Elephants, temples then beach.

After spending 3 days in Habarana, in the center of the area that's been dubbed the "cultural triangle" of Sri Lanka, we found our way to Kalpitiya, on the west coast of the country, known for its kite surfing, dolphins and reefs. 

Yesterday, we saw Polonnaruwa, an ancient city that is now in ruins, but previously was the center of power for the ruling King starting in the year 1070.  It is a huge site and it took us a few hours to walk through everything. We took a tuk tuk from our hotel about an hour east.  Tuk Turks are great for cooling off in between hot ruins!  Below are some pictures from our visit. 

A toque macaque hangs out in a tree (and that's not all that's hanging out). There is a huge population of these critters there and we came back to the tuk tuk once to find two shaking it down, looking for things to steal. I guess this is quite common. 

The art of carrying things on your head is still going strong here. Next time we go camping, I'm going to ask Tom to bring back the firewood this way. 

Many offerings are left inside the ruins. 

Impressive halls. The guard is here to make sure all shoes and hats are removed before entering. Many of the temple ruins are considered religious sites and these must be taken off out of respect. 

Bowls of oil and incense burning on a makeshift altar outside a stupa. I snapped this picture right before we realized we were standing in a fire ant colony, without shoes, of course. Ouch, we both got stings. 

Foot wash stations.  

So many prayer flags exist in this country, where 80% of the population is Buddhist. 

We also took a very short "safari" to a closeby national park to see Asian elephants. I put safari in quotes because if you've ever been on a real African Safari, this is a bit laughable to be marketed as one. But it was nice to get out and ride in a jeep and enjoy the scenery and wind. We found a few elephants inside the park, including this family, complete with three babies of different ages, a mom and dad. 

But after we left the park, we found this group alongside the road. 

Including this guy with cool ears. 

We had a great stay in Habarana at Mutu Village. I highly recommend it, very friendly and helpful owner. We have five nights left in Sri Lanka, and four of those will be spent in Kalpitiya, at a nice little beach resort with about 6 rooms, a pool, a good bit of beach on the Indian Ocean, and COLD beverages. Oh, and ice for Tom. He's been jonsing for it since we arrived and very few places have it. We hope to see Dolphins, maybe blue whales, do some snorkeling or diving on their reef and maybe some kite surfing. 

It faces west, so there are sure to be spectacular sunsets as well. Ahhhh....  Happy leap day!

Trains and temples.

We've left the hill country and headed north, into the cultural triangle area of Sri Lanka, along the way we've traveled by train (our favorite), taxi and tuk tuk. We've seen several Buddhist temples, one enormous rock (that we had to climb), and found our way to Habarana, a small village smack dab in the center of many cultural sites.  It's also elephant territory and we will be taking a short safari tomorrow to try to spot some Asian elephants. Here are some pictures from our travels the last few days. 

Our beautiful train ride from Ella to Hatton (where we stayed two nights to climb Sri Pada). 

Tea plantations, as far as the eye can see. 

Small villages dot the horizon. 

Women workers in rice fields. 

Carrying vegetables, alongside the train. 

Snacks on the train, roasted peanuts with chili salt and mint leaves. Yummy!!

Women tea pickers. 

And now the temples. 

Cave temples near Kandy. The flower smell in here was so strong. People bring petals and lay them in front of the Buddha. The ceilings are covered in beautiful paintings. 

Buddhist monk statues. These were actually very cool. 

Where we are headed to climb, Pindurangala Rock. This sits 1km away from the much more famous Sigiriya Rock, but that costs $30 each to climb, and this one cost about 36 cents. Less people and no staircase winding around the edge, we were sold as soon as we heard about it. 

Headed up to Pidurangala Temple on top of the rock.  The steps give way to a trail, then to large boulders to scramble up/over/down. Nothing too technical, but fun.  

The reclining Buddha on the way up. 

The views from the top were amazing. Out of the hill country, it is flatter here. 

We found a dog on top, of course. She posed for a picture with us. The more famous Sigiriya rock is in the background. You can't see it but there are a solid stream of people winding around the outside staircase. There were about 6 people on this rock and plenty of room to sit down in solitude and enjoy the breeze and the view. 

Tom trying his hand at tuk tuk driving. Thank you, Sarath. 

And Tom buying some cold beer at the "liquor store". He's in the back, the only blonde in sight. 

