Sri Lanka - The Teardrop Island
SRI LANKA
The privilege of family travel is something unbeknown to many, and cherished by those lucky enough to have experienced it. Leasa Mensing’s story of Sri Lanka speaks to that privilege, loud and clear, as she traipses its earth, indulges in its oceans and samples its flavours - all with her family by her side.
Written by Leasa Mensing, Intro by Jordan Roake
Where to stay - Kandy
We moved every couple of days, in the beginning, to see as much of the country as possible before my surfer husband and son ran out of patience with all the temples and needed a beach and waves.
We stayed in a jungle treehouse designed by the founder of Back of Beyond eco-lodges near Pidurangala www.backofbeyond.lk where we woke to the chants of Buddhist monks at a nearby monastery and walked up to the top of the Pidurangala Rock for a sunset view of the ancient rock fortress of Sigiriya which is a World Heritage Site and should be on every Sri Lanka's travellers must-do list.
Next, we travelled to Kandy, stopping on the way to visit the caves of Dambulla to see the largest and best-preserved Buddhist cave temple complex carved out of solid rock. It is also a World Heritage site and the handpainted murals of the Buddha's life stretch through 5 main caves and covers an area of 2100 square metres as well as containing a total of 160 statues carved out of the surrounding rock. In a word - JAWDROPPING.
Kandy is the second biggest city in Sri Lanka and was the last capital of the ancient king's era. The Sinhalese kings preserved their independence during the period of European Colonial rule until 1815 when the British outside the last king. It is set around a large manmade lake and surrounded by tea plantations and indigenous forests.
Stay at Helga’s Folly
Visit the very quirky Helga's Folly www.helgasfolly.com which has a very colourful history that can now only be imagined. The painted walls are covered in photos of Sir Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, Mahatma Gandhi, Gregory Peck, Zandra Rhodes and Isabella Blow ( who was the owner's daughter-in-law) The history of this very illustrious and dynamic family is written on the walls and ghosts surely whisper its secrets in the darkly painted passages.
Afternoon tea at the Queen’s Hotel
Take afternoon tea in the Queen's Hotel, a British Colonial-style hotel, once the former Governor's residence and is one of the oldest hotels in Sri Lanka. It is full of history but long past its prime, like an old Dowager resting on her laurels.
FROM LEFT: Poolside breakfast at Casa Maria, Mirissa: Chilling before a morning surf; Pattern on pattern in Galle.
Visit the Temple of the Tooth
For a completely different experience, visit the Temple of the Tooth where a relic of the Buddha's tooth has been preserved since 1590 and an entire incredible Buddhist monastery has been built to house it.
It is the most revered site in the whole of Sri Lanka and on Wednesday evenings monks bathe the relic in scented water made from fragrant flowers which are then distributed to worshipers for its healing powers. With the sounds of the holy chanting, the candlelight lighting the exquisite temple and the hundreds of silent worshippers watching, it is truly an engaging experience for all the senses.
Take the train
On to Ella for the last stage of our inland trip, and the only way to arrive is on the train over the famous 9 Arch Bridge. It is very touristy and a long 9-hour trip but the town of Ella is high up in the mountains, (great for hiking) and feels like Thailand before the masses arrived.
By this stage, my family was itching for the coast so we hired a driver to get us to the coast PRONTO, before temple annoyance set in.
The highlight! The mid-century Buddhist temple with its neon bright murals of storytelling covering 5 stories with Lindy AlGranti.
Cocktails at Galle Fort Hotel
Galle is a beautiful old 16 Century Fort founded by Portuguese colonists that was used as the export port for all those lovely teas and spices Sri Lanka is known for. It is tiny and you can walk everywhere taking in the ancient frangipani temple trees, marvelling at the Dutch, Portuguese and British colonial architecture and stopping in doorways to scout amazing antiques. Don't miss having a cocktail at sunset at one of the island's best boutique hotels, the 18th-century Galle Fort Hotel www.galleforthotel.com. With its perfectly preserved Dutch Colonial architecture set around a courtyard of the candlelit pool and ancient frangipani trees, it is quintessential Galle, formerly one of the Grand Mansions of the Fort.
Surf at Weligama and Mirissa on your way to Hiriketiya Bay
For our last portion of the trip, we travelled down the coast stopping in Weligama and Mirissa (for the inevitable days of surf) on our way to spend Christmas with friends in the gorgeous bay of Hiriketiya.
This little town is still small and tucked between forests of palm trees with little sandy lanes joining the few places to eat or shop, where you can while away the hours between dips in the warm tropical seas and surf lessons to try to keep up with the kids. I took the girls to an authentic Sri Lanka restaurant for cooking lessons (never too young to learn your way around a spice rack, especially when those spices have been picked from your back garden or scraped off the nearest cinnamon tree.)
