Singapore Stopover

Departing Colombo, I wondered if we would find a place where we would feel so at home and welcome. Well, if being at home is measured by a scale of how long one's backside rests in one place, then the blue seat on the far left in the second row, of the third block of seating on the window side of the Mumbai airport departures waiting area, is surely a new home! We spent almost twenty-four hours there, having deposited ourselves there long before sunrise, to wait for the flight to Singapore! Actually, it wasn't quite as bad as it sounds, we snoozed, one attempting to sleep while the other kept an eye on the bags. Between the few hours of juice left on the computer and a couple of books, we managed to9 pass the time relatively painlessly.

The flight to Singapore isn't too long about 5-6 hours. Unfortunately, the in-flight entertainment was far too tempting to allow me to get the sleep I so badly needed. Bad movies and cheesy music – what a combo! Anyone who knows me knows that's not a combination that will send me off to the land of nod, I just can't seem to drag my eyes and ears away!

Thankfully, on arrival Singapore airport proved to be the most organised, hassle free and relaxed destination we have so far encountered. A speedy skip through immigration, baggage collection and customs and we found ourselves knocking on the door of Ailbhe's apartment in less than an hour.

At this point I should probably explain the logic beyond the short stop in Singapore. We were due (for reasons known only to Trailfinders!), to fly through Singapore anyway, with a 4 hour stop over. Given that Ailbhe (Eoin's sister) lives there and we were passing through the weekend of her birthday, we decided to extend the stop over by 24 hours and indulge in a bit of birthday celebration with her!

So, after some catching up and sorting ourselves out, we headed out with Ailbhe and her friend Sandra for a fabulously decadent champagne brunch, (well I am on a backpackers budget – this was serious luxury!). WE arrived to the beautiful setting of Sentosa Island and sat down to a bottomless glass of champagne – after 48 sleepless hours, it wasn't long taking effect! The buffet was out of this world, a selection of salads, sushi, oysters, crayfish (apparently quite the disappointment as the standard fare at this point is lobster) and to be honest, that's only the half of the room I had appetite to sample. There was a BBQ section outdoors, with pork, beef fillet (yummy – and welcome after India where cows are so sacred they have the run of the place!), a selection of sausages an assortment of seafood all to be garnished with a bigger variety of chutneys than I could have imagined existed. The piece de resistance though was the desserts ... fortunately I had been warned to save some space!

On entering the dessert room (yes, and entire room dedicated to dessert – my kind of place), I could have died and gone to heaven, and had I not been so utterly exhausted (and admittedly a little fogged up by the free flowing champagne) I might have pinched myself, just to be sure! Everyone knows how I feel about dessert and this was just pure bliss. I started with a tropical fruit moose (served in a little shot glass), followed by a chocolate one (wouldn't do to skip that). I decided best to leave the strawberry one lest I look like a total glutton; but I had another look around and nothing was going to prevent that. I had a serving of a hot chocolate pudding with some vanilla ice-cream. There was pie served with hot banana compote – well, the chef insisted I should try it! With round one complete,I had no more space left on my plate. I surveyed the rest of the room in preparation for round two. Oodles of fresh ice cream, and a whole variety of little servings of tasty delicious badness I never had the chance to investigate! I saw the chocolate fondue and nearly melted myself – marshmallows, fresh tropical fruit and lashings of gooey chocolate. Fortunately for my waistline (which has taken a severe punishment between the last few destinations), round two never arrived – there was just no room left at the inn!


So all thoroughly full and incredibly satisfied, we left the luxurious Sentosa Island and headed for the less idyllic, but no less fun, Molly Malone's – singapore's Irish bar – to celebrate an early St. Patrick's Day. The parade having taken place earlier in the day, the place was teeming with green clad ex-pats, assorted friends and children! We joined in the craic and had a great few hours chilling out in the bar – something we haven't had much of a chance to do since we left. It was nice to feel like we were having a bit of a taste of Ireland! Naturally, of course, hunger struck again, aided by a few choice beverages, so we moved on for a pre-bedtime snack – ok, so it was a meal, but it was incredibly tasty – in a little Italian place, with Ailbhe, Sandra and some of their friends.

Our visit to Singapore was too short, but fortunately for us, we get to come back again. Must remember to arrive on an empty stomach!

Tour de Sri Lanka (The Final Frontier!)

