Six On A Road Trip – Sri Lanka ( first posted on thebarefootfoodie.org on 8 Apr 2019 )

 

Six On A Road Trip – Sri Lanka

APRIL 9, 2019BAREFOOT TRAVELS, SRI LANKA

Lets Go

The girls have been friends for decades, and the boys came into the picture along the way. Between the six of us, we have been together through thick and thicker ( around the girth ) ,while my kids have transited from diapers to university and other fur kids have crossed the rainbow bridge.

Last December, ( a throwback to 2018 )we spent one glorious week together in a country with so much to offer that even one month would not have been sufficient.

With so little time we still manage to squeeze in city sights, tea plantations, a safari, some ancient sites, a sunset cruise, ayuvedic massage and lots of fun along the way.

Negombo

Negombo is a quiet and rustic fishing village which is close to the airport. It is a good stop-over for the evening to recharge for the long drive to the tea plantations.

Spent the night in a cosy guesthouse aptly called ” Ayubowan” – typically a Sri Lankan greeting with two hands clasped together meaning “Long Life “

A different life at a different pace

Good recommendation for dinner by the waterfront. They do good pizzas and seafood here.

Diamonds are a girls’ best friend but in a country renowned for its gemstones, a rock by any other name will do just fine!

Helga’s Folly at Kandy

While some would by-pass Kandy altogether, we took a more leisurely pace to discover what this city has to offer and it sprung up some surprises, none less than this place off the beaten track on a secluded hill called Helga’s Folly. It is surreal, whimsical, dramatic, but when we tried to order a meal at the so-called restaurant, we were bluntly told that it would take “two hours” so we had to settle for drinks instead ( which took half as long ) and oh, it functions as a hotel as well – sleep tight and sweet dreams! Famous lodgers include Sir Laurence Olivier,  Gregory Peck, and Vivian Leigh ( Gone with the Wind )

The owner ( aka Helga ) is a well-heeled socialite who inherited the family home and converted it to suit her taste. Her life is as fanciful as her folly. ( Read on in this tell-it-all article https://www.willflyforfood.net/2019/03/22/helgas-folly-the-strangest-hotel-in-kandy-sri-lanka/)

Enter and be thoroughly enthralled

Jeepers, Creepers

Contemplate this

I spy with my little eye…

The Meows have it

Along The Way

The journey was slow, but who’s rushing. Along the way, we had a flat-tire, but much welcomed help from friendly locals, shopped at cottage industries, passed sacred monuments, ate strange fruit.

Travelled all the way from Cuba

This is a wood apple. So we tried it and once is enough. It tastes of fermented, rotting wood with spilt milk on it.

One of them is not like the rest and it’s not the one with the umbrella

Jaywalking copycats

Gotta hand it to them

I can always do with extra bags

I want that, and that, and that…

You need someone who doesn’t fall asleep along the way to take shots like this

Tea Plantations at Last

Never knew that much tea is grown in Sri Lanka. So we stopped at Nuwara Eliya, Ella, and Hatton to check them out.

Take your pick ( of the tea leaves )

Green Tea, Black Tea, Gold Tea, White Tea, Fruit Tea, Colonial Tea, Pioneer Tea, High Tea…

Loved our stay at Craig Appin by Jetwing, a former colonial residence in the hill country, so much that it spawned more of us to optimise the experience. ( Ok, we spent quite a bit of time monkeying around to get this right! )

At Craig Appin, we had the best meal in the entire trip,served by their resident chef. Joining us is our amicable driver, Lucky.

 Ganesh is very hungry

Morning Trek for City Folks

Lucky, our guide and driver took us on a trail which remained a well-kept secret among the locals and largely unspoilt by tourists. Being relatively high up in the hills, it was cool and inviting.

Hanging on a limb

A Well-kept Secret

More Out and About

Let’s cross the bridge when we get to it. This suspension bridge is used by the locals to get to their villages. At some point, a highway has sprung up, and this was built to facilitate access. Not meant for tourists but couldn’t resist that wefie with a full-frontal shot

It takes a pilgrim’s heart or just some travelers’ curiosity to climb to this temple carved out of rocks.

Ok, we did, for my sake!

A tiny altar carved out of a rock. Lucky, our Driver, found it for us.

Going On Safari

There are 22 national parks in Sri Lanka. Naturally we had to do the biggest and the most well-known in the island.  We were ready, we were optimistic, we hoped to spot the illusive Leopard while chugging along with countless other safari jeeps revving their engines on the dirt roads.

We saw lots of birds, peacocks, a few crocodiles… and then, as if to do us weary safari goers a big favour, two elephants made a cameo appearance. Hurrah, safari success! (Note to self – next time, go very early to avoid the crowds and pick a smaller park where the big game animals have less room to roam and hide.)

Ready, set, go

Keep cool and carry on

Oops, wrong animal

The star of the show! Never been more excited to see an elephant.

Galle and the Coast

This was compressed in one day to reach Colombo in good time to catch our flight in the evening. It would have been lovely to spend more time here.

A good night’s sleep before we hit the road

They used to fish for a living now they only do the posing

Galle Lighthouse

Sunset Cruise

We stayed at a very modest rest house that came with an unexpected treat – a sunset cruise along the bay. ( Having Lucky with us helped a lot too ). For me, this was the high point of the entire trip.

An island in the sun

All Aboard

The white spots are the birds and the black spots are the bats

Bats, bats, bats

Sail away into the sunset

Savoring every moment

Then there are those moments

This was the first time we have all traveled together and it was simply terrific. We’ll definitely do this more often. There were also these funny moments which will bring on the smiles and winks long after the trip is over!

Multiplicity

One, Two, Three, Click

Photobombed

Add your own caption

And the clear winner is…