Street Surprises
Between all the beauty and access to nature, there are a LOT of streets lined with tiny shops selling predominantly Chinese-manufactured plastics. There is a distinct lack of locally made products and crafts.
The years of war that Sri Lanka is still emerging from means that there is an entire generation that missed being taught their indigenous crafts by their elders.
Also, the street dog situation is out of hand and your heart will be in your throat on a daily basis.
Tuk-Tuks and memories
It's a sensory overload kind of adventure, but easier in all ways than a trip to India which I wouldn’t have had the stomach to do with kids. Our first tuk-tuk rides with the warm wind in our faces and all 4 of us squashed in the back hurtling down jungle dirt roads, reggae music blaring from the tin speaker. Sharing my first wave with my 11-year-old son whose been doing this since he was 4. The kindness and warmth of the locals are always so gracious and generous. It still feels like the country is in its infancy, still so naïve and unjaded by hoards of tourists.
FROM LEFT: The Tuk Tuk rides were always a breeze; Christmas wrappings Sri Lanka style; We come running when we hear the bread truck siren.
Fresh Eats
Sri Lanka does fresh like America does packaging. Nothing on a menu is labelled organic because it simply is ALL farm fresh, picked that day from the surrounding fields and trees. Presented to you in piles of colourful Vitamin A-Z at the nearest market soon to appear perfectly prepared on your plate. One doesn’t need to find a high-end restaurant because everything is delicious right down to the 5 rupee samoosa bought from the back of a bus operating as a restaurant next to Hiriketiya beach. Or walk down Mirissa Beach at sunset and choose any one of the restaurants lining the back of the beach displaying today's catch which is cooked over coal fires next to your table.
You might want to stay away from meat though. My son became a vegetarian overnight after seeing the streetside butcher on Day 1 (nothing approved by the FDA here).
Mond
Hiriketiya has the gorgeous Hotel/Café/Artist residency Mond www.Mond.lk which combines circular shapes in its grounding sleek architecture with the best coffee in Sri Lanka and toasted coconut bread with coconut ice cream and chutney.
There are also so many private homes where you can book a table to experience the real taste of Sri Lankan home cooking.
Verse Collective
There is also Verse Collective, (a 15-minute walk away in Dikwella Bay), a creative hub and co-working space where the new wave of digital drifters update their travel blogs around a pool overlooking the surf 15 metres away. You can get a tattoo whilst watching the waves or use the sound recording studio. Shop ethically sourced locally made clothing in their gorgeous surf shop. DJs at night and hot local barmen. Everything is cool in one easy like Sunday morning offering.
Visit Sri Lanka’s largest Gold Buddha
One of the best activities we did on our last week in Hiriketiya was to take a tuk-tuk 15 minutes drive away to the town of Dikwella and the WeWurukannala Temple to see Sri Lanka's largest gold statue of the Buddha. It was constructed in the 1960s and has a real Mid Century vibe about it, the entire 50-metre-high statue being covered in small gold mirror mosaics. To get to the top you first need to walk through the Tunnel Of Hell where scenes of Buddhist hell are drawn like cartoons on the walls. As you slowly climb the 5 curving staircases inside the Buddha's body the scenes and colours become lighter and brighter (on your way to Enlightenment). It’s a very literal and cartoonish depiction of the Path for those of us still struggling with the realms of having to live in reality.
In and out, in and out the pool at the best house in Hiriketiya overlooking the bay.
Love & Freedom in Sri Lanka
I love the freedom to walk everywhere at all times of day and night. It is a luxury we don’t have in our country of South Africa. It also means that you have direct connections with so many more people than when you sit in your car. I love the little red breadtruck that came hurtling down the muddy roads every morning with the loudest singsong siren to bring everyone scrambling for fresh hot loaves. I loved the smells that surround you on every walk. The turtles that pop up their heads next to you in the gentle surf.
The spices weighed down my suitcase that I just had to drag home. The insanely delicious natural cinnamon and sandalwood soap bars that you can buy for next to nothing at the local supermarket.
The monkeys that broke into my bedroom and scratched through my jewellery bag and made off with my irreplaceable Brazilian gold necklace. ( didn’t love them so much tbh) But the bedrooms have no walls just grass mats so nothing to stop them.
The sound of the frogs and crickets at night and the birds and Buddhist chants waking us in the morning.
Travelling through Sri Lanka is a bit like a cross between a Boy's Own Adventure Story and a Rudling Kipling poem.
Travellers top tip
Do your research when it comes to finding accommodation. There are so many absolute gems from simple homestays, to hand-hewed treehouses, and architectural wonders to heritage boutique stays.
Meets & Greets
A lot of Australian expats looking to escape a life lived by laws and regulations.
Some older eccentric former children of colonialists, with the requisite storied pasts and the time on their hands to tell them.
