The Real Sri Lanka Experience

Day 18 - Tuesday 28th June 12.18pm

It's time to visit one of my favourite places in Sri Lanka - Mirissa! We are currently on our way along the south coast from Yala, where we spent the past two nights. I'm excited about beach, seafood and Dewmini's Banoffee Rotti!

After visiting Polonnaruwa last week, we explored the oldest Kingdom of Anurhadapura and caves that monks have used as a meditation centre for centuries. The oldest Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka is still standing and remains sacred to them, as well as the Bhodi tree under which Lord Buddha reached enlightenment, which is recorded as the oldest living tree in the world, around 2600 years old. Pretty cool eh?

We travelled back on the windy roads for a night of chips and card games in Kandy, with a quick stop at Dambulla for the huge golden statue of Lord Buddha.

The next morning we had free time to explore the Kandy markets, where I treated myself to a traditional South Asian dress called a Salwar. You can call me a local now.

Ashika took me to a small temple to meet a local monk and receive a Pirith Nula, where the monk chants a blessing whilst tying a white string around your right hand for protection and prosperity. I made sure I learnt the polite etiquette for respecting and thanking a monk beforehand, with hands together and bowing the head for respect. I was still pretty nervous!

Our next stop was Nuwara Eliya, aka Little England, with a lunch stop on top of the valley overlooking waterfalls and endless greenery, it was amazing! We got a tour around Mackwoods tea plantation, to see how they grow, dry and roll the leaves for different grades of tea, with a very enjoyable complimentary cup at the end. I might even be converted to a tea drinker now?

When we arrived in Nuwara Eliya I understood why it's called Little England - it's bloody freezing! The plants and scenery completely change, the hotels look like ski lodges and the paddy fields are swapped for vegetable patches. It was very bizarre thinking we were in Sri Lanka, especially when a duvet still didn't keep us warm enough!

The next morning we visited the Botanical Gardens, which was opened by the British in the 1800's. A few of the girls hired a golf buggy to take them round, which I took full advantage of! The guide let them drive around when the park rangers were out of sight, which got a tad scary on the uphill hairpin bends on the edge of a mini cliff...

The drive to Ella continued to be stunning, this country is just infinitely lush green. Ella is a very small quiet town that attracts backpackers and honeymoon couples, the perfect place to chill out and enjoy the beautiful scenery, the reason it is one of my favourites. After another amazing selection of Sri Lankan curries with an incredible valley view, it was time to explore Ella. Sitting on a minibus for hours on end hadn't been kind to my back, so I went straight to the local Ayuverdic clinic for a head and full body massage, complete with a complimentary facial!

On Sunday morning we enjoyed the sunshine and headed to Mini Adams Peak for a small trek up to the most beautiful view of the hills and valleys, the perfect photo opportunity. Then a stop at Ella waterfall, which was a great refreshment from the piercing heat.

Our next stop was Katharagama, the most famous Hindu temple in the South of Sri Lanka. Thousands of people from across the country visit this site, from the Sinhala Buddhists to the Tamil Hindus to the Vedda. We received a hindu blessing, differing from the Buddhist Pirith Nula as the string is colourful and a chant is sung as they loop it around your wrist, ending with the mark of good luck smudged on the centre of your forehead. We offered a huge tray of tropical fruit to the Hindu gods, which was blessed then passed around to eat and share the fortune. It's very interesting how Buddhist and Hindu cultures intertwine, as there are nearly always elements of both at their respective temples. Hinduism involves more rituals though, my favourite of which is smashing a coconut into a pit after a prayer, and if it cracks it will come true or bring you good luck. I've never been religious and RE wasn't top of many peoples subjects at my school, but I have found experiencing people's beliefs and worship to be really fascinating. I'm not sure I'll ever quite understand the Hindu culture but it's been great to witness it first hand!

After a chilled morning between a pool and an iguana, we set off on an adventure to another of my favourites - Yala National Park. For our safari we got fancy jeeps with actual seats, rather than the standing-on-a-bench type that gives your legs bruises for weeks! The common wildlife in Yala are elephants, peacocks, green bee-eater birds, crocodiles, water buffalo, monkeys, spotted deer, and some crazy wild chickens...

After a couple of hours of cruising through the dusty terrain, we set up our picnic by the beach, feeling gutted we didn't spot any of the rare sloth bears or leopards. As the national park borders the sea, this are was affected by the tsunami in 2014. There's a monument to remember those who lost their lives, however on that day most of the animals had survived, taking flight before the waves hit. Those around the area recalled how bizarre it was the animals all moved inland suddenly and simultaneously, whilst us humans were oblivious to the devastation that was to follow.

This was my second time at Yala, so I was really determined to spot a leopard curled up on a high branch or camouflaged in the trees. But as our safari came to an end, we still hadn't seen any sign of the rare creatures anywhere.

Until...

On the last stretch of dusty road to the exit, a leopard was just chilling in a clearing near by to the track! She seemed unphased by the jeep, but we all tried hard to contain our excitement and stay silent. She was absolutely beautiful to watch, I was over the moon! She padded through the bushes so that we had to reverse back to watch her, but we got a really great view. They are so rare and spotted so little, I felt extremely lucky to see one up close with a great view. My face was beaming for the rest of the day!

