From battle ground to serenity

Our first evening in Negombo was noisy. Picture this. Kids dashing to the rocks, setting off bangers and dashing out of the way of the explosion just in time. Or the same kids throwing fireworks into the sea where a fisherman tried (unsuccessfully) to make a catch. Oh and then there was the dad with the toddler in his arms throwing fireworks into the sea. Not forgetting the dogs chasing said fireworks. Ahhh the peace and tranquility of Sri Lanka…not.

The Pledge Scape hotel, where we were staying was a sneaky place out to get you. Its design was dark, masculine but elegant and aimed to trip up the unwary traveller. I lost track of the amount of times I literally fell out of our hotel room into the corridor. There was a little step. Also the same in the shower. All brushed concrete and dark ramps. Meanwhile we tried to use the stairs rather than the lift. How hard can a set of stairs be? We managed one floor before reverting to the lift again. The stairwell was dark but little spot lights were shining up from the stairs to sort of blind you as you looked down. With Nick holding the banister and me holding Nick and the other wall, we literally were the blind leading the blind. After our one attempt, we gave up and used the lift thereafter.

We had a chilled evening with a lovely buffet dinner providing pretty much anything and everything one’s little heart could desire. In bed and lights out by 10pm, lulled to sleep with the gentle sound of the waves crashing beneath us.

Calm reigned for a couple of hours and then heavy artillery gunfire (aka fireworks) started up again at midnight. Then the car horns started up at 2am, followed by our alarm going off at 6.15am. Breakfast at 7.30 and out by 8.30. Phew.

We met our travelling companions this morning, Ronnie and Leah, mother and daughter. First stop, the fish market. The area was vast and served the whole of the country. Fish mongers, hoteliers and even individuals come to buy. It was lines and lines of shambolic stalls all selling their wares. Few stalls were selling more than 20 fish. Bizarrely we noted there were no flies, though of course an array of dogs, cats and egrets, all vying for scraps. What isn’t sold on the day is dried and sold on later.

I don’t know how he does it, but I turned my back for a nano second and somehow Nick managed to slip on some of the fish slime spraying it onto me too. A 4 hour minibus trip of us two smelling of fish. Lovely.

The drive was interesting and varied. The first part laden with palm and banana trees, stalls of produce, oxen wandering aimlessly and 2 lanes somehow frequently being turned into 4 lanes of traffic. It works like this, no indication, toot your horn and go, or just go. Simple. It’s  largely a game of chicken between 4 vehicles. Someone has to give way, but it’s always so last minute.

We saw fields and fields of rice which is cultivated twice a year. The scenery was very green and lush, flat and thankfully, straight. One village seemed to turn into the next making it seem as though Negombo stretched for miles. Then onto the motorway which was virtually empty and all of a sudden seemed so boring.

By the time we stopped, it was 27 degrees. Our half way tea and wee break was at Cafe Amákie where we paid a staggering 1056 Rs for 2 teas (less than £3). I think this cafe was purely for tour guides to take their clients to. It certainly wasn’t like any of the other road side cafes.

Atullah (with our approval) changed the itinerary and we headed off in the direction of Dambulla Temples and Golden Temple. All of a sudden the volume of monkeys on the road started to increase to the extent that when we got to Dambulla temple, the monkeys were common place. Atullah was a bit sniffy about the Golden Temple, with good cause. It’s garish and a modern slab of concrete. After seeing the real deal of the Dambulla temple caves, we weren’t interested to see this modern side show.

The Dambulla Temples Caves are over 2600 years old. There are 5 temples with 153 Buddhas in a variety of poses in these caves. All of the caves are carved from the natural rock. However, to get to see them you have to climb what feels like hundreds of very uneven steps with no handrails. Just me panicking that Nick wasn’t going to do a face-plant on this stunning site. Quite frankly, the caves were jaw dropping, if very hot. Also we’d run out of water and I was more than aware that lunch time had come and gone and I could see the start of Nick flaking so requested a lunch stop. Without hesitation, Atullah took us up the road to the Ariya restaurant for a simple buffet lunch. Again, another tour guide location to keep the economy going for the locals. Nothing to object to there. Energy levels restored, we set off again for the final 20 minute of our drive.

Then, driving through tropical parkland, Atullah sees it before we do. An elephant ambling on the side of the road. What a thrill. I know we’ll see them when we go to Yala safari park, but seeing one on the road side was truly special. Atullah estimated that the elephant would be approximately 35 to 40 years old. It was beautiful and I managed to get a good video as it turned to face us. How special.

Atullah went on to explain about elephant pearls, a growth inside the tusk of 1% of ivory tusked elephants. Some say it’s a cancerous growth, others say it’s precious. The pearl is egg shaped and shiny.

Having seen the elephant, we then went on to see a lot of elephant evidence. My word, they have very big poo, but then I guess you’d expect that really.

Finally we got to our second hotel of this tour, Cinnamon Lodge, a cool, calm tranquil colonial style hotel in 27 acres of very peaceful park land. We were greeted with passion fruit juice or apple juice and a lovely cold flannel. The advice has been to keep all doors and windows shut, otherwise the monkeys will invade your room. The serenity of Cinnamon Lodge is a world away from the mad, impromptu firework “displays” of Negombo. We’re here for two nights and have a lie in tomorrow morning. Oh happy days.