Sri Pada

The alarm went off at 2:45am. We were up, dressed and out of the room in 15 minutes. After a short walk to the town, then through town, we found the paved path to begin the climb up Sri Pada or Adams Peak.  We are joined by hundreds of other climbers tonight, most making a pilgrimage to the peak for religious reasons.  

This photo was taken the previous night from our balcony, the lighted path can be seen to the summit. 

Our whole climb will be completed before sunrise. Most start the trek between 1am and 3am, depending on fitness level and if seeing the sunrise on top is part of the plan. This peak is the 5th highest in Sri Lanka, topping out above 7300ft and claims to hold a footprint in the rock. Depending on your religion, this could be the footprint of Adam, Shiva or Buddha himself. The climbing path is actually all lit, and most is paved with steps of varying height. 

As we begin to ascend, we are pretty much alone on the path, most of the others joining us tonight have already started. We get our legs warmed up on the more shallow stuff in preparation for what is to come.  As we walk, we pass closed up shops that line the path near the bottom, they will be open later to catch those as they descend. 

As the shops start to space out, we begin to encounter the locals and pilgrims - they are all ages, some too young to walk, carried by parents, and others almost too old to walk, but everyone is still climbing, most are barefoot or wearing the thinnest of flip-flops. It is humbling to be there, in our running/hiking shoes with backpacks and cold weather gear, when most have only a sweater and wear saris or sarongs. 

The shops thin out, but there are still some dotting the path randomly, with many chairs setup ready to serve hot tea and snacks, bread, sodas. We encounter the white prayer strings about halfway up, thousands of them. 

It gets colder and breezier and STEEPER as we go, we have about 3200ft to gain before the peak and the stairs get very steep near the top, almost dizzingly so. We also begin to hear a bell toll, this is the bell on the peak and it is rung by first time pilgrims. It's an encouraging sound, although in the darkness, we cannot tell how far we have to go, and the sound of bells can carry for quite a distance. 

A handrail appears just when it gets at its steepest point, and it is welcomed. Dragging yourself up a steep set of steps in the middle of the night is tough enough without anything to hold onto, so I use it, and go up, up, up. It seems endless. We eventually pass a shopkeeper that tells us 100 meters, and I honestly think he's joking (others have along the way). Despite all the effort being put forth, the mood is generally genial here. But he was actually being honest and we reach a policeman that is telling women to cover any exposed shoulders and he is also giving a warning to us about pickpockets on the peak. It is a nice warning, as I wouldn't have been aware of that here, on holy ground. We arrive at the peak 2 hours after we began. We were told that 3 hours is average and 2.5 is really good, so we're happy!

The top is packed with people, we remove our shoes, as it is considered a temple, and make our way over to ring the bell. It's a huge bell and it takes effort to pull the rope. After we both ring it, we ascend the small number of steps into the area where the footprint is sheltered. It is covered with cloth, but we pause to throw a few coins, locals kneel and pray there. Buddhists chant in a group just outside the footprint temple, it's a beautiful sound amid the throngs of people. Many have been there all night, hiking up and sleeping on top, bundled in blankets and coats, waiting on the sun.  

Buddhists chanting in a group. 

Waiting on the sunrise. 

We find a spot to stand for the sunrise, but it quickly fills beyond point of comfort up there and we seek out a better view on the steps off the peak and snap a few pictures before heading down.  It's a semi-cloudy day and it isn't as spectacular as it could be, but it is impressive because of where we are.  Descending is brutal on the knees and takes a whopping 1.5ish hours but the views are fantastic. 

Sri Pada peeking out from the path near the bottom. 

Back at the room, we shower and go breakfast. It is something we will never forget, a once in a lifetime experience, which is why we travel, and why we awake in the middle of the night to climb 5000+ stairs with a bunch of strangers. 

Our tips for the climbing Sri Pada:

1) The middle of the night trek was wonderful to experience, but if you're not into getting up at 2 or 3am, a daytime hike would be just fine, and much less crowded and enjoyable at the top. We didn't get to enjoy the temple or the view, it was lined with people. But we did get to witness more of the cultural traditions at sunrise. If you do a daytime ascent, I would wait until after 8-9am start, otherwise it'll be like uphill frogger. 

