Sri Lanka, the Gem of the Indian Ocean

Colombo and Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage

I visited Colombo and decided to stay for two nights. Colombo is not a very touristy city, and that is why I found it interesting. The city has an average daily temperature of 26 degrees Celsius. Colombo has many canals and small religious temples, and in the heart of the city is the large Beira Lake. What fascinated me in Colombo and in other Asian countries is that the locals respect animals. I didn’t see any dogs on leashes. Instead, they all walked around freely, and they were never dangerous.

After two traditional Asian lunches, I decided to drive out from Colombo to the Orphanage place (I rented a car with a driver), which was on the way to another big city, Kandy. Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is an orphanage, nursery and captive breeding ground for wild Asian elephants, located at Pinnawala village. Pinnawala has the largest herd of captive elephants in the world. Currently it’s home to 93 elephants.

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage started with the introduction of five abandoned baby elephants and, over time, these grew bigger. At the orphanage, they care not only for the abandoned babies, but also for the injured and maimed elephants within the jungle. It’s an hour-and-a-half drive to the orphanage from Colombo on the way to Kandy, which means anyone can take a short break there to give a small financial support to the orphanage. Opening hours are from 8.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. every day.

Kandy and the temple of the tooth of the Buddha

After visiting the orphanage, my next stop was Kandy. The city is the gateway if you want to travel north, south, east, or west. What was interesting in Kandy and very well visited by other tourists, was the Temple of the Tooth.

The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is a Buddhist temple, situated in the royal palace complex which houses the Relic of the tooth of the Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country. Kandy was the last capital of the Sinhalese kings and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, partly due to the temple. The temple, which houses the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha, is one of the holiest shrines in the entire Buddhist world.

As any other big city, it also has other temples, a big lake in the middle, called Kandy Lake, nice restaurants, Ceylon tea museum, and more, but my goal was to drive up north, to see some other cultural monuments. I did not stay too long in Kandy, as it was also raining very heavily at that time, so one night was enough for me.

Sri Lanka's Cultural Triangle: Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya

There is a saying that you can see the best of Sri Lanka’s cultural monuments in the three ancient cities, which are situated next to one another. These are Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya. I visited the last two. Polonnaruwa was interesting, especially because it covers a huge place with many monuments, from the smallest to the ones that are much bigger. But Sigiriya was the highlight of the Sri Lankan culture for me.

Sigiriya (or Sinhagiri) is an ancient rock fortress located near the town of Dambulla. The name Sigiriya refers to a site of historical and archaeological significance that is nearly 200 metres high. If you ask anyone in Sri Lanka about Sigiriya, they will proudly say it’s the 8th wonder of the world. It is a massive monument, settled in the middle of an enormous fortress. If you want to get to the top, you must conquer very steep steps, which spiral upwards. The climb looks more daunting than it actually is.

The citadel was built just before 500 BC, and is surrounded by a double moat, the outer part of which is now dry. The water gardens, largely dry now, are a restful place to pass time before or after your climb. The fortress was apparently only used for a brief period and later it was occupied by monks. On top of it lie the foundations of an extensive royal palace, including a water storage tank.

On the way to the cultural triangle monuments, our driver took us to the Rock Temple in Dambulla city, called Dambulla cave temple. Again, it’s a massive temple, built inside a rock. Dambulla cave temple, also known as the Golden Temple of Dambulla, is a World Heritage Site. It is the largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka. The rock towers 160 meters above the surrounding plains. There are more than 80 documented caves in the surrounding area. Major attractions are spread over five caves, which contain statues and paintings. These are all related to Gautama Buddha and his life.

When we walked around the temples, I realised that all dogs I had seen walked around freely and I hadn’t seen any of them on a leash. Why is it that in Europe we lock our dogs in small “wooden cages” or put them on a leash, and leave them there for half a day? What a stupid thing to do! Maybe Europe is more developed when it comes to modern architecture, and maybe our life standard is better, but our mindset should change, as our thinking is sometimes conservative.

Beautiful Ella

The most common association with Sri Lanka is tea (Ceylon tea). Sri Lanka is the world’s third largest producer of tea. And the majority of tea grows around Ella. There are plenty of amazing things to do in Ella. You must take the famous train going from Kandy to Ella. For those who seek spectacular views everywhere they go (like me), the summit of Ella rock, with its views over Ella, Little Adam's Peak, and Ella Gap, is one great viewpoint you do not want to miss out on.

Tea is synonymous with Sri Lanka, and the name Lipton is synonymous with tea, so it was only natural that I visited Lipton’s Seat. In Ella, there is a famous viewpoint where entrepreneur and tea mogul, Sir Thomas Lipton, used to sit and contemplate about his vast plantation and the magnificence of Sri Lanka's high country, and sample some of the world's finest tea straight from the source.

Sri Lanka is surrounded by sea on all sides. I checked out some places along the beach, such as Trincomalee almost in the north of the country, where I swam with small sharks in a national park called Pigeon Island. I also visited Arugam Bay on the east coast, which is a paradise for surfers, as well as Tangalle Beach in the south of the country.

Of course, nothing can beat the beaches in the Maldives, which are not so far from Sri Lanka, but Sri Lanka also has some decent beaches for surfing or exploring the underwater world and, above all, for some relaxation after sightseeing the cultural and natural attractions that this friendly country has to offer. Goodbye till next time when I will take you to the paradise islands of the Maldives.