A BLISSFUL VACATION IN SRI LANKA

SECTION -1

We landed at the Bandaranaike international airport, Colombo, after a nearly 3-hour flight from Kolkata. The driver was waiting in front of the arrival with a placard with my name and his company’s name.  

I was worried whether he would be there and this was my first visit to Colombo and all the arrangements and bookings, a new travel agent made this time. The driver immediately escorted my wife and me to his beautiful white colored car and put our luggage in the boot space. He was a young man with a lovely smile and maybe around 25 years old and spoke fluent English. He told us that during the whole tour, he would be with us in his car, and he would also act as our guide. We were delighted at the very first introduction to him and with his mannerism. The tour operator printed your program and was with our driver, and he gave me the same, which was as per our booking. Today we will be relaxing in an excellent hotel in Colombo, and the next morning, we will start our actual program immediately after breakfast. The hotel staff were terrific hosts and led us to our designated room. The lady who came to drop us in the room described all the facilities the hotel provides and how we can get any assistance required from the hotel. She gave us the intercom list, bar, and menu card and told us that the bar and restaurant are available till 11 pm and breakfast is complimentary, and starts from 6-30 am in the open restaurant on the ground floor. The Lunch and dinner and the bar are on the first-floor restaurant. She was a thorough professional and spoke in excellent English, very polite, a charming girl maybe of around 25 yrs of age with a long bunch of hair and wearing a beautiful flower in her hair. She looked very beautiful in a white saree with red borders and a red blouse, she was adorable, and her smile made her more beautiful. We thanked her, and I decided to have a bath before going to the restaurant for our buffet lunch instead of ordering room service as it allows us to meet people and take food together instead of having food alone in the room.

 It was 2-30 pm local time when we reached the restaurant, which was nearly full. I took a Vodka, and my wife started with some soups. The food was delicious, and all kinds of foods were available, and especially for us Indians, there was no problem with the food. All the restaurant people have a smile on their faces and are always prepared to see if you need any help. It was a lovely time. We spent nearly an hour there before coming back to the room. The weather was very comfortable, and I kept the room temperature at 24 degrees in the central AC and decided to sleep and plan for tomorrow. The Itinerary we made in a way that we should relax more than running from one place to another as happened in a conducted tour. We made our stay a bit longer enough, and our main objective of the visit was to relax for a week before going back home to again get busy with our hectic schedule.

The next morning, we start our day early. Having a cup of tea in the room, I went to the pool to spend some time in the beautiful atmosphere. I returned to the room, my wife was ready, and I hurriedly took my bath, and we went to the ground floor restaurant for breakfast. The hotel boy came to me and informed me that our car had already been reported. The relaxing atmosphere of this open restaurant made us very happy. We got introduced to many families from the USA, Canada, European countries, China, and many people from India. Soon we checked out of the hotel, and our driver, Nishantha, put our luggage in his car. We started calling him Nishi, and he was pleased.

Nuwara Eliya is our destination today. We selected the road via Kandy from Colombo; Nuwara Eliya is well connected from Colombo either via Kandy or via Hatton; if traveling by road, Nishi told us, Both the roads are not in good condition to drive to Nuwara Eliya, but the Kandy road offers excellent scenic views. Nishi told us that we would go through Kandy, and it would take nearly 7-8 hrs, considering the time for Lunch and photography on the way. The distance from our Colombo hotel to Nuwara Eliya is almost 175 km. In Sri Lanka, this township is one of the most suitable and famous tea plantation sites and a hilly place with comfortable weather at this time of the year. As I am from Assam, we have enough experience of tea garden views, but we still want to see the place on a mountain slope. The road could have been better, and we had to go slowly. Nishi is giving us a complete description of the area, people, and their food habits. I told him to play some Singhalese fast music in his car music system, and he played some fast music which was very entertaining. The communication between these places is very good for Colombo. The city of Colombo is the nearest airport to Nuwara Eliya. One can reach the city by taking a flight to Colombo; the tourist can take a cab from there to the beautiful mountainous paradise. Nuwara Eliya is very well connected from Kandy and Hatton, and frequent bus services are available. Nishi told us that Hatton Road and Kandy for cars and vans are almost the same, but Kandy Road is steeper and more beautiful though it takes some more time. We told him to go whichever way was better, and we were enjoying the natural beauty. It was the month of January, and Colombo was quite comfortable, but as we approached our destination, we felt cold and took out our warm clothes.

