“No matter how many years I travel, the locations I daydream of far exceed what I picture. There is no substitution for life there.” -Old Sean
A Teardrop Island
For a long time, I’ve wanted to visit Sri Lanka. I first learned about the unique island during my junior year of university. When I was in colonial literature classes, I studied the Blessed Island nation and wrote several short novellas about the vibrant and tumultuous history of the land. Now, while living in the Eastern Hemisphere, I had my chance.
While still living in Chongqing, I put eight full minutes of planning into the trip. Then, as I arrived at the airport in Chongqing, I spent two hours wishing I had planned a bit better. The only prep-work I had done so far was purchase tickets, pack a backpack and exchange my yuan for rupees. I had no plans, no contacts or fallback ideas.
But my ticket was already purchased, so I flew until reaching Colombo. A blast of cloying, humid air greeted me. The night was deep and tropical sounds like rustling leaves and insects mingled with traffic noises. With public transportation suspended for the rest of the night, I flagged down a taxi.
A Night in Colombo
My taxi driver was a overly-friendly fellow with passable English. He did his best to veer me away from my hostel, spending a few moments asking if I’d prefer a different hotel. He told me twice that my hostel would be overbooked, but I had him stay the course. Next, the man began asking if I wanted “to be taken to see some girls” in English and Sinhala. This got a little grating, but my “No, thank you,” monotone became pointed enough that he stopped.
Finally, the fellow asked for a different price (double) than what showed on the meter. I was pointedly careful to provide him with exact change.
Taxi drivers everywhere in the world make me weary.
Sleeping in the Tropics
My hostel experience was much nicer, at least on the human front. I was politely given a private room, but the heat swelled problematically and I was unable to rest. I had to get creative when cooling down.
There was no air conditioner, but there was an oscillating fan. I jammed a pen into the fan, so it was forced to stay blowing on me. Then, I dampened my travel towel and laid on it so some heat would be leached away. Finally, I put a pair of water bottles under my armpits to further cool myself and folded a wet cloth on my forehead.
Reasonably cool, I drifted to into an uncomfortable, soggy sleep.
Leaving the Bustle
When I awoke, I had been in Colombo only 7 hours before I decided I’d had enough. The city is certainly a great nexus of trade and a large, brackish opportunity to see the ocean. But after a couple of hours with oppressive walls of humidity and the endless parade of mismatched vehicles jetting down swerving streets accompanied by the nostril delicacy of unchanged-oil, I was ready to depart.
I found a bus leaving to the central city of Sri Lanka, Kandy. Originally, I had a short list of things I wanted to do in Colombo, but I decided to save it for when I exited the country.
The bus ride followed narrow, terrifyingly thin roads. Our bus jerked back and forth with each turn, gradually rising working through villages, jungles and low mountains. The seating was packed tight, and the engine churned loudly whenever the bus driver had the opportunity for speed.
But finally, after numerous stops over four and a half hours, we arrived in stunning Kandy.
An Intro to Kandy, Sri Lanka
Now, make no mistake, Kandy still had similar qualities to Colombo. Kandy is armed with the usual urban development, a questionable sky that randomly spews rain and ramble-shacks on the edges of the city. Also, there’s enough traffic to make crossing the street an exercise of bravery.
However, Kandy also is nestled in Sri Lanka’s gorgeous highlands where tea-growing is still an artful industry. Hills crest out from Kandy’s manicured central lake. Here, large blue-tongued lizards writhe through the water. There are also black fish waging water-wide wars in the hopes of nabbing bread crusts. (I’m guilty of prolonging those conflicts.) Due to the altitude, the air is much crisper, cooler and more comfortable.
Amidst these features, there’s a bustle of activity and outlet shopping malls. Local, vocal street-vendors shout and resolutely helpful people walk calmly around the lake. At every moment in Sri Lanka, I had a helpful citizen within earshot, happily bubbling directions. Everyone kept inviting over other speakers, tugging native friends over who boasted semi-fluency in English to help.
