#traveldiaries summer2019 srilanka staystrong

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An unexpected adventure in Srilanka – Summer of 2019

Like every other time, this summer, me and my parents were all set to have the time of our lives in Srilanka. Our trip lasted for 9 days. We landed in the Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo at around 7:30 pm on the 17th of April. We had a warm welcome from our chauffeur, Satheesha. He had a nice, white Toyota Prius, our ride for the entire trip. We reached our hotel at Colombo which was right opposite the beach. We had a nice dinner and slept.

Next morning, we set off to Pinnawala, an orphanage for elephants. On our way, we did a little city tour of Colombo. We reached Pinnawala at the right time to get a glimpse of herds of elephants having their morning shower. I had never seen these many elephants at a time before. We then grabbed a quick lunch and continued our journey to Sigiriya. We stayed at a resort amidst dense forest, where we spotted a lone elephant having sugarcane. Early next morning, we reached the Sigiriya lion fortress, bought our tickets, and set to the big climb. This fortress is a UNESCO identified site atop which used to be a palace built by king Kashyapa in the 10th century BC. We climbed 1500 steps to reach the top-most part of the plateau-like structure. On our way, we also saw many fresco paintings. We then came to our resort, freshened up, had a meal, and started to Kandy.

En-route Kandy, we went to a spice garden in the town of Matale. We bought some exotic, fresh, world-famous Ceylon cinnamon. We then reached the misty town of Kandy, which’s considered to be the last capital of ancient Srilanka reigned by kings. Kandy is also known for precious and semi-precious gems. We visited one such gem factory, where we learned the procedures of gems being extracted from river beds and how they are used in the ornaments. In the evening, we witnessed Srilanka’s various cultural dances. There were many similarities of these dances with Indian folk lore. We then saw the sunset from a wonderful view point and headed to our hotel. Next morning, we went to the Temple of sacred Tooth Relic, one of the most important Buddhist places of worship. This temple is situated inside the Royal Palace. It was such a pleasant surprise to meet one of friends from Bangalore in the temple. We of course took a selfie with them, and started our ride to the so called New England of Srilanka, Nuwareliya, a beautiful hill station.

On our way to Nuwareliya, we visited the Blue Fields Tea Factory and saw how various kinds of tea powders were manufactured. The route to Nuwareliya was amazing with slight rain, chill winds, and we drove literally through the mist. We then halted at a Hanuman temple atop one of the mountains and had lunch at a typical restaurant that served south-Indian meals. After a nice, homely meal, we stopped to pick fresh strawberries. We then reached Nuwareliya filled with British-styled Victorian-type cottages by the lake of Gregory. We stayed is one such cozy, wooden cottage amidst a beautiful garden. We just relaxed in the wonderful chilly weather and left to Seethaeliya next morning. The experience at Seethaeliya was mesmerizing. This is the place where Seetha devi (lord Rama’s wife) was kept captive by the 10-headed demon, Ravana. I had heard so many Ramayana stories from my grandmom. Being at Seethaeliya brought all one such story alive… This was the place where lord Hanuman finds Seetha matha and hands over Rama’s finger ring. We prayed and sang a song in praise of lord Rama and then continued our drive to the next destination, Yala National Park.

One the way down hill, we heard one of the most shocking news on the radio. There had bomb blasts in the city of Colombo! It was the Sunday of Easter, suicide bombers blasted 3 churches and 3 high-end hotels. This resulted in several deaths and leaving many others injured. The most saddening part to me was that I had seen one of the high-end hotels during the Colombo city tour, that was now shattered. The poor lives of many innocent Srilankans unfortunately ended in this disaster. Srilanka’s main religion being Buddhism indicates peace. I really pity them, as such a calm and peaceful country had to go through this kind of loss for no trouble that they have ever caused. Immediately, Srilankan Government announced curfew for 12 hours (6:00 pm to 6:00 am). Also, all kind of social media was blocked. Our family and friends back in India were very worried as they couldn’t contact us. By God’s Grace, we were 200 km away from the impacted area.

We discussed amongst ourselves about the next steps we’d need to take. Satheesha, spoke to his people and told us that it’d be best to not panic and try to head back to home country. Hence, we proceeded to Yala National Park. We hired a Safari Jeep that took us in to the dense forest of Yala. The drive was brilliant! We spotted a few elephants, deers, jackals, wild boars, wild buffaloes, peacoks, crocs, and so on. We then checked in to our resort at Katargama. I freaked out when a lot of our relatives and friends contacted us and insisted in returning back to India as early as possible. Appa and Amma consoled me and I then slept peacefully.

Next morning, appa called the Indian Embassy to check on the situation and seek advice about our next steps. They advised us to continue our journey, but to not venture out in public places and to avoid crowded areas such as restaurants.  We then left to the wonderful, humid, sea-side town of Bentota. The drive was splendid along side the blue-green Indian ocean. We spent three amazing days in Bentota – went to the turtle hatchery, Madhu river safari, beach play, beachside morning walks, and swimming at the pool in our hotel.

Then came the final day of returning to India. We took to the express way route to reach Colombo and the airport. On the way, we picked up water bottles and some light snacks. We were just about a kilometre away from the Bandarnaike International Airport, when we were restricted by the Srilankan army from going inside the airport. None of the vehicles were allowed into the airport. We were confused and were not aware of the happenings. We then inquired an army officer about why weren’t allowed inside. He told us that one of the suspects of the recent bomb attacks had been caught. We heard from the officer that there was some firing in the airport. As we were running late, we decided to walk to the airport with our heavy luggage. Now, I was all tensed and even more scared…on our way we happened to see the army and FBI officers surrounding that looked like a corpse with hands cuffed and lying on the stomach. Later on, we learnt that it wasn’t really the corpse but one of the suspects who was shot on his leg and was still alive!! This was terrifying! There were so many detailed security checks and they checked the nook and corner of our bags. There was even one last check before we entered the flight. Finally, with a sigh of relief, we boarded the flight.  

Although the situation towards the end of our trip was intense, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and learnt how to stay calm in such situations and do the right thing at the right time. The trip to Srilanka in the summer of 2019 is one of the most memorable trips I’ve been on, experiencing all sorts of emotions: fun, excitement, fear, sorrow, calm, satisfaction. Given a chance, I’d definitely love to go back to Srilanka for another trip, and till date I pray for the safety and security of all world citizens!