Kandy is connected by bus or train journey and a beautiful hill station. The fare is quite nominal. It is around 115 km from Colombo.

Kandy is a major city in Srilanka’s central province. Nishi, Our driver cum guide, goes on explaining every small thing we are crossing, and it seems that he is a master of the subject. On asking, Nishi told us that he had been in this tourist business for a pretty long time, and said with a beautiful smile that he was working in the company when he was very young and continued working with the tourist bus operator carrying tourists and learned all this information from the guide who travel in that tourist bus, Soon he started driving a car in the same tourism company. Only last year purchased his car with a loan and is now independent and better off. He got his customer from the tourist agency, which took a commission from him. During this period, he heard the guide explaining to the tourist, and he learned about these areas. Kandy is in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau and was once the capital during the king’s era. There are several tea plantation areas here, and they have breathtaking views. Kandy, in the central province, is both an administrative and religious city.  

The original name of Kandy was Katu Bulu Nuwara, but the more popular historical name was Senkadagalapura. I asked our driver Nishi, several times the words so that I could keep the same name in my memory after reaching the hotel; I can keep those in writing. The name Kandy was most probably given by the English from the word interpreting the land on the mountain. The city is in a loop of the River Mahaweli, the largest & longest river on the island, and the climate changes, and we gradually feel comfortable coming out from the hot and humid climate of Colombo. This area is famous for its Tea gardens, rubber plantation, and paddy fields, a perfect site for our eyes. And Nishi goes on to talk about all those places; he speaks perfect English and describes things in such a way that becomes so interesting. This area also produces a lot of bananas, pineapples, mangoes, and other fruits, and going up the hill, we found cinnamon and nutmeg plantations also. Nishi told us that during the week, he would be with us till dropping us off at Colombo airport for the return journey; he would take us to a place where Cinnamon is planted in a big way and produce the Cinnamon ready for sale stage. We told him that we would definitely like to go there. Nishi and my wife went on talking, as there was no end to the question from my wife, and he answered all such things with a smiling face. I noticed sometimes he talks to someone when he does not know the answer and then tells us. We were too happy with him.

From Colombo, We first visited the glorious Kelaniya Royal Temple, which is around 10-15 km from Colombo. This place is of significant spiritual value to Buddhists, and the temple stands majestically on a higher plain of the west bank overlooking River Kelani (Kalyana) that flows right in front. There was calm and peacefulness in the entire place, no other sound than the chanting of the monks, most soothing to the ear. We make a round there and sit for some time and feel fresh. We passed through various places, and with advice from Nishi, we skipped most of the sites except, Pasgama tourist village, Miriswatta (Uruwala Temple, Henarathgoda Botanical Gardens), Kegalle, Pinnawala elephant orphanage Spice Gardens, The Millennium Elephant Foundation, Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens with River Mahaweli flowing right behind it. We took tea (red) wherever we got some shop as I need tea very frequently and 8carried a flask of tea. We did not go to the tea center as my state Assam is famous for tea, and we saw lots of tea gardens. We did not wait anywhere between Kandy and Nuwara Elia as it was already late, and since we would be staying one day more, we postponed those places for the next day.

 Because of our on-road activity, we reached the hotel late, after 7 o’clock, and I went for a hot bath and then went to the bar to have a peg of scotch. Next to me was a Spanish couple sitting with their drinks, and we went on gossiping after the introduction. Their English could have been more fluent, and a lot of the time, we were explaining things with our hands and facial movements. They are friends who have not yet decided to get married and live together. They told me that they usually, for a few months in the year, rent out their property, and with that money and from their savings, they roam around the world every year. We went on refilling our glasses, and by that time, my wife had also joined us and participated in our conversation. They also told me their intention of going to India from Sri Lanka, but they only knew about my state Assam if it is full of jungles and famous for rhinos. It took me some time to give a lecture on Assam and how beautiful it is. They were surprised and told me if they could manage, maybe in two or three days, they may come to Assam. They took my numbers and never called again. Maybe their plan for visiting Assam could not be materialized.

We planned our tour to reach Colombo on the west coast and then go south to the central province of Nuwara Eliya. From there, we are going towards the east coast to the south. 

TO BE CONTINUED