Sri Lanka Edition, Sigiriya and Negombo March 2019

I’ve had some mixed at best feedback about our travel observations. Some excerpts: “keep your day job”, "didn’t know bankers could be this funny” and “as a blogger you were once good at volleyball”. Lets just say your input has been reviewed, analysed and destroyed (not necessary in that order).

Looking forward, we continue with more frivolous holiday rambles. In this edition I deconstruct microeconomic price theory (just to spice things up) and Brenda drinks a creaming soda.

We went through the middle of the county at Matale on route to Sigiriya and the nearby ancient capitals of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. Both reminded us of the old capitals, Sukhothai and Si Satchanalai, in Thailand.

Drivers the world over love the sport of complaining about the nuisance of smaller conveyances that negotiate the traffic with greater agility, ie motor bikes and tuk tuks.

Lots of businesses along the way selling after-market car parts from gear boxes to bonnets. You can even buy half a car - front or back, no worries. One road seller specialised heavily in the niche car jack segment.

Stayed at a boutique hotel called Water Garden with vast grounds and very large, well appointed villas. The grounds were teeming with birdlife, including several peacocks and peahens. And again we saw many fireflies at night.

Had a similar experience to Laos when climbing the “rock to see another rock“. As we scrambled over boulders and through jungle, sometimes on all fours, in our best adventure kit, a local guy walked past us in thongs while talking on the phone and carrying two bottles of water in the other hand. Fortunately on his occasion there were no rice paddies for me to go arse up in.

The site was actually Pidurangala Rock from which you can see Sigiriya: The Lion Rock of Sri Lanka.

Lion Rock is the location of King Kashayapa’s fifth century palace and fortress. It made me think of Machu Picchu perched on top of a very large rock, except on a smaller scale.

Some might say he had the kash and the kashay to build such a magnificent place, however he was actually kovetous of the krown and killed his father to become king. He then spent much of his time trying to defend his kash, krown and kingdom from the rightful heir, his brother, until kommitting suicide.

 

The Lion Rock of Sri Lanka: Sigiriya from the other rock.

I did tire of the constant shoes on, shoes off, socks on, socks off, frock on, frock off (yes I was close to suggesting that) at all the Buddhist sacred sites. Apparently there are no degrees of sacred.

Think there are a couple of potentially huge business opportunities for visiting the sacred sites. First would be a fashion conscious range of knickerbockers so your knees are covered. (Did I just use “fashion” and “conscious” in the same sentence?) Second would be large slide on fake feet that would go over your shoes.

Following another hair-raising near miss our driver confided he had plenty of insurance to cover himself and we should not worry about any collateral tuk tuk and motor bike damage.

Very expensive to own a car in Sri Lanka. For the Australian price of a mid range C class Mercedes or 3 series BMW you can buy a 10 year old Honda Fit Shuttle or Airwave station wagon.

Another question that has been puzzling me (like the one about exchanging larger denomination notes) - do monks get wet when it rains? Of course not silly, they have umbrellas.

Learnt something of the age-old vocation of “toddy tapping”, the technique for making Arrack (grog) from coconuts. Apparently it’s as much an ancient art as a science (and all natural because coconuts are grown in the ground). The spirit is perhaps the genesis for the saying “crazier than a coconut”.

They make a fine croissant in Sigiriya.

Sri Lankans drive on the correct side of the road and walk on the wrong side.

To many farmers in the district, the roads are seen more as a highly efficient rice drying technology rather than a place for cars, busses and the like.

Room number 8 (again).

On the drive from Sigiriya to Negombo and shortly after our driver had sought a review of his services via the travel agency, he narrowly managed to miss being a t-bone sandwich between a bus and a truck while overtaking said bus. Is it a thumbs down for the manoeuvre or a thumbs up for the near miss?

As you can probably guess I’m still not enamoured with the hired driver arrangement in Sri Lanka.

Saw a tuk tuk hybrid. Pretty sure it was badge engineered.

They love a service survey in hotels and restaurants. We were only in the hotel in Negombo for about three hours before being asked to give it a rating.

Room number 317.

Last edition for this trip coming up from Villingili in the Maldives.

The beach front in Negombo (with crows).

Sunset over the Indian ocean (with crows).