Slow Travels in Sri Lanka

We arrived in Sri Lanka to discover that this was one of the hardest legs of the trip because Bill wanted us to travel - by ourselves - throughout the island of Sri Lanka. Plus this leg brings with it a ton of points - and can make a real difference in team standings overall - so there is a lot riding on it. To say that travel within the island is difficult is a gross under-statement. Everything takes 5 times as long as you think it will. Every train is hours late, stops incessantly and travels at a pace just slightly faster than you could walk it. We have to switch taxis every two stops (that is one of the rules) so the logistics hurt your head to be sure that you do not end up stranded in some god-forsaken place with no way out of there . What is certain is that - in 3 days - we have seen, struggled with and conquered Sri Lanka. And what a beautiful and interesting country, that I would probably never buy a ticket and fly to see - yet have totally enjoyed.

The first day we went to a fishing village called Negombo where the fisherman use these very thin (like 8 inches wide) canoes - with an outrigger second canoe - and square sails - to fish. A very odd design and not a particularly efficient system. When we got to Negombo, the boats were all out on the water (which was very bad as we had to sail on one) so we drove around and had the taxi ask everyone we saw in town. Finally we met 4 men walking home - who had not caught any fish today and thus came in early. We persuaded them to turn around, go back to the harbor, rig up their boat and take us for a sail. Quite an ordeal but they were so nice and and thrilled to show us how everything worked.
We then took a LONG, SLOW, excrutiatingly hot train all the way up to Anuradhapura (a town in the North). It was crowded and did I already mention....hot, hot, hot. I sweated and sweated and sweated. We stayed in a guest house up there that was squarely in the yucky category but by then we were so tired we just fell into a coma. The next day, we were up at 5AM (yes, that is the start of each day for us as we are under curfew from 10 AM to 5 AM - no travelling between cities during those hours). We started with temples.. and one in particular which claims to have a sacred tree that is 23 centuries old. It is supposed to from a sapling from the actual tree under which Buddha gained enlightenment (seems far-fetched to me - but most religions have stores that seem remarkably unbelievable). Both Rainey and I had to buy scarves to cover our shoulders as you are not allowed in the temple areas with any part of your shoulder showing.. so we have the great Batman and Robin looks going on. Plus you have to take your shoes off at every temple and the ground is 100 degrees.... we burned the bottom of our feet over and over again. We also had to find "moonstones" which are the ornate semi-circular intricately carved stones that are at the bottom of the stairs leading into every temple here. They are true works of art.
Another scavenge: Find this giant dagoda (or temple that looks like a cake dish cover) that is held up by hundreds of carved elephants. No idea how long it took to carve all of them (and in such detail) or why they felt the need to carve them - but they are quite a site.

Adventure #1 sprung up on us on our way from one town to another that first morning. Our taxi started to smell like burnt metal, overheated and shut down. We were hours from anywhere and stuck. The taxi man said that he could call and get another taxi to come and get us but it would take 1-2 hours. In this competition, that kind of down time can be the difference between winning and losing a leg so we started walking and flagging down every passing car. Heidi talked a man into letting us ride in the back of his (covered this time) truck to the next town over. There we were able to get the one and only taxi in that town to take us on to a bigger town and got back on track.

Much of the Sri Lanka scavenges involved us climbing up hundreds and thousands of stairs since Sri Lankans apparently firmly believe that the bigger pain-in-the-ass it is to get to the temple, the holier the prayers. We have photos of us on top of every imaginable hill, mountain and rock in the country. My favorite was King Kassapa’s Sky Palace in Sigiriya… where a King decided to build an entire palace on the top of “Lion’s Rock” (because what could be more impractical than trying to haul every brick up this mountain to build an entire palace compound). Interesting issues with this scavenger: (a) we arrived in the midday heat… BIG mistake; (b) You have to walk through the paws of the lion that was carved into the mountain to take the last hard push to the top (the rest of the lion is gone now… but the paws are very cool); (c) You have to walk on these narrow metal skypaths which – for someone who has a real dread of heights like I do – was panic attack provoking. Finally at the top, we look like dying, heat-stroked paralyzed exhausted travelers.

Another favorite scavenge – Dambulla Caves. Ten gazillion years ago – when America was not yet even a twinkle in someone’s eye – there were sculptors and painters in Sri Lanka creating 5 caves (yes, high in a mountain and with lots of stairs and climbing to reach them) that are filled with statues and frescos and artwork dedicated to Buddha. Every inch of each cave has statues and all of the walls and ceilings are covered with paintings. Stand back Michelangelo – the Sri Lankans are whupping your butt on painting upside down in the dark of a cave. I like this reclining Buddha’s feet (which are patterned with henna) because they remind me of my feet after days of having to walk barefoot in temples with poker-hot stones from the sun.

A highlight was visiting the Pinnewala Elephant Orphange where they care for more than 80 elephants. They do not allow rides or make the elephants do tricks – they just care for them and let them roam on a vast reserve. One elephant in particular captured my heart – an old elephant who lost the lower part of one leg to a land-mine during the recent civil unrest. And I got to bottle feed one of the babies – who touched my hand with his trunk (gently) when I was finished.

And here’s an odd one. In the middle of Sri Lanka, some crazy Englishman decided to build an entire English town dedicated to growing tea. Nuwara Eliya comes complete with double-decker buses, red mail boxes, English countryside manors and a climate similar to the British countryside (wet, damp and slightly rainy). We had to take a tour of a tea processing factory (where we learned everything you would ever want to know about tea including that the highest caliber tea can sell for as much as $1000 per kilos… which begs the question, who would drink such expensive tea?) And whoever they are, they obviously need to take a trip to Southeast Asia to learn about poverty and what good some of that money they are wasting on useless fineries would do to curb it. Then we had to climb (another) hill through a tea plantation and finally have a well-deserved cup of tea in the “members-only” Hill Club (a snobby and overly-fancy club that Heidi talked our way into).

Bill – in a moment of insanity – put in a scavenger that asked us to get invited to a Sri Lankans house for a meal. So yes, we set about asking everyone we met if we could barge into their home and eat their food. And can you believe it… multiple people immediately said YES. We ended having dinner at a former Tamil Tigers’ house – with his entire family. Very modest home – no running water, an open flame to cook by, little furniture besides beds and one table with a few chairs…but the people were so nice and gentle and genuinely excited to have us there. They even brought out their 3 china plates (from some storage box under a bed) to serve us on. Restores your faith in humanity.

And last - but not least – the climax of our Sri Lankans experience – we climbed Adam’s Peak. It is a GIGANTIC mountain with a temple on the top that takes so long to get up that we had to start at 2:30 AM (yes, that’s AM). It took us 3 ½ hours of heavy climbing to get to the top and then almost 2 hours to get back down. My knees may never be the same again. At 4AM, Lily, my niece, started crying and was convinced that she could not make the top. Heidi started counting out the stairs in blocks of 100 and we would sit and rest after every 100 stairs – while I shoved sports beans into her mouth for a quick sugar high. We all made it to the top – which is a hell of an accomplishment. . And I have to be at least 7 pounds lighter (I have gone down two belt loops since the trip started… YIPPEEE!!!!).

And now.. we are in Jordan .. with scavenges to see Petra and read a newspaper while floating in the Dead Sea.

I am proud to announce that the Littlepage teams took a clean sweep of 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the Sri Lankan leg putting us all in contention for the top spot. To date, Rainey and I are first in the competition, followed closely by Heidi and Lily and then Mom and Barbara. Not bad for the Bajan contingent.