Kathe’s Blog

In the final days of Sri Lanka’s 26 years lasting civil war the news were full of suffering civilians and claims from both sides, who killed whom could not be independently verified and just worried me that the truth might be even worse. My mom is working voluntarily for UNICEF in Germany and forwarded me their funding appeals to support the Tamil civilians. Nayan is Singhalese and we both wanted this war to end and the government to defeat the rebels. When I asked him, if he would donate as well, he immediately said yes and donated 500 Dhs (100 EUR) like me.

He is so patriotic and wanted this war to end for Sri Lanka to develop and grow like other South Asian countries. We had endless discussions at what price this victory would be achieved.

Finally these days we heard good news about all civilians being rescued and the rebel organisation being crushed. It is very important now to support the civilians in the IDP camps (for internally displaced people). They need food, clean water, sanitary facilities and information to find their relatives.

The government now has to assure peace for this country by repairing the infrastructure in the north-east and supporting people to settle back in their villages. Children should return to school as soon as possible and need anti-trauma care for those abused as soldiers. Only successful politics and a fair treatment of the Tamil minority can prevent an ongoing guerilla war and more suicide bombings.

We hope our donation will contribute to the reconciliation process and I would like to ask all tourists who love this coutry and our Sri Lankan friends and to donate and help their country to heal.

We decided to stay in the 5 star Taj Samudra Hotel at Colombos beach front. Though in the countryside tourists are not affected by the civil war still going on in the north-east of Sri Lanka, but in Colombo security is tight, as the LTTE attacked the capital several times. So there are road blocks where the police is checking passports.

We reached the hotel before sunset, we had a beautiful room upstair overlooking the ocean and the approaching thunderstorm.

In the evening we went out to dance Salsa, but the Colombo Salsa scene is not very developed yet and the club we went last time has been re-opened with Salsa only once a week. But as it was still early and we were the first guests, the DJ played some Salsa just for us. Later we went to Colombo’s popular RnB / Rhythm and Blues club next door. Well the live band was great, but having been to night clubs in Berlin, Cape Town, Dubai and Singapore, this one really did not leave and impression on me and we went home early to get some rest before the early morning flight.

Overall it was a great holiday, my third so far in Sri Lanka and I love the diversity of this country and definately look forward to come here again to explore the areas, where I haven’t been to yet.

I truly hope that the war will be over soon to stop the suffering of  civilians on both sides. People are so warm-hearted and friendly and Sri Lankans should find a way to live peacefully together by respecting their cultural and ethnical diversity.

After the visit of the residence of Maduwanwela Dissawa, we were on our way to Embilipitiya.

In Embilipitiya is a great restaurant called SAMAN, it is little off the main road so ask for directions. They have a buffet with a huge variety of freshly prepared mouthwatering local dishes. It is very clean, food has local prices and their service is outstanding. At noon the place gets really full and many locals come to have lunch there, we just loved this authentic Sri Lankan place. If you are in the region you should go and check it out:

“King’s Honour” SAMAN Guest & Buffet
Pallegama, Embilipitiya, Sri Lanka
Phone: +94 47 4924143 (buffet) / 2230638 (guest)

We stayed over night at the Centauria Ayurveda Lake Resort, which was very affordable and they maintain high standards like the more expensive hotels, therefore offering a very good price/performance ratio. Though it was not fully booked, but several guests were there, not as empty as the previous hotels we’ve been to. We took a spacious room in one of the villas with lake view. The Centauria hotel has a big garden with trees and flowers, swimming pool, badminton field and Ayurvedic treatment villa for massages. Nayan took a 1 hour massage, but because my skin was so badly burned, I resisted this time.

The waiters in the restaurant were very polite and attentive, but the manager was sitting in the restaurant and supervising them and watching the guests, which I personally found little unappropriate as it could have been done in a more discreet way.

Next morning after the breakfast we booked a boat ride on the lake to watch the birds and enjoy the landscape. It took a while, till the technicians got the motor started, but we were waiting in the shade under the trees for some time. Unfortunately there were no paddle boats available to paddle around in peace, because the motor boat makes a lot of noise. We went to the other side of the water reservoir and back, which took about 45 minutes.

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Then we packed our stuff and checked out. As our flight to Dubai is departing tomorrow morning, we will spend the last night in Colombo.

