Yesterday I arrived home from an eventful 12 days visiting the beautiful place that is Sri Lanka. It was my first long haul flight and only my second time flying, but the travelling was worth it to get us to the paradise that was our destination.
The hotel in which we stayed in was the other side of a river, so we took a boat from the dock to get there. As soon as we arrived we were welcomed with ice tea which, (just to mention) tasted amazing! We were presented with green wrist bands which I later found out represented different nationalities.
Each room appeared as a little private tree house, all made presentable each day with towel elephants and flowers. All the staff were excellent and made us feel at home.
We visited a number of places whilst we were there and experienced the massive contrast in culture. The first trip we went on was a boat ride along the river which we had previously journeyed on to get to the hotel. Vast amounts of creatures were out such as crocodiles, fruit bats and monitor lizards. After this we went to the Cinnamon Islands and were taken on a short tour of the variety of herbal medicines that the people there make themselves. We tried their home grown tea and were given surprise massages which was rather weird but at the same time so nice.
Next, we visited a temple that was literally at the end of the beach directly behind our hotel. After climbing the steep steps, we had to take off our shoes and a monk then introduced himself to us. He was surprisingly funny and spoke of the Buddhist lifestyle. He shared with us that he had dedicated the past 10 years of his life to live at the temple and then blessed our family by tying white string around our right wrists.
Aside from all the sun bathing and beach walks, we decided to go on a day long trip to visit 5 different places. First, we went to the fort at Galle to witness the breath taking scenery. Also, we had a look around the town and tried a durian fruit which is basically a round spiky ball that is banned on aircraft due to how awful it smells. It tasted odd. Then we drove to the Tsunami memorial which is there to remember those who's lives were lost in the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. To imagine how scared and worried the people must have been is quite daunting. We asked our tour guide what he was doing on that day and he stated that he was on the beach when he heard and saw people running, crying and screaming. He noticed what was going on and tried to get himself and his friends to safety, but an event like that had never been experienced by the population before.
The turtle hatchery was our next stop and this was honestly one of the most unforgettable things I have ever done! We were able to see the different types of turtles and even hold them, bearing in mind most of them were rather large. Some baby turtles had newly hatched whilst we were there, so we were lucky enough to hold them and release them in to the sea. This was such a unique experience!
Later, we looked around the moonstone mines and were shown how they collect and make the moonstone in to jewellery. Our final stop was at another temple where a 70 foot Buddha was located. This was really interesting as we were also able to see an elephant! The people believe it to be sacred, however it was kept outside on a really poor landscape with one of its front and one of its back feet changed up. How this is keeping an animal that is supposedly sacred in a safe environment I'll never know, but I have to respect that all countries do things differently.
In my opinion, the treatment of the majority of animals in Sri Lanka was very poor. The amount of dogs I saw that looked starved or had some form of infection was a number unimaginable. I saw a "sacred" elephant chained up and a monkey tied up all in 1 visit. This is something I strongly disagree with, but again each country has different morals and understandings.
Our last and final visit of the holiday was to the markets in Alathgarma and Bentota. We went for a ride in a Tuk Tuk, which is basically their version of the bikes with carriages that you see outside all of the London theatres, except they look more like a car. This was probably the best part of the whole trip as we were experiencing the locals form of transport and we were able to encounter their form of driving (which seemed rather dangerous). The market itself was mainly full of fruit and vegetables, but by selling these on the streets is how most people there make their money in order to survive. A lot of haggling took place and of course all the shop keepers wanted us to enter their shops because as soon as they see tourists they all have a field day. To experience the way that the population live had such an impact on me as it was so bizarre compared to the way that we live.
Meeting people from different places around the world at the hotel was fabulous. We met a lovely German family, a couple from Maidstone (a small world, I know) and a couple from Lincolnshire. There was also people from Russia amongst other places. On top of this, we got to interact with the staff, whom, of course being Sri Lankan were able to teach us about their culture.
