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Kandy, Ella, and the Slow Train in Between

January 29, 2016 By Lauren 4 Comments

After a few days in Colombo, it was time to venture into the center of Sri Lanka for some cooler weather and greener scenery. We took a train to Kandy, the cultural capital of the country. With sizeable Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and Christian populations, Sri Lanka is a religious melting pot, though Buddhism is the dominant religion and also the source of some of the country’s most interesting religious sights.

For instance, Kandy is most famous for being the home of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, a temple that claims to house a tooth of the Buddha. [Fun fact: Chris and I have now seen Mohammed’s beard in Turkey, Buddha’s tooth in Sri Lanka, and the spear that pierced Jesus’s side before crucifixion in Austria.] Let me tell you, this tooth is a big deal. Devotees flock here to make lotus flower offerings and pray in front of the shrine that houses the tooth, which you can’t actually see since it is housed in a small golden stupa that contains six caskets of diminishing size (Russian doll style).

The tooth is situated in that tiny gold stupa (spiked dome) at the back of the wall
Lotus flowers are brought as offerings to the temple
Devotees worship in one of the many temples of the large complex
Kandy city from on high
The little island in Kandy Lake was once part of a palace and then used as a munitions store for the British
The massive Bahiravokanda Vihara Buddha statue overlooking Kandy

In addition to the Temple of the Tooth, Kandy Lake, and the massive Buddha temple over looking the city, one of the more interesting places we visited in Kandy was a very peculiar hotel owned by Helga de Silva Blow Perara (three last names in honor of three husbands). If you’re interested, you can read more about her here; it’s a fascinating story filled with everything from high society to terrible tragedy. Helga’s Folly is a crumbling mansion perched on top of a hill overlooking the city that lets non-guests visit for a $3 fee. As Chris and I wandered around the mostly-deserted hallways, we stared in creepy fascination at the fantastical paintings, skeletons on chaise lounges, and the occasional monkey playing in the backyard. It was truly one of the weirdest places I’ve ever been. The British rock band Stereophonics even wrote a song about her, “Madam Helga,” after a visit to the Folly.

Welcome to Helga’s Folly… the weirdest hotel in Sri Lanka
The walls of the mansion are covered floor to ceiling with paintings
Helga started painting to cope with the loss of her first husband and an unhappy second marriage
In addition to the paintings, even the furniture is creepy
And monkeys like to play in the yard
Care for a drink in the lounge?
These candelabras have definitely seen better days
We wandered around these creepy, crooked hallways
Until we stumbled upon a decrepit pool with this equally creepy statue

We also used Kandy as a home base for exploring some of Sri Lanka’s ancient wonders nearby. The massive rock of Sigiriya is perhaps the country’s most recognizable sight. This rock, which rises straight out of the surrounding jungle, contains ancient ruins at its summit. Historians debate whether it was originally a fortress-palace or a religious-monastery. One thing is for sure: the view from on top is breathtaking. The ascent, however, is not easy. Hundreds of stairs, no shade, and some very aggressive hornets all lie between you and the views. Halfway up, you can take a break next to two massive lion’s paws, which are responsible for Sigiriya’s nickname of Lion Rock. At one time, the entire side of the rock would be shaped to look like a lion and visitors would climb stairs to enter through the mouth, though the paws are all that remain today.

Sigiriya aka Lion Rock
Beware of the resident hornets
The paws are all that remains of the giant lion that was built into one side of the rock
The rock itself is a kaleidoscope of colors
Tired and sweaty, but finally at the top
Not a bad view, not bad at all
The low walls are all that remain of the ancient structure on top of the rock
Chris with our Rick Steves backpack doing a pretty good impression of the man himself, if I do say so

After Sigiriya, we took advantage of having a driver for the day to explore the surrounding country. A stop at a fruit stand was the perfect reward for withstanding the heat and the climb of the rock. One of the best things about Sri Lanka is the variety and freshness of the fruit here. I got to try a king coconut (an orange version of my favorite South Asian treat), and we were amazed to see exotic red pineapples and bananas along with the more traditional yellow kinds. After our fruit break, it was time for another climb to see the ancient Buddhist rock temples and a visit to a spice garden where we saw how many of the spices grown by this island nation look on the vine, bush, or tree.

These coconuts are definitely king
Sri Lanka’s fruit is so abundant even bananas come in a rainbow of colors
The Buddha at the Golden Temple was getting a new coat of paint when we visited
Inside the cave temples we found dozens of Buddha statues
And a few big, reclining ones
A quick stop on the way home to learn about spices and see a massive cinnamon tree
A hearty dish of kottu (kind of like fried rice but with bread instead… trust me, it was awesome) and some rice and curry were just the thing after a long, tiring day

We came to Kandy to see Sigiriyia, but another perk of coming here was that we’d heard the train ride through the hill country between Kandy and the quaint backpacker town of Ella was supposed to be one of the most beautiful in the world. Although we were disappointed to find out that tickets from Kandy were all sold out thanks to local racketeers, we managed to secure another driver to take us halfway to Nuwara Eliya where we could procure a ticket to Ella. This would allow us to cut the seven-hour train ride in half while still enjoying the best views. And, with our own wheels, we were also free to stop at a few tea plantations along the way. At Blue Fields and Mackwoods Labookellie tea plantations, we learned why Sri Lanka’s “Ceylon” tea is considered some of the best in the world and even had time to sample a few delicious cups.