Nestling in the lap of the awe-inspiring mountain frontier of the Kolonne valley is his medieval castle-like walauwa that originally had 141 spacious living rooms and 12 ‘meda midulas’ (inner courtyards). Maduwanwela Dissawe died in 1930 and his grand walauwa now lies in shambles. He is remembered even today for his proud independence and how he never bowed down to the white rulers (the Government Agents) of his domain.

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On our way through Kolonne we stopped to visit this heritage site, though still under contruction it was giving as an insight on Sri Lankan history and political relations with the British administration at that time. The architectural style was very interesting, as hardly any buildings from that time were preserved.

The Wavulpane Limestone cave in the Kolonne Regional Secretariat area of Sabaragamuwa Province is with geological importance for scientists, university students, and school children for educational purpose. The Wavulpane cave is 912 ft. above sea level. This cave derives its name from the many thousands of bats living in it. (Make sure to wear clothes you would not mind getting soiled). See the stalactites and stalagmites dating back to the Pre-Cambrian era. The 45m Wwwulpena fall is an internal waterfall within the limestone cave, which is 500 billion years old and is the oldest such cave on the island.

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We went a small  bumpy road through the mountains and rainforest to explore the Wavulpane Caves. We found a very nice guard to show us the way. He only speaks Sinhala, but Nayan was translating for me. We went through the rainforest and then climbed down the rocks and crossed a small stream to enter the caves. The cave is very high and though we couldn’t see in the light of the oil lamp, we could hear and smell thousands of bats up there. Because it was a contant rain of excrements down on us, we decided not to walk through the whole cave, but to walk around outside and see the entrance from the other side. There was a natural small waterfall and we washed and refreshed ourselves. It was a real adventure and I just loved this trip. When we came back we had a tea with milk (kiri the) at the small shop, where we filled up the oil lamp.
As there is no official ticket counter or guides available and the caves cannot be entered when they are flooded because of the rain. You should give a call to our guide and ask in advance, if you would like to go and visit the caves. Please ask your driver or hotel staff to call this number and check for you, if you do not speak Sinhala:

N. W. Gunasinghe

Wawulpena, Halwinna

Godakawela

045 – 5675806

There are over 12,000 small man-made reservoirs in Sri Lanka, some dating back over 2,000 years. They are part of Sri Lanka’s ancient civilization, in which rulers built reservoirs for rice cultivation. It is hoped that such reservoirs could be used for culture-based fishery (CBF) ― a combination of a traditional fishery and an artificial aquaculture practice. Aquaculture practice is the introduction of small fish ― or any aquatic organisms ― into a water body, which are reared until they are mature enough for harvesting.
Down the road of Kalu’s Hideaway there were two fish breeding centers, so visited one and the guys were so kind to show and explain everything to us.

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On the way from Sinharaja to Uda Walawe we stopped at the road side and I was trying fresh Durian for the first time in my life, though I always resisted when living in Singapore, because I was told it’s so disgusting. Well, I tried it, it was not as horrible as I feared before, but I guess I will not eat it again either. It tastes like buttery avocado-onion and you smell bad for the rest of the day like after eating garlic. We also tried some home made curt from buffolo milk, but I did not really like it, it was too fatty.

Uda Walawe is the best park in Sri Lanka to watch and photograph wild elephants. Located next to the vast Uda Walawe reservoir, only a short drive from the South Coast, the park covers an area of over 30,000 hectares and consists of a mixture of scrubland and teak forest. The lack of forest in some areas is due to the extensive slash-and-burn farming that was once practised in this area. Uda Walawe became the country’s fifth National Park in 1972.

When we reached the Uda Walawe wild life reserve, the jeep drivers approached us and everyone tried to convince us to book a tour with them, we bargained a bit and then went to the entrance to buy our ticket. As usual as a foreigner I had to pay 20 times more than a local, but there were also funny surcharges like the “open hood charge”, for opening the hood and stand in the back of the jeep. We got a very old and experienced guide, he brought us very close to the elephants as well. Sometimes they show aggressive behaviour towards the vehicle, but they do not really attack. Besides many elephants (aliya) we saw wild buffalos (miharaka) , domestic cows (ela haraka) and many birds. The landscape is breathtaking and reminds me of Africa actually. They flood a huge area of the park during rain season and can supply water for 3 months to the farmers during the dry season.

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I was so fascinated by the nature and had so much fun on the jeep that I didnt feel the sun burning my pale skin (it was winter in Germany and I was not taint at all). When we reached the hotel I looked like a lobster, I did not burn myself that badly for several years and I did not have any cream against the pain. So I covered my arms in wet clothes to cool my skin. Next day we were searching in several pharmacies till we found some silverdiazine cream against burns.

