour.

Anuradhapura:

Enormous dagobas scattered over a few kilometers. Of Sinhalese who pray everywhere, the two clasped hands, often mumbling a few prayers. Others come in with lotus flowers to make an offering to Buddha. Monks in orange togas everywhere. 

Around one white dagoba 200metres high and 100m in circumference, height, twenty monks, some very young, make the turn to put all Buddhist flags in place. The pictures are beautiful. In the gardens around, lots of monkeys, green parrots.

We also admire the pools built a century before JC,  4 times the size of an Olympic swimming pool! Other huge dagoba made with bricks which is being repaired,surrounded by thousands of scaffolding. Buddhas everywhere. One of our favorite sites.

Negombo (West Coast): 

Convenient to leave by plane the next day, the airport of Colombo is closer to Negombo. This town is not the most attractive, but she has a small charm. We must find the right corners. For lodging: quite expensive but really cool: Ice Bear's very cute, run by a Swiss man who settled here years ago. An Ice Bear bar is also in the "village". Nice place to drink good coffee.
(note that in Sri Lanka, they do not have the same culture of resting on a terrace ... We did almost not see any terraces to drink some juice or coffee).

Ice Bear Guesthouse

Beach in Negombo (not really clean)

Negombo pier

Attention, 

• Since the tsunami, the coast is infested with crows (always the case in 2010). We heard repeatedly that the crows were also raging on the north east coast, we have even canceled our plans to go there, partly because of this. (they are everywhere in particularto Trincomalee)
• The beaches are not very clean on the West Coast.
• Accommodations: value for money do not seem the best in Sri Lanka.
• If you like to feel really secure, avoid taking the bus. They drive like crazy, and you'll often be standing up. But we loved taking these buses.   The bus rides cost nothing: 50 cents per person on average to cross part of the country! (price between Habarana and kandy for example). We quickly realized that the buses were largely the best way to travel through Sri Lanka even if they are crowded, very old and some what risky in terms of security as drivers are often crazy. 
• The Tuk-Tuk is very convenient to go downtown or in more isolated locations
• Avoid paying a taxi to travel through Sri Lanka, they are really expensive and not so secure.

The durian fruit: 

A fruit that must be tested to make your own opinion ... BUT for me it is viscous and has a chocolate taste mixed with garlic ... I liked the first try, not liked the second and hated the 3rd. For Sri Lanka, it is a rare and expensive fruit. If someone offers you, do not refuse.


Good plans given by other travellers we met in Sri Lanka:
Super hotel in the forest, swimming pool, 2 hours from Nuwara Elya and 1 hours outhwest of Kandy
Breeta's garden
Address: Avissawella-Hatton-Nuwara Eliya Highway
Ginigathena, Sri Lanka Tel: 0094 51 2242020
E Mail: info@hotelbreetasgarden.com

If you go north-east of the country, book this hotel in advance: Vasuki hotel
Address: Kalkudah (north of Batticaloa, Pasikudah)
0094 (0) 65 36 48 809
or: (0) 65 22 57 679
mail: hotelvasuki41@yahoo.com
online booking possible here: Reservation Vasuki Hotel