Day 20 - Thursday 30th June 1.27pm

And my time on the Real Experience trip sadly comes to an end. I've really enjoyed the last few days though, Mirissa has been a pleasure as always! Drinking fresh coconuts, white sand between your toes, blue skies up ahead. And of course Banoffee rotti's. Oh how I've missed you! A delicate blend of caramel, biscuit, banana and chocolate warmed in a Rotti with a generous dollop of ice cream and toffee sauce. It was great to reunite with some old friends that I had met previously in Mirissa too; even after two years it can feel like no time has passed at all!

We spent our last evening travelling together celebrating with cocktails on the beach, reminiscing on our favourite places so far and excited about the next experience back in Ambalangoda. For me it has been the best start to my role this summer, I've been very grateful for this opportunity to travel and share what I know about Sri Lanka. I've been very lucky so far, now the hard work begins!

Finding my Feet

Day 11 - Tuesday 21st June 2.05pm

Bobbing away on the minibus, behind an open backed truck full of vegetable sacks and two men casually sitting on top, through the endless lush greenery and constant horn bibbing. Life in Sri Lanka just seems so normal and homely to me now!

How have I only been away for ten days? I am now in full swing of coordinator role, leading a group of Leeds Uni students on our Real Sri Lanka Experience trip with Ashika (project coordinator), and are just approaching Sigiriya, Lions Rock Palace - don't want to know how many steps we are about to climb in this heat!

For the rest of last week, it mostly consisted of settling in, learning about the projects and discussing our roles this summer. On Wednesday I got the chance to visit the volunteers at the Elephant project - giving Manike a good scrub in the river with coconut shells! It's an amazing opportunity to get up close to these beautfil animals and the project acts as a spa retreat from their working lives, with necessary medication and rest.

I also spent an afternoon at the Tsunami School teaching project, where about 40 children of varying ages and abilities come for additional English lessons. I sat with three little cuties, trying to teach me Sinhala as I helped them with their English alphabet.

And finally, after many days wilting in the heat, I had a spare two hour break to head to the beach! Callie and I got a tuk tuk to Hikkaduwa and lapped up the sun and sea, knowing we wouldn't have another break until the Summer madness dimmed - full steam ahead now until August!

On our first Friday night was the big boss's party for Philip, starring cocktail makers, volunteers, Ashika's bankers and our local policemen! The hall was set up like a wedding party, complete with a Sri Lankan buffet, cheesy music and a decorated photo shoot set. It was so much fun! Everyone had a great time dancing and celebrating, for some volunteers it was their last evening too. For Ashika and I it was the start of a veryyyy long night, as we had to travel straight to the airport at midnight for our twelve hour queue of pickups. I'm not sure who was more exhausted, us or the arrivals after a 12 hour flight!

And that's where the Real Experience trip begins...

This morning we visited a spice and herb plantation, learning about how particular plants, fruits and flowers are grown and their uses - food, medicine, beauty and all sorts. From coffee and pepper to cocoa and aloe, the plants are used in so many different ways to extract flavours, oils and natural goodness. Then the best part... A free facial, head back and shoulder massage, what more could you want?

So far on the Real Experience we have visited Pinnawela elephant orphanage - watching them roam eat and bathe in the river; Kandy - the capital of the last ruling Kingdom, with the famous Kandian dance show, the Temple of the Tooth with Lord Buddha's sacred tooth relic (kept in a gold casket), a lesson on Buddhism and life as a monk at Bahirawa Kanda hilltop temple under the giant meditating Buddha statue, and most bizarrely of all; eating spicey chicken spaghetti bolognese, with a live pianist, in Pizza Hut. Welcome to Asia.

7.02pm

On our way to our next destination Polonnaruwa in the dark, casually passing a wild elephant walking towards us on the road! That's the first time I've seen them wild not being close to the safari parks, it is very surreal!

Feeling elated now after our climb up Sigiriya, 200ft high and 1,200 steps, through the Kings palace... Sorry we've just passed another young male elephant! This is so exciting...

So anyway, a very sweaty hike past the Summer Palace, gardens and fountains, the eighth wonder of the world, up the steep narrow steps of the rock, following the 1,600 year old Mirror Wall and passing ancient cave paintings of the Kings 500 concubines. Then through the Lions Rock mouth straight up to the Winter Palace ruins, imagining the King seated on his stone thrown watching his dancers. For miles and miles around all you could see up to the mountains in the horizon was jungle, broken by small lakes and a white Buddhist statue standing proud in the distance. It was most definitely worth the workout! I think today has been my favourite so far :)

Day 12 - Wednesday 22nd June 8:36pm

I think this afternoon has topped yesterday.

We started off today with a cycle tour of Polonnaruwa, the second ancient kingdom of Sri Lanka. I thoroughly enjoyed cycling between the ruins (not sure if everyone would agree with me...); learning about the kingdom, visiting the 93-million-brick dagoba and sweating my bodyweight in water in the intense heat. So lunch with a pool was a highly welcomed luxury!

