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Waking from a slumber

Sri Lanka disappeared from tourist trails during its turbulent days, but it’s back on track. and in 10 days you can enjoy a whirlwind trip covering hills, beaches—and the Buddha

Earplugs. Simple, cheap, small, effective, generally overlooked, yet critical for any trip to Sri Lanka. 
Why? Because after 10 days in Sri Lanka the only stand out problem was a lack of sleep.

It started on our first sunrise in Colombo’s beachside suburb of Mount Lavinia and was the result of paper thin walls, a loud Russian family and an unexpected train line running so delightfully close to the Berjaya Hotel that the annual Trainspotting Convention of Planet Earth should book in every year, thereby offering their pencil-chewing, locomotive-obsessed members the ability to lie in bed and undertake their favourite hobby at the same time. For those not in possession of 15 anoraks in identical shades of grey, you are advised to bring earplugs.

Fortunately for Sri Lanka, there’s far more to the country than noise pollution and potential trainspotting conventions, and within just 10 days you can enjoy a round trip that takes in most of the highlights, including the capital, the hill country, the lowlands, a safari, the coast and even the world’s largest reclining Buddha.

The start to almost every Sri Lankan tour is Colombo, where modern metropolis meets colonial history and ramshackle neighbourhoods. Most visitors are advised to visit the historic Galle Face Hotel for an afternoon drink, where you’ll step back in time 100 years to another world; it’s a charming way to while away a few hours, even if the service is still stuck in the past. Once eventually fed, you’ll be fuelled for a hearty stroll around the Fort area, which is where you’ll find most international hotels, incredibly well preserved Victorian shops and streets, and the main train station. It’s the latter that’s most important.

With just 10 days to cover a large swathe of Sri Lanka you need to book everything in advance, which can easily be arranged at the station. An hour with a local tour company meant we left with train tickets and a driver booked, covering all travel needs for the trip. What we failed to do was book a hotel in Kandy — “we’ll sort it on arrival” was the idea — and it was our first lesson in how Sri Lanka needs to be approached differently to India.

When travelling Sri Lanka’s vast subcontinental neighbour you can arrive in almost any town and find accommodation easily and cheaply. Not so in Sri Lanka, which is still waking from its long stint on the ‘travel advisory’ list after a prolonged civil war that only ended in 2009. It means that tourists are flocking to the country, but accommodation options have not fully expanded to meet demand. Two obvious effects have been rising prices and disappointed tourists. And there’s nowhere more symptomatic of this problem than Kandy, merely a 2.5-hour train ride from Colombo, but a wholly different experience.

Kandy sits at 500m above sea level and is effectively a lake retreat, but better known for the Temple 
of the Sacred Tooth Relic (where one of Buddha’s teeth is kept). The town’s picturesque lake was created in 1807 by Sri Wickrama Rajasinha, the last ruler 
of the kingdom of Kandy, who was pushed aside by the arrival of British invaders in 1815.

On arrival, none of this was of interest to us as the issue of finding accommodation took precedence, soon turning into a race around town as we sought the supposedly last available room. Our taxi driver assured us that if we didn’t take it another group was hotfooting their way to snap it up. Ever the cynic, 
I immediately ignored such obvious sales tactics, but ever the lazy traveller 
I plumbed for the room anyway, unwilling to continue our search.

With accommodation secured, we explored Kandy. It’s an attractive town where the highlight is walking the manmade lake spotting colourful birds and playful monkeys, whilst dodging frequent rain showers. Up in the 
hills these are to be expected, but as a Gulf resident you soon remember why you chose to live in a sunny climate.

After two nights in Kandy, it was time to move on. This can be done by train, but a car can take you through stunning tea plantation land, so on a fortunately sunny day we set off through Sri Lanka’s agricultural heartland. The rolling tea plantations are dotted with English houses left over by long departed settlers, but nowhere is British influence seen more than in Nuwara Eliya, created by the colonisers, who left so many houses it seems closer to Surrey than Sri Lanka. The Brits also built a golf course, which has been preserved as if they never left; it’s a stark reminder of the European culture clash imposed on the island.

After a night in the hill country town of Ella, where stunning views accompany your breakfast, it was time to head back to the lowlands and onto Yala National Park. It’s only a short drive — 2.5 hours — from Ella to Tissamaharama, which is a sleepy strip home to little more than hundreds of ancient Land Rovers, as it’s the launch pad for safaris into the nearby national park.

Most tourists heading into Yala National Park have two things on their minds — elephants and leopards. That’s what you go there to see, but that’s what everyone goes to see, which makes things somewhat congested. Whilst the experience of sitting in a Landie with no suspension for an afternoon was entertaining, the thrill of seeing elephants and leopards close up was substantially dampened by a dozen other cars jostling to see the same animals from the same vantage points, so whilst the park is worth a visit be prepared to fight for your right to view.

From Tissamaharama, we headed for the south coast and onto Unawatuna, a beach paradise that was decimated in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. The journey takes around 3-4 hours, but can be broken with stops for curd (a dairy-based, ‘acquired taste’ dish) or fresh coconut drinks. Once at Unawatuna, you’ll be rewarded with a classic beach setting, which has been fully rebuilt since the tsunami, although some hotels and restaurants rebuilt over the beach, meaning that water and businesses almost meet. It’s a small issue, but still a shame.

Two restless nights in Unawatuna — woken by bread vans, chanting, drunks, horns, tractors and sirens — meant we excitedly prepared for our last night at a five-star property called The Fort Printers Hotel in Galle Fort, just 4km away. Only 15 minutes from Unawatuna by tuk-tuk, the stunning UNESCO World Heritage-protected Galle Fort is an old Dutch settlement that’s in remarkable condition, but still in need of massive funding for reconstruction and improvements.

The area has been settled by one conqueror or another for centuries, but it was the Dutch who heavily invested in its buildings, then handed it to the British without a fight (due to themselves being invaded by France), with the British returning it to the Sri Lankans still in its Dutch state. A walk around the Fort will evoke times gone by whilst also providing romance and intrigue. It’s a unique place that’s sure to be a favourite on anyone’s trip, even if just for a weekend from the UAE.

And finally it was 
time to head back to Colombo. Sadly, the train line from Galle to Colombo was out of service, so we had to contend with hiring a driver and tackling the lethal main road for four hours. Put simply, I should have been wearing a nappy. It was that scary. Eyes wide with terror, I stared into the distance as Basil, the driver, ploughed through obstacles, dodging endless humans, animals and oncoming buses.

On the way we stopped to visit the world’s longest reclining Buddha, where the tranquillity of Buddha contrasted heavily with the vehicular terror of Sri Lanka’s main ring road. I wanted to stay there. Forever.

But with prayers answered, we entered Colombo safely after 10 incredible days in Sri Lanka. The country surpassed expectations at every level, offering travellers a vast range of experiences within a relatively small area. It’s no wonder it’s topping travel lists the world over. It deserves to. Sri Lanka’s time has come.

wknd@khaleejtimes.com