It was a truly fascinating and eye opening experience and I am so looking forward to returning to do some more exploring in the future!
Dotty
X
The hotel in which we stayed in was the other side of a river, so we took a boat from the dock to get there. As soon as we arrived we were welcomed with ice tea which, (just to mention) tasted amazing! We were presented with green wrist bands which I later found out represented different nationalities.
Each room appeared as a little private tree house, all made presentable each day with towel elephants and flowers. All the staff were excellent and made us feel at home.
We visited a number of places whilst we were there and experienced the massive contrast in culture. The first trip we went on was a boat ride along the river which we had previously journeyed on to get to the hotel. Vast amounts of creatures were out such as crocodiles, fruit bats and monitor lizards. After this we went to the Cinnamon Islands and were taken on a short tour of the variety of herbal medicines that the people there make themselves. We tried their home grown tea and were given surprise massages which was rather weird but at the same time so nice.
Next, we visited a temple that was literally at the end of the beach directly behind our hotel. After climbing the steep steps, we had to take off our shoes and a monk then introduced himself to us. He was surprisingly funny and spoke of the Buddhist lifestyle. He shared with us that he had dedicated the past 10 years of his life to live at the temple and then blessed our family by tying white string around our right wrists.
Aside from all the sun bathing and beach walks, we decided to go on a day long trip to visit 5 different places. First, we went to the fort at Galle to witness the breath taking scenery. Also, we had a look around the town and tried a durian fruit which is basically a round spiky ball that is banned on aircraft due to how awful it smells. It tasted odd. Then we drove to the Tsunami memorial which is there to remember those who's lives were lost in the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. To imagine how scared and worried the people must have been is quite daunting. We asked our tour guide what he was doing on that day and he stated that he was on the beach when he heard and saw people running, crying and screaming. He noticed what was going on and tried to get himself and his friends to safety, but an event like that had never been experienced by the population before.
The turtle hatchery was our next stop and this was honestly one of the most unforgettable things I have ever done! We were able to see the different types of turtles and even hold them, bearing in mind most of them were rather large. Some baby turtles had newly hatched whilst we were there, so we were lucky enough to hold them and release them in to the sea. This was such a unique experience!
Later, we looked around the moonstone mines and were shown how they collect and make the moonstone in to jewellery. Our final stop was at another temple where a 70 foot Buddha was located. This was really interesting as we were also able to see an elephant! The people believe it to be sacred, however it was kept outside on a really poor landscape with one of its front and one of its back feet changed up. How this is keeping an animal that is supposedly sacred in a safe environment I'll never know, but I have to respect that all countries do things differently.
In my opinion, the treatment of the majority of animals in Sri Lanka was very poor. The amount of dogs I saw that looked starved or had some form of infection was a number unimaginable. I saw a "sacred" elephant chained up and a monkey tied up all in 1 visit. This is something I strongly disagree with, but again each country has different morals and understandings.
Our last and final visit of the holiday was to the markets in Alathgarma and Bentota. We went for a ride in a Tuk Tuk, which is basically their version of the bikes with carriages that you see outside all of the London theatres, except they look more like a car. This was probably the best part of the whole trip as we were experiencing the locals form of transport and we were able to encounter their form of driving (which seemed rather dangerous). The market itself was mainly full of fruit and vegetables, but by selling these on the streets is how most people there make their money in order to survive. A lot of haggling took place and of course all the shop keepers wanted us to enter their shops because as soon as they see tourists they all have a field day. To experience the way that the population live had such an impact on me as it was so bizarre compared to the way that we live.
Meeting people from different places around the world at the hotel was fabulous. We met a lovely German family, a couple from Maidstone (a small world, I know) and a couple from Lincolnshire. There was also people from Russia amongst other places. On top of this, we got to interact with the staff, whom, of course being Sri Lankan were able to teach us about their culture.
It was a truly fascinating and eye opening experience and I am so looking forward to returning to do some more exploring in the future!
Dotty
X
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