At close up look at the neon green tea bushes
Workers (mostly women) pick the individual leaves (two leaves, one bud) by hand
These guys stack the bags on their heads as high as they can go
The bags are then dumped out so the leaves can dry
Now that is a lot of tea
The final, delicious result
And our tea at Mackwoods went perfectly with a slice of chocolate cake
Tea, cake, and quite the view

Thoroughly caffeinated, it was time for our train ride. The train to Ella is as scenic as it is slow, and the highlight of the trip is stationing yourself in an open door and watching the whirl of green zip past you. I loved waving to the tea plantation workers and schoolchildren as we passed, who always waved back (even though they’ve probably witnessed hundreds of trains flying past before).

The Nuwara Eliya train station was… let’s just say vintage
Someone had one too many ginger beers while waiting for the train
Sri Lankan trains are a sight to behold… this one had a sign on its front that said it was from Alberta, Canada and had recently celebrated 60 years of service
The scenery along the train route was incredible
We passed close by many homes
But the best part was hanging out the open doors and windows
When you could find one that wasn’t already claimed by the locals, that is
And we’d frequently pass through tunnels with a rush of blackness
I couldn’t resist waving to everyone
Most of the other tourists got off earlier than we did, so we had most of the train to ourselves at the end
We rolled into Ella just as the sun was setting

We arrived in Ella and were picked up at the train station by the owner of what would turn out to be our favorite guesthouse in Sri Lanka. Ruwan and his wife (who was also studying physical therapy to work with student athletes in poor villages nearby) stayed in a tiny room in order to rent out three larger rooms to guests. Despite their small living quarters, they were still able to turn out generous breakfasts and the most elaborate rice and curry dinners from the little kitchen. We couldn’t have been more impressed by this hardworking family.

We took full advantage of this lovely balcony
Our hosts made us a feast of rice and about eight different kinds of curry
After a bug-filled room in Kandy, Chris wasn’t taking any chances

After the chaos of Colombo and battling the crowds in Kandy and Sigiriya, Ella was a peaceful, green sanctuary for us. Up in the hills, Ella has a cool climate and is best known for its laidback backpacker culture and wealth of trekking options. Emboldened after conquering Sigiriya, we opted for the most ambitious of the treks and spent about four hours climbing to and from Ella Rock. A good amount of the hike requires you to walk along the railroad tracks, but thankfully the trains in Sri Lanka are so slow you have plenty of time to get out of the way as they approach.

Ella Rock, the far off destination for our hike
The first stretch of the hike is blessedly flat, but also along the train tracks
Chris found a walking stick, which of course meant he kept doing the “You shall not pass” line from Lord of the Rings
Tea bushes and cows, common sights on the path up
The view halfway up was almost better than the summit
We made it to the top!
We have a tendency to acquire random, self-appointed leader dogs on our hikes throughout the world
Ruwan had agreed to help us with laundry, and we returned from our hike to finding it drying in the sun… on the roof

We loved Ella and wished we had one more day to spend here, enjoying the waterfall view from our balcony and taking on the town’s second-highest summit, Little Adam’s Peak. But we were off to Tangalle and Galle to complete our circuit of the southwest side of the island. This little stretch between Ella and Tangalle would be our favorite in all of Sri Lanka, helping to balance out the chaos of Colombo, the tour groups at Sigiriya, and the creepy crawlers of Kandy. Although our experience in Sri Lanka fell short of our inflated expectations, we will soon see whether it succeeded in its second purpose… easing us into our next visit to India.

Filed Under: Adventures Tagged With: Asia, Sri Lanka

Comments

  1. Jen says

    January 29, 2016 at 11:02 am

    Beautiful pictures, Lozza! The hike looks amazing, and the food looks delicious! Yay for self-appointed leader dogs 🙂 Did you give him/her a name? 🙂

    Reply
  2. Aunt Tina says

    January 31, 2016 at 5:29 pm

    Amazing….you made ME feel hot and tired on your descriptive trek……..also…..i could almost taste that tea!! Love it!! Truly astounding to know how Blessed we are in this country…..most of the world lives so meagerly.

    Reply
  3. Jill Costie says

    February 1, 2016 at 11:29 am

    I love reading your and Chris’ posts/blogs. And get so excited when I hear the alert on my phone- It is like getting People magazine, which gets me thru a snowy weekend. And I mean that in a good way. Yours are such fun, educational and interesting reads. Stay safe.

    Reply
    • Lauren says

      February 6, 2016 at 11:08 pm

      Thanks, Jill! And I know how you feel, except my magazine weakness is for cooking ones 🙂

      Reply

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