Our second last day and we left Kandy heading for Nuwara Eliya. Along the way we stopped and tried some jak fruit ... mmm and then a little further on, we stopped at the Labookellie Tea Estate, where we got a tour of the factory from a fantastic lady. Tony was telling us she has worked there for 27 years, and although she never learned languages in school, she now delivers the tour in Sinhalese, Tamil, English, French, German, and Italian. We then tasted one of their top teas with a delicious slice of chocolate cake, all served in typical English style on the terrace with the best china!!!

Unfortunately, the rain came down again, so there was little we could do for the afternoon, so we wandered into town for some more short eats and then headed back to the hotel for some r & r, followed by a tasty meal with Tony in town.

On our final day we left Nuwara Eliya after a final breakfast of short eats. Our first stop was Hakagala Gardens, our second stop on the Botanic Gardens circuit. Its well renowned for its Rose Gardens and Fern gardens. Unfortunately the roses were not in bloom, but we did stroll around the fern garden, while I prattled about Ferns being one of the oldest complex plant forms and Schmo spouted about ferns and encryption or something like that! While the gardens did not offer much different from Peredeniya (to the non-gardening enthusiast), it was relaxing to spend some time strolling around the breezy and shady complex!

After we left there, we began the long drive back to Colombo. Of course, we peppered it with stops. We visited the tea shop of the St. Clair tea estate and sampled a cup of their finest, alongside a slice of their delicious chocolatey finest! Further along the road in Kitulgala, made famous by the movie Bridge over the river Kwai (which I confess I had not heard of until I read about it in our Lonely Planet last week), we stopped at the Planters Hotel for a spot of lunch, while Tony had us in stitches telling us about his white water rafting experience at this spot last year! Just as we finished up, the heavens opened and it poured, for the 6th consecutive afternoon. Incidentally, the exposition of the tooth finishes next Monday, so I will be following the weather reports closely to see do the rains disappear with the tooth!

Our final stop, was in many ways the most pleasant of our week long tour and certainly the most unexpected. Tony invited us to join he and his family for a meal before we headed for the airport. This typifies the overwhelming hospitality we have experienced here in Sri Lanka. Knowing we had not had a real opportunity to sample string hoppers, Tony's wife prepared a lavish feast with chicken curry, coconut sambol, dahl and an out of this world cuttle fish curry. Needless to say we ate ourselves into oblivion chatting away to Tony's wife and eldest daughter and of course the man himself. He showed us his extensive coin collection – many of which he collected in his years sailing on merchant ships and tankers. This man has seen the world! He also has some old Sri Lankan coins and english coins dating back over 200 years, along with his latest addition – a full set of Irish euro coins! Unfortunately, they were not going to hold the flight for us, so we had to hit the road.

Anyway, Singapore is waiting on us!!!

Tour de Sri Lanka (Part deux!)

Leaving Sigyria we stopped off at Ritigala on our way back to Dambulla. It is here that an ancient monastic settlement was discovered during the British Colonial era. With over 70 caves discovered it was quite large. Ritigala is now a nature reserve. Walking through the dense vegetation towards the ruins, only adds to their mystique.

Day 4 meant leaving Dumballa and the gorgeous Thilanka resort. Although it was really out of our budget zone, it was a nice spot of luxury! We hit the road for Kandy, stopping off at Nalanda,where there is a famous site where a Stupa and temple were excavated, which illustrate a rare combination of mixed Buddhist and Hindu style. Here we discovered Tony's true passion – gardening – we must have spent as much time strolling around the various fruit and spice trees as we did around the historical site!

A short distance further along the road, we stopped at a small family home, where a mother and son showed us how they make use of the coconut from its husk, fibres, flesh, juice, sap, leaves, bark, trunk, absolutely nothing goes to waste. There is an entire cooperative industry built up around the lowly coconut. Someone grows and harvests them, someone else buys the husks, someone the shell with the flesh, someone else the empty flesh, another the processed fibres, and so on – and each makes a living.

We had a sample of coconut juice. Its an unusual flavour, I expected it to be, well, coconutty! Its not, its slightly bitter, but incredibly refreshing! This kept us going for the journey on to Kandy. We arrived on the second day of the Exposition of the Tooth Relic, which takes place at the Temple of the tooth every five years. The Temple houses the infamous tooth relic, the tooth of the Buddha. As we arrived into Kandy, it was also the poya celebration – the two events combined resulted in a mass of thousands of white clad pilgrims queueing in the pouring, lashing, torrential rain for kilometres, for a glance at the sacred tooth relic. We decided to seek out shelter in the hotel, from both the rain and the chassis!