Then the rest of our day was the icing and cherry and chocolate sauce of it all - the sunset jeep safari. This started originally as just a trip to a huge local lake, where the sunset view is really beautiful. On the way the roads are through a traditional jungle village, so we could get a snapshot of real life in rural Sri Lanka. It seemed to be bathing time for most families - all retreating to the river with their clothes and bar of soap for the community bath! They were all very happy to laugh and wave as we passed, I think we'd be a tad more embarrassed back at home! We had some balloons, sweets and pencils ready for anyone who wanted to come say hi, so there were lots of ecstatic kids running towards us with arms flailing. They offered us to try the local fruits too - wood apple and jackfruit, and showed us how they grow peanuts as we passed the fields (did you know they grow underground?). Standing in the jeep, taking in the sights sounds and smells of Real Sri Lanka, and then relaxing as the sun disappeared behind the lake has been my favourite experience so far.

And so the Next Adventure begins...

Day 1 - Saturday 11th June 9.35pm


I'm here, this is it!




It's been a mixture of emotions over the past 24 hours. My final day snowballed into more and more of a rush and panic with packing, leaving two hours later than hoped, but the traffic was kind and we were at the airport restaurant with loads of time still to spare. It was nice to have a relaxed send off without being in a complete flurry, as the goodbyes wouldn't have felt real otherwise!

I think the most difficult thing to deal with is all the unknown - I don't know how long I will be away for, what I will be doing, if I will find my feet doing something I love... Let's see how the adventure unfolds.


Anyway enough of the yabber, I'm in Sri Lanka! Ashika is the project manager for PMGY in Sri Lanka, so when he met me at the airport I immediately felt welcomed and at home. It felt guiltily satisfying when new volunteers arrived too and I didn't feel their same nerves, instead trying to reassure them and answer any questions. We spent the next few hours arranging logistics for the volunteers then met my new big boss Philip, who runs PMGY back in the UK. Then the long (and slightly odd) drive to Ambalangoda, taking maybe three hours, occupied by my drivers favourite film 'Letters to Juliet' on the sat nav screen... Well it kept me occupied and awake!


When we arrived at Ashika's house I was welcomed with a fresh flower necklace from Ashika's mother Thamari, a Kanthi-style dinner of chicken, noodles and THE best potatoes in the world! At the moment it's only me and the family in the house, which feels just like being back at my Sri Lankan family home in Wadduwa. I took advantage of a refreshing shower and chat to the family (trying to remember my limited Sinhala repertoire) before heading into my mosquito net, fan billowing, water bottle at the ready. Let's see how tonight goes and what tomorrow brings!

Day 4 - Tuesday 14th June 11.59pm



Laying under my princess mosquito net, helicopter blades failing to cool me down, wet flannel on my belly, and head buzzing with the three months ahead.

 So today we discussed our role as coordinators with Philip and Ashika (after feeling like a naughty school kid not up and ready when they came knocking at 11am...). They've also just been visiting the Maldives (as you do) to check out the weekend trip and potentials of a new PMGY project taking place there, which is exciting news! Our meeting continued at Hiro's with a chocolate and mango sundae (as you do), with the elevated experience of my first tuk tuk ride in over two years. It was good to finally get my head around everything and to know what we would be involved with over the 3 months. Ashika dropped a slight bomb on me saying I will be doing the Real Experience trip with him, THIS SATURDAY. This actual weekend, like in three days! I literally have no idea even what I will be doing... And there's 34 students from Leeds coming. I'm sure it will be fun, I get to see the whole country again, I just need to find out the itinerary! And what to take. Ahhh packing, again?!?

I've spent the majority of my time so far with Callie at my side, who is the other Summer Coordinator. We've had a good laugh together already so it's going to be weird being away on the Real Experience trip when she's looking after the volunteers here, what are we gonna do without each other?!

I really do feel settled into life here and at the house with everyone. It panics me ever so slightly thinking about all the things I'll have to juggle successfully, but I'll do my best! I can't wait to visit my family and Mirissa too, but unfortunately won't have time for a few weeks. Or even time to visit the beach, ayoooo!

I have begun visiting our volunteering projects too, so yesterday I spent the afternoon with the cheeky girls at the local orphanage, which is a really lovely welcoming home. The girls wanted spelling tests and English practice before all playing together on the rickety swings and see-saws. They loved my tikkak sinhala too! Always a hit with the locals...

This evening we visited the turtle hatchery project, where they protect the endangered species by nurturing the eggs away from environmental dangers and caring for injured turtles. We released some of the healthy newborn babies into the wild whilst the sun set in the horizon - it was a pretty amazing thing to experience!


Everything else so far has been a blur really, but STILL NO SUN. I mean, there has been sunshine, but we've not been able to enjoy it at all!! This is hard coming from a very dreary England. Maybe I should really start waking up earlier...



Tomorrow we are waking up at 7.30am (that's bloody early), forcing myself to wash my hair in the cold shower, then visiting the elephant project, continuing our meetings, and the rest of the day? Who knows! We'll see what's in store.

(Hopefully a tad ray of sunshine...)