The Safari was definately a highlight of this holiday. We went to Nihawana Restaurant and had really nice Sri Lankan buffet with fresh fish (malu) from the lake. After the meal we stopped at a small road side stall and drank hot belimal, that is ayurvedic tea.

We were looking at several hotels till we finally found what we were looking for: Kalu’s Hideaway. It is owned by a famous wicketkeeper batsman of Sri Lanka’s 1996 cricket worldcup winning team. We jumped into the pool and enjoyed the refreshment until a thunderstorm was nearing. A small frog gave us company next to the pool. We were the only guests again, but the service and food provided was saisfactory. Luckily we brought our own red wine to enjoy a romantic evening at the veranda. The location is very remote, silent and beautiful view.

Next morning at 7 am we were on our way to Sinharaja rain forest. We made the mistake to ask locals for the way as our driver did not have a map and ended up at the most bumpy and damaged small mountain road, hardly to drive without an offroad vehicle. Also the time and distance they mentioned was totally wrong, what was believed to take 1,5 hours turned out to be 4 hours, so we reached Sinharaja by 11 at noon. We booked a kind lady as tour guide and she took us on a 2,5 hours walk through the rainforest, showing us many local birds, butterflies and animals we could have never spotted without her help. She could explain fluent in English and answered all our questions.

Located in south-west Sri Lanka, Sinharaja is the country’s last viable area of primary tropical rainforest. More than 60% of the trees are endemic and many of them are considered rare. There is much endemic wildlife, especially birds, but the reserve is also home to over 50% of Sri Lanka’s endemic species of mammals and butterflies, as well as many kinds of insects, reptiles and rare amphibians. Sinharaja is a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site. One of the few virgin forests left in the world.

It was really worth the visit and I enjoyed wandering through the rainforest, experiencing the unspoiled nature and lush green. This time we took precautionary measures against leeches, only one tried to bite Nayan, but I was spared for once.

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We went to a beautiful hotel called Rainforest Edge, as the Blue Magpie Lodge inside the the rainforest reserve was too expensive for the simple accomodation offered. The Rainforest Edge Resort has 9 guest roms and is located on a hill within the most beautiful landscape. Though the road leading there is little bumpy, the Resort itself maintains highest standards and has a stunning open air bathroom.

We were the only guests that day and as we didn’t book in advance, they had to improvise a bit to make us some lunch, but it turned out great. The service was excellent and we truly enjoyed the romantic atmosphere.

Before starting my new job, Nayan and me wanted to go for 1 week holidays in Sri Lanka.
I booked a one-way flight with Lufthansa from Berlin to Frankfurt and then with Condor directly to Colombo. It was a 10 hours flight, but it was not as stressful as I thought. The seats were comfortable, crew and meal was good. After so many flights in Asia and Middle East I now knew, why Nayan says that German passengers are the nicest, because they are so disciplined and no screaming kids are running around. Anyway, most passengers were pensioners going for Aloe Vera treatments The captain made very funny announcements, guess he was looking forward to his 2 weeks company paid layover on the beach. Nayan awaited me at Colombo airport, as his Emirates flight from Dubai just landed one hour before.
We booked our driver with another taxi agency than last time, though we knew it’s hard to find such a great and decent driver like our friend Ashoka, who took us last two times. This time we booked a van, so we had much more space in the back, could put the seats back to sleep and it had armrests and seat belts, too.

First we went to visit his family, his younger brother just got married few days ago and he introduced us to his beautiful wife, who is going to live with him and Nayan’s parents. It was also good to see, that his dad is of good health after he had to undergo a heart surgery with several complications few months ago. His mom had prepared a feast of Sri Lankan dishes for us. Though the pork was very very(!) spicy and even Nayan struggeled with it, I rather indulged in the different sweet desserts that she had prepared. We had some Sri Lankan tea together on the veranda with his family.

Later we asked our driver to take us south to Sinharaja. We took a wrong road and it became night already, so we decided to stay in a rest house in Rakwana. We were the only guests and luckily I brought my own bed sheets and towels (because of moving to Abu Dhabi) to maintain our comfort. It is a government run place and they made us some delicious vegetable rice. We asked for candles to sit at the veranda and have a romantic candle light dinner. As we were the only guests it was peaceful and quiet.