Next morning we headed to the temple. It opens at one for the exposition of the tooth, so early morning was essential if we wanted to see it. It was still insane though. I have a very rudimentary understanding of Buddhism, but it was certainly a lesson that regardless of religious beliefs and practices, human nature is the same – when people have spent time queuing to see someone, they will push you out of the way to get a better look. To be fair, its hard to be annoyed about it. It is their temple (the buddhists), what right have I to get in the way of their worship, just so i can have a good auld gawk at the object of their reverence!

The temple seemed beautifully ornate and intricate, although we didn't really get to spend much time really savouring it due to the crowds. I would think that from the point of view of a curious tourist, rather than a Buddhist devotee, it would be better to visit when the exposition of the tooth relic is not taking place, to allow you the chance to really observe and take your time. So, the Temple of the tooth in Kandy is on the list for my next visit!

After seeing the tooth, we escaped to the relative calm of the botanic gardens. Due to the bombing down south the previous day, security was stepped up a gear or five. I imagine Belfast felt like this at the height of the troubles. Regular police and army check points, mirrors checking under Tony's van before we entered car parks and a generally visible armed presence.

Wandering around the gardens for a few hours, it was easy to forget the bedlam we'd left behind in Kandy. Tony was fantastic to have with us. His knowledge of plant life is immense compared to my own and he was able to point out many plants we had heard of but would not necessarily have recognised, like the cinnamon tree, nutmeg and even a host of fruit trees, bamboos and a gigantic Ficus!!! Oooo yeeeeeh its a Ficus (sorry – in joke)!

After a drive through the uni campus, we headed back to Kandy and treated ourselves to some short eats (delicious but bad-for -you savoury pastries followed by a definitely bad-for-you chocolate eclair). The bedlam in Kandy continued, as did the torrential rain, which some believe is due to the exposition of the tooth. Apparently the first time this was done, there had been a huge drought and then the rain came, so many believe the exposition of the tooth has brought this rain to save the crops, many of which, in some regions were about to fail due to lack of rain. Once again, the rain was welcomed (not by me i have to admit, I get quite enough of it in Dublin thank you very much, but I could at least see it was desperately needed). So, we retired to the hotel once more, for shelter, R&R and topped off the evening with a buffet dinner!

I've come to the conclusion that buffets and me are not a good combo, especially when there is new or interesting food involved. I feel like I need to try it all. I thought I was being relatively sensible and took a tiny bit of most of the dishes on offer. It was only then I realised my plate was almost overflowing!!! and there was going to be dessert afterwards – no question! Needless to say I gorged myself. It was tasty, and I was in pain afterwards I was so full – well worth it though. Fortunately I think this has helped me conquer my buffet issues, I was quite sensible this morning, opting for cereal and some fresh pineapple -ok and a small pastry - you can just call me piggy wig!

Tour de Sri Lanka (Part One)

It felt very extravagant, on a backpacking holiday, leaving Colombo with our driver Tony! Not your typical budge traveller mode of transportation. We've been assured however, that this is the best way to see as much as possible of the country in a short space of time.

Leaving Colombo, our first stop was the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. Most of these elephants were rescued having been orphaned in the jungle, due to poachers, war and so forth. The have been looked after here and the herd now numbers almost 60, with some of the younger ones having been born here. Its a strong community, cobbled together over the years, from all over the country, of elephants who might otherwise not have survived. Once example is this lady –


she lost her front right foot when she stood on a landmine. Incredibly, she is well able to keep up with the others as they walk around and to and from the river.






When we arrived, bath time was in full flight. Twice daily the elephants are brought down to the river for two hours to bath (and for the younger ones to play) in the river. At the time we arrived, the river was quite low, leaving many of the pensioners idling in the shade afforded by the numerous river front cafes. Some of the younger ones however, still managed to wrestle and dunk each other! We left the river behind a trail of elephants and went up to the park area and saw some of the younger citizens. While watching them in the river was incredible, seeing a baby of only a few months rocking rhythmically with his foot shackled, was one of those moments that makes you wonder . . . is it all as it seems?