2) I had a short sleeve shirt, thick long-sleeve shirt, fleece hoody, thin gloves and thin hat. I used all of it, but I didn't use my rain jacket. My husband had a thin short sleeve, long sleeve and nice rain jacket and he was fine in that. He did have a winter hat, but no gloves; my hands tend to get cold, so gloves were nice in my opinion.  

3) Expect trash and stinkiness in a lot of areas, it's just that way.  There isn't anything romantic about a small pile of burning garbage, but that is the reality of it. 

4) We found leaving at 3am just about perfect. We also live at 6000ft and hike a lot. So, adjust your time accordingly. We saw other fit folks that also did it in around 2 hours.  Most people started at 2am, or around there.  Sunrise is about 545-630, get a location on the stair side. In fact, you could go up top, look around and then descend a bit, there are places to stand off to the side on the stairs, it's a much better, unobstructed view just below the peak. 

5) Getting here: you have 3 choices - bus, taxi or tuk tuk from Hatton. We took the train to Hatton and the Delhousie bus was loading people up just outside the station, you can't miss it. It was easy and cheap (70 rupees), but if you hate crowds, or get carsick, this may not be a good option. I do get carsick and the last two seats were last row, center. I should get a prize for not vomiting, let's just leave it at that. Fast drivers and curvy roads.  The man next to me threw up at least 3 times out the window, but everyone else seemed to be doing just fine. If you are on the bus, some hotels are just before town, if you can spot your hotel, you can pull the cord and save a walk back to it from town. Oh, one last thing, don't believe the tuk tuk drivers outside the bus station, the buses do not take 2+ hours, it was about 70-80 minutes. If you do take a tuk tuk, pay around 1200 rupees. 

Mornings in Tea Country.

Morning is normally my favorite time of day, and it's no different in the hill country of Sri Lanka. I've been waking up earlier here, probably, in part, due to the time change...but luckily this means I get to hear the world around us start to wake each morning. I felt the need to write about it today, to capture it somehow with words before we move on from this place and it fades.

Even before daylight, the birds seem to sense it's coming and start to faintly sing, it seems earlier than at home, way before the first rays of light appear over the mountains. By 5, car horns start to sound (they're used quite a bit here, even in the countryside) and small noises of life start to seep back into the air around you.  Sri Lanka is a predominantly Buddhist country and there must be a temple closeby as the monks start to chant around 6 am each day.  It echoes up through the gap and I think this is my favorite part of awaking here. Throughout the day, you can hear chanting at different times, but there is something special about the morning chant. There is also an early train that comes by soon after 6 in Ella and we are close enough to the tracks to hear it's horn, but I think it is easily heard all the way through Ella Gap.  By this time it's light, the sun is ready to make an appearance. 

It is also pretty chilly here in the morning, but when the sun pops over the horizon, the east facing patio at our home stay lights up and it warms quickly.  By this time the rest of the world is wide awake and more noises crash in, making the small, quaint, isolated noises from earlier blend into a more constant din of civilization.

 

Today, when I came out early to collect some laundry I had hanging, I heard a scuffle to my left and looked over to find the neighbors' timid dog sleek off the couch, somewhere I'm sure he's not allowed to be.  Later, sensing I'm not a threat, he crawled back up silently and curled back up to get a few last snoozes in the morning sun.  Unfortunately the owner flat out busted him a bit later, so I'm not sure those cushions will remain out at night for awhile. Dog, you must be smarter. 

It'll be breakfast time soon, and I've quickly come to love the local tea they serve here. They have black and green tea that grows in this area, but our hosts serve a mild black tea that is truly out of this world and perfect at any time of day.  But, oh the mornings...

Breakfast with monkeys

Our day started out with some Hanuman Langurs. These dark faced monkeys are one of 5 primates in Sri Lanka, 3 of those being monkeys and two are lorises. We've also seen the toque macaques in the short time we've been here. I'd love to see a loris, but I'm not sure that'll happen, I think they are much much more rare. 

The langurs were high up in a tree above the home stay. 

We left after breakfast and started our 8 mile walk around Ella and the countryside. Hiking up Little Adams Peak first, and getting some sweeping views on the way up, pictures below. 

Ella Rock, which we hiked up yesterday is pictured below. 

Bright green tea along the way. 

Near the summit. 

As always, Tom found his crew of dogs. They came out of nowhere and surrounded him. No lie.  

On the way down, we had a good view of the village where the tea pickers live. This was nestled into a valley surrounded by soaring peaks and tea fields as far as one can see.  The temple is at the closest end. Yesterday was a Poya day here, which is a religious holiday and is celebrated, thus the flags. With each full moon, a Poya is celebrated, stores, schools, and the government are closed and no alcohol is served. That is, unless you sit in the back room of a bar or restaurant, then they're sometimes willing to break the law in order to make some money. :)

Speaking of Poya days, this was the full moon rising last night over the town of Ella, it was so bright!

Next we took a walk out through more tea plantations and enjoyed the green along the way. 

This is how the locals dry sheets and blankets. I've seen plenty of clothing, towels, etc. on rooftops as well.  So, that cup of tea you're drinking may have actually had some clean laundry on it at some point in time!

We also walked past a group of women tea pickers weighing out for the day. They take the tea and dump it on a blanket attached to two branches and use a hanging scale to weigh it. The women were lined up along the road, just next to a luxury hotel sign...worlds colliding for sure, although "luxury" probably means something much different than in other parts of the world. 

Ella and Ella Rock

We arrived in Ella last night, just before dinner. This was after a 6.5+ hour taxi ride from the airport over twisty, curvy, hilly, traffic clogged roads. Needless to say, I haven't been that carsick in years. But Ella is a beautiful little town in the hill country of Sri Lanka and it was worth the trip from the sweltering lowlands to the refreshing, breezy, mountainous area. After getting our first solid nights sleep in days, we woke up refreshed and ready to hike!

View from the home stay this morning before we left to hike. 

So, off we went to Ella Rock with something akin to a pirates treasure map drawn on a piece of scrap paper from our gracious hosts. He suggested that we take one turn onto a lesser travelled path, and this really did make all the difference in our hike. We soon found ourselves on a path that quite frankly took us through private fields of tea and quite close to homes. Early on, when we thought we had taken a wrong turn somewhere, we asked two women working in a field "Ella Rock?" and the more elderly of the women (maybe near 80) spritely walked down a path with us trailing behind her. It turned out the path went to her home and (as we walked past her husband sitting in their front yard) she pointed us up another faint walking trail next to her house and we took off once again, questioning if we'd ever find Ella Rock today. 

 

Needless to say, it took us a bit to find the way, always trying to head uphill, on many different footpaths winding through old and new tea plantations and more than once, literally walking into people's yards and very close to their homes. All of these footpaths are how the locals get around, and many times you walk so closely to their house that you can say hi to them as they're making tea over a pot of boiling water in the kitchen. This is a weird concept to us, and probably most Americans, who value their privacy and their piece of land; but here, it seems they aren't surprised to see you there and will happily will come out to help you. 

Eventually, we found our way back to the main path, after our little detour, and wound our way through the brightly green colored tea plants and up into the forest.  

We came out on top of a ridge and followed the very steep hill up, up and up through the trees...

Eventually, we topped out on Ella Rock. A piece (or rather a bunch of pieces) of rock perched out on a drop off. It's quite a breathtaking view over the Ella Gap.  The town of Ella is in the background here. 

We chilled out on top for a bit and then made our way back down...the more direct way.  But I have to say, the meandering way we took up was much more interesting than following the main path. 

Some random photos from our day...

A local man perched on top of a VERY high waterfall. His dog is to his right on a rock. We think he was chewing beetlenut as he spit some very red saliva into the water as we passed by. 

Locals, carrying a load of sticks on the mans shoulder and something that looked a little heavy but at the same time was balanced nicely on the woman's head. 

The beginning part of our hike began on the tracks that run through town. It seems a lot of the locals use them as an easy way to get around on foot. 

The actual pirate treasure map that we were drawn today.  The part where it went all wrong, or maybe all right, is in the upper left where he steers us up the right branch of the V intersection. :)

The only other thing we really had to do today was check on train tickets for our next stop, Dalhousie. There we plan to climb/hike Sri Pada, or Adams Peak as it's also known. We successfully secured 3rd class tickets for the trip to Dalhousie and 2nd class tickets for the onward portion. 

While we were in town, we grabbed a typical rice and curry lunch special, did some shopping and then headed back to the home stay to relax until dinner time. Voila, time to write the blog you're reading now!

BTW, I'm already dreaming of dinner.  Rice and curry are a staple of the Sri Lankan diet, and they are spicy, aromatic and wonderful here.