Temple of the Tooth
The crown jewel of Kandy, however, is none other than the Temple of the Tooth (Sri Dalada Maligawa, ශ්රී දළදා මාළිගාව Glorious Tooth Temple). This is an extensive shrine dedicated to the relic that once rested inside Buddha’s mouth. The tooth is considered holy, ancient and part-of-a-great-smile. It’s allegedly the last remaining part of an otherwise cremated, divine body.
The temple grounds host the exquisitely well-preserved elephant-constructed Buddhist temple alongside some slightly upstaged Hindu and Muslim temples. An admittedly diminished church also rests among the sprawl. The distinctly European style is sidelined despite clear attempts to tower over lower grounds.
I should mention that the authenticity of Buddha’s teeth is a somewhat hotly contested subject in Buddhist (and colonial Christian) circles. Buddhism has as many factions, beliefs and internal differences as any other religion. The tooth (an important political and religious relic from India) is believed to be the canine from the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama.
Around the City
Kandy Sri Lanka is also an interesting place in terms of historical relevance. It was a final, futile stronghold of the natives when the Europeans brazenly colonized the island nation with the usual barrage of gunpowder, fancy flags and ethically-shaky mercantile theory. It has been the target of terrorist attacks, the platform for continuing traditional elephant festivals, the musical capital of the nation and a long time stronghold when preserving prior eras.
Despite all this, my time there was brief, only two days or so. I didn’t have a lot of time for my vacation, so I did everything I wanted in Kandy, Sri Lanka before moving on. I wished to head eastward. And so, armed with potentially holy chocolate milk and some fried delicacies, I wandered to the slightly-less-touristy portion of the island. As such, I boarded a packed train to Batticaloa, with a six hour stop in the unique crossroads of Polgahawela.
Trains Around Sri Lanka
While Polgahawela was mostly a short, unassuming experience in local hospitality, I did end up spending some time there. I managed to get slightly lost, spot a squinty cat chasing doomed insects and watch a frightfully large albino fish swim in lazy loops.
But as I hopped aboard my next train, the ride to Batticaloa itself merits a bit of detail.
Firstly, when traveling Sri Lanka by public transportation, there’s not an abundance of what I would call “elbow room” or “air conditioning.”
Rather, when riding a bus or train, I strongly recommend siting close to the window on the left side. From there, gulp in what free air you can. (Vehicles drive on the left side of the road here, so sitting on the furthest left window will grant you a better view of the countryside and a slight respite from the stench of oncoming engines.)
In any event, the number of swinging backpacks I unintentionally fondled during this ride made me long for a gusty rooftop seat.
The Visuals of the Island
I digress. The rides themselves are stunning in terms of visual experience. A great cloud of what I thought were vultures flapped above at one point, revealing themselves to be enormous bats sweeping their craggy wings in cutting sweeps.
The train tracks crowned the mountaintops, moving in clacking lines through rough-hewn tunnels. Mountain crests peeked out over Sri Lanka’s enormous farms, terraced mountains cultivating tea. In rugged terrain, I saw unkempt jungles, with the occasional monkey or cow bounding a respectful distance away from the track.
On the train, the doors were tossed wide for blessed ventilation. I hung my feet free and frequently wished my cell-phone camera had the skill to photograph movement while chugging along at 10 to 20 mph.
Regardless, the journey thus far has been a wild wave. I’m writing this while on the train. There are a series of young students awkwardly edging over and occasionally probe me with a rough attempt at English before running away, giggling.
“Where you from?” “I am ask what’s your name?”
That ends this post. I have sporadic, grammatically incorrect forays into English to compliment.
Until Batticaloa.
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
Written June 23rd, 2017
Take a look at Leftfade Trails Travel Recommendations for Colombo, Sri Lanka
Take a look at Leftfade Trails Travel Recommendations for Kandy, Sri Lanka
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