From Pinnawala, we moved on to Dambulla. Here there is a series of 5 Buddhist cave temples dating from 2000 to 250 years old. We managed somehow, still not quite sure how, to acquire a guide who showed us around the 5 caves. I tend to be a bit skeptical about unsolicited guides, but I was happily proven wrong here! Our guide was extremely well versed in the history of the temple but also had a curiously chirpy manner which kept me entertained. Some of the caves are man made but most are natural, in fact, most are actually one cave, divided by man made walls. They have elaborate paintings, which appear in some cases to have been restored a little and some stunning and incredibly well preserved statues. Its a beautiful setting on the hill overlooking jungle. Its not hard to see how monks would have chosen it as an ideal spot for meditation and prayer.

An early-ish start the next morning saw us hitting the road to Polonnaruwa, one of Sri Lanka's ancient cities and our first stop on the cultural triangle. There is such a wealth of history around this ancient city, I could never do it justice with words and I have no doubt I would fill this text with historical inaccuracies, so instead, I'll put some pictures up!

Our third day we started with a visit to Sigyria an incredible palace fortress, built on a gigantic boulder, 200m high! Nowadays it would be an impressive feat of architecture and engineering, but almost 1500 years ago? Awesome.

The palace itself is in ruins, but even strolling through the foundations, once can see what an incredible construction it must have been. The entrance was up a staircase, which in years gone by was through a lion shaped gateway. Nowadays, all that remains are the two paws. You are rewarded for the steep, sweaty climb to the top with stunning views across the lush, green jungle.

Incidentally, we also invented our newest leisure time activity – histrocise – exercise carried out while visiting and exploring sites of historical note – look out for it in the next edition of the Oxford English Dictionary!

Sri Lanka Part One!

Its hard not to miss home occasionally. When you are so far away, life goes on without you (as life is wont to do), with babies arriving (congrats Triona) and engagements (congrats Rob and Ciara) and new jobs (congrats Peelo – yes some people are finding new jobs!!!!). Despite the fact that I am having the time of my life, I miss home. For all the snow, recession, doom and gloom, I miss it!

Thankfully, Sri Lanka has stepped into the breach to take care of business. We arrived here late last Saturday, almost a week ago. Our plane landed in Colombo at about 11.30 pm. Having left a chilly enough Delhi just under four hours previously, I was suitably wrapped up in long trousers and a fleece. With the temperature at 26C as we stepped onto the tarmac, said fleece has now joined my thermal tops gathering dust at the bottom of my rucksack.

This was a stop on the itinerary I had gotten pretty excited about, (I'd done some research, substantially more than for either India or Nepal, which is not, admittedly, to say a huge amount, but I read!) to the extent that i had to keep reminding myself not to wish away the time in India as the anticipation grew – and finally, we had arrived.

Sri Lanka is a winner on so many fronts! More relaxed and easy going than India, what we have experienced so far is a beautiful country with incredibly friendly and welcoming people. I immediately felt at home.

To top it all off, we were going to meet with Schmo's brother in law's father, Lucky, who grew up here in Colombo and as fortune would have it, is currently on holidays here. Lucky has gone far, far above and beyond the call of duty to make us feel welcome and at home and for that, we owe him a huge debt of gratitude. We had the opportunity to join him for a swim at the Sinhalese Sports Club, which was a really glorious way to spend a morning. Think a beautiful outdoor pool, balmy temperatures, a little oasis of calm in the chaos of a big city! We followed that up with a leisurely and extremely tasty SriLankan lunch buffet after which he directed us to some fantastic shopping destinations, much to the dismay of my budget traveller's wallet!

This evening, we once again joined Lucky and some of his friends for a meal of hoppers! Anyone who has visited Sri Lanka will surely have tried them; anyone who visits here in the future – you should not leave without sampling this traditional meal For the uninitiated, from the only recently initiated (so forgive my inadequate description), hoppers are a little like a bowl shaped pancake. We started with an egg hopper, which is a hopper, with an egg cooked at the base of the bowl. This was shortly joined by a chicken or fish curry and some plain hoppers. I'm afraid the heat of the chicken meant I was too chicken to try the accompanying red chilli chutney! However I am reliably informed it was fab!

I'm already trying to work out how I can try to recreate these when I get home. I'm going to need a whole new set of kitchen implements!!!

On Saturday, HUGE thanks to Ajitha (Lucky's friend and one of the hopper party!) we head off out of Colombo for 7 days to see some of the sites Sri Lanka has to offer. These include the Elephant Orphanage at Pinnawala, Sigiriya, Dambulla, Polonnaruwa, Nuwara Eliya and Kandy. I'm so excited to see these incredible places and hope to have lots of stories and pictures